Today I drove up to Charlotte, NC and met with Ailene and Dr. Cooley. I was very impressed with how thorough and how much time they spent with me. I was there for over two hours. Dr. Cooley was very up front about what he could do to correct my current situation. (I will try and post a pic). I did not feel that I was being sold anything and they were very realistic about the outcome. Dr. Cooley does feel that he can repair the mess I have and give me a realistic hairline. Before I came to this site I did not believe that I had any recourse but to live with this problem. I know have hope and can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Altair, if there is anybody on this forum that I'm rooting for it is you. Cooley is a good doctor and from everything I've heard about him he is a real standup guy. You are a brave sole to put your pic out there. Everyone will be watcdhing this one real close. Keep us posted with your progress and good luck to you. tberry

Right on Altair. Keep up the faith. If you believe in good things. Good things do happen. I am so glad that Dr. told you that you can be helped. My vote is for you.

My vote is also for you. I feel so bad for you and your bad previous results. I'm sure Dr. Cooley will treat you right.

Altair..
What expectations were you given from your meeting with Cooley? I think it would be helpful to others to know what to expect to rectify your situation. Best of luck buddy!! You truely deserve it!

Dr. Cooley said that he would remove the front row of old plugs one at a time. He felt that he would put a stitch in the large holes if needed. It will leave some scar but he felt it would heal nicely. However, it the scar was to obvious he would go back later and remove an entire strip with the old plug scars. He would then slice up the plugs into individual hairs and replant them higher up. He felt that he could get 2000 from my donor area. He felt that he could give me a dramatic improvement over my current situation. I will keep everyone posted.

That's great man.. 2000 from donor, and fixing up the disaster! That is an excellent start back to normalcy.
I hope you the best man. Keep your hope alive, even if you don't win!
I feel for ya buddy. You by all means have topped all! And deserve it!

Good luck with your HT repair Altair. My experience with Cooley was a good one, and I don't think you can go wrong with him. When I had my consult/HT last year, there were a few opportunities he could have taken to give me the "hard sell", oversell me some grafts, and talk bad about other HT surgeons, but he chose the high road on all 3. Some guys here have already had repair work with him, and I'm sure he'd do you right. Again, best wishes and keep us updated.