1800 FU Transplant with Dr. Cooley 6/14/04

[ReceedingInNC]

My posting will be like many other that have experienced a hair transplant with Dr. Cooley and his staff. Nothing but kudos, but it is good to see and read continual affirmation of the quality of work to put new patients at more ease.

 

So here's my story.

 

I'm 32 and a level 2/3 on the Norand scale. A gradual decrease in the frontal area, and especially in the widows peak areas. I did not truly notice how far back it had gone until I saw a picture of my hairline in highschool (which was more than mildly depressing ).

 

I attempted the Minoxidil / Finpecia (generic Propecia route) for about 6 months and saw limited results. Looking at alternatives out there, follicular micrografting seemed a great possibility. Outside of the cost (be prepared to drop more than a couple grand depending on the number of grafts, the idea of potentially having a single procedure to restore my hairline more or less permanently had great appeal.

 

I reviewed all the postings here searching for Dr.'s in the NC area sepcifically around Charlotte. I found a couple, but Dr. Cooley's was the only one that made it seem like a personal / catered experience and not a processing factory. I immediately emailed Ailene and traded several emails / pictures with my questions - to which she responded to all of them and gave me sources to review in anticipation of the procedure. She worked with Dr. Cooley to even give an estiamte on the nunmber of grafts required for the procedure (and ended up being right on target - not bad!). Working in this fashion I was able to confirm my intention, schedule the appt. and lock down the date even while living in Italy at the time.

 

Prior to the consultation / surgery (all done on the same day per my choice, many others choose to do them separately but I was comfortable with that approach) I recieved a letter of what to expect and a prescription to be filled for Valium for the procedure. So with Valium in hand I got up early in the morning to go spend the entire day with Dr. Cooley and his staff.

 

Arriving I filled out 5-6 pages of paperwork and this was my only gripe of the whole day I met with Dr. cooley and he evaluated / confirmed the number of transplants and told me what to expect and what not to. He drew in a recommended hairline which we both agreed on and then I suited up in the gown and they started to get to work.

 

Per direction I took 3 valium and if that wasn't enough an anaesthetic was given as well. Needless to say I don;t remember much of the harvesting part of the procedure, but I do remember seeing 5 individuals on 5 different microscopes dissecting the follicles! The follices are trimmed to about 1/4 inch in length for transplant. After a quick trip to the restroom and a brief break (for me) the actual transplant procedure began.

 

The first process is Dr. Cooley creating the transplant field with small cuts with a scalpel. This is the artists touch as it is done by hand and he effectively creates what your final hairline will look like. With the amount of experience he has had, I was in good hands and this process did not take long at all. From then on 2 people worked on me solid for the remainder of the day transplanting follicles. Type 1's (transplant with a single follice of hair) go around the outside of the hairline, slowly blended to Type 2's which are then blended into Type 3's and finally Type 4's as they progress up the hairline towards your existing hair. This gives a natural look of a gradual thickening blending into your existing hair. The sensation is mildly noticeable as each set of follices is inserted into their slit and I simpy watched movie after movie (napping periodically or grabbing lunch from a nearby restaurant of my choice) while they continually worked on my head. Dr. Cooley and members of his staff stayed until 7:30PM to fully finish up on me to ensure the proper results. It is obvious the entire staff takes great pride / ownership in their work.

 

Post-Op:

Buy saran wrap, you'll be using lots of it. To protect the new follicles they need to be continualy sprayed (at least initially) with fresh tap water and covered with Saran Wrap. A strange concept but the follicles don't stick and it keeps them protected until fully rooted. At night its sara wrap and a surgeons cap plus a valium for the mild discomfort and during the day more saran wrap plus a bandana / ball cap. After a couple days you can start to let up on the saran wrap but if you are outdoors in the wind / sun it is strongly advised to wear the wrap and protect the area as much as possible. After the money dropped on the procedure it's a small price to pay!

 

You can't wash the transplant area for at least a week and simply need to let it air dry if it gets wet. The harvest area is a little more resilient given it's stitched and can be washed shortly after.

 

After about a week I'll be going in for a review and cleanup and will go from there.

 

For all the research I did one thing I did not consider was that given my transplants are in a fairly noticeable area I had not considered how I would 'hide' them when I was in public and not in an area I could wear a hat or bandana. You can't shave your head to get it all to the same height because of the harvest scar, and need to consider the proper hair length to cover as necessary. Now with the redness gone they are not nearly as noticeable, and I am fortunate to have a couple weeks off before haing to return to work full time to allow a great deal of healing prior.

 

From what I understand these new follicles will be hibernating for 2-3 months until they re-establish a new blood supply. After this time they will slowly start to grow and within 6-9 months I will see the results that I have made this investment for. So for now, it's time to be patient and simply watch!

 

Bottom line: A good experience and Dr. Cooely / staff are highly recommended. Happy researching and good luck!

[ReceedingInNC]

My posting will be like many other that have experienced a hair transplant with Dr. Cooley and his staff. Nothing but kudos, but it is good to see and read continual affirmation of the quality of work to put new patients at more ease.

 

So here's my story.

 

I'm 32 and a level 2/3 on the Norand scale. A gradual decrease in the frontal area, and especially in the widows peak areas. I did not truly notice how far back it had gone until I saw a picture of my hairline in highschool (which was more than mildly depressing ).

