Day 5:
Discharge day. Since they discharged me on a weekend, they actually made me pay $35 to hire a wheelchair-accessible taxi to bring me to the hospital. The Paley team messed up there and never reimbursed me for that. Turns out that there's actually a $5-8 roundtrip wheelchair-accessible taxi, and the hospital screwed me over by hiring the more expensive $35 one that was only one-way. They also tried to get me to buy the drugs from Garden Drugs Inc, which deliver to the hospital, but Garden Drugs Inc wanted $600+ for all drugs because my insurance wasn't accepted by them. I went with Walgreens instead, which also delivers to the hospital, and ended up paying only $300-400 for all drugs. Again, I suspect that the hospital gets some kind of cut for hiring the more expensive companies for the same services. I suggest not falling for their tricks.
Week 1 in the hotel (starting on the 5th day after surgery):
The hotel is not bad. $70 a night. Pots and induction stove suck. They barely get hot and are all warped. I don't suggest doing much cooking with it. Breakfast and dinner taste like food you get at a cheap buffet. They gave me stomachaches, because my stomach is sensitive to cheap foods.
In terms of pain, week 1 was the worst. Day 1 after discharge was the first and only time I experienced level 10 pain. They said level 10 pain is when you cry involuntarily. That's the only time I ever did. And the feeling is like if someone shot your parents in front of you and made you watch them die. Now imagine that emotional pain as a physical pain in your legs, and that's what it feels like. It's like if someone cut your leg open and decided to pull your wound apart with his salty, sweaty hands.
I realized why I was experiencing this pain. It's because it was first day off toradol and percocet, and I was going cold turkey with pain meds. The only pain med is Oxycodone, which I found out only lasts 1-2 hours and only kicks in after an hour. And you can only take 2 pills (10 mg) every 4 hours, so you have 2-3 hours of suffering. Since this is the closest time to my surgery without much pain meds, this was the first time I experience level 10 pain. First the first few days in hospital, I thought every patient who complained about pain was a wuss, because I didn't have much pain. I expecting pain levels like child-birthing pains, and never got to that level in the hospital.
Once I got to this level 10 pain, I finally realized what everyone was talking about. Yes, this was the most pain I ever felt in my life. This is probably what it feels like to be tortured.
DoingItForMe's Precice 2 Internal Femurs with Dr. Paley
Week 1-2:
So I suffered this constant rollercoaster of pain (goes down to 3, and then jumps up to 9-10 every 2 hours) for several days. I had trouble sleeping at night because the pain would wake me up. I realized now why other patients had trouble sleeping at night. I asked another doctor friend of mine for his opinion. He told me to get Oxycontin which is a slow release version of Oxycodone and was wondering why they were not giving me Oxycontin. Oxycodone is 10 mg per 4 hours. Oxycontin is 10 mg per 12 hours. This way, I would not have a rollercoaster ride of pain. I emailed Dr. Paley who emailed the other doctors. At first, they were pissed that I asked an outside doctor for a second opinion. But in the end, they agreed with him, and they told me to get Oxycontin and Ibuprofen (Advil). So I was to take Oxycontin every 12 hours and Advil 800 mg (4 pills), every 6 hours. The Advil actually causes stomach ulcers (bleeding) if taken with the blood thinner that I was already prescribed. So it's dangerous to take Advil with it. But, the combination of Advil and Oxycontin worked. I no longer had the rollercoaster ride of pain. I had a base level of pain around 1-3. And when I go too long without pain meds (like if I slept for a long time), I sometimes get back to level 8 pain or so, but two pills of Oxycodone stops that immediately an hour after taking it. I decided at this point to only take Oxycodone when I needed it, such as an hour before PT start. This is because I was developing a tolerance for Oxycodone, so it wore off quicker and didn't have as much of an effect. So I found it more wise to only use it when needed, so that impact of it was stronger. It was so strong after not using it for a whole day that when you take two pills before PT, you feel euphoric and happy and don't feel ANY pain at all. This made PT a breeze for me. So this setup of one 10-mg Oxycontin per 12 hours, four 200-mg of Ibuprofen (Advil) per 6 hours, and one or two 5-mg of Oxycodone when pain level 0 is desired (only once or twice per day) works great for me, and I would recommend this pain med setup to anyone who had the same rollercoaster of pain and/or trouble sleeping at night.
