Cooleyfied on 12/8/2015 "My Experience" (Dr. Jerry Cooley)

[ThinninOut23 10]

I would like to start off by truly thanking all the people of this community and all the information this group has provided for a countless number of folks suffering with hair loss and now a little about me.

 

I am 30 years old and started loosing my hair in my early 20's and thanks to this forum and modern medicine I managed to save a lot of my hair with Propecia and a few other regimented drugs. My primary hairloss is in the frontal region and that will soon be filling in nicely thanks to Dr. Jerry Cooley in NC.

 

Like many young people looking for answers to an age old problem I started with google and found many places to research and learn the options now a days when dealing with hairloss. I floated on this forum and several others for 3 years reading and searching and rereading about every surgeon I could find it seemed. It was thanks to this LONG dedicated research and LOTS of reading that I believe I narrowed my search to one of, if not the finest hair transplant surgeon around. I didn't just read posts and peoples opinions I looked at photo after photo until I almost drove myself mad. After all, letting someone alter your physical appearance for the rest of your life is truly no small choice. Mostly, it was not just the final result and fullness of the transplanted hairs that concerned me but since I decided to go strip I had the donor scar to think about as well. As many know some of the horror stories from strips gone wrong have probably given a lot of folks anxiety about it. So after all the research the calls the asking advice from many, many people I decided to go with Dr. Jerry Cooley and as many of you have known or read he has an amazing reputation and true passion for what he does. He really is a great guy and also I liked the fact that the guy doing my procedure had been in the same position I was putting myself in. There is a comfort in that.

 

My procedure took around 10 hours I would say since I got in around 4-5 movies during the procedure. The strip removal portion I can honestly say I do not remember one bit thanks to a friend of mine named Valium. I laid on my face, passed out, and woke up when they were leaning me back up and flipping me around to start the recipient sites. All in all a easy day for me and a long day for Dr. Cooley and his staff. Dr. Cooley was in the procedure the entire time minus a few short breaks to rest his hand and to let me have some lunch. Brandi and Dr. Cooley are a well oiled machine and all the folks that work with him make the entire operation quit enjoyable..

 

I am now 11 days out from my procedure with Dr. Cooley and I can honestly say besides sleeping propped up for the first few nights specifically the two nights right after my surgery, the process had been a smooth one. I have not had to take any pain medication and the only thing I can say I still feel today is a slight bit of tension in the back of my head, but after having a strip of your scalp cut out and closed up, I don't consider that odd. Dr. Cooley and his staff did VERY clean work and besides the redness not a soul would have noticed the work. Now, I do tend to go above and beyond anytime I do anything so for sleeping at night I bought a soft neck brace and slept in it to keep my head upright and lessen the odds I fell asleep and wacked my head. The neck brace along with a recliner and a few pillows made the sleeping not all that terrible for the first two nights and a couple tylenol PM. I had some slight swelling in my forehead and on the bridge of my nose that lasted maybe 2 days and went away but this swelling was still very slight. I also opted to go back to Dr. Cooley's office for a 1 week follow up to have them wash my hair and I am glad I did cause I would have never scrubbed my head as hard as they did for fear of knocking out a graft just from my own paranoia.

 

Today as I write this, my recipient site is only slightly red and that is almost completely gone at this point. My girlfriend also states that finding the incision to place the cream on it for post op care would be almost impossible if it wasn't for the sutures she could see and feel to find it. I will be posting some photos shortly as I am writing this before I head out to the girlfriend's company christmas party. If anyone has any questions feels free to message me and asking anything you would like. If your hairloss is bothering you and you just aren't sure where to turn this community is filled with amazing people to help you along the way. I can only say I wish I had pulled the trigger on getting my hair fixed so much sooner.

 

And now....I begin the waiting game!

 

Thanks,

G

oh, and my graft count was around 3300!

Edited December 22, 2015 by David - Moderator

[JohnAC71 116]

Looks very refined. What was the graft count ?

[SADbutTRUE 10]

congrats on your recent HT, heal well and heres to a hairy future

[ThinninOut23 10]

Looks very refined. What was the graft count ?

 

1's-514

2's-1966

3's-554

4's-360

That is the quick break down, I believe the final count in my chart was slightly different, but that is very close.

[TakingThePlunge 136]

Congratulations! You can't go wrong with Dr. Cooley. Please keepu us updated on your progress.

 

Best of luck!

[ThinninOut23 10]

3 weeks out and got my sutures out today by my local physician. He was impressed by the scar and said it is hardly visible. So far so good! Taking one more week off from the gym, which will make it a month with no gym. When I start back I am staying with light weights for the first month back and will slowly work back into heavier lifts.

