Regular Member Hair Apparent Posted September 20, 2005 Author Regular Member Share Posted September 20, 2005 Update 8 HT + 368 Days It has now been just over a year since my HT. There's not much to amplify upon from my previous post. The comments I made in my last post still remain true. One thing to add, is that Robert was not being overly optimistic when he mentioned that there was the possibility of further development after all of the grafts have appeared. In the five months since I entered that post, I've watched the new hair thicken and that makes considerable difference. It's not something one would notice studying the hair from day to day. I wasn't really paying attention until last month, I woke up and walked into the bathroom, looked into the mirror, and said "Whoa!" The new hair in the front and on top was thick enough that it actually looked tangled and unkempt from sleeping. It's been a long time since I needed a comb. (And actually, for me, a brush works better than a comb.) With the most critical eye, I can now state that I have passed from "bald" to "balding". Not what I was shooting for, but when one started as a Norwood VI, it's a hell of an improvement. With the thickness, the new hair now looks growing and vibrant, rather than the last dying hold-outs on a bald head--and that makes a big cosmetic difference. Mirrors are still a friend and a foe, depending. At a distance of more than a few feet or with especially bright light, such as direct sunlight, overhead, most of the hair still "washes out", making me appear as bald as I ever was. But close to within four or five feet, or in indirect lighting, and the new hair is apparent and my appearance changes significantly. My bathroom mirror remains my best friend; it shows off my new hair to the best advantage. The next stage is for the new hair on my crown and the back of my head to catch up with the top and front. Following the conventional wisdom, my hair on the crown and back has lagged in development behind the front by about three months. Once it "catches up" with the front, I'll have achieved the max benefit anyone under my circumstances could expect. That goes directly to the high quality of Doctor Cooley's work. He and his staff did an outstanding job; he obtained the most gain possible from distributing the 2,500+ grafts over my entire balding area. And for those who still wonder if it is possible to have a strip HT without being inflicted with a visible scar, I haven't even thought about it in several months. Believe me, I inspect the hair all over my head on a daily basis, and I notice everything to the millimetre, but the incision which Dr. Cooley made to extract my grafts has completely healed. The last time I visited his offices, about three months ago, it took him three attempts to even find where it was. See the grey line that divides one post from another on this board? The only evidence left of the incision is that same colour and about half as wide as that line, and in many places, it's healed over without any mark. So, even with modest goals, I am left with sparser coverage than what I had hoped for. That's the only downcheck, and the blame for that lies with nature that cursed me with baldness. The actual procedure and results were outstanding under the given limitations. I would defy anyone to know that the hair on the top and back of my head wasn't what nature put there. The upside, of course, is that I can go back and have another HT, as soon as I'm willing to pry open my change purse and spring for it. At that last visit, Dr. Cooley said that I had lots of available grafts left. (Based on his original estimation, that would be at least 3,500 grafts.) Now that I have covered up the crown and back with at least some hair, my plans for my next HT--depending on the amount of coverage I finally realise in the back and crown--are to concentrate on the front and top, putting 65-75% of the grafts there, and sprinkling the rest in the crown and back. That should take me from "balding" to "thinning", and I will be most content with that. To anyone who cares to go through all of my posts here, I've tried to provide an accurate account of how the results of an HT progresses throughout the first year, including the things that go through one's mind during that time. Even if one has only one HT, it is a "work in progress", for at least a year, and I've tried to provide some insight to the changes which occur over that time. I hope something in my rambling might prove helpful. If you are considering a hair transplant, I would overwhelmingly recommend it, so long as your expectations are realistic, given your age and own degree of hairloss. As for the procedure itself, it is reliable and safe with nominal scarring, so long as one selects a completely expert surgeon. Naturally, I recommend Dr. Cooley wholeheartedly, but the other members of this board have also used other outstanding physicians who have produced superb results. So, do your research--especially by studying the posts on this board (I wish I had discovered it before making my decisions; it would have saved me hours of legwork)--and the results will be positive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member GuitarPlayer Posted September 20, 2005 Senior Member Share Posted September 20, 2005 Anyone know how Dr. Cooley is coming along with his cloning/hair multiplication research? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Nashville Kat Posted September 21, 2005 Regular Member Share Posted September 21, 2005 Hair Apparent, It's great to hear how far you have come. I've just hit the 8th month and I've had quite a bit of thickening in the last month and I'm really looking forward to the next few months. It's a HUGE difference!! I have to agree with you 100% that Dr. Cooley is a master of his profession and he will be my choice again when I get ready for more work. I had the best compliment of all yesterday from someone I had not seen for about a year. Last time I saw them I was nearly bald. They could not believe that my hair was transplanted and said they could not tell that it was not what god put there. By the way, this was a girl and she asked for Dr. Cooley's number because she had lost some hair from a surgery and wanted it fixed and was impressed enough with my work that she wanted the same Dr. I'm having cool things like this happen all the time as I'm sure you are. By the way, when you gonna drop a few more bucks and get the rest done? If your like me I know your anxious to get it finished. Great to hear your doing well and I would still like to see your photos sometime Nashville Kat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Hair Apparent Posted October 30, 2005 Author Regular Member Share Posted October 30, 2005 By the way, when you gonna drop a few more bucks and get the rest done? If your like me I know your anxious to get it finished. To answer this question for you, Kat: I finally worked out a relatively painless way to spring for my next HT. I've shot off an e-mail to Ailene Watts to schedule me for a consult with Doctor Cooley sometime next week. It will take about a month to play the fund-shift game, and then it will be up to whenever Dr. Cooley will call me in. I'm going for max gain this time--about 3,500 grafts is all I have left--and going to concentrate them mostly in front and on the top. And, again, as I said in my post to your thread--congratulations on your outstanding results! