8cm on femurs - Dr. Mahboubian

Hey there,

My surgery is scheduled for April 5th, so I'll update this thread with how it goes. I'm currently 5'6 aiming at 5'9. I research and desire to go under this procedure for more than a decade now. I've told my closest friends and family. It was really hard convincing my folks to accept it. They won't be paying for a thing, I'll pay everything out of my own pocket, but still, they are very conservative people. Besides that, my dad is a radiologist, so bones are kind of his thing and he dedicated almost an entire day on Skype lecturing me about the possible complications.

A little bit about me: I'm a 25yo male engineer in Sillicon Valley. I'm originally from Brazil and moved here about an year ago. I was born with an external rotation on my hips, which basically means that I walk wiggling my butt. It also hurts when I hike or sprint, as I seem to put too much pressure on my shins. Anyhow, I spent an entire life pittying myself for being both short and with funny legs, but the latter turned up being a money saver. I went on my surgeon (Dr. Mahboubian, in North Hollywood) first visit back 3 months ago, and he told me he's able to fix my bone rotation in the same procedure. In other terms, since the surgery now qualifies for an anatomic correction, my health insurance will pay for the hospital fees (which is roughly half the price of the whole thing). Yay.

Now, about why I'm doing this: not for the women, let me make this clear. Most of the posts on this forum are about height insecurities in the sxxual context, which is a pretty plausible reason, but mine isn't that. First, I play for the other team. Second, I feel my height affects my professional context much more. I've felt my entire life that I was not taken very seriously by friends or co-workers, in the sense that I'm often target of jokes, keep being called "half-a-person" and things like that. Just like a transsxxual person looks in the mirror and can't identify with the body they live in, I look in the mirror and never felt happy about the height of my own body. Just the height, nothing more. Maybe that's a thing that psychoanalysts will eventually talk about.

I'm very excited about the upcoming months. I'll take 1 month leave from work. I'll try to use half vacation time and half sick time off. It will also be a correction surgery after all, which is going to improve my overall health and well-being. My co-workers only know about the correction part. They know I feel pain in my legs and my outdoor activity is very limited. They don't know about the other side of the coin and I prefer to maintain like that. There's too much taboo around this procedure and I don't want funny looks. Also, I've been using lifting shoes for the past year, which give me around 6cm. I'll stop using them after the surgery so it becomes almost unnoticeable.

Finally, I decided to not stop my life during the recovery months. I don't know if I'll manage, but I'll keep going to the office. In a wheelchair, of course. My mom will be here with me for 3 months, so she will help me with everyday things.

That's it for today. I'm really excited and will keep you all posted. Hopefully I can help some of you and you can help me back. Talk soon!

Thanks for the replies! Most of my dad's concerns are groundless based on his lack of knowledge on this subject. This procedure is not well known in Brazil, even amongst the medical community, and what we end up hearing is that it's a very rudimental thing done in China where they cut your bones with a saw while you're awake. It takes no effort to Google and educate yourself, but guess what, nobody is doing it. So, when I say that I always talked about doing this since I was ~10 years old (always the shortest of the classroom), I mean that I was willing to go through this almost-torture thing people mentioned when talking about unconventional methods of growing up. Of course, as I grew older, I educated myself on the actual possibilities. I kept trying to educate my folks for a couple of years but my mom would cry and make drama when I came up with the subject, and my dad would tell me that only over his dead body. That's when I locked myself in my room and started to study 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, for some years, so I could move away and make my own decisions. I was blessed with the opportunity to move to another country and did it, by myself. So I made my own money and called my folks to let them know I'd do the surgery, and that I'd understand if they decided to not speak to me again. I wrote a very long letter explaining all the psychological reasons I needed it, and I had my sister (who is a psychologist) helping me out into making them understand. Honestly, coming out as gay wasn't nearly as hard as convincing them that I needed this to be happy.
So, I managed to make them understand, and got to the stage where my mom said that although she did not accept it, she would respect my decision. They educated themselves on the matter with the numerous articles and videos I sent them, and now they're comfortable with the idea. My dad was worried about osteomyelitis, strength gain pos-surgery (he said I'd have chicken legs) and long-term complications (he wanted me to provide examples of people that went through this surgery and are fine decades later). I never did, as PRECISE 2 is not that old.
Android, I'm very glad to hear that someone else in this forum is doing it with the same doctor in 2018! Hopefully LAGrowin will create a journal. It'll definitely help me a lot. Honestly, I do expect some criticism from folks here since I'm not doing the conventional 3-months sabbatical period away from everything that most people seem to do, so I'd love to hear feedback about that. Taking a 3-months leave from my work is not an option for me, so I'll have to make it work somehow.

