I had 1947 grafts with Dr. Jerry Cooley in Charlotte, NC on 05/08/08. I had two previous procedures performed by a highly-regarded surgeon in Phoenix in 2002 and 2005. I just want to say that Dr. Cooley is in a league all his own. Obviously, there are other great surgeons listed on this site, but there are some intangible things that I believe separate the men from the boys. Without going into great detail, Dr. Cooley is a prefectionist, he graduated magna cum laude from med school, and he performs much of the actual graft placement himself. I wanted to find a surgeon who had these kind of qualities. One other intangible aspect that separates Dr. Cooley from the others is his passion for what he does. This is a guy who wants nothing but the best for each and every patient he sees. I don't normally take the time to express my opinions regarding various services I receive. I felt compelled to make this post for a couple of reasons. One, I truly believe Dr. Cooley and his staff deserve recognition for the great work they do each day. Second, I've now had three hair transplants and have a pretty good understanding of what attributes to look for in a quality surgeon. I want to take this opportunity to let anyone thinking about a hair transplant know that Dr. Cooley is one of the best. Maybe one day, you too can be Cooleyfied. The legend lives on...

Thanks for sharing your experience. I looked at the photos on your weblog and have to say your hair looks pretty good. The addn'l grafts should finish it off nicely.

If you have any immediate post-op pics that would be great. I'm wondering how Dr. Cooley went about transplanting around your rather substantial native hair. Did he shave the recipient area?

Would you mind sharing info on your previous surgeries like # and placement of grafts? Photos before those procedures would be a nice bonus.

Preach on, brother!

hairloser, I too had a previous procedure and Dr. Cooley doesn't shave the head. I didn't ask why.

Personally, I think it's probably better to shave it, but that was a tough point for me with my job. But, he doesn't with anyone.

Glad you had a great procedure. He has the qualities that make a great surgeon .Your testimony sounds just like everyone who has had a great procedure with their surgeon. The words perfectionist, and passion are very common with guys that post great experiences. Grow well!!

phoneguy,

Dr. Cooley has a proven track record of performing successful hair transplant surgery with impressive patient results. I'm glad to hear that you had a pleasant experience and look forward to seeing your pictures.

Best wishes,

Falc

Phoneguy,

Happy for you bro! If you dont mind me asking who did your other 2? , and why didnt you go back to him/her?

phoneguy,

When you say you had 2 HTs in Phoenix in 2002 and 2005, are you talking about Dr. Alexander? Sorry for barging in but I was considering my HT with either Dr. Alexander or Dr. Keene.

Thanks

P.S I'm sure you will be happy with your results, from what I saw in previous Dr. Cooleys work, he does a great job.

dakota3 and HairDew,

I really didn't want to name names in this review, but, since you both asked, I feel obligated. My first two procedures were performed by Dr. Shelley Friedman in Phoenix, AZ. At the time, I lived in Las Cruces, NM. and he was highly regarded. Dr. Friedman did do a quality job but, looking back, I now can compare him to Dr. Cooley and other surgeons on this site. First, Dr. Friedman didn't place ANY of the grafts during either procedure. Compared to Dr. Cooley who placed about 90% of the grafts himself, I feel Dr. Friedman really should have been more actively involved in the entire procedure. Second, just because someone has been in practice for over 20 years doesn't mean they are the best at what they do. I'm not here to bash any surgeon and certainly Dr. Friedman did a nice job. I felt somewhat disappointed by the fact that he led me to believe the second procedure would complete my journey. When I decided to have this third procedure, I really did my homework. I could have went back to Dr. Friedman but I honestly thought I could do better. That said, my total experience with Dr. Cooley far exceeded that of Dr. Friedman. I just feel that surgeons like Dr. Cooley are perfectionist, totally dedicated to each transplant they perform, and base their entire practice on high ethical standards. I can say, I have looked at the work of both Dr. Alexander and Dr. Keene. Both of these surgeons do excellent work. If you are looking for a quality job in the AZ area, I would recommend either of them. From everything I've seen and read, Dr. Alexander and Dr. Keene have the same high quality results I received with Dr. Cooley.

phoneguy,

Thanks for the honest answer. It is actuallyt better to name the doctors. It creates transparency and educate potential patients better. Phew, I thought, it can't be Alexander Ohh well all my worries are receded now

Grow well my friend

phoneguy,

I feel like I am repeating myself however, I feel its necessary since you are seemingly questioning a physicians work ethic unnecessarily.

As I said previously and HK500 said above, in most cases, it is the experienced technicians that place the grafts, not the physician.

I have also encouraged you to post your hair transplant experience and photos with Dr. Friedman so that we can see the work.

Everyone,

I have been trying to learn more about Dr. Friedman's clinic and results. At this time, I have no new information on him, but I do hope to speak to him next week in order to learn more about his technique, experience, credentials, and philosophy. If everything sounds good, I will invite him to post patient photos on our forum so that our community can evaluate the results.

Best wishes,

Falc

Great to hear what a great experience you had with Dr. Cooley. While having great results in the end are what's most important, the whole process of the experience, your comfort level, confidence in the Doctor and staff, healing process and other intagibles as you've noted is also very important.

With out seeing your before and after photos from your prior procedures with Dr. Friedman it's somewhat difficult to accurately assess the quality of the results, BUT from your pictures prior to Dr. Cooley it looks like he did a damn good job. Very natural as well. With the addition of the work of Dr. Cooley the great you're gonna have one awsome melon of hair. NICE!