Trying to get off Advil
One time I tried going cold turkey on the Advil (i.e. stop taking any at all) and used only Oxycontin/Oxycodone, because I was scared of getting stomach bleeding. That was dumb of me. Don't go cold turkey on pain meds. I went cold turkey for two days and suffered level 7 pain constantly during those two days. As soon as I got back to the Oxycontin/Advil combo, I was back to pain level 3 and below. I sleep the full night now with this setup and can do pretty much anything, like use the walker for long periods of time. I used my walker so often the first week out the hospital that I developed bruises on my palms. They have trouble healing, because I keep hurting that bruise over and over again when I use the walker at the hotel and during PT. I recommend getting a wrist guard and some gloves to soften your palms when holding the walker. I put about 70 lbs on my palms when using the walkers according the scales. I regret not getting the gloves sooner and bruising my palms. Don't make the same mistake as me.
Physical Therapy
By the way, they start you on PT 5 days a week immediately and PT happens at the Paley institute within the hospital. The days/times are randomly assigned to you at the end of each week. Some of those times and days are times when the Paley free transport don't operate. That's when I use the hotel's free shuttle to get there. But the hotel's shuttle doesn't have wheelchair access (it's just a red minivan), so I have to use the walker with it. But if the hotel shuttle is only from 8 am to 8 pm, so if your PT is at 7 am, you have to pay for that $8 taxi. PT for me is a breeze. I have excellent flexibility. I can touch my butt with my ankles. I have spread my legs 45 degrees to the side. I can put my knees straight to 0 degrees. PT is also fun when you crack jokes with the PT. The hour goes by very quickly, and I actually enjoy going to PT everyday. You get a random PT, so it's not always the same person. From what I heard, "big Mike" is the guy who really pushes you (i.e. makes you hurt but gives you good stretch results) and is the best PT. I haven't had him yet, so I can't comment. But all the other PT patients say that he's the best. I've only had the female PTs so far, and all have been very nice to me. They focus on your weak spots. For me, that's my hamstrings. Everything else is loose and flexible except for my hamstrings.
Tips I learned
1. When on the wheelchair, always keep your legs straight or dangling. Don't put your knees up on your chair. I was told that this makes your muscles tighter and hard to extend your legs later.
2. Don't sleep on your side. That's where your pins are and it hurts a lot when you wake up. I tried it once. Never again.
3. You need help for the first few weeks. It helps a lot. It's very hard to do much on your own. It can be done, but it's very hard. Things like opening doors are frustrating without help. Things like picking things up and putting it somewhere else are time consuming, because you have to get back on the wheelchair. It's hard to do these things while on a walker in your first few weeks, because of the pain. Hired caretakers are $250 per day (24 hours) and want their own room ($70/night), so try to find a friend/family to do it or you'll be spending a lot of money.
4. Put some towels or put a box/stool under your feet when you poop. This keeps the pressure off your femurs when you sit there for a long time. This reduces your pain and helps keep your blood flowing in your legs. I might use this trick when I get better, too, because my feet tend to fall asleep when pooping for half an hour.
5. Instead of using the weird gel-like cushion on the wheelchair, use the hotel pillow instead. The weird gel cushion feels like you're sitting on a hard rubber that keeps moving around. Pillow is much better feeling.
6. Try to get into the pool as soon as the doctors let you - usually 2 weeks after surgery. Being able to walk in the pool makes you feel normal, and the pool is usually warm. It's usually cold on rainy days, but mostly warm, because it's heated to around 78-80 degrees or so. On a sunny day, it feel likes 85 degrees in the water, which feels really nice. I usually swim at night (pool closes at 10 pm), because I don't want to get sun burnt, which can happen easily in Florida. Also night time is when there are less people, which is nice, because some of the kids (non-patients) that go in the pool are pretty rowdy and dive/splash water, even when they're not supposed to.
7. Try to get prescriptions earlier. The pharmacies nearby keep running out of drugs (Oxycodone and Oxycontin to be specific) and they don't really deliver except for Garden Drugs. Walgreens delivers to the hospital, though. So try to get them about a week in advance before you run out, because it takes about 1-2 weeks before they get their next shipments in each pharmacy I called.
8. They mark your leg where you're supposed to put the magnetic machine to do the distraction. The distraction machine is easy to use. First you plug in the machine to an outlet. Then you align the pill shaped hole in the distractor with the rectangle mark on your leg. Then press F1 to start the machine. It displays the distraction while you're doing it, and it lasts about 2 minutes. Then when it's done, the top-left arrow blinks and you press it to reset it back to 0. Then you put the machine on the other leg, and press F1 to start it again. Then you press the same top-left arrow to reset it. Finally you unplug the machine.