Quote from: myloginacct on January 01, 2018, 01:36:55 AMDo you still get comments on being short when you're using the 6cm lifts? If so, damn, people suck.

I wish you the best of luck with your LL.

With the lifts I get to be average on Brazil, and a little below average in the US (172cm, almost 5'8 ). With the surgery, I plan to be 5'9, and I get to be 5'11 whenever I'm feeling like it (heck, lifting shoes are a bless), but on my day-to-day life I'll not use the lifts as I do now.
And no, I don't get nearly as many comments as I did before, but I still do. Yesterday I was hanging out with this guy and when we said good bye, he said "God, you have such tiny legs, you look so small", to which I responded "but we are the same height..." (we were, with my lifts), and he replied "yeah, but it's just my impression". So yeah, I think that although the lifts make me taller, my legs still look small to other people. I have no way of knowing, as it's really hard to analyze myself.

Quote from: prakash419 on January 01, 2018, 07:03:58 AMgreat, all the best. I have 2 questions - may I PM you?

Sure!

Hey all,

The day has finally arrived. I did my surgery 4 days ago, so here's a summary of how my days have been (I'll split it in several posts):

DAY 1
I slept very little on the night before the surgery. Woke up at 3AM and couldn't sleep again out of overthinking. Was this the right decision, or did I get here due to my impulsiveness? I didn't know. I was mostly apathetic and couldn't feel fear nor joy. I wasn't anxious neither. All I could think of is that I had too show up at the hospital by 5:30AM and I was going to be bored for the next 2 hours.

Took a shower, dressed up, left my room and saw that my parents were getting ready as well. Called Uber and by 5:20AM I was at the hospital, looking for the right place to check in. Found it, gave them my name and waited for about 15 mins. First step was just giving basic information and signing a bunch of paperwork related to my rights, my insurance and some other bureaucratic stuff.

I was directed to the short stay nursing area. Went there and checked in again, they put a hospital wristband with my name on me, and led me to a private room. I was repeatedly asked the same questions about drugs I was current using, DoB, last name, etc (you really can't mess this up). I was then asked to change my clothes into a hospital apron and was given a last chance to pee.

The anesthesiologist shortly came into my room and asked some of the same questions again, then briefly told me what he was going to do and said that he would see me in the operating room. Then Dr. M arrived, asked if I was excited and met my parents (they're temporarily visiting from another country to support me through the process).  Then, a very friendly guy came into the room to shave my upper legs, wished me good luck and I was finally taken to the operating room. My parents were left in a waiting area somewhere in the way.

