Anyone doing LL with Guichet in the next few months?

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I was originally gonna do Precice 2 femurs, but I'd rather not be confined to a wheelchair for (seemingly) a thousand years. Guichet offers the only full weight-bearing device, and his patients seem to recovery extremely fast. I mean, I could do 6.5cm in around 6 weeks (God willing), and then be (at the very least) walking on crutches right after, if not walking unaided.

The only sucky part is having to do it in Europe away from my family and friends. Is anyone doing LL with Guichet soon? It would be awesome if a few of us could go to Milan together and try to help each other out. Fellow (self-inflicted) cripples stick together! lol 

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Quote from: exclide on September 30, 2014, 12:39:17 PMYou'll need at least 10 weeks for 6.5 cm.

I don't think so. Guichet wrote me and said that, even with an extra month of pre-op training in Milan, I'd only need to be there 2.5 months. So if we take away that month of pre-op training (which I don't think I need, as I already have very muscular legs and am flexible), it's only 6 weeks. Guichet seems to be able to give many patients around 5cm in about a month, so I don't see why 6.5cm would take that much longer.

But I'm sure it varies from person to person. Overall, I want to avoid a wheelchair and I want to be walking unaided (if I'm wobbly) asap.

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Quote from: TheRisingShorty on September 30, 2014, 01:14:51 PMIf you weight below 70 kg, then you will not be confined to a wheelchair throughout distraction with the PRECICE2 nail. But you will need aid to walk which can be physically and mentally demanding. Over time it becomes very annoying and I can see the reason why many people opt for the Gnail because of its weight bearing ability during walking.
I believe that Dr.Guichet's pre-op training will benefit you especially stretching. From experience, I still have not experienced any nerve pain and major muscle pain/tightness at 6.5-7cm and the reason is likely due to my intense pre-op stretching. Yoga does stretch the nerves.
Anyways, if you do have time and resources to go to Milan and have surgery with Guichet, go for it!

Well, I weigh about 75kg so I definitely am not weight bearing at all for Precice. Even if I lost weight and then was technically able to weight bear, I'd be terrified of breaking the nails. As a result, I don't think I'd even let myself walk with crutches purely out of fear. And the idea of being in a wheelchair I've decided just isn't for me I don't think.

I'd say I'm pretty flexible now, but I intend to keep improving. My thighs and calves are naturally very muscular (another reason I've hated being short my whole life). I have no problem at all doing the basic stretches (palms to ground with legs straight, feet to butt either standing or lying on stomach, head to knees when sitting with legs apart, etc.). Does anyone have any routines I can do to keep challenging myself in improving my flexibility?

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Quote from: exclide on September 30, 2014, 01:22:33 PM...You'll need to lengthen at the rate of 1.5mm/day to reach 6.5 cm in 6 weeks. Usual rate is 1mm/day and is often slower than that. Just be realistic.

I agree that it sounds intense, but Dr. Guichet's patient seem to end up at 5cm just around the one month point. Even if it takes 7 weeks or whatever, Dr. Guichet seems to be ok with me leaving Milano after around 6 weeks depending on how things are going at that point.

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Quote from: ReadRothbard on September 30, 2014, 02:08:22 PMI plan on doing lengthening with Dr. Guichet relatively soon (next year or so), but unless I run into a decent amount of cash within the next few months, I don't plan on lengthening with him yet.

Cool man. I'll be in touch with you. I'll probably end up doing LL before you, but we can still be in touch. Guichet wants me to get a Cybex testing...he said this may save me a month in Milan. Right now I'm filling out all of his paperwork and have to have the therapist who cleared me for this send him that too.

I'm hoping I can somehow do this for around 60K-65K tops...that will still leave me with just enough cash (don't want to touch my 401K) to look into buying a house in the next year or two.

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Does anyone know where I can get a Cybex test done in or around NYC? Dr. Guichet wants me to do this and then forward him the results of the test (since I told him I only want to be in Milan for 6 weeks). I just don't know of any Cybex testing facilities in the area. I've looked online and just can't find anything as of yet.

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never mind, I found one right near where I work lol

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Quote from: short_and_depressed on October 01, 2014, 07:48:41 AMActually? Leechlet said it costed him ~85k..

What's the break-up please?

I think if you convert what ShyShy said was his grand total to USD, it comes to about $70K. But I believe ShyShy was in Milan longer and did the isokinetic center for 2 months. 

However, I'm only planning on being in Milan for 6 weeks, and I'm also going to try and only do the isokinetic center for one month. I figure if I'm only doing the isokinetic center for one month, only renting a modest apartment for 6 weeks (possibly less, but probably 6 weeks), and don't go out much, I'm hoping I can somehow squeeze under $65K. To me, for a doctor of Guichet's caliber (and getting to avoid being in a wheelchair/recovering faster), I think that's worth it.

Since I've also consulted with Dr. Rozbruch, I'm going to try and send Dr. Guichet all of that information to try and somewho lower the pre-testing/x-ray costs (my insurance paid for most of those already).

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Quote from: ReadRothbard on October 01, 2014, 04:08:53 PMHonestly, in my personal opinion, Dr. Guichet is probably the best lengthening doctor alive today--except maybe for Dr. Paley. Your money would be very well spent with him.

I agree. I think the best three (in no particular order) are Dr. Guichet, Dr. Rozbruch, and Dr. Paley. There are other fantastic doctors outside of these three, but these are the cream of the crop in my opinion.

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I generally agree that there's not necessarily a correlation between price and quality (this is true in many other services/products outside of LL), but I would rather know that I'm being taken care of by a highly experienced doctor in a reputable hospital.

Look at Dr. Betz - he's not cheap (I think he charges around what Guichet charges), but how many stories have we heard about bent nails from him? Not a bad doctor, but with something like LL (considering the risks and the money), I'd rather go to someone with a (virtually) impeccable reputation like Guichet/Rozbruch/Paley.