azn_guy

Jerry E. Cooley, MD

coalition member Elite Coalition Member
Hair transplant patient

azn_guy

azn_guy

About

My Hair loss started when I was 23, I didn't notice anything until age 25. I spend a couple years obsessing about it and in 2007 started to do some research. I decided in 2010 to go for it. I've been on Finasteride for 1 year prior to the HT


My Surgical Treatments to Date

1 FUT Session on 2/12/2010. Donor Strip was roughly 30cm x 1.3cm (Two Layer Trychophytic closure used) Rough Estimate of Donor Area: 75 fu/cm2. Saggital Incisions were used. After procedure was done, I should still have roughly 6000 grafts for the future (Dr. Cooley's estimate). ACELL was used on both Main and Secondary Strip. PRP was not used, Dr. Cooley said it's experimental and is not 100% convinced it really helps so he opted to not use it. Total Grafts:  3007, 1's: 1117 (20%), 2's: 1292 (47%), 3's: 592 (32%), 4's: 6 (1%), Total Hairs: 5501. Suture Removal: 03/05/2010 (21 days after surgery) 

My Non Surgical Treatments

Finasteride: 1.25 M,W,F. Revita Shampoo & Nioxin Conditioner: Everyday. Minoxidil (Rogaine Foam): Not Used (irritates scalp)

Bald Class

Bald class 3V

Norwood stage 3 Vertex

In terms of the receding hairline, stage 3 vertex balding is a less drastic version of stage 3.
However, people experiencing stage 3 vertex balding will also begin losing hair on the crown of their head. This often starts as one small bald spot.

<p>Most people don't notice it, but I do a very good job of hiding it and styling it a certain way. I used to gel my hair prior to 25, and hopefully after 8-10 months, I can start gelling my hair again</p>

<p>Propecia didn't do much, but I stuck with it anyways giving it the benefit of the doubt</p>

<p>Surgery was on 2/12/2010. I arrived in Charlotte on the 11th of February and Dr. Cooley's office had a shuttle waiting to take me to the Hotel. I then checked into the Hotel and just rested on the 11th knowing that I would have to be at the office at 7am the following day. Dr. Cooley came in and asked if I had any questions, I asked him about permanent shockloss and he said I had nothing to worry about, I also asked about the donor scar and he mentioned I had very good laxity and he wouldn't be surprised if I had a very very good scar. Dr. Cooley then drew in the hairline and it was exactly what I wanted so that was quickly determined. I then went into the surgery room and changed. I asked Dr. Cooley if it would make life easier and more efficient if he shaved my head and he said yes, so as a last minute decision I said "go for it". After the shaving, I sat front faced down and I was given a few drugs, then I was injected into the arm with something quite strong, I ended up missing the whole removal of the donor strip. After about 40 minutes I turned around and Dr. Cooley started making incisions into my head. I again did not remember most of this as I was drugged. I beleive this took roughly 1-2 hours then 1 hour before lunch they had inserted roughly 300-400 grafts. At noon, I had lunch (which I had a plethora of options and I could pretty much order anything I wanted :) yum!....) After that, the remainder of the day was placing the grafts. Graft placement took the longest and eventually they had to inject with me with Lidocaine a couple of times (which felt like pinches at worst). The surgery lasted until 7:30pm.</p>
<p>So am I happy with my HT? Still to be determined </p>

<p>Propecia/Finasteride First, give it a 1 year and see how it progresses, if you're still not happy think long and hard if you're willing to commit to a HT</p>

<p>Still to be determined, One problem seen at almost 6 months out, the donor scar has not healed correctly. This was mainly due to the sutures used. I would used Dr. Cooley again if he can guaranteed that he will not use the same sutures again</p>

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My Latest journal entries

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azn_guy
Bald class: 3V
Procedure 1

12 Months I want to reflect a little now that it has officially been my 1 year anniversary. On February 12, 2010 I had my HT and opted for 3000 grafts. I believe I made the right decision at the time. After several months of micromanaging my first HT, I took several photos for a good documented result. By the way, during this whole time, I kept on asking myself "Did I just make the mistake of my life? Did I just screw myself over with this?" After 8 months, I noticed that the Donor Strip did not widened, but the surrounding tissue/skin had, which worried me. I consulted with Dr. Cooley and he admitted that the suturing technique used during my initial HT was the culprit. Keeping this in mind, Dr. Cooley had taken a secondary strip on the side (above my left ear), this was to reach the 3000 grafts. I realized due to my hair characteristics that the secondary donor scar was also noticeable, which I was not happy with. With that said, I opted for a Scar Revision on the 16th of December 2010, about 10 months after my Initial HT. I had the procedure done free of charge and Dr. Cooley extracted 400+ grafts and placed roughly 300 grafts in my temple region and portions of "zone 1", the other 100 grafts were placed in my secondary strip area since I was not happy with it. So to answer some questions, here is what I learned and concluded: Am I happy with my HT? Simply put. Yes. Mainly because my hairline is better. I think I would have been happy simply with a fix to the temple region but considering that I had 3000 grafts and they were placed through Zone 1-4, I think this has suited me in the long run, at least for the next 5 years. I would like to point out that it's not 100% where I want it to be, but I have a much easier time hiding my gradual hair loss. Am I happy with Dr. Cooley? Yes Would I go back to Dr. Cooley? Yes, simply because he now understands my physiological characteristics and he knows what works best on me. Would I consider another HT Surgeon? Yes, only if he consults with Dr. Cooley first. This will be my last post for the moment. Thank you all for being supportive and this is an awesome site, I couldn't have made a decision without all the pros on this site. I will be back in 6 to 8 months to give everyone an update on the results of my Scar Revision w/ ACELL with Dr. Cooley

