Hey everyone,
Giving a quick update as I’m about to go into surgery to get my Stryde nails out. I can’t believe this step is finally here and I’m really looking forward to putting all of this behind me. I’ve been living my life 99% normally for the past few months and I know everything is going to be reset again after the removal surgery. I’ll have fresh scars, bad gait, limited weight bearing, and limited physical activity again. I’ll probably even be too concerned about my femurs fracturing to hook up with any girls in the short term. However, because of this I want to get it done asap so I can move on with my life. I’m also a bit concerned about lysis induced by Stryde so I’m trying to get them removed before my nails start oxidizing significantly.
My physical abilities haven't changed much from the last entry, but my cardio level is improving slowly and my legs feel stronger than before. The butt and hip exercises are working too and my rear looks much more proportional than it has since my initial surgery. Here are the key details leading up to nail removal.
Scheduling
I started looking into removal about 15 months after surgery. I reached out to Dr. Downey since Movie got his done there and had a positive experience. The doctor’s office was fairly communicative given the time difference. I sent them my latest X-rays and they confirmed that I was ready for nail removal. However, I was quoted a price significantly higher than what Movie paid when he did it just five months earlier. It was on par with the last price point I saw from Dr. Lee (pre-pandemic) which was still less than half of what the US doctors charge. Also I had the option of having a plastic surgeon come and close the incisions instead of a general surgeon but I would have to pay extra. I didn’t bother asking what that would cost as I’m more concerned about the size of the incision than how it gets closed, assuming it’s not a medical student doing the suture. I’m pretty sure I will eventually have to see a scar specialist in the US either way. Normally Dr Downey’s office requires at least a month’s notice to book a surgery date, but they were able to fit me in on shorter notice due to a cancellation in his surgery schedule. I had to pay by bank wire ahead of time to secure the date.
I think if Korea had opened up its borders earlier I would have probably at least tried to get a quote from Dr. Lee too. I heard he wasn’t very responsive to international inquiries during the pandemic, but maybe that would have changed after the Korean border opened up again. The last price I saw for him on nail removal included a 3-day inpatient stay. It seems like this would be a good option for anyone who wanted to stay under observation for a longer period after surgery.
Surgery Day -8
While I was in the gym lifting weights normally I was carrying a 45 lb free weight to mount onto a barbell and out of nowhere my left thigh started hurting when I put pressure on it. There was no sound or anything and I wasn’t even doing a lift with my legs so I’m not sure what the cause was. I’ve been lifting for quite a while after surgery and I highly doubt it was bone damage but I was freaked out nevertheless since it began when I picked up that weight and walked while carrying it. Racing through my head was the fear that it was going to interfere with the nail removal surgery I had already booked, paid for, and taken time off for.
It hurt when I applied any weight on that leg or twisted it to the left or right. The leg also felt weaker than normal. During this time I didn’t know what was causing the pain, so I was on the lookout for DVT/PE and gave myself O2 tests. I also used the massage gun I bought for LL on my quads and hamstrings but that didn’t seem to do anything for me at all. There was no discoloration or swelling at the surface either, so my physical symptoms aside from pain, but the pain reached 6/10 level at one point and made it hard for me to fall asleep. It was also hard to work and focus through the pain as I was trying to wrap things up at work before my extended time off. I took a few Ibuprofen but it didn’t really help all that much.
Finally, after two nights of sleep most of the pain subsided (total of about 36 hours). However, even afterwards I walked with a bad gait for a few days, putting less weight on my left leg as it still felt kind of weird (though I don’t know if that was psychological or physical). However, as long as the acute pain wasn’t there I wasn’t too concerned about it. As many other LLers have said even a year after the initial surgery they would still have random unknown pain in their legs for a short period of time. Hopefully that stops once the nails are out for an extended period.
Surgery Day -5
I landed in Europe a few days early and went out to have some fun (I had to get it out of my system before going back to cripple mode again). Fortunately my left leg was not feeling any persisting issues at this point and seemed like it was basically back to normal. I felt just like any other tourist in the area as I should.
Surgery Day -2
After I arrived in Spain I went to the hospital and got my blood work done. The receptionists at the front desk of the hospital knew some English and led me to the patient advocate who Dr. Downey had reached out to about my arrival ahead of time. I gave her my doctor’s orders and we went to the lab to draw blood. I had to pay out of pocket, but it was very cheap.