9. So here's a tip about the mark on your leg with distraction. They put a sticker over the mark, but that sticker comes off easily if you shower. So bring a black and silver sharpie. The black wears off faster but I use it to fill the inside of the rectangle. The silver sharpie lasts longer and I use it as the outline of the rectangle. I also drew a line with the silver sharpie around the distractor when placed in the position. You can't see the pill-shaped hole yourself, so you can't align the distractor yourself through that. Instead, get someone to align it for you and then draw an outline of the whole machine on your leg. Then you can just align the machine based on that outline instead of the rectangular maker. I get a bunch of clear stickers from the doctors to put over this to protect it from water. It lasts about 3-7 days. I should be able to distract myself using this method. I haven't tried yet, because I currently have a care taker doing it for me.
10. I shower after I poop, so I don't have to wipe. It also means that I only have to go to the bathroom once or twice a day.
11. I brush my teeth in the shower. It's hard to brush your teeth while standing, and I don't recommend it. Do it while sitting in the shower. They give you a chair to sit in the shower, and a chair to sit in for the toilet - with handle bars on each side to help you get up.
Day 16:
This is when you get your first X-ray and first doctor report on how well you're doing. My X-rays came back fine, and everything is going well. So I have nothing to report here. Distracted 16 mm on each leg as expected.
Week 2-3:
I'm in that "honey moon" phase that they speak of (i.e. not much surgerical pains, and lengthening pains haven't started yet). They say lengthening pain happens after 6 cm and continues to 8 cm. I plan to flex and stretch as much as possible before then so that I can prepare myself for the 6-8 cm stretch. Distraction/lengthening itself feels like nothing. You can't even tell that it's happening. You do only .25 mm each time and four times a day. I've met with the other patients here at the hotel. Everyone's very friendly. I set up card games, buy take out food for everyone, and hold Friday movie nights in my room to make the other patients feel more at home. I brought my PC and connected to the hotel TV via HDMI. The hotel TV sucks. I brought my own external speakers as well to help. But the TV is 1080p, but looks like 720p and is only 27 inches or so. Picture quality looks like something from 15 years ago.
Complaints about Dr. Paley
Everything actually runs very well and almost everything you need is given to you. There are a few things I didn't like, like the PT forgetting to tell me that they changed my time, so I ended missing a PT session. But most of that stuff is minor. The only real complaint is that they didn't give me Oxycontin/Advil idea to begin with and only started me off with Oxycodone. If they had me on Oxycontin/Advil to begin with, I probably wouldn't have had that level 10 pain in the first few days out of the hospital.
Other costs
So I already mentioned the costs before. So here are additional costs: Oxycontin is $200 for 60 pills. I was forced to get this from Garden Drugs, because they were the only ones who still had it in stock and I was in a rush to get them, since I was in that rollercoaster of pain. So it might be cheaper at the other pharmacies, but they might not be in stock. The other drugs combined is around $343 (again, don't use Garden Drugs if possible - they tried to charge me $660 or so for all of them). There was also a separate bill for the x-ray lab that went to my house that I didn't know about. It was for $170. That surprised me, because they never mentioned this to me when I paid $300 for the x-ray during the consultation. So the consultation with Dr. Paley is actually $750 (Dr. Paley) +$300 (xray) +$170 (xray lab) +$77 (vit D test) = $1,297 in total and not $1,000.
Okay, that's about all I have to report. Things are going well. And I think everything will be the same for the next few weeks/months. I'm actually a pretty busy guy with lots of work to do, so I will report back when things change. I doubt that YogiBear will update her diary. She's not doing as well as me. She's on that rollercoaster of pain that I told you guys about. I told her about my med setup and am trying to get her to get on it. Hopefully that will help her out. I don't think I should be talking about her situation, but I just wanted you guys to know why she hasn't been updating her diary. So don't blame her to for not updating her diary. I actually feel bad that she's not doing as well as I am with recovery, and would actually be surprised if she started writing in her diary again.
Good write-up. Hang in there.
Hi DoingItForMe
Congrats on your LL journey! Thank you so much for writing a great diary so far. It is really helpful and informative.
Be strong!
Wish you the very successful LL!
Quote from: Ghostfish on July 20, 2015, 06:05:51 AMHi DoingItForMe
Congrats on your LL journey! Thank you so much for writing a great diary so far. It is really helpful and informative.
Be strong!
Wish you the very successful LL!
Thanks! I was tempted to not write it, because it's very time consuming and I'm not actually as bored as other patients say they are. I actually like being in the hotel room, because I brought my computer and it feels like my own bedroom. Also I go swimming everyday and talk to other patients everyday, so it feels like normal (maybe even better than normal life).