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azn_guy
Bald class: 3V
Procedure 1

Scar Revision with Dr. Cooley update Just wanted to record the exact number of grafts that were excised from the Scar Revision1's: 258 ==> 258 hairs2's 153 ==> 306 hairs3's 18 ==> 54 hairs429 grafts ==> 618 hairsACELL was used Trychophytic Double Layer Closure was used

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azn_guy
Bald class: 3V
Procedure 1

Scar Revision w Dr. Cooley I had my Scar Revision today with Dr. Cooley and it was quite pleasant and everything went as planned. I got to the office at 10am and had to sign some consent papers. Dr. Cooley went over the procedure one last time then took some reference photos. Himself and Brandi Burgess were in the room the whole time.I mentioned to him that i had two concerns such as the left hairline not being as low my right hairline, and the secondary strip on the left side above my ear is noticeable even at clipper #5. Dr. Cooley's plan was to fill in all the hairline as well as work on the filling in the secondary strip. We also decided to use ACELL which should compliment the scar revision procedure.I went into the surgery room and they drugged me and had me lie down so they could start working on revising the strip. I then had lunch at 12pmWe started again around 12:30ish and they worked on the recipient area (It was Dr. Cooley and Brandi Burgess) They had 1-2 technicians working on the slivering.The whole procedure lasted until 3:00pm and I was off back to the hotelEverything went as planned and I asked how many grafts they were able to excise, to my surprise, they were able to get 420+ grafts (I will get details later)

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azn_guy
Bald class: 3V
Procedure 1

10 Months more photos

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azn_guy
Bald class: 3V
Procedure 1

10 Months Today is my 10 month anniversary. It's been a journey to reach 10 months. Now that I look back, the hardest months were the first three months, after that, things go by quite quickly. I believe I have reached a point where growth has finally reached it's peak (who knows maybe in another month or two, I'll see a little more and be surprised), but my expectations is what I see is what I get. A few things to note right now is that the dono strip will be revised on the 16th, so I will be going under the knife very soon to correct the issue.

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azn_guy
Bald class: 3V
Procedure 1

9 Months This is my 9th month and I think everything is going as planned. I can't really tell if there are any changes anymore, because everything is so gradual. A few things that I would nit-pick about is the top of my head, right in front of the crown is a bit thin. While I did not ask Dr. Cooley to do anything in this are (Zone 4 I believe) I personally am not a fan of this spot. Another thing I would probably nit-pick about is the left temple, the hairline is not aligned with the right temple, this is actually quite obvious and when I go in for my Scar Revision, I will ask Dr. Cooley to place grafts here. Lastly would be the scar above my left ear (my HT consisted of 2 strip scars, the main scar and an extra strip above the ear to get additional grafts) the donor scar is ok, because of my hair characteristics (asian hair), even at a clipper #4, you'll notice that the hair above the left ear is not as thick as the right earthese are my concerns ;)In December I am scheduled to visit Dr. Cooley for a Scar Revision, I will be asking for ACELL when I get this done since Dr. Cooley recommended it. Too bad it cost additional $$$, but I think it is worth it. 

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azn_guy
Bald class: 3V
Procedure 1

9 Months more photos <p><br /></p>

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azn_guy
Bald class: 3V
Procedure 1

8 Months <p> <p class="p1">This marks my 8th month since the HT and the everything appears to be on schedule. I am most happy with the hairline since that is pretty much the only thing I can use as reference. The density of my hair right now is not where I want it to be but again, it's a waiting game and hopefully in 2 more months things will look "thicker" The donor area looks good but is not relevant since I am going to get a scar revision in 2 months. Disregarding the Donor Scar, I am 70% happy at the moment. I anticipate that the 70% will go up to 80%, and hopefully 90% if I'm lucky ;)</p></p> <p><br /></p>

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azn_guy
Bald class: 3V
Procedure 1

8 Months more photos

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azn_guy
Bald class: 3V
Procedure 1

7 Months more photos

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azn_guy
Bald class: 3V
Procedure 1

7 Months Everything appears to be on track. Just like the 6th month mark my comments will be to a minimum because it's difficult to observe. I do notice that I would like to see a bit more density as right now nothing appears to be dramatic except the hairline.Month 7 Observations- Hairline continues to get better- Donor Strip Scar is the same- Donor Strip Redness is fadingMonth 8 Expectations- Density increase in overall hair 

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azn_guy
Bald class: 3V
Procedure 1

6 Months more photos Donor Scar Photos on this page.Pay close attention to the differences with the donor scarsI have 2 donor strips, one on the side of the head, and the main stripthe one on the side of the head was because Dr. Cooley needed additional grafts to reach a minimum of 3000 graftsMain Strip: Donor Scar is 4mm/5mmSecondary Strip: Donor Scar is 1mm/2mm