Later in the day I had a pre-op appointment with Dr. Downey at the children’s clinic that he’s affiliated with. The receptionists didn’t speak English but I spoke enough Spanish to let them know who I was looking for and to figure out which room I was supposed to go to when they replied. While I was waiting outside Dr. Downey’s office, I got a couple of stares as an adult with no children at a children's hospital. When I saw Dr. Downey he inspected my previous surgical incisions and tested my range of motion. Everything was good. Then he answered some of my questions while drafting some paperwork for me to take back and sign before the day of surgery.
I met the anesthesiologist as well, who spoke English though not as well as Dr Downey. He talked through the standard pre-op anesthesia stuff and was able to explain things fairly well, but prepared written documentation for me to read and sign as well. All of the documents I got were in Spanish but I was able to use text/image translation software to read it easily. After that I left the clinic and had no other plans before surgery except to chill and try the local food.
Surgery Day -1
I had to go to the hospital twice today. The first time was for my pre-op COVID test which came out negative. Can’t say I wasn’t nervous about it though. However, right after I left I got a message from Dr. Downey’s office saying that they wanted me to get a set of pre-op femur X-rays on the same day. Fortunately I had not wandered far from the hospital yet and I returned to get it done. It was through this that I saw the nice X-ray machine they had at the hospital. It’s not an EOS machine but it looks much newer than the one at the local hospital I got my X-rays done at in the states. The hospital didn’t look the newest from the outside, but seeing the new equipment inside made me feel more confident about the Spanish health system. I paid for both the COVID test and X-rays out of pocket, but again they were a fraction of what they would cost in the US. Later in the day Dr Downey confirmed that the X-rays looked good and didn’t anticipate any complications.
I was pretty nervous and excited and couldn’t really fall asleep very easily the night before surgery. My anxiety about surgery/anesthesia and fear of getting a fracture after the nails were out were all at the forefront of my mind. However, unlike the initial surgery where I was thinking whether or not it was even a good idea to begin with, this time I knew I had to get the nails out so one less thing to think about. Still, it didn’t stop me from having jitters. I eventually dozed off with four alarms set for the next day.
BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Good luck! Keep us updated 
Hahaha this is bringing back memories, dude the day I saw Dr. Downey for the day before-op appointment they had just gotten that XRAY machine you must've used, a day or two before, and they spent about 30 minutes trying to get it working for me to do my X Rays but couldn't LOL, so they used "the old machine" which looked still newer than the XRAY machine I'd be using in LA. Wish you a quick recovery !
Thanks Movie and thankscience! Overall I’m pretty happy going to Dr Downey to get my nails out and I’m recovering way faster than after the initial surgery. Here is a recount of the first few days after surgery:
Nail Removal Surgery Day (16.5 months after initial surgery)
By the morning of surgery I had been fasting for more than 12 hours so I was hungry and thirsty but had too much on my mind to care at all. I got dressed and grabbed all my signed paperwork, then took an Uber to the hospital. There was some rush hour traffic so I barely made it on time, but the hospital wasn’t busy so I got checked in quickly.
At reception no English speakers were available but I told them in Spanish that I was scheduled for surgery today with Dr. Downey and then they immediately knew who I was. A staff member led me upstairs to my room so I could drop off my things and wait. I was on my phone for a good hour or so before an orderly came in and told me to change into a hospital gown, then he wheeled me all across the hospital to the OR on a different floor. I saw Dr Downey and the anesthesiologist as well as other surgical staff and they installed an IV port on my hand for injections. I remembered feeling very cold and shivering as I scooted from my hospital bed to the OR table. Then the last thing I remembered was a brief conversation with Dr. Downey about which sites I visited in the city while the anesthesiologist put a sedative into the newly installed IV line.
I woke up in the recovery room feeling a bit groggy and tired enough to doze off if I closed my eyes. I felt like I had dreamed of someone working on my legs while I was out but I couldn’t exactly remember any details. I quickly reached down to check for a dreaded catheter and was relieved that I didn’t find one, however I did notice that my genitalia was 100% numb! My entire lower body was mostly numb as well so I figured I must have gotten spinal anesthesia. I tried to lift my body so I could check my back but didn’t have the strength to. The nurse must have noticed that I had awakened and told me that I had to stay in the recovery room a bit longer before returning to my hospital room. I was so groggy that I don’t remember if she said it in English or Spanish but either way I understood her meaning. I drifted in and out of consciousness for a bit.