The operating room was quite big and there were quite a few people in there. I didn't count but I would say that definitely more than 6. They were all very friendly and started asking questions about where I come from, what do I do, etc. It was around 7:45AM when the doc came into the operating room. A lady was holding some paperwork and read it out loud my name and the reason that at I was there – "bilateral femur osteoplasty with femoral derotation". Everyone nodded. That's the furthest I can remember. I don't remember going to sleep, or even closing my eyes. The next thing I know is consciously opening my eyes and having some folks moving my legs in many different positions. As far as I recall, it was around 1PM. They were taking my X-Rays. I remember babbling about pain on my legs and telling them that it was hurting me. Not a 10 but maybe a 6. I was very confused. The nurse came and put some pain killers on my IV. I was then told that I was under PCA and was given a black device with a button. Whenever I pushed it, 1mg of morphine would flow to my bloodstream, but I could only do it once every 10 mins. After they finished taking my X-Rays, I was taken to my room. They called my parents to say that the surgery was over and I was conscious in my room. I was conscious but a little bit confused. It took a while to notice I had a catheter on me and to remember exactly what I was doing there. It didn't last long, though. The nurses came in and introduced themselves, took some vitals, asked if I was doing OK. I was constantly under morphine so the hard pain didn't really hit me. Throw a rock on me now but when I heard that I could only use it every 10 minutes, somehow my brain interpreted it as "DO use it every 10 minutes". Consequences would come up later.

It wasn't long till Dr. M came check on me. He told me that everything went fine and that he used the thickest nails. He asked if I noticed how my feet were better aligned now, which was something I totally forgot to do. I urged to take out the sheets and take a look at my own legs. Despite being full of large gauze pads all over my thighs and glutes, I was amazed to see how my knees better aligned with my feet now. I felt so happy. I'm not so good at expressing emotions tho, so I'm sure I had a "meh" face – but I made sure to tell him I was very satisfied with the results. Then, he displayed my X-Rays on a screen by my side and called my dad (who is a radiologist) to see it. He explained again what he did, reassured that everything went well and asked me to rest. Before he left, he said he was going to pay me visit the next morning.

The rest of the day was full of hospital staff coming into the room to check on me. I was given water and some soap, which I ate entirely in no time since I had been fasting for the past 14 hours. Later in the afternoon, PT came into the room to check on me. He asked if I could feel my feet, which I could. Then he asked me to move my feet and my fingers, which I also did.  Then, some exercises to lift my legs, move it sideways, bend my knees... and then I noticed I couldn't bend it past 90°. Maybe due to the muscle incisions and trauma of the surgery itself. I heard it was expected. My range of motion was quite limited but I was happy to be able to do it all. He then showed me a walker and asked me to stand up on a scale, holding the walker. I took a few minutes but I did it. Not much pain, mostly muscle discomfort – my legs felt VERY tight. He asked if I could walk. I was going to do that, when I felt a sudden dizziness, like I was gonna vomit. I told him about that and he said it was ok to continue the next day. I felt bad for not doing the entire session but knew that this was the right thing to do. They gave me some vomit bags, I laid down again but nothing ended happening, it was just a temporary sickness.

TV didn't have many options, and honestly I was too high and confused from all the medication – and the morphine, since I was pressing the button every 10 minutes. I enjoy privacy and personal space a lot, mainly during stressing times, but despite me asking my parents several times for them to sleep at our Airbnb and come to the hospital early in the morning, they ended up deciding to stay. I think it was good after all, since I'd struggle a lot that night. Continues on day 2.

Sorry for the long time to update. Lots of things happened last week.

