Initial Consultation (Dr. Cooley)

[Prospicience]

I just returned from my initial consultation with Dr. Jerry Cooley in Charlotte NC. While I had to wait an extra half hour past my appointment time (I even arrived 30 minutes prior to the appointment time and completed the two forms in no time at all) it was well worth the wait. Dr. Cooley and Ailene are very polite and professional. I felt comfortable in the waiting room; there were a variety of patients (men, women, and children) awaiting a variety of doctors for varying reasons within the practice. I in no way felt singled out for my "follically challenged" visit.

 

Ailene leads the way and walks you through the questions and procedure; she is very informative and insightful. After approximately 35-45 minutes of her presentation, overall open discussion and my questions being answered, Ailene summoned Dr. Cooley. He arrived, asked me if I had any questions and then proceeded to review the density of my donor area (fortunately quite dense in my case) and recommend a course of action. Just like Ailene, he suggested 2,000 to cover the frontal area of my type VI (46 year old, very little change over the past 5-7 years) profile. Basically, covering from my ears to a restored frontal hairline. He estimated that my dense donor area could supply 6,000+ overall if need be ??“ the call was totally mine based on personal satisfaction and desired results.

 

The price was $8,500 for the 2,000 and only another $1,500 to take it up to 3,000. I fully appreciate the drain on Dr. Cooley physically by pushing it to 3,000 ??“ but 1,000 (1/3) more for just $1,500 is too hard to resist. As for me, I have an extreme amount of patience and a very high threshold for pain/inconvenience so I think it's going to be 3,000. Dr. Cooley doesn't offer a finance plan but refers you to Capital One who I contacted in advance and received approval for $10,000 (coincidence ??“ I think not). I will request the 3,000 tomorrow when I confirm the desire to proceed. Currently, he is booked out through late December; he performs on only one patient per day.

 

More to follow ??“ I am pleased so far.

 

Robert ??“ (I trust you'll se this) I would like to thank you for this forum and your insight on Dr. Cooley.

 

Regards,

 

Mike

[Gorpy]

Hi Prosp,

You are in good hands with Dr. Cooley. I can see how 3000 would give you reasonable coverage from your existing hairline back to about the halfway point. I think 2000 would be very thin coverage. Are you planning on doing the crown later?

[Robert_]

Good to hear your positive experience in the consultation, Prospicience. Like you, I would have to agree that $1500 for an extra 1,000 grafts would be hard to pass up. Thanks for the update and good luck in your procedure. Let me know if I can be of any more help.

 

-Robert

[Prospicience]

Gorpy,

 

The crown may be a consideration in the future once I see how things settle a year or so from now. Also, I want to see how the Propecia affects the loss in that area as well. I neglected to mention in my original post that Dr. Cooley prescribed it and Ailene provided 28 pills free of charge to get me started. Fortunately, I will still have approximately 3,000 left in my donor area if I elect to get a second procedure.

 

Robert,

 

As always - thank you for the time and effort you spend moderating this site. When I created my album, I did not expect it to post - please remove it. I was simply trying to create it for future reference and to add to it after my procedure next month. How can I get it to post like yours, in original posts or replies, as a link if a reader so chooses?

 

Regards,

Mike

[Nashville Kat]

Prospicience,

 

Congrats on the consult with Dr. Cooley. I assure you that you will be very pleased with the work that he and his team will do for you and your time spent there. It sounds like your getting a very good deal on pricing. Better than what I got. I am one of those scheduled in front of you with Dr. Cooley on Dec. 8th. for my second procedure of 2500 grafts with him. I had 2500 grafts the first time and am most pleased with the results that I got from those. You can expect a very long day when you have it done. On the day I had my first one, Dr. Cooley picked me up at my hotel at 8:00am and dropped me back off at 9:00pm for a total of 13 hours. He is very meticulous at how he places each graft and takes his time. It is very much worth it as you will be very pleased with the results.

 

Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.

 

Nashville Kat

[Hair Apparent]

Mike,

 

Glad to hear your consultation with Doctor Cooley went so well. Your experience mirrored mine almost to a "T" including the degree of baldness and the available donor hair.

 

The costs quoted you reflect the ones presented to me, as well. I didn't comment on them in my previous post to you because, if for some unforeseen complication or other reason, Dr. Cooley had to charge you more, he wouldn't be put in the position of having to defend his fee to you against what he charged me. But your costs are exactly in line with what was quoted me.