Dr Downey stopped by as well at some point and told me overall the surgery went very well. I did have pretty strong bone growth covering the head of the screws so it took slightly longer to remove everything than expected. He also had to open my prior incisions more than their original size to chip away the excess bone. Everything was taken out except one piece of a bent screw. I’m not too concerned about half a screw in my bone since the lysis causing part of the nail is out and he told me that half a titanium screw won’t mess with any MRIs or metal detectors for me in the future. After the doctor left I passed out again until the orderly came by and wheeled me back to my hospital room.
Back in the room I was surprised that I was not hooked up to any sensors and the main IV fluid bag that was empty was removed. I did still have a bottle of something attached to my IV line, but the label was in Spanish so I’m not sure what was in it (antibiotics, antiinflamatories, painkillers?) The orderly just handed me my phone and said I could use it to call my familia (yeah right lol). He then asked if everything was okay and I said yes, so he left. Later on, some nurses stopped by to re-bandage my IV insertion point and make it more comfortable. They asked if I was in any pain. I must have been getting some kind of pain medication in my IV already because I wasn’t really feeling any. They said that I could eat in about two hours and to call them if I needed anything before then and then they left.
Later on, Dr Downey stopped by again before leaving the hospital for the day. He told me that I could move my legs freely and that I could sit up if I wanted to. I asked him about the lower body numbness but didn’t specify the part I was most concerned about (you know what) but he said it would take several hours before I had full sensation in my legs, and if my legs started hurting to call the nurses for extra pain medication. After he left it was quiet for a while. I tried to doze off, but it was the middle of the day so I wasn’t sleepy at all once the sedative wore off.
The internet at the hospital was pretty fast. I decided to browse the web on my phone for a bit. Boy was that a bad idea. Since my entire manhood was still numb, I stumbled upon this website (https://www.steadyhealth.com/topics/numbness-is-penis-lack-of-erection-difficult-ejaculation-after-hip-surgery) talking about people whose penises lost sensation after hip or femur surgery. For most people it took a few weeks to recover, and for some people three months or longer! There were quite a few data points too. One person even permanently couldn’t get erections anymore after his orthopedic surgery. It seemed like the consensus was that their pudendal nerve was injured or compressed during the surgery and they would potentially need further surgery to fix the issue. Now reading that as a normal guy I would not have cared, but reading that as a guy with a 100% numb penis post-orthopedic surgery I was panicking. Maybe my pudendal nerve was damaged too? I was freaking out thinking about what I would do if I couldn’t use my dck for three whole months or if it became permanently numb!
Fortunately, my full penile numbness only lasted about 3 hours. By that point it was only about 50% numb and I started having the urge to pee as well. It seemed like the numbness would go away by the end of the day so I stopped worrying about it. Seriously though, it’s freaky having no sensation in the genitalia at all. If you don’t touch it, it doesn’t even feel like it exists! Anyway, I called a nurse over to help me pee and she said I wasn’t allowed to stand up yet and got me a bed urinal. I tried peeing for about 15 minutes but couldn’t get anything out.
Then, seeing as I was awake, an orderly stopped by with some food. I was famished since I hadn’t had any food for almost 24 hours. The nurse said I had to drink water first. The food provided was crackers, yogurt and some soft fruits. It wasn’t quite a meal but I didn’t want to stuff myself either if I wasn’t going to be able to stand up and use the bathroom. Overall, I didn’t feel bad at all in terms of nausea and appetite. Unlike the initial surgery, I didn’t get a big dose of general anesthesia making me feel sick afterwards. I guess it’s really true that taking the nails out is way easier than putting them in. After all, in the US this would be done as an outpatient procedure and you wouldn’t be staying in a hospital at all.
After eating, I tried to pee again and this time I got a left drops out. It wasn’t enough though and I was still feeling the urge to go without actually being able to go. It took another hour or so before I could finally empty my bladder. One thing I noticed that was different from the US was that the nurses don’t seem to check on you frequently here, or maybe my surgery was not intense enough to warrant the frequent nurse check-in. They would come quickly if I buzzed the help button though, so it wasn’t like I was being neglected. Only one of them spoke English though, but we got by with my rudimentary Spanish and some translation software.
