3507 grafts by Dr. Cooley on 8/30/06

[Cooleyfied]

I was Cooleyfied last Wednesday with 3507 grafts and am very pleased with his skill and staff. I was in the chair from 7am to 11pm where Dr. Cooley drove me to my hotel himself when it was all done. I will gladly see him again for all of my dermatology needs in the future and am very excited to see the results in the next few months. Enjoy.

Donor Density: 80-100/Fu/cm2
Donor Laxity: good
Donor Length: 32 cm
Donor Width: 1.5-1.2 cm

Grafts:
FU Total#
1's 1108
2's 1744
3's 580
4's 75

Total 3507

Background:
30 years old
Diffuse stage 4 to 5
Thinning since 21
Placement of grafts was considered for future loss
No work to crown
Researching hair transplant's for the last 5 years
Consulted with many other Dr's and chose Dr. Cooley

Regimine:
5% minoxidil 2x daily - May/06
1mg Finepecia 1x daily - Dec/05
MSM 1000mg 3x daily - Aug/06
MultiVitamin 1x daily - Long time
Nizoral 1% alternated
DSM Zinc Shampoo alternated
Paul Mitchell Tea Tree Thickening Shampoo alternated

Other:
Sutures instead of staples
Swelling in forehead on 3rd day which went away with ice packs
Taking Ambien at night to help sleep
Sutures itch like crazy
No pain unless pressure is applied to sutures
Started Rogaine again ~60 hours post-op

Pics:
Before Pics

The Plan

The Good Stuff

Immediately Post OP

3 Days Post Op

3 Days Post Op

The Suture Line

The Suture Line

 

[hatweary]

Incredibly natural!!! That sounds like a long time to be under the knife though, you must've felt like a wad of chewed up bubblegum. Myself, I'm at 19 days post-op (1,600 units), just started to feel human again a few days ago. Get well soon.

 

[dirtrider67]

WOW! looks awesome. your hair seems to be growning back at an extremely fast rate. please keep your progress posted. also, how do you get your pics in your postings?

 

[johnyd473]

WOW !!!

Hi Cooleyfied, Im very impressed with Dr Cooley's placement of your Hairline,Please keep us in the loop and all the best with growth i just know you'll look great in a few months,Great stuff !!

BTW Do you know what density Dr Cooley placed in your Hairline ??

Regards,
John.

 

[Cooleyfied]

BTW Do you know what density Dr Cooley placed in your Hairline ??

Hey johny, I'm not sure what the density is but I'll ask next Wednesday, Aug. 13th when I return to get my sutures out.[/quote]

 

[Cooleyfied]

also, how do you get your pics in your postings?

You have to post the pics to a server, then put the path of the image inbetween tags.

 

[CCS]

what is that liquid on your head?

 

[Cooleyfied]

what is that liquid on your head?

Topical Windex, lol. :wink:

It's a saline cleaning solution in a spray bottle that Dr. Cooley provides his patients post-op. It simply keeps the scalp moist and clean so the scabs stay soft and the recipient area heals quicker. As you can see in my 3 day pics, I barely scabbed up at all. It also does wonders for suture itch.

 

[dirtrider67]

cooleyfied,


hows your hair transplant comming along? any new progress? updated pics?

keep us in the loop.

 

[Guest]

hey cooley,


when you say diffuse stage 2-3 is that the same as saying nw2-3? i am diffuse too so i am wondering what you mean.

btw im glad to hear cooley is a good Doctor. everything i've heard about him points to him being a fantastic surgeon.

i think your hair will look great in a few months.

 

[Cooleyfied]

when you say diffuse stage 2-3 is that the same as saying nw2-3? i am diffuse too so i am wondering what you mean.

Yeah, my bad... that should say Norwood 4-5.

 

[baldwang]

Amazing, it seems like the redness is gone after 3 days at the receiving area. I am 40 days post op now, and the receiving area is still red, but not as much as it was.

Cooley, how do you know the exact number of singles, doubles, and triples like that? Did they actually count those in front of you, or is that some number that they just throw at you. In my surgery, the Doctor told me he puts in 1600, but I think I got maybe around 1200. It's not an exact science, seems to me that they just estimate most of the time.

To all members on this board, how do you make sure that you actually get the number of grafts that you're paying for? Seems to me that asking the tech to count the grafts in front of you is like asking him to do a bad job on you later on.

 

[Cooleyfied]

Amazing, it seems like the redness is gone after 3 days at the receiving area. I am 40 days post op now, and the receiving area is still red, but not as much as it was.