2739 12/5/07
Dr. Alexander

All,

Again, referring to Dr. Friedman, I used descriptors like "highly regarded" and "quality job." It wasn't my intention to question his work ethic. That said, anytime someone can have the surgeon do 90% of the grafts themselves, I think most would agree you are getting a very intimate procedure performed by a highly-skilled surgeon. Given the choice, with all other factors equal, I'd much rather have the surgeon perform the graft placement over a skilled technician. It would be interesting to see how Dr. Alexander, Dr. Shapiro, and some of the other elite surgeons on this site handle the graft placement process.

Dr Shapiro and Alexander have techs do most of the planting. Have you seen the hairlines from these two? The most natural Ive ever seen. The bottomline is final results even if a monkey places them. Dr Konior places most of the grafts also. I feel safer with a qualified woman that has delicate small and tender hands. I know my hands are like mitts I would crush each graft. Most men hands are too big and clumsy to handle small instruments.

Phoneguy,

I'm not knocking you for your opinion, only trying to educate you that the physicians involvement in placing grafts is typically minimal or nonexistent.

Cheers,

Falc

quote:

Originally posted by Falceros:
Phoneguy,

I'm not knocking you for your opinion, only trying to educate you that the physicians involvement in placing grafts is typically minimal or nonexistent.

Cheers,

Falc

This horse may be dead, but I too was impressed that Dr. Cooley was in the operating room all but about 15 minutes of my surgery, placing grafts and supervising the others.

The other, "experienced technician" placed grafts along beside him on my left side; so I'll compare the quality of my left and right side and tell you all whether it makes a difference or not.

Most of them might not do it, but they get a heck of a lot of complaints on this site if they don't participate in placing grafts; so I'd say it's somewhat important to the patients....

I will agree its impressive for a doctor to place all the grafts but will make NO difference in the final result.
Dr Cooley understands this otherwise he wouldnt let his techs do one side. He would do it all.
Having the doctor there the whole surgery only has one benifit ,and that is to pick his brain.

quote:

Originally posted by PLEASE GROW PLEASE:
I will agree its impressive for a doctor to place all the grafts but will make NO difference in the final result.
Dr Cooley understands this otherwise he wouldnt let his techs do one side. He would do it all.
Having the doctor there the whole surgery only has one benifit ,and that is to pick his brain.

If they don't stay in there, then yea I agree with everyone they should have plenty of time to post pics on the forum.

If most of them only do one procedure a day, what the heck are they doing after 2 p.m. or so while the techs are placing the grafts?

quote:

Originally posted by Falceros:
phoneguy,

I feel like I am repeating myself however, I feel its necessary since you are seemingly questioning a physicians work ethic unnecessarily.

As I said previously and HK500 said above, in most cases, it is the experienced technicians that place the grafts, not the physician.

I have also encouraged you to post your hair transplant experience and photos with Dr. Friedman so that we can see the work.

Everyone,

I have been trying to learn more about Dr. Friedman's clinic and results. At this time, I have no new information on him, but I do hope to speak to him next week in order to learn more about his technique, experience, credentials, and philosophy. If everything sounds good, I will invite him to post patient photos on our forum so that our community can evaluate the results.

Best wishes,

Falc

Falc,

If a doctor is done after the slits are made, then I'm sorry but he has a part-time job if he's only doing one session a day. I've reread phoneguy's post and I can't find one negative thing he's said.

He did say or imply that there is no comparison between his Cooley and Friedman experience. But, that shouldn't surprise anyone as Cooley has attained the highest standards to become a member of the elite coalition.

There are only a few of them, and I for one would be upset to learn they aren't much better than most all other surgeons in this world.

I would love a parttime job like that. If the results are the same wouldnt most take that route. Remember that parttime job has to pay one extra tech thats also less money for him/her.
Once again I think its cool to have a doctor do all the grafts but knowing what I know now it wouldnt be a factor in who I choose .
The majority of patients top 5 on all boards is
something like this.
Dr Shapiro Dr Hasson Dr Wong Dr Rahal Dr Alexander .These guys have posted the majority of the WOW photos and they all use techs to plant.

quote:

Originally posted by PLEASE GROW PLEASE:
I would love a parttime job like that. If the results are the same wouldnt most take that route. Remember that parttime job has to pay one extra tech thats also less money for him/her.
Once again I think its cool to have a doctor do all the grafts but knowing what I know now it wouldnt be a factor in who I choose .
The majority of patients top 5 on all boards is
something like this.
Dr Shapiro Dr Hasson Dr Wong Dr Rahal Dr Alexander .These guys have posted the majority of the WOW photos and they all use techs to plant.

PGP, I don't think that was ever suggested. But, I just said there have been plenty of patients come on here complaining about the doc not placing grafts.

My last post was in reference to whether phoneguy questioned the "work ethic" of the other doc. Well, the man said the doc didn't stay in there while placing the grafts and didn't seem worried about his experience. He later had surgery with a doc who apparantly also delivered an excellent result AND stayed in there the whole time and did worry about the overall patient experience.

Since he's the only one on here who has had an experience with both, I don't know why we're all arguing with him.

And, as Pat has stated often; there are several other clinics providing WOW results but just take a different approach to posting.