At this point my legs kind of felt like they did after the first surgery, very heavy and stiff. I didn’t have much flexibility (though that might be from how they tightly bandaged my knee) or even the power to raise my legs much. Around 8pm they served me dinner with a chicken dish, some bread and soup, and a dessert. I ate it pretty quickly and didn’t think it would be enough, but ended up feeling full 15 minutes later. I guess my appetite was still partially suppressed by the surgery.
For the rest of the evening I just watched TV while laying on my back with a slightly elevated bed. I’m paranoid about DVT/PE as always, especially since I didn’t think I had a blood thinner so I did some weak leg lifts every so often to keep my blood circulating. My lower body numbness eventually went away 100% by late evening. I had some lingering persistent pain on my right side upper femur incision, and not on any of the other incisions. It was maybe a 2-3/10 level constant pain, but not enough for me to ask for any more painkillers than I was already getting. Later at night the nurses came by with a Valium pill to help me sleep. I popped it right away but couldn’t fall asleep. I’m sure I was still being affected by jet lag too. I eventually dozed off in the middle of the night.
Surgery Day +1
I had some weird dreams and woke up a few times throughout the night. After the third time I woke up it was dawn so I decided to just stay up. My legs were a bit stiff but surprisingly pretty much pain free. The IV on my hand was very annoying but I expected it to get taken out when I got discharged later in the day. I was checking my phone when the nurses came in with two breakfasts and set them on the table across the room. I told them that I couldn’t walk yet until the PT came by and they just said okay and left. While I was pondering how I was going to reach my food, they came back to wash me in bed, which was an awkward experience but necessary as I wasn’t exactly clean after using the bedpan so many times and I also still had crusted dry blood on my skin from surgery. While they were changing my bedsheets I had to turn and lay on each side briefly with some help from one of the nurses but it definitely hurt to put weight on my incisions. After that they set up a table over my bed and brought one of the breakfast trays over for me to eat. Unfortunately it did not taste very good so I didn’t bother with the second one. Aside from that the only other person who stopped by in the morning was a cleaning lady who mopped the floors and removed the food trays.
In the early afternoon I stayed in bed and watched some more TV while trying to nap a bit between episodes. My legs definitely felt much stronger than yesterday and I could bend my knees a bit more, even with the bandages, and could also lift my legs higher than the day before. Eventually I heard a knock on the door and Dr. Downey and a member of his PT staff showed up. Dr. Downey checked my incisions which had minimal bleeding, then left to write me some prescriptions and the discharge paperwork while I was doing PT. Apparently I was also supposed to get shot of blood thinner earlier but didn’t.
Now it was just the PT and me in my hospital room. First, she manipulated my legs while I was laying down to check my range of motion. Since things looked okay, we proceeded with the rest of the PT session. We did some sit-to-stand exercises, and once I was comfortable standing then we walked around in the room. I was surprised how easy things were compared to after the initial surgery. I guess having intact bones helps. After that I did some glute exercises and did a second lap walking around the room. Finally, we did some hip exercises and then a final lap walking around the room. After that she had me sit down on the bed with my legs dangling over the edge and she worked on my legs a bit more. After that she gave me a few more pointers and then left.
Dr. Downey came back and handed me some prescriptions to fill after I got discharged. He answered a few more questions that I had about weight bearing and recovery, and fortunately it sounded like it would only take about 2-3 months for me to fully recover. I would have to find a local orthopedic surgeon to get follow-up X-rays and certification for sports though. Then he said I could be discharged at 3pm if I felt like it. After he left, the nurse stopped by with my blood thinner shot and injected it straight into my stomach. There was no bleeding from the shot but the injection site hurt a bunch for about 15 minutes. As soon as the previous nurse left a staff member came by with my lunch. After eating lunch I had about an hour before discharge so I continued to watch TV and bide m my time. This time I was sitting up instead of laying down though.
Finally it was time to get discharged. I buzzed the nurses and they came to my room, bringing an afternoon snack while they were at it. They told me that they were still trying to get in contact with Dr Downey to see if I needed to bring my IV drip with me. I felt like it probably wasn’t doing anything at this point and the IV port was quite uncomfortable so I was hoping they could just take it off. The nurse who spoke English told me to wait one more hour and then she would let me know. The nurses then left me alone. Everything kind of worked out because during this hour I had severe stomach pain; much worse than anything I was feeling in my legs. Maybe it was the hospital food, but regardless of what I kept having to go #2. The first time failed and I couldn’t get anything out and because I had been sitting for so long I got super dizzy and nauseated when I stood up and nearly threw up into the toilet. The second time my stomach pain flared up I tried again and succeeded. Everything came out all at once in nearly pure liquid form.