DAY 2
I forgot to mention that around 10PM on day 1, a nurse came to take my catheter out. I asked her to do it slowly, since others reported in this forum that sometimes it is pretty painful. She kind of ignored and pulled it out in about 3 seconds. No pain, just a weird sensation.
I couldn't sleep, even with so much morphine on my system. As a matter of fact, because of the excess in morphine I started having an allergic reaction. At 1AM my whole body was extremely itchy. Due to my limits in motion, I couldn't reach some spots such as my feet or my lower legs, nor the spots under the dressings, which made the night horrible.
I asked the nurse to put some Benadryl on my IV, but it didn't seem to help. During the night my pain increased and the nurse increased the morphine dosage from 1mg to 1.5mg, and then from 1.5mg to 2mg. That was every 10 minutes.
As my body was getting overwhelmed with so much morphine, my itchiness only increased. That's when my mom suggested that maybe the morphine was causing a reaction on my body. I called in the nurse and asked if this was possible, to which she confirmed. I started using it less and less and eventually the itchiness subsided.
Dr M paid me a visit early in the morning to check how was everything. He answered some questions I had and told me that the first few days would be tough.
The rest of the day went quite well. I had breakfast and lunch on the hospital, was able to pee – actually, I was peeing every hour or so – and eat with no major issues.
The nurses came in every hour to check my vitals.  Eventually I got a visit from the PT to try and get me moving. I was able to walk up til the corridor and back, with the walker. I was able to stand for more than 10 minutes before I urged to go back to bed. The PT told me I did great for only my second day after this major surgery.
I was then told I was being released today. I actually got excited since I don't like hospitals that much. I received a visit from the case manager and she told me she was able to get me a commode and a walker through my insurance. Yay!
I left the hospital by 4PM. The hospital arranged a transportation van for me, which means I didn't have to leave the wheelchair. But my wheelchair hadn't arrived from Amazon at that time, so I used one from the hospital. They led me into the van and I went up in a mini-elevator. Ride home was quite smooth. When I got there, the driver rolled me into my apartment and then into my bed, so he could return the chair.
I got a notification from Amazon saying that they tried delivering the wheelchair but failed. I had my parents running to the closest USPS at 5PM to try and get it. Lucky for me, the wheelchair was there and they were able to retrieve it.
By 10PM everybody was pretty much tired. I went to bed after taking a Norco, but woke up a few times during the night. Thought was going to be a nightmare sleeping with the belly up but Norco is quite a saver.

DAYS 3-4
The weekend was quite good. I was recovering fantastically well and using the walker quite often. Maybe that was my mistake. I had lots of energy and was trying to do a bunch of things by myself. Not much pain, maybe the anesthesia hadn't wore off. I was able to stay in the wheelchair and use the PC for hours without feeling any discomfort. Sleeping was the worst part, so I always relied on Norco to help.
I wasn't able to do any bowel movement so far, so by Sunday it had been 5 days without a bowel. That got me worried, but I received a visit from home care nurse on that same day. She changed my dressings and recommended me to take a suppository, just for the first week. Norco slows down your intestines and to much of it can shut down your digestive system. I took a suppository on Sunday night and was able to have my first BM pos-op.
My range of motion on both legs was about 90° bending. My right leg was a little bit more swollen than the left one but not much significantly, so I was calm. Took a Norco and went to bed.
Btw, so far I was on about 6 pills of Norco a day.

How my legs looked right after operation:

DAY 5
This is the day that my life started becoming a nightmare. Everything was good during the morning.  Woke up, took my Xarelto, Vitamin D and Calcium. Spent a little bit of the morning time in bed, and then moved up to the wheelchair. So far, staying in bed was the worst. Keeping my legs 180° caused lots of pressure on my knees, front and back. I think the pain in the back of the knees was related to the very big bruising I had (will upload an image soon).
By afternoon, I was sitting in the living room when I started feeling a discomfort on my right buttock. It felt as if I could feel the screw touching my butt. I sent an email to the doc and he promptly responded telling me to apply ice packs on the area, as it might've been a little bit more inflamed. I did and it helped for a while.
The real struggle started during the night. Around 8PM I started feeling a slightly sharp pain on my right leg. I could sense there was a specific spot; if I touched it, my body would shake in pain. Heard they call it a tender point.
The pain only intensified as the hours passed. Norco only lasts about 1h on my system, so I couldn't rely on that. Around 11PM, the pain was such that I was sweating and shaking. I took my temperature and it showed 101.6° F, which is considered fever. I read the manual I was given after being discharged from the hospital to try and find what to do. Ended up reading about something called 'compartment syndrome'. There were about 10 items in the symptoms list and it recommended going to the ER if you experienced at least one of them. I was experiencing 7. So, right before midnight, I was calling Uber to go to the ER with my folks.