 

I've just initiated the "shell game" of my own funds, to free up what I will need for my second HT with Dr. Cooley. I'm trying to time it so that I will be in a stand-by status for the next one no sooner than the middle of December. I know he's booked solid in that month, but I'm taking the long shot that I can slip in during the last two weeks of December, which would be ideal for me. And I don't lose anything if I have to wait until January. (One thing one learns all too well as a HT patient is patience.)

 

Good luck to you, sir! I'm sure you will find the experience a good one. You've picked a top-notch surgeon.

[Prospicience]

Due to the holiday season and staffing level concerns, my procedure will now be in the first week of Jan 2006. As Nashville Kat noted, 2,500-3,000 will be a long day and take its toll on Dr. Cooley and his staff.

 

I feel compelled to get the biggest bang for my buck now as I am not sure I will be willing or able for that matter, to go for a round two. I have better things to spend my money on raising two sons as a sole custody divorced dad.

 

I only posted my quote/fees because I was very curious about the costs when I began my research. I appreciate the varying conditions of patients and that fees can vary and change for matter.

 

Thanks to all for the encouragement and replies.

 

Regards,

Mike

[Robert_]

Originally posted by Prospicience:

Gorpy,

 

The crown may be a consideration in the future once I see how things settle a year or so from now. Also, I want to see how the Propecia affects the loss in that area as well. I neglected to mention in my original post that Dr. Cooley prescribed it and Ailene provided 28 pills free of charge to get me started. Fortunately, I will still have approximately 3,000 left in my donor area if I elect to get a second procedure.

 

Robert,

 

As always - thank you for the time and effort you spend moderating this site. When I created my album, I did not expect it to post - please remove it. I was simply trying to create it for future reference and to add to it after my procedure next month. How can I get it to post like yours, in original posts or replies, as a link if a reader so chooses?

 

Regards,

Mike

 

 

I took your photo album down. In the future, when you want to make one and display a link in your posts, just follow these instructions:

 

After you have made your photo album,

 

1) Click the "Go" tab located on the toolbar on the upper left part of the screen.

 

2) Some options will appear. Click on "My Space" > "Profile"

 

3) Once there, look over at the top right corner where it says, "View/Edit Complete Profile." Click that. This is where you edit your entire profile.

 

4) For links located on the side, the field you want to use is called, "Custom Member Title."

 

5) Here is the basic HTML to insert to make links:

 

(enter title of link here)

 

It should look like this when you are done (without the *s which I inserted to stop it from making a link here).

 

Hair Transplant Network

 

and the finished product will look like this:

 

Hair Transplant Network

 

6) After you have inserted the html link of your photo album and title into the HTML and pasted that into your profile's "Custom Member Title" field, hit "Submit" at the bottom of your profile page.

 

 

If you have any more questions, don't hesitate to ask and I'll help you out as much as I can.

 

-Robert

[tntiger]

Originally posted by Prospicience:

Dr. Cooley doesn't offer a finance plan but refers you to Capital One who I contacted in advance and received approval for $10,000 (coincidence ??“ I think not). I will request the 3,000 tomorrow when I confirm the desire to proceed. Currently, he is booked out through late December; he performs on only one patient per day.

 

Regards,

 

Mike

 

Good Luck Mike

I'm sure Dr. Cooley will do a great job for you. I hate to tell you but I'm another person scheduled ahead of you too. I am having my HT on Dec 20th. I was going to mention something about the money. I had thought about applying for another credit card that lets you transfer money from one card to another and no finance charges. I get frequent flyer miles on my Bank of America card for US Air and I thought I would get another card and let them pay it off and then take advantage of the better terms. What does everyone think? I think there are a couple of companies offering this.

As far as my hair loss its about 3A maybe less and I'm having 2,500 grafts done. The plan is to fill in on the temples and increase the density on top in the middle. No serious loss in the crown but am starting Avodart anyway. I'm getting Avodart due to cheap cost for me. It sounds like I am going to be in the chair a lot longer than I had planned but I hadn't planned on doing anything else that day anyway! Ha Ha

Once the procedure is over when is the next time you go back to the office. I know you have to wait a least a week before he says they can clean up the area aggresively.

[Prospicience]

tntiger,

 

I'm okay with my timeline as it works out for me vacation wise; I will be off from my office job (can't wear a hat) a total of 15 days including the procedure day and weekends. There are now at least two site members going in before me to see Dr. Cooley.

 

Unfortunately for me, my credit rating is not the greatest - extensively due to the later years of my marriage and ultimate divorce. I am not in a good position to apply for multiple cards and flip flop balances via transfers. It will buy you some time until the transfer options run out. Be careful though, too many cards open is not a good thing - it was my ultimate downfall.