After that I felt better about leaving the hospital. I started packing my things and the nurse came by with my discharge documentation and pointed out where the pharmacy was. Right when I finished packing my stomach started hurting and I desperately needed to go #2 yet again. This time it was pure liquid. I figured I should leave asap so I could get to the hotel in case I needed to use the restroom again. I left the hospital with my cane (so glad that I brought it) and walked to the pharmacy, which was only 30 meters away. On top of the painkillers and omeprazole that Dr. Downey prescribed, I also asked for something for the diarrhea.
After leaving the pharmacy I called an Uber but it was over 20 minutes away so I thought I’d just walk the three blocks to the hotel. I made it about 30m before my legs were exhausted and had to rush back into the hospital lobby so I could sit down and call another Uber. Even sitting down was tiring. By the time I took the short ride and walked from the car to my hotel room I was panting and nauseated and felt like I was about to collapse. I rushed into the bathroom and splashed some cold water on my face which made me feel better. I then immediately lay down in bed and checked the instructions for my medication. I took all the pills necessary and then passed out for about two hours.
I woke up after my nap feeling way better than earlier. Maybe the painkillers kicked in or I got some much needed rest. I was still tried and wanted to go back to sleep but I knew I needed some nourishment post surgery so I ordered takeout. I also wanted grocery delivery but apparently this hotel is in a dead zone for all of the apps that I tried, which is ridiculous considering how close I was to downtown. It looked like I would have to go outside myself if I wanted to stock up on food.
Once my delivery arrived I sat on a chair to eat dinner, which was more difficult than I imagined. Given the soreness of my butt it was almost as tiring and painful to stay seated as right after my initial surgery. After dinner I watched TV for a while and then took another painkiller and went to bed. I was able to sleep on either my stomach or back, but not on either side yet. My incisions hurt persistently when I put pressure on them and the underlying muscle was too sore to stay in that position.
Surgery Day +2
I woke up with massive morning wood so I can confirm that a certain important part of my body still works normally. I laid in bed and browsed the web for a bit. I was feeling zero pain in my incisions while laying on my back but still having a lot of trouble bending my knees. It’s hard to tell what’s causing the tightness in my knees, as I’m not sure if it’s because of stiff joints or the surgical incisions nearby or a combination of the two. While I was in bed I looked up nearby places that I could eat at, and there were a couple of options within four blocks. I wasn’t sure how far I could walk since I needed to Uber the three blocks from the hospital to the hotel yesterday, but I was feeling better so I was willing to try. I figured in the worst case scenario I could walk one way and then Uber back.
I got up to do my morning routine. The hotel has a giant wall of mirrors so I could see the massive penguin-like sway while I was trying to walk. My hip muscles must have been so weak that I was literally swinging 15 degrees to each side when lifting my legs to make a step. Hopefully this can be fixed in a week or so because I need to appear somewhat normal when I get home. I headed out to the closest restaurant, less than three blocks away. I brought my cane with me and only felt a little tired when I arrived. The walk took quite a while though as I was moving slowly and carefully. I don’t think I even needed the cane to walk, but it definitely made things easier. Unfortunately I arrived too early and the restaurant was closed. There was a gas station next door and I bought some drinks and snacks and walked back to the hotel. I noticed that there was also a grocery store on the way back as well, but it wasn’t open. When I got back to the hotel room my legs were very sore and my back hurt as well. I guess the tightness in my hips was causing my back muscles to overcompensate somehow.
I watched TV and ate my snacks while chatting with friends all afternoon. It made me realize just how much I’m looking forward to being normal again. It’s difficult to appreciate how good things can be when you’re just living a normal life until you know what it’s like being crippled, even if temporarily. Given all the people staring at me walking around like a penguin with a cane, I wouldn’t dare show my face like this in front of my friends.