DAY 6
Getting to the ER was a little bit complicated, mainly because by the time the Uber was at my place, the slightest movement on my right leg would make me want to die. The pain was really intense, easily 10/10. I tried getting accessible vans with elevator for wheelchair patients but at midnight it was really an impossible task. I was really desperate to get to the hospital so I would beg the Uber driver to take me if he denied it because of my condition.
Fortunately, he didn't. I was able to lean on the door with one hand and on the seat with the other hand, and pulled myself up. Pain was intense but my desire to get to the ER was bigger. I had to sit diagonally, with the healthy leg touching the ground and the other one resting on the seat.
When I got to the ER, I got even more desperate. So many people in the waiting room. I checked-in and told them I had done a surgery at that same hospital about 5 days back. After a few minutes waiting, they called me to triage, and then was sent to do some blood tests and chest X-Ray -- they wanted to make sure I didn't have pneumonia (). I was then told to wait about 45 minutes for the results to come out.
I waited about 10 minutes in the living room when the pain got really unbearable. I thought I was going to faint. My leg was hard as rock, I was sweating a lot and had a hard time breathing. That might've been the anxiety kicking in but I decided to call Dr. M. I found out he has someone available 24/7 to call him in case of emergencies. I called and told that I was in the ER, and desperately needed to talk to him. They told me that I should have someone in the ER calling them instead.
When I hung up the phone, I completely freaked out. I knew I would wait a lot and the thought of losing my leg to compartment syndrome just kicked in so bad that I completely lost any shyness or insecurity that I usually have. I rolled myself into the triage room again and asked to talk to the same person that first saw me. I begged her to please call my doctor's office to tell him that I was there and that I might've had compartment syndrome. It was just a guess based on a bunch of common symptoms in a manual I was given by the hospital itself upon checking out, but it was definitely worth checking. She saw how nerve wreck I was and called someone to check up on me instantly. They put me in a bed and asked to see my legs (I had some long pants on). As soon as they saw how bad it was, I was immediately sent to a private room to be seen by a doctor. They first put me on IV to give me some pain killers. I honestly tried taking Norco but it simply didn't work.
The night was endless. I did several exams (blood tests, urine tests, X-Ray, Ultrassom) to try to get an idea of what exactly was happening. I was ok after the painkillers kicked in through the IV, so the pain was manageable, but I was still really nervous about the possibility of needing another surgery. This is a completely unknown territory for most of us, because even though we spend hours and hours on this forum reading diaries and other patient's experiences, everyone of us may go through some unpredictable things.
It was around 7AM when my results came out. And guess what... nothing. Precise nail was fine, no blood clots, no infection and no compartment syndrome. All major concerns were ruled out, which left only one explanation: some blood vessel was leaking and caused a major internal bleeding. Just so you have an idea, I measured the diameter of my left leg at some point above my knees and it was 38cm. On that same spot in the right leg it was more than 45cm.
By the time I was discharged from the hospital, I still couldn't move my right leg anymore. Copy-paste the same history about how hard it was getting an Uber back home, and then by 8AM I was back in my bed. The rest of the day was just shoving down Norco every 4 hours and ice packing my leg. Part of me was relieved that it wasn't anything that would require intervention, but part of me was mad for putting myself through this. For not overthinking things that could go wrong. For underestimating the whole process. In a matter of hours I had my right leg outgrow my left one by lots of cms and I would just think how fked up this is. It was the first time in my life going through something so major in my own body, and it was definitely the most intense pain I've ever felt. During the entire day I felt the urge to call the doctor's office but I knew it wasn't going to change a thing. I knew I just had to fight the pain and my body would eventually heal.
And so I did. I spent the entire day in bed. It was a Tuesday, and my follow-up with Dr. M was on a Friday. By Friday, I had to be healthy enough to start the whole lengthening process. It was going to be some tough days -- the toughest ones in my life, I would argue.