 

Being new to this forum and hair loss research I am unfamiliar with Avodart. What is its claim to fame?

 

With my 3,000, I expect I will be in the chair 12+ hours. Not an issue for me, as I mentioned previously, I have a high tolerance for discomfort and a lot of patience. I will give Dr. Cooley all the rest periods he needs. I beleive the next follow up visit is a week out for clean up as you mentioned.

 

Best of luck tntiger and keep us posted after the procedure.

 

Regards,

Mike

[Robert_]

Prospicience,

 

I gathered about as much information as is available about both Finasteride (active ingredient in both Propecia and Proscar) and Dutasteride (active ingredient in Avodart). You can read the article here:

 

Propecia vs. Avodart

 

-Robert

[Nashville Kat]

My past experience with Dr. Cooley is that he had me come in the following morning for a check up and cleaning. Actually he picked me up at my Hotel and brought me in with him. I'm not sure if you guy's are from Charlotte or from out of town like me. You can clean your hair and head the day after surgery, you just can't scrub it like you might on a normal day. You have to wait I believe it was somewhere between 1 and 2 weeks. Don't worry they will give you complete instructions on what to do and what not to do. I think the next time he wants to see you is in about 10 days to 2 weeks to remove the sutures. If your from another city you can get dissolveable sutures or you can arrange to have a local Doc to remove them when you get back home. I had the dissolveable ones the first time and they damn near drove me crazy for 3 weeks until they finally came out itching. I have made arrangements with a local Doc to remove them this time after 2 weeks. Other than the day following surgery I have not seen Dr. Cooley in almost a year but he did stay in touch with me by phone and e-mail for several weeks checking up to see that all was well. You will really like dealing with him and his staff. By the way, I was the one wanting to take a break every so often, not Dr. Cooley, although he was very accomodating in letting me take them.

Good luck guy's and keep us posted.

 

Nashville Kat

[Prospicience]

Kat,

 

Thanks for the update. I live about 10-15 minutes from Dr. Cooley's office; so traveling to and from is really not issue. I will have someone transport me the day of the procedure though. Not going to take any unnecessary chances driving on that day.

 

Best of luck!

 

Regards,

Mike

[Prospicience]

Robert,

 

As always, thank you for your insight, wisdom, maintenance and mentoring on this site. The information you provided is very enlightening, thank you again.

 

Regards,

Mike

[Prospicience]

Hey Kat,

 

Thank you for allowing me to step in and see you in mid procedure while signing my paperwork; I truly appreciate it. I knew from your posts that you would be there on the day I was going in to sign off on the Capital One paperwork. I also thank Ailene for approaching you to see if it would be okay.

 

Admittedly, I am very concerned about my recovery time as I am 47 now and my body heals very slowly from basic cuts, bruises etc. I work as a manager in an office environment and wearing a hat is really not an option. I welcome any comments from the 45+ year olds out there who have gone through 3,000 in one session on their recovery time. Also, I am concerned about walking in with "hair" after approximately 15 days off and having it fall out as soon after. Oh well, in the long run it is all VERY good.

 

Kat - again thank you for sharing your moment - I welcome any of "brethren" to do the same on 1-4-05 while I'm in the chair with Dr. Cooley.

 

Regards,

Mike

[Hair Apparent]

Mike,

 

As I mentioned before, I was the same age as you, and the same degree of baldness when I had my HT in September, 2004. Of course, each person is different, and I've never had any noticeable problems healing following injury, so bear that in mind.

 

But when I returned to work two weeks after my HT, there were no signs in the transplanted area that any work had ever been done. No redness, no "dotting", nothing. Now, the donor scar was still visible. If I had let my hair grow longer in back, that might have been partially masked, but I'm one of those "in for a penny, in for a pound" types. I made no secret that I had had a transplant, and on top of that, I abandoned the hairpieces I had worn for years.

 

As far as recovery time, except for the noticeable line where the donor grafts were removed (and that will fade in short time; Doctor Cooley does particularly outstanding work there; it's impossible to see where my strip was removed, now), you probably won't have any problems.

 

As far as the transplanted hairs divesting themselves, nearly all of mine did so within that two weeks of recuperating time; the ones that did not fall out during that fortnight never did fall out, but they were so few, it didn't make a cosmetic difference in my appearance.

 

So, barring some kind of bizarre complication, there shouldn't be any healing issues in terms of your appearance when you go back to work, except for the donor scar.