By the evening I was feeling hungry since I had snacks instead of lunch so I decided to walk over to a further away restaurant. It was a bit further than the hospital, but I didn’t have any problems at all walking over. In fact, my back wasn’t even in pain either when I arrived this time. I ate at the restaurant to give my legs a break, then walked back to the hotel. I think I walked at least 25% faster than I did in the morning. I alternated between using the cane on my left and right side every 100m or so. When I got back to the hotel I was incredibly sore in the glutes and hip area and felt relieved laying down. I drank a bottle of water, took my meds, and once the painkillers kicked in I did some standing leg lifts to the side and back. After that I watched some more TV and fell asleep quickly.
Surgery Day +3
I actually set an alarm for this morning because I had a follow up at the doctor’s office and a PT session during the day. I didn’t know what time my appointment was because I had forgotten to email them until last night. Fortunately they replied in the morning and said I could show up anytime between 10am and 1pm. I headed over to the clinic and saw a different orthopedic surgeon since Dr Downey was out of town this week (which I was aware of when signing up for this specific surgery date).
In the doctor's office the surgeon cleaned my incision sites and replaced the bandages on my upper legs. There was still some dried blood left over from right after surgery, but otherwise no issues with the incisions from swelling. I was glad to hear this since I was supposed to ice my legs for the first two days after surgery but didn’t have access to any ice. Fortunately they weren’t too swollen since this could make my scars bigger. The doctor took off the padding covering my knees and lower thighs and inspected the incisions on my lower thighs as well. He said that these incisions didn’t bleed much at all and that the waterproof bandages didn’t even need to be replaced yet. With the padding removed I had more range of motion on my knees. Interestingly, my left knee had about 5-10 degrees more flexible than my right knee, which I’m not sure why. There was also a ton of bruising on my hamstrings. This would have scared me before, but it was actually much less than after my initial surgery so I didn’t even pay any attention to it.
At this point the surgeon said everything looked good and gave me some extra bandages. He said I could shower in a few more days and use these to replace the bandages on my upper femur incisions as the bandages were not waterproof. After that, I thought I was supposed to have PT, but when the surgeon called the PT, she said the appointment was for later in the afternoon. I decided to get some food and rest a bit before coming back for PT since I had a few hours. While walking outside waiting for my Uber I felt some random sharp pain in my upper left femur, but it went away after I sat down in the car.
I got dropped off at the restaurant nearest to my hotel. Turns out that it opens an hour later than listed on Google so once again I couldn’t eat there, but the nearby grocery store was open. I bought some food and drinks and returned to the hotel. I feel like my walk has improved already, with less sway than before. Also, the distance from the restaurant back to the hotel felt way shorter than it did the day before. All signs were pointing to continued improvement and getting better way faster than I did after the initial surgery. Overall I was feeling a lot less fragile than I thought I would be just a few days after surgery.
I didn’t want to show up to PT too tired so I just ate and rested in the hotel room until it was time for my appointment. I took an Uber to the PT facility, which was in a different clinic than the doctor’s office but in the same commercial development area. The PT facility was fairly large with its own reception staff and waiting room. The PT this time was not the same one that I worked with in the hospital a few days ago, but Dr. Downey had already mentioned her by name so it was easy to find her. We went into her office and I lay down on her PT table. First, she checked the location of my incisions, then started massaging my legs and doing some manual stretching to check try flexibility. So far, PT was pretty much what I expected, given my familiarity with it from doing four months of it after my first surgery.
After the table stretches it was time to do table exercises. I did various exercises working out my quadricep and hamstring strength and flexibility, then moved on to standing exercises. These were similar while holding onto something for balance. Next was a set of timed walks across the clinic. As the clinic was pretty big, walking across the first time took about 50 seconds. Then the PT pushed me to walk faster while maintaining my gait. I got the time down to 35 seconds after doing 6 laps in total. I also had to do some walking up and down a ramp sideways and the final exercise was walking up and down stairs, though with both feet on the same step before moving onto the next step. Overall, a very tiring session but it was a solid workout.
I left and called an Uber to the same restaurant since I was determined to eat there given two previous misses. I got a meal to go and brought it back to the hotel since it looked like it was about to rain. I set up my table and ate dinner, then sat in bed and watched a little TV. At some point I passed out from a combination of the food coma and tiredness in my legs. When I woke up it was almost midnight so I decided to try and go to sleep. I ate my meds, did my bedtime routine, and then lay down again. I couldn’t fall asleep though and was just laying in bed with my eyes wide open. I decided I should just switch back to US time and ended up stayed awake all night watching TV. