I got a release so I can't give a comment without it. However with it, it mentally it feels as if my legs are an encumbrance, being big pain filled masses that I can barely move. However, given that many have said I am doing the best/at least very well and that I am succeeding in PT with flying colors despite their muscularity, I find it hard to believe that this is anything more than a mental illusion. Furthermore, once this post op nonstop pain stops/slows and I can actually make use of the muscle, life will get a lot easier I believe.
In other news I am not too thrilled about my caretaker. Despite my concerns expressed to the manager, this woman speaks english with a thick accent I struggle to understand and worse, sometimes she struggles to understand what it is I am saying sometimes in somewhat urgent situations(although when in pain, drugged, and crippled you will be more irritable so it bothers you regardless.). The fiasco with the transportation got me so stiff that walking became a forlorn fantasy when I got back to the hotel so I had to crawl my way onto the bed to stretch and lengthen.
I have texted the manager my displeasure and have been stretching non stop after a short nap. The manager said I wouldn't be seeing her again.
This is a pretty negative post, but note I am not too worried because I know this all gets better. Not even a week post op yet and life could be worse. Oh an one big plus is that shifting to a commode from the hotel bed is a world easier than it was in the hospital, heavy duty meds or no.
Just did my 3rd click. Incase people are wondering why you need to do them before midnight, it is because the machine resets itself then meaning you LOSE those clicks. Yes it is possible at the end of lengthening to get them back, but the machine is not designed to permit you to exceed 1MM a day in 4 sessions(though yes they can change this hence my 1mm in a sitting lengthening yesterday). Despite the setbacks, actually growing finally is amazing.
Installing height- Programdude's Precice 2 Internal femurs with Dr. Paley
My second caretaker is a lot better, and I am also feeling a lot better after forcing myself to do extensive PT to reverse the effects of being stuck in that wheelchair so long. Gonna PT like crazy these next few days to keep myself on track. About to do 4th clicks.. Officially 3mm taller my friends.
stay ahead of the pain... don't chase it.
Lol, don't even remember typing that. I was in a rough place then.
Anyways I met a LL'er from hong kong this morning in the breakfast area, very nice guy who looked 30 but ended up being 50! He was encouraging with a great attitude and wanted to do exercises with me when I was more pain free. I think he was a week or two ahead of me which is a great sign.
Extremely good news is I realized my insurance will cover 80% of my home aid costs, as well as all my PT costs for when I want help and I don't have a home aid.
I had some requests for pictures: 
For those wondering- The dark black line is where you line up the top of the heavy duty magnet with, then you just click start and it does its magic.
As far as the side shot you can see one of the dressings came off and had given me a blister not a really annoying complication like the tibia injury(which is finally scabbed and not an issue.)
Off to PT for the first time and really looking forward to it. I know these legs just have a bit further to go before my circumstances improve drastically because of the condition of my friend from Hong Kong who is only a week ahead.Already I can pretty much maneuver all around the bed, get onto the commode/wheelchair from it, and do great with the original PT assigned to me.
Even with them "going hard" on me, since I said I'd been doing stretches I did excellent with my PT. A lot of the "new things they showed me in regards to stretches I'd already done and mastered while recovering.
The team working with me was very impressed and in some cases I achieved the best fresh out of surgery stretches they had ever seen. They enthusiastically said at this point achieving 8 cm doesn't even seem like a question!!
I've also finally managed walking and can walk to the bathroom and use it and leave without issue. Technically I think I am actually self sufficient just less than a week post op. That being said I will be using a care giver because my insurance covered the vast majority of the costs, until a girl I am talking to moves in with me who wanted to be my fwb/mom haha.
Things looking very good once again(this has been such a roller coaster), very much looking forward to meeting with Paley at the 2 week mark to make sure I am properly lengthening. If I am I think I am in for a good ride!
Sounds like you're doing really well man. I'm just a few weeks behind you!
Just wondering, what kind of overall shape were you in before you had your surgery? I feel like I'm fairly flexible (I can reach down and touch the floor with my palms, just about, with some effort), I can run 5-7 miles no problem, and I have a pretty strong upper body (arms and chest). I've never been an athlete, but have more or less always been in pretty good shape throughout my 30 years. So I'm hoping I breeze through this like you seem to be doing now!
