Am I too old for CLL? And too out of shape?

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9cm ... wow..

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Quote from: California2 on May 18, 2020, 03:55:42 PMI was 56 when I lengthened my tibias by 9 cm.  You can read about my journey at "St. Petersburg--Distraction Completed".

So far as I know, I was the oldest patient who had the surgery with the Solomin/Kulesh team.

I think my age had little to do with my success. 

I know my self-discipline contributed greatly to my success.

Perhaps you might do well to ask yourself whether you have the necessary self-discipline to succeed?

Best of luck no matter how you choose.

9 cm for tibias... unbelievable.. Bravo

Pretty high for tibia. How are you now ? Is there any problem?

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Many thanks to all who responded constructively.  I know I want the surgery.  I also know I still have a lot of work to do in understanding the risks and how I can best set myself up for a successful recovery. 

The surgery itself is not the only complexity which must be managed.  I run a business.  Missing 6 months of work would require extensive planning on my part.

Later this year I'll schedule consults with one or two CLL doctors.  I don't mind paying twice for a second opinion.  In the meantime I will get started on adjusting my diet and physical activity.

I have absolutely no athletic ability.  Zero.  Never did, even as a child.  So I'm not sure there's much of that for me to lose.  The "sport" which gives me the greatest pleasure is salsa dancing.  Maybe I'm ignorant, but I can only see positive benefits from CLL for this.  I suck at dancing today but I know a lot of that is because I'm so self-conscious about being smaller than most of the girls on the dance floor.  Going from 5ft 4in to 5ft 8in (or 5ft 9in) would do wonders for my dance floor confidence.

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Quote from: secondchance on May 26, 2020, 12:09:47 AMI have absolutely no athletic ability.  Zero.  Never did, even as a child.  So I'm not sure there's much of that for me to lose.  The "sport" which gives me the greatest pleasure is salsa dancing.  Maybe I'm ignorant, but I can only see positive benefits from CLL for this.  I suck at dancing today but I know a lot of that is because I'm so self-conscious about being smaller than most of the girls on the dance floor.  Going from 5ft 4in to 5ft 8in (or 5ft 9in) would do wonders for my dance floor confidence.

I think LL will be very dangerous for you, not because of your age but because you have been out of shape your whole life. The patients that do best tend to be the ones that have been working out since they were kids or teenagers.
In my 8 months in Germany for my LL it was very clear that the best results were from 1) Guys who practiced weightlifting, martial arts and/or yoga (I've practiced all of those); 2) Dancers and Gymnasts, uusally females. And even in those cases every one of them struggled after 7cm.

I'm a strong supporter of CLL but I think you really have to think this hard.  I'm not sure your body can handle this.

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Quote from: BetzLandLiberator on May 26, 2020, 01:12:55 AMI think LL will be very dangerous for you, not because of your age but because you have been out of shape your whole life. The patients that do best tend to be the ones that have been working out since they were kids or teenagers.
In my 8 months in Germany for my LL it was very clear that the best results were from 1) Guys who practiced weightlifting, martial arts and/or yoga (I've practiced all of those); 2) Dancers and Gymnasts, uusally females. And even in those cases every one of them struggled after 7cm.

I'm a strong supporter of CLL but I think you really have to think this hard.  I'm not sure your body can handle this.

Thank you, this is a very good point you make.  And that's why I want to arrange consults with a couple of LL doctors before I get my hopes set too high on having the surgery.  My hamstrings are super tight.  This is probably my greatest cause for concern and a topic I will certainly bring up during the consult. But it's the stuff I'm oblivious to that gives me the greatest anxiety.  I have no idea what other parts of my body might be of concern. 

One thing I do know: whether I perform CLL or not, I've got to get myself into better shape.  Period.  I bought a gym membership earlier this year....about 2 hours before the governor closed all gyms in the state to prevent coronavirus spread, ha ha.  Fortunately that coincided with the weather turning nice, so now three times a week I've been walking for couple of miles at an elevated pace.  It's a small start but a start nonetheless. 

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There is no downside to getting in shape.  Carrying appropriate weight, having some muscle tone, and good flexibility are all beneficial and require no historic athletic ability.

However, you will NOT go from 5' 4" to 5' 8" as a result of surgery.  More like 5' 4" to 5' 6"; then, two years of hard work to get back to salsa dancing.

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4inches is possible. but only when doing femur and tibia.
doing it one one bone will defeinitely cripple you

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Quote from: California2 on May 26, 2020, 03:57:25 PMThere is no downside to getting in shape.  Carrying appropriate weight, having some muscle tone, and good flexibility are all beneficial and require no historic athletic ability.

However, you will NOT go from 5' 4" to 5' 8" as a result of surgery.  More like 5' 4" to 5' 6"; then, two years of hard work to get back to salsa dancing.

I should have been more clear - I don't plan on attempting to add 4 inches to my femurs alone.  I was thinking 2 inches on femurs, 2 inches on tibias.  If I could squeeze out an extra half-inch that would be even better but I'll take what I can get!

Flexibility is my biggest concern.  When I was active in the gym a few years ago, my arms and legs would put on muscle super fast.  But flexibility, especially with my hamstrings, has always been a challenge.

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I encourage you to measure (as best you can) your femur length and tibia length. 

Most surgeons will readily approve a lengthening of up to 10% of either bone.  Most surgeons can be talked into another 5% if the first 10% went well.  Beyond that, the risk increases dramatically.

Also, please do not assume you can readily lengthen 10% on tibias or femurs; then, repeat the same process on the non-lengthened bone to easily achieve 20%.

Once you lengthen either tibias or femurs by any amount, you reduce the amount you can successfully lengthen the non-lengthened bone on the same leg. 

This is so because when you lengthen one segment of bone, you stretch the soft tissues from ankle to hip.  Once these tissues are stretched from the first lengthening, there is less stretch available for the second lengthening.

My guidance to to get as much length as you can on the first surgery; then, once largely recovered decide whether you want to do more.