Cheers!

G

[ThinninOut23 10]

Just a quick update for those who are searching for advice. My healing appears to be going very well the scar is a very thin red line with hair growing through it already. As soon as the redness goes away I suspect the scar will be a challenge for my barber to find. Taking off and entire month for healing I feel is a great decision for anyone looking to have this procedure done. Happy 2016, and anyone seeking advice and a great HT doc feel free to message me. I will keep everyone updated on my progress.

Thanks!

[Spanker 61]

Congratulations. He's a great doc.

[thisguy1 10]

Congrats and keep us updated once you hit about month 4. You are about 3 weeks ahead of me. With the extent of loss at an early age did you discuss long term plans - looks like NW4ish at age 30 so even with the meds probably some of that native hair on top will be exiting over the next 5-7 years. (I know from experience) Without meds you definitely looked headed for NW6 in a decade so hopefully you can retain way more than that. Not needing to address the crown is going to be a big help.

[ThinninOut23 10]

Congrats and keep us updated once you hit about month 4. You are about 3 weeks ahead of me. With the extent of loss at an early age did you discuss long term plans - looks like NW4ish at age 30 so even with the meds probably some of that native hair on top will be exiting over the next 5-7 years. (I know from experience) Without meds you definitely looked headed for NW6 in a decade so hopefully you can retain way more than that. Not needing to address the crown is going to be a big help.

 

Yeah, I have a history of hairloss on my mothers side and have been on meds for the past 4-5 years to stop the hairloss as best I can. I am planning to track the progress and pending my results play it as I go. Dr. Cooley placed a lot of grafts within my native hair to help with the possibility of loosing most of it in the future and we did a mature hairline. If needed, I plan to go back for a second procedure in a few years to help stay ahead of the loss if it progresses. Lucky for me the bulk of my hairloss is all frontal and the crown has been stable. Honestly, if the crown thins that will be the last area I would address as I can't see it! haha!

Thanks again and I will post some new photos and updates at the 4 month mark!

[JON86 11]

Look forward to your update at four months. Doctor Cooley does great work.

[mrkellymac10 10]

This looks really great. Mine looked nothing like this when I had one done years ago. You have no spaces between your hairs and none of the big scabs. My scabs were on for weeks. I think you are going to look great.

[ThinninOut23 10]

4 MONTH UPDATE!

Alright guys, here are a few updated shots at 4 months post op FUT with Dr. Cooley. I have blonde fine hair naturally and the hair growing in as of now is very fine and hard to get great shots of. Here are some status updates for everyone to take a look at. My scar from the FUT is almost undetectable and will likely be completely impossible to find in a few more months. I am planning to buzz my head down to a number 3 all over in a few more weeks and I will post shots then also. I took these in as harsh a light as I could also.

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[Chewy 10]

looking good!

[JON86 11]

Looks to be right on schedule. Scar looks great for only four months. You picked one of the best doctors there is in my opinion. Look forward to future posts on your results. Happy growing.

[ThinninOut23 10]

Thanks so much for the kind words and I will keep a month by month update going forward.

[ThinninOut23 10]

5 month update coming soon

[ThinninOut23 10]

5 MONTH UPDATE!

 

Hey Guys,

Here are a few shots at 5 months. I took them in my bathroom that has 4 lights and is pretty harsh environment when it comes to lighting. I wanted to do that to try and get the best representation of how my hair looks currently. Sorry, its messy been out all day today with the yard chores. My FUT strip scar can't been seen even at a number 3 clipper. I will likely go shorter next haircut and post it up!! I think once the last bit of pink is gone, I can go to a number 2 and the scar will still be undetectable.

Thanks!

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Here is a wet shot, with my hair slicked back as a good comparison to my first post op photo to see the change so far in just 5 months!!

Edited May 9, 2016 by ThinninOut23

[JON86 11]

Really coming along great. Dr Cooley is one of the best. You made a wise choice.

[TakingThePlunge 136]

Looking good at only 5 months! You must be excited for what's to come.

[Spanker 61]

Looks really good.

[Garageland 99]

Looking great thanks for the clear updates.

[Pete-from-Farjo 33]

Coming along well. This should be a really nice result.

[jrsmith28 10]

Look's great! I hope I can get a quick growth like that.

[ThinninOut23 10]

Look's great! I hope I can get a quick growth like that.

 

Yeah, the waiting is the worst part, but it WILL come!!!! I try not to think about it and just really remember it when my calendar goes off to put up a new update. These forums are the best place to see real results and help guide people's choices. I wanted to give back to the community that helped me so much with my decision on which HT doctor. Hopefully my posts can help someone else who is struggling with hair loss and what to do about it.