 

I live about ten minutes away from Dr. Cooley's offices. If you would like me to drop by on 04 January to pick my brain about what you're going to be going through, I'd be glad to do so.

[Prospicience]

H.A.,

 

Thank you for sharing your experience with me and helping to put me at ease. I started to think about most of the members here being younger then their late 40's and remembering how long takes for small cuts and bruises to heal now a days for me. I was glad to hear from a fellow 40 something (+) on recovery aspects.

 

I fully appreciate each procedure is "unique" and the results/recoveries can and will vary. I will have Dr. Cooley's undivided attention for 12+ hours for questioning but I welcome you to stop on by if you like/can. That holds true for any others in the area who are curious about the process and want to see it first hand - assuming Dr. Cooley/Ailene say okay and the timing is right.

 

Three and one half weeks away ??“ getting very excited.

 

Regards,

Mike

[Nashville Kat]

Prospicience, It was great to get a chance to meet you the day of my procedure. As you could see, it was very laid back and comfortable. Sorry it's taken me a week to get back to the forums but I did not get a break from work this time. I got back home Friday and went to work Saturday and havent had much time to stop since.

 

As far as your healing, I'm 46, about the same age as you and ended up with somewhere over 2600 grafts this time. I'll have to check with Dr. Cooley's office to get a exact count and my photo's and then I will post them. It's been a week since my HT and pretty much all the scabs are gone and it's hard to tell that I had anything done except for the little short hairs everywhere which I expect to lose shortly. My 9 year old daughter say's I have a little hair village growing now on my crown. Go figure, kids.

 

What I have done after both my procedures that seems to have worked well, is take a good multi vitamin, extra vitamin C, Whey protein twice a day and about 3000mgs of MSM a day for a few months after surgery. That and try to eat well and get plenty of protein to help your body heal. That's it.

 

I'll try to post more on my experience later when I can get the photo's from Dr. Cooley. Don't stress, Your in very capable hands and you will be very pleased.

 

Nashville Kat

[Gorpy]

Nash, you had a great result from you first procedure. You were an insiration to me. I can't wait to see the results of your second!

[Prospicience]

Kat,

 

Thank you for the post op description and post op regime advice. Funny, I would have never guessed you were 46 - more like late 30's or early 40's at the most. Thanks again for letting me stop in mid procedure.

 

Getting excited - a little over two weeks away. It feels weird letting my hair "grow out" as I usually go for a #1 or #2 buzz all the way around. My ex said it looked better that way and I believed her - ha! Actually, based on my current VI stature, I would agree with her. However, I want to cover the scar as best as possible and show Dr. Cooley more growth and direction in the transplant area.

 

Based on my experiences with Dr. Cooley and those shared by fellow members such as yourself, I know I'm going with a leader in the field.

 

Best of luck Kat - I look forward to your album.

 

Enjoy your holidays (Kat and all fellow members),

 

Mike

[Telephone Man]

There is a lot of positive feedback about Dr. Cooley and many others on this and other sites. The only issue that comes up with us of the NW5-6-7 world is the amount of ultimate work that is needed (4-6000 FU's) and wanting to get them done in one sitting may be of importance. If this is the case make sure you confirm the maximum that a doc has performed many times and check them out.

 

Good Luck

TMAN

[Prospicience]

Originally posted by Forum Moderator and Satisfied Patient:

After you have made your photo album,

 

1) Click the "Go" tab located on the toolbar on the upper left part of the screen.

 

2) Some options will appear. Click on "My Space" > "Profile"

 

3) Once there, look over at the top right corner where it says, "View/Edit Complete Profile." Click that. This is where you edit your entire profile.

 

4) For links located on the side, the field you want to use is called, "Custom Member Title."

 

5) Here is the basic HTML to insert to make links:

 

(enter title of link here)

 

It should look like this when you are done (without the *s which I inserted to stop it from making a link here).

 

Hair Transplant Network

 

and the finished product will look like this:

 

Hair Transplant Network

 

6) After you have inserted the html link of your photo album and title into the HTML and pasted that into your profile's "Custom Member Title" field, hit "Submit" at the bottom of your profile page.

 

 

If you have any more questions, don't hesitate to ask and I'll help you out as much as I can.

 

-Robert

 

Robert,

 

I created and posted my new album; however, I do not see the "Custom Member Title" option you mention in step 4 above within my profile after following steps 1-3.

 

My album shows up in the album section as expected but I still want to add it as a link in my posts. Any other suggestions?

 

Thank you/Regards,

Mike