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Robert_ Posted October 31, 2005 Senior Member Share Posted October 31, 2005 Hair, Just a thought, if you let me know a little in advance when your procedure will be I can possibly make plans to come up and meet you, if you'd like. I'm only a three-hour drive away and I am kind of overdue for a visit to Dr. Cooley. -Robert ------------------------------ Check out the results of my surgical hair restoration performed by Dr. Jerry Cooley by visiting my Hair Loss Weblog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Hair Apparent Posted November 1, 2005 Author Regular Member Share Posted November 1, 2005 Robert, I certainly don't have a problem with you being there. In fact, I'd welcome the opportunity to share some "sea stories" about HT's with you. It might be difficult for you to fit it in, unless we just happen to get lucky. The only part of the timeline I know is this: my consultation with Doctor Cooley will be sometime next week. After that it will take four-to-six weeks to play the shell game with my assets to free up the needed funds. After that, I cannot predict. Dr. Cooley allows a significant reduction in his fee for patients who are on "stand by", available to come in for their HT when a "last minute" opening arises. I'm fortunate to be in a position where I can do that, as I did with my first one. That time, I had forty-eight hours notice. If you can work around that--great! I'd be glad to have you there. But I know that's a small envelope to be able to make a three-hour drive. I'll let you know as things develop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Nashville Kat Posted November 1, 2005 Regular Member Share Posted November 1, 2005 Hair Apparent, Great new's!!!!! I know your ready to get it finished. I am also contimplating going ahead with my second HT between now and Christmas but have not had time to get in touch with Dr. Cooley's office yet to check his availability. My schedule is slammed right now also and that might be a problem for me between now and then. Get Dr. Cooley to take some photo's of your noggin and let's see where your going with this. Obviously your going for the brushy Bill look this time with 3500 grafts. Man I think that's great!!!!! Keep us posted!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Robert_ Posted November 7, 2005 Senior Member Share Posted November 7, 2005 Originally posted by Hair Apparent:Robert, I certainly don't have a problem with you being there. In fact, I'd welcome the opportunity to share some "sea stories" about HT's with you. It might be difficult for you to fit it in, unless we just happen to get lucky. The only part of the timeline I know is this: my consultation with Doctor Cooley will be sometime next week. After that it will take four-to-six weeks to play the shell game with my assets to free up the needed funds. After that, I cannot predict. Dr. Cooley allows a significant reduction in his fee for patients who are on "stand by", available to come in for their HT when a "last minute" opening arises. I'm fortunate to be in a position where I can do that, as I did with my first one. That time, I had forty-eight hours notice. If you can work around that--great! I'd be glad to have you there. But I know that's a small envelope to be able to make a three-hour drive. I'll let you know as things develop. I totally understand, HP. I can try to come up on a moment's notice, but it would be difficult. Good luck with everything, sir! Fair winds and following seas, -Robert ------------------------------ Check out the results of my surgical hair restoration performed by Dr. Jerry Cooley by visiting my Hair Loss Weblog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Hair Apparent Posted November 12, 2005 Author Regular Member Share Posted November 12, 2005 I had the consultation at Doctor Cooley's office yesterday afternoon. Since we didn't have to waste any time on background, details of the HT, or technical aspects, since I've been through the drill with Dr. Cooley once before and know what to expect, this session was devoted entirely to ???¦sthetics. My goals are in sync with what they recommend. I'm going to "double up" with another 2,500+ grafts and this time arrange them them with more attention to the front and top. My crown and back will still be a bit sparse, but the hair I already transplanted there will ameliorate that somewhat. For personal reasons, I will not be free to be on "stand by" until 14 December, but from then on, I'll be able to go into his office for the surgery on a 24-hour notice, although it probably won't be quite that short-notice. Probably 48 hours. I'll let you know, Robert, as soon as I get the call, but I completely understand if you can't get away to make that long drive to Charlotte. But, if you can, you are more than welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Nashville Kat Posted November 15, 2005 Regular Member Share Posted November 15, 2005 Hair Apparent, Glad to hear your consult went well and you have a plan of attack. I was hoping that by luck we might end up there at the same time. Guess not. I spoke with Aileen today and booked mine for Dec. 8th for another 2500 grafts. Hopefully this will give me enough that I will be finished at least for several years. Good luck on yours and I'll keep you posted on how mine goes. Nashville Kat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Robert_ Posted November 15, 2005 Senior Member Share Posted November 15, 2005 Yikes! You guys aren't kidding around! Ya'll are some hair-getting maniacs! (Excuse the southern drawl there) I'll try, Hair, but it will be difficult around that time. Congrats on the consult, though. I dig the new plan of attack and I think you will be pleased. Same congrats to you, Nashville. I look forward to hearing about both of your subsequent Dr. Cooley experiences! -Robert ------------------------------ Check out the results of my surgical hair restoration performed by Dr. Jerry Cooley by visiting my Hair Loss Weblog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Hair Apparent Posted December 28, 2005 Author Regular Member Share Posted December 28, 2005 And so it begins, again . . . . It's a "go", folks! I'm scheduled for my second HT with Doctor Cooley on 18 January. At least 2,500 grafts, but probably lots more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Robert_ Posted December 28, 2005 Senior Member Share Posted December 28, 2005 Great news, Hair! I already know that I won't be able to make it up in the middle of the week so I'll just go ahead and offer my congratulations a little early. -Robert ------------------------------ Check out the results of my surgical hair restoration performed by Dr. Jerry Cooley by visiting my Hair Loss Weblog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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