I wrote the diary because I learned a lot from the other people's diaries, and there were things I learned that were missing in other other diaries. Therefore I felt that it would be the right thing to do to pay it forward and help out future patients with my knowledge. I don't want to spend too much time on here, because I have other more important things to do. But I will drop by every once in a while. If you don't hear from me, you can just assume that things are still going well. I will come back and write in the diary when things change or I learn something new. The only change right now is that I'm able to survive the day without OxyCodone now and have reduced my Advil intake to just two pills per 6 hours. I hope within the next few days that I only need OxyContin. And then for the next week, to be off all narcotics in general, so that I can drive again.
Hey mate I don't mean to rush you or anything, especially since you do seem busy, but considering it's been about a month I was wondering how you have been?
Yes an update would be nice. How is everything? I hope the second month of lengthening is a lot smoother than the first one
I was doing stellar from 0-4 cm. Flexibility was still amazing and impressed all the PTs. I could bend my legs 150 degrees (ankles touching my butt). At around 4-5 cm, my flexibility starts nose-diving. I measured at 120 degrees last week, and I am probably at 110 degrees or less now. 90 degree is the goal, and I'm still past it, but I'm getting dangerously close. My 90 degree straight leg raise was last measured at 65 degrees on the right and 75 on the left. The goal is 70 degrees, so I'm not doing great with my hamstrings too. I can also only bend my foot up 10 degrees from neutral. 20 degrees is the goal.
I blame my loss in flexibility on two things. First, I am not as young as the teenaged patients here. They are able to flex just fine. I assume because they are still growing, and their body is okay with that. My puberty stopped a decade ago, and it is now evident. The muscles on my legs are really tight now like they've been over stretched. It is not keeping up with the lengthening. I am going hard on PT to try get me flexibility back. I am in the pool 3 hours a day and stretching as much as I can that my endurance and pain lets me. But I guess my leg muscles are working against me (prior to surgery, I could leg press 550+ lbs - not sure what my max is, because the machine at my gym tops off at 550 lbs). My suggestion is to not have muscular legs prior to leg lengthening if you're doing femurs.
As for the pain, the doctors are trying to wean me off them. And that is annoying me, because it gives me less time to do PT at home. I require two Oxycodone 5 mg pills to feel no pain. A single Oxycodone does almost nothing for me. But they give me only 4 pills a day. So if I take two for PT, I only have two left for the rest of the day. And two pills lasts only 3-4 hours. It's not enough in my opinion, and I question why the doctors are doing this to me. I also blame this for why I am losing flexibility. Before, I used to be able to do PT at home almost 24 hours a day, because I was on oxy 24 hours a day. Now they won't even give me OxyContin (the long lasting one) during the day.
So I was back to that rollercoaster of pain I mentioned because I don't have OxyContin during the day. I don't think the doctor (Dr. Packer) understands that I'm experiencing a lot of pain when not on Oxy. She said that I've been on oxy for over a month and should be off it by now. Well, when I'm ripping my muscle fibers apart to stretch my legs further, it isn't exactly a walk in the park. She doesn't believe me, and I am rationing out my Oxy now like it's a rare commodity.
Since I only get OxyContin once per day, I decided to just take it during the day instead and take no oxy at all at night. I figured that if I'm going to be in pain several hours a day, I rather sleep through it. So now I'm trying to take OxyContin during the day and jam 3 hours of PT after taking two Oxycodone. Then I save the other two Oxycodone as emergency for when the pain gets too much. I would much prefer if I had more Oxycodone so that I could do more PT throughout the day. I will see the doctor next Tuesday, and will see how that goes.
Other than that, I am past 5 cm and I am counting down the days until 8 cm. I have no caretaker, and have managed to do everything on my own. Going to the pool 3 hours a day and chatting with the other patients help a lot. I also host trivia game nights at my hotel room and share my snacks to the other patients. They all appreciate it.
Will I get to 8 cm? I'm 90% sure that I will. I will power through the pain and keep doing as much PT as I can. If the doctor gives me enough oxy this time around, I raise my chances of getting to 8 cm to 99%.
How does it feel to be 2 inches taller? Amazing! I used to be 5'5"-5'6" (depending on time of day), and now I'm 5'7"-5'8". I measured at 167 cm at the office when I started, so I will probably be 175 cm when finished, which is close to 5'9". I'm going to wear one inch shoe lifts to get to my ideal height of 5'10" instead of doing Tibs. I think one inch in sole gels are not that embarrassing or shameful - compared to the 2-3 inch ones I used to use. Now that I've been through the process, I think losing 6 more months of my life is not worth it. The jump from 5'6" to 5'9" is enormous though.