At 3 days, it was still a bit pink but the lighting angle makes it seem like there wasn't any redness at all. Today is day #20 post op and I have no redness at all in the recipient nor donor area. I've been using Scar Zone ointment on the scar for the past week, 2x daily. Thankfully, I heal fast.

Cooley, how do you know the exact number of singles, doubles, and triples like that? Did they actually count those in front of you, or is that some number that they just throw at you. In my surgery, the Doctor told me he puts in 1600, but I think I got maybe around 1200. It's not an exact science, seems to me that they just estimate most of the time.

I asked Dr. Cooley if he wouldn't mind giving me the FU breakdown and he didn't mind at all. A good Doctor should always keep track of the FU breakdown and chances are.. if you went to a good Doctor.. they probably have it written in your chart.

To all members on this board, how do you make sure that you actually get the number of grafts that you're paying for? Seems to me that asking the tech to count the grafts in front of you is like asking him to do a bad job on you later on.

As far as I know, there is no 100% certain way you're getting exactly the # of grafts you were scheduled. This is just one more reason why choosing a good, eithcial dr. is extremely important.

 

[dirtrider67]

baldwang

when i had my 1471 grafts done the techs that were cutting the follicular units were counting them and when they were done seperating them, they added them all up to get a grand total. then while the doctor mas making the incisions, he had a nurse with a counter next to him counting each incision. every so often he would ask what the count was. i originally paid for 1500 grafts. halfway through the surgery, one of the techs handed me a refund for the 29 grafts they didn't get. they also told me that if they would have went over on the grafts, they wouldn't waste them and implant them for free. i feel they were pretty honest with me.

so how are your grafts doing at the 40 day mark? you got any pics you can post? what type of incisions did your doctor use? hows the donor scar doing?

 

[dirtrider67]

cooley

what type of incisions did your dr use?

 

[Cooleyfied]

what type of incisions did your dr use?

Lateral Slit using 4 custom blades.

 

[baldwang]

so how are your grafts doing at the 40 day mark? you got any pics you can post? what type of incisions did your doctor use? hows the donor scar doing?

Actually, it has been around 50 days now. Around 1/6 of the transplanted hair did not fall off, and another 1/6 grew back already. So that means I see around 1/3 of the hairs transplanted right now on my head. My first post here was a month ago bragging about how most of my transplanted hairs did not fall out. I was pretty excited about that (I thought I was among the lucky few that don't have to wait for the hairs to regrow), but then 1-2 weeks later, most of them did fall out. Right now, I notice the hairs have grown back not randomly or not spreaded evenly out. Their growth seem to depend on the area where they've been transplanted. Some areas have a bunch of them grown out, while some areas have no hair at all. Is that normal, for you veterans out there?

As for what type of incision my Doctor used, I did not see what he used to cut my donar hair, but I did ask to see what he used to make the graft sites. It looks more like a blade than a needle. It's around 3mm long and probably another 4mm high. It's a tool that prevents itself from going too deep into the skin, so I feel pretty comfortable about that, knowing that it's not going to crack my skull open.

Coolified, I'm curious why your graft area healed so quickly. Did your doctor use a smaller tool to make the graft sites than my Doctor? Did it look more like a needle than a blade? I heard stories about how Dr. Armani can put so many hairs into one area. I wonder if it's because he uses a tool that makes smaller graft sites than the tools that other doctors use? Seems to me that using a blade 2-3mm long to make a site for a hair graft is overkill, and that probably explains why my graft area is still pink, 50days post surgery. I wonder if others have the same experience as I do?

By the way, this waiting period is killing me. The suspense, the anxiety...[/quote]

 

[Cooleyfied]

Coolified, I'm curious why your graft area healed so quickly.

Honestly.. I have no idea. I have always healed quickly and I rarely get sick. Lucky I guess.. but not lucky enough to keep all my grafts. I shed probably 60% of the grafts by day 5 and probably 90% by day 10. I keep telling myself that shedding my grafts early means I'll be growing early. I'm trying to stay positive during the ugly days but you better believe it..... the wait is killing me, lol.

 

[dirtrider67]

man, i know what ya mean. the waiting sucks. hopefully we'll see some growth soon!

till then, biting the nails down to the bone!

 

[rugal]

Few Questions

Is this Dr. Cooley is the same as Dr. Jerry Cooley in North Carolina?

And can you please share how much did this transplant session cost?
Thanks.