 

I attempted the Minoxidil / Finpecia (generic Propecia route) for about 6 months and saw limited results. Looking at alternatives out there, follicular micrografting seemed a great possibility. Outside of the cost (be prepared to drop more than a couple grand depending on the number of grafts, the idea of potentially having a single procedure to restore my hairline more or less permanently had great appeal.

 

I reviewed all the postings here searching for Dr.'s in the NC area sepcifically around Charlotte. I found a couple, but Dr. Cooley's was the only one that made it seem like a personal / catered experience and not a processing factory. I immediately emailed Ailene and traded several emails / pictures with my questions - to which she responded to all of them and gave me sources to review in anticipation of the procedure. She worked with Dr. Cooley to even give an estiamte on the nunmber of grafts required for the procedure (and ended up being right on target - not bad!). Working in this fashion I was able to confirm my intention, schedule the appt. and lock down the date even while living in Italy at the time.

 

Prior to the consultation / surgery (all done on the same day per my choice, many others choose to do them separately but I was comfortable with that approach) I recieved a letter of what to expect and a prescription to be filled for Valium for the procedure. So with Valium in hand I got up early in the morning to go spend the entire day with Dr. Cooley and his staff.

 

Arriving I filled out 5-6 pages of paperwork and this was my only gripe of the whole day I met with Dr. cooley and he evaluated / confirmed the number of transplants and told me what to expect and what not to. He drew in a recommended hairline which we both agreed on and then I suited up in the gown and they started to get to work.

 

Per direction I took 3 valium and if that wasn't enough an anaesthetic was given as well. Needless to say I don;t remember much of the harvesting part of the procedure, but I do remember seeing 5 individuals on 5 different microscopes dissecting the follicles! The follices are trimmed to about 1/4 inch in length for transplant. After a quick trip to the restroom and a brief break (for me) the actual transplant procedure began.

 

The first process is Dr. Cooley creating the transplant field with small cuts with a scalpel. This is the artists touch as it is done by hand and he effectively creates what your final hairline will look like. With the amount of experience he has had, I was in good hands and this process did not take long at all. From then on 2 people worked on me solid for the remainder of the day transplanting follicles. Type 1's (transplant with a single follice of hair) go around the outside of the hairline, slowly blended to Type 2's which are then blended into Type 3's and finally Type 4's as they progress up the hairline towards your existing hair. This gives a natural look of a gradual thickening blending into your existing hair. The sensation is mildly noticeable as each set of follices is inserted into their slit and I simpy watched movie after movie (napping periodically or grabbing lunch from a nearby restaurant of my choice) while they continually worked on my head. Dr. Cooley and members of his staff stayed until 7:30PM to fully finish up on me to ensure the proper results. It is obvious the entire staff takes great pride / ownership in their work.

 

Post-Op:

Buy saran wrap, you'll be using lots of it. To protect the new follicles they need to be continualy sprayed (at least initially) with fresh tap water and covered with Saran Wrap. A strange concept but the follicles don't stick and it keeps them protected until fully rooted. At night its sara wrap and a surgeons cap plus a valium for the mild discomfort and during the day more saran wrap plus a bandana / ball cap. After a couple days you can start to let up on the saran wrap but if you are outdoors in the wind / sun it is strongly advised to wear the wrap and protect the area as much as possible. After the money dropped on the procedure it's a small price to pay!

 

You can't wash the transplant area for at least a week and simply need to let it air dry if it gets wet. The harvest area is a little more resilient given it's stitched and can be washed shortly after.

 

After about a week I'll be going in for a review and cleanup and will go from there.

 

For all the research I did one thing I did not consider was that given my transplants are in a fairly noticeable area I had not considered how I would 'hide' them when I was in public and not in an area I could wear a hat or bandana. You can't shave your head to get it all to the same height because of the harvest scar, and need to consider the proper hair length to cover as necessary. Now with the redness gone they are not nearly as noticeable, and I am fortunate to have a couple weeks off before haing to return to work full time to allow a great deal of healing prior.

 

From what I understand these new follicles will be hibernating for 2-3 months until they re-establish a new blood supply. After this time they will slowly start to grow and within 6-9 months I will see the results that I have made this investment for. So for now, it's time to be patient and simply watch!

 

Bottom line: A good experience and Dr. Cooely / staff are highly recommended. Happy researching and good luck!

[Robert_]

Your experience sounded EXACTLY like mine. I alomost felt guilty I was so comfortable in that chair! When you said that the staff take pride in their work, you said a mouth full. I know that there are other doctors that get alot of recognition on this forum (rightfully so), but going from my experience and humble opinion, I cannot fathom how the procedure could have been more pleasing and how any more care could have been given to me by Dr. Cooley and his staff.

[brianK]

ReceedingInNC,

 

Can you post pictures of your post-op? We have a few other active members on this forum who are thinking about using Dr. Cooley. Thanks for sharing your experience.

 

Brian

 

-----------------------------------

1600 FUs with Dr. Cooley 06/11/04

[Brando]

ReceedinginNC(not for long),

Sounds like a great trip to Dr Cooley. How many grafts did you receive, if you don't mind me asking? Do you think you'll post some pics for us? Good luck!