Some of the girls here staying at the hotel are starting to develop a crush on me. So this is how it feels like to be attractive. I've never had girls become interested in me from just my looks before. It feels good. It makes you feel wanted and confident. Even though I'm experiencing the worst pain in my life, I am extremely positive about the whole process. It is like I'm getting a second chance at life. I wish I had done this sooner. But then again, the technology was not as good back then. This precice 2.1 is pretty resilient. I doubt that weight bearing is only 75 lbs. I have put more than 75 lbs on them before and they still are not bent. But I only did it by mistake and only lasted for a second or less.
I'm newly single and can't wait to get an expensive tailored suit and find myself a nice girlfriend to spend time with. This was the same feeling happy feeling I had when I got rid of my glasses and got LASIK.
As for long term effects, I do notice that I lost my ass muscles. I lost 15 lbs and I think a lot of was from my butt. I can no longer touch my toes while bending down. I can no longer sit Indian style. I can no longer put my legs behind my head. I haven't lost my leg muscles though. Probably because I walk in the pool 3 hours a day. Other patients look like they have skipped leg day for life. Meanwhile my legs are still thick and muscular. I think I gained a lot of upper body strength, since I use my arms to get around everywhere. I'm noticeably more proportional now, and I am no longer ashamed of my body when I look in the mirror. Instead, pardon my ckiness, I look really attractive. If I was a 4-6 before, I am a 7-9 now. Once I heal up, I plan on getting my six pack back and aiming for the 9-10 level in physical attractiveness. If anything, the LL process has gotten me on a 3-4 hour per day workout regime, and I've been sticking to it pretty well. Before, I used to focus mostly on work and ignored my body. Now that I have more money than I can spend in a lifetime, I have enough free time to focus on my health and hopefully attracting my future wife.
I remember two years ago, my friends talked me out of getting LL. They said that I should just accept who I am and be happy with what I have. They said that I should find someone who doesn't care about height. I did. And then she left me. And then I kept getting rejected by high quality girls because of my height (yes, I asked them why). So my friends were wrong and I wish I did this when I was younger and healed quicker. I am much happier now, and I am attracting a lot more girls than before. This means that the quality of my future wife will be much better as well. Screw accepting a lower standard. Aim higher. Make your dreams come true. Don't accept that loser mentality that you can't get better. Society is not going to change for you. Heightism is real. I can see the difference between even just being two inches taller.
Would I recommend LL? Yes, if you are below 5'7". At 5'8" and above, I'd say that it's not as worth it. Except if you're really rich and money isn't an issue and time isn't an issue and pain isn't an issue and if you live in a place where everyone is taller than you. Then yea, why not? If you're under 25, I'd say that LL is much easier to do than if you're say over 30. I can see how the difference in age is affecting the recovery in the different patients. If you're around 5'5" as a male, I'd say that the jump in three inches is probably the most significant. Most bang for the buck if you will.
I hope this diary helps people. Good luck to all the other patients present and future.
Fantastic diary as always mate. Good to see that for the most part you're doing good physically and mentally and that you've gained much greater confidence. As for the effects you've noted, just take it easy. I'm sure going Indian-Style and bending down to your toes will return to you when you've consolidated and recovered your muscle strength; and after you've taken the rods out (which will also be a bit of a wait but still). One thing I have to wonder is how do you know look proportionally speaking? You said you look a bit more proportional so I'm wondering what your wingspan is and the inseam to height ration of you body is? As always mate wish you look on this journey!
DoingitforMe...very happy for you and that you seem so happy so far. Getting to 5'8" range will help a lot with girls. It's not an amazing height and you're still in the short zone (though bordering on average, at times), but women typically aren't a problem. I'm a solid 5'8" at night (but I claim 5'9" on online dating sites, since I'm that height in shoes anyway, more if I'm wearing Nike Airmax or Timberlands/boots), and women 5'5" and below are now no sweat (even in heels). And there are MANY hot women that height and below (though I'm dating two girls right now, one is 5'6 and the other is 5'7...they don't seem to mind). And a hookup is 5'3" and she said "what are you, 5'10?" That was...pretty awesome 
Would love another inch someday, though. I did mockups with another inch on femurs, and surprisingly, they don't look terrible! If I can manage the time, I might just do that. I know you said you're gonna wear lifts, but even wearing 1 inch lifts piss me off and make me feel like a fraud.
Keep going man. Stay strong!
You must be logged in to post a reply.