I'm not quite a bodybuilder, but very muscled, particularly in my arms, strong chest, very strong back. I do fitness modeling so thats the look I am basically. Strong triceps and big biceps blah blah. My legs I didn't train much because I knew they would waste away, though I could still press 4-5 plates for reps. I did do some running casually and a good deal of stretches though nothing serious- probably similar level of flexibility as you.
Stretches i did:
Wearing shoes fingers touching ground
barefoot, attempt palm to floor
put one leg stretched behind you, take the other and bend it sideways facing inwards, then lie flat and hold this. Alternate and do this with other side as well.
Get on a hardish surface, kneeling with feet out to the side. Lean back all the way, your hamstrings will get an intense stretch. Hold until failure.
Among others.
A big tip is to stretch constantly post op, even in your horribly drugged hospital state. I was doing nonstop ankle pumps, and as my legs un numbed did heel slides(one of the most important, and where I excel most evidently tight now.). Even just raising your legs is good, as if doing a leg extension, although these are rough post op. One place where I fell short was with walking, since my initial traumatic experiences really scarred me from trying it much more. Doing it today in PT I realized if I had been properly pushed in the hospital I'd have been in a much better spot.
Anyways my official assessment is you need care for approx 6 days post OP, which includes days in the doctors office. However by all reports I am recovering at an exceptional rate so the actual number of days is probably closer to pal yes estimated 2.
Thanks bro! I think we have a very similar build...I'm not a bodybuilder per se, but I've got muscular arms, naturally muscular legs, and a pretty decent chest and back. And since I eat really well and take care of myself, I'm pretty lean (I'd estimate maybe 12% total body fat, which I suppose is decent). I am going to be staying with my family for the first 2 weeks, and I'll have a caretaker after that. My apartment unfortunately has stairs, but Dr. Rozbruch said I can do the stairs on my butt when I need to. I'll have my caretaker to do my food shopping and laundry, so not worried about that, but the relative isolation will suck (but I have some girls and friends lined up to come visit me).
Another question for you...I've got less than 3 weeks until my big day gets here. What do you think I should I focus my workouts on? Upper body strength, cardio, legs...or should I just focus on stretching?
I have had a very successful start so let me tell you exactly what I did in the hopes it will help you:
1. Eat well, but a lot. This may seem counterintuitive since you don't want to break the nails, but you also want to be strong and will lose a ton of strength and mass fast in the hospital if you aren't careful.
2. Walk a lot and do mild jogs. You don't want to EXHAUST your legs, just stimulate them. And don't weight train with them at all IMO. The bulky muscle my legs have sort of threw me for a loop when I realized they were big useless lumps post op.
3. Train triceps, this is the most important suggestion. These will be what you use to support yourself on the walker. Everyone who has worked with me has noted that my excellent triceps will make this a breeze for me. They help with walker, transferring from walker to anything, from bed to anything, scooting around your bed(I know this sounds silly but your first week this will be HARD- way more than you expect).
4. Keep biceps in check but don't focus too much. I did casual curling sessions leading up since the only thing they helped with really was using the pulley above my hospital bed to lift myself up.
5. Stretches- The important thing here is what Paley said to me during our consultation and has rung true. Fact is- the actual stretches you do leading up to LL are almost totally pointless. Where they excel is getting you in the state of mind to push yourself. For example, the stretch where you sit on your heel basically and lean allll the way back hurts a lot, right? So do it. Why? Because the most important LL exercises are this painful. In the hospital, I did a lot of heel slides, deep ones at that. This got me way ahead in PT.
Some of this might sound intimidating to people, but they expect much less from people at first, I actually had to tell them to push the limit and push the again for me.
I'd say the even more important thing is to ready yourself mentally. You will have at least one HELL day. Accept that, but know it will END. Know you will be weak but that you can't afford to just sit around. Do ankle pumps constantly, do your breathing exercises, do heel slides and let your hands help the motion go deep until it hurts. Feel like crap when PT comes to get you up? Force yourself, even if you fall right down and vomit. These days suck, but you set yourself up for success a lot faster.
You must be logged in to post a reply.