Mitkovic veteran patient - AMA (Ask Me Anything)

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I kept the device for 7 months. I was scared to remove the device and have any problem being away from doctor but it was okay since I was walking for many months. And doing the steps to remove the device. It's like the Man in The Iron Mask removing the helmet. A great sensation.
The pins were a little painful (first unscrews). Doing it very slowly was the key. I filmed but lost due to formatting my computer.

I could use the device under jeans (to travel) but clearly noticeable. Same for any pants. You can't hide it.

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Do you need to somehow lock this device after lengthening?

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^^

Yes. Otherwise your body weight goes only in the pins. When you lock the device, it gives you an extra point of safety. It's just an extra screw. It's the same one you close to "reset" the device. If you're not familiar, the pin stretch something like 2cm, 3cm max. Then you lock the device, move some part close so you can move the pin to the beginning so you have another 2cm, 3cm to turn. Hard to explain.

There's a process. I lengthen for 3 months and the other 4 was for consolidation. In the last two weeks (aprox.), you unscrew the pin the same way you used to increase height. You lose a few mm from compression. When you see there is no more compression, it mean your bone is strong enough to hold your weight. I was quite scared. I removed the pins and kept the device acting like a fork holding a suspension (suspension=bone). Maybe it wasn't necessary but I was 15hs plane from Serbia and didn't want to take risks.

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I am leaning towards doing 4 cm. Do you think it is realistic to have the device removed after month 5 ? Or more so after month 6 ?
I decided that since in 3-4 years when I save more money I would do a 2nd surgery, internal femurs, in the longer run there is hardly a difference between doing 4 or 5 now so I decided to go for the lesser evil

btw, after the frames were removed, did you experience slight difference lets say 1-2 mm between the two legs and did you also experience some sort of slight contraction, a few mm, things that some Mitkovic patients report to have experienced.

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^^

You shouldn't count on doing under certain time. If you're athletic, recover fast (I never got an injury going to the gym in my +14 years), have a good diet, doesn't smoke, etc... You might be able BUT, even if you could I would keep the device for as long as possible JUST IN CASE.

If you have 178cm, you might do 5cm, even 6cm without messing your proportions. I don't think you'll gain a lot of benefits going from 6ft to 6'2 IMO. The eventual risks/complications/cost does not compensate an extra surgery. Maybe you live in Netherlands were 6ft is average, then I could be wrong.

 I experienced compression (losing a few mm) during the process of removing the device. You don't remove the device at once. As I said in a previous post, you unscrew to release the pin so your bone compresses the callus (consolidation). It's the same process as stretching but the opposite direction. I lost maybe 5mm max. When you unscrew and you notice it doesn't compress further, you know your bone is strong enough to hold your weight. It's a good measure, specially for those patients who push the 7cm to 8cm mark.

About the mm difference in my legs, no, I haven't noticed. I heard you won't notice difference if it is below certain distance. I was concerned about misalignment but it was in my head since people's legs aren't 100% symmetrical. Just look at the mirror. Ask any friend or relative to put his feet together and raise the shorts.

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Can you give us a brief timeline? If i chose to stay in Serbia for the whole process including removal how long donuou think it would take for 6 cms? Are accomodations and getting a nurse expensive?

Thanks for doing this, I like the way his externals look compared to others?

Oh and how would you rate serbian chicks?

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Quote from: kian222 on January 23, 2016, 02:37:05 AMOh and how would you rate serbian chicks?

I can answer to that as well because I live next to Serbia and visited the country many times.
Serbian girls are very hot but I doubt they would be interested in half crippled guys in a wheelchair

Further, they dress really nicely and often wear heels for no obvious reason, like when going for groceries
With that being said, you can always use tinder and start a chat, telling a girl that you are a tourist in Nis and you had an accident and had to have ur legs taken care of. Btw Nis is a student town with over 10 000 students and most are girls. In Eastern Europe, because of the WW II, generally the male:female rations tends to be around 47:53 and in some countries like Russia/Ukraine that took the biggest hit, as high as high 42:58

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Let me start with the chicks question:

I guess you can find better answers in anold forum but I can say they look like the typical ex yugo/soviet countries. Decent height (from 5'5 to 5'7 mostly), white, decent breasts size, good ratio for us men (more women than men), friendly and approachable and more importantly, you don't see fatties as you see in US (thank god). Skin not that smooth and many smoke. Above average worldwide speaking. If you come from US you'll love it.

Some patients dated local girls. Being a foreigner is a plus (in 90% of the world anyways). You can pick up girls even in your wheelchair but if you have "game" I advise you to go there a month before operation so you can find a girlfriend who's willing to stay with you during the procedure. Don't be cheap and the relationship should be good for BOTH. Rent a place, pay for everything (groceries, going out, taxi, etc). She'll be dating a cripple for Christ sake.


I've heard funny stories about being in a wheelchair. Car accident, plane accident (LOL), "correction", skydiving (that's my favorite), you name it. The impression I had is that ANYONE knew about it. All the cab drivers knew, people at supermarket (when people help me out to reach something they asked me how my recovery was), waitresses (don't have to be a genius when you see plenty of foreigners all the time normally and then in a wheelchair)... To your new girlfriend you should explain. She'll try to advise you against and think you're an idiot for doing it (they can't understand how a healthy person do it since they don't see height as a problem like us westerners). For everyone just do as me, say it's a long and sad story. People won't bother.

Can't say how prices are since it's been +5 years. I paid 200 euro (+100 euro for expenses like heating, internet, tv, etc) for a 3 bedroom apartment. I spent around a $1000 dollars monthly going out everyday practically. Including bandage changing at hospital many times, cab once or twice a week, etc.
Dollar strengthened against all currencies so I GUESS you might be able to live with a $1000 dollars these days. I recommend you to ask some patient who's there right now to give you updated prices.

As for hospital, you don't need more than a week. RENT AN APARTMENT BEFORE YOU DO OPERATION. You don't want to start looking for places in a wheelchair.


Don't know if you're asking about the device but they're okay. In the beginning they're more visible wearing pants since the bars are way above your knees. Then it's less noticeable. They're heavy but you just notice it when you remove them. I used to keep the device as a memory but threw it away (no point in keeping it). It's great compared to others since there is no pins in your muscles.


For 6 cm I guess you're going to keep the device for the same time as me. 7 months aprox.

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Thanks for the response man, I'm just joking about the girls. I hate the feeling of someone feeling sorry for me so I wouldn't want a girl friend while I'm in a wheel chair. I would actually rather hire a nurse or caretaker then a Gf. I might hire one of the those university students to teach me a language though.

Now after 7 months were you able to walk or is there a few months of consolidation after getting those removed? Because 7 months sounds reasonable, I've heard around 11 months for ex fix.

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Would you ever be willing to post a video of sorts showing your recovery or anymore pictures? If not then that's understandable.

Anyways, how was it getting used to having longer legs then what you'd naturally been used to? I.E: any sort of movements or actions that are now ackward or difficult to do. I'm talking about both exercise and day to day life.

When you are laying down do you ever look at your legs and think about whether they are too long?

I'm assuming your Tibia are either equal length to your femurs or possibly greater, how does that dynamic work?

And lastly, do you personally feel, now that you have done 5 CM, that you (getting 3 cm extra in the femurs) or someone else doing 8 CM (say either in one segment or spreading it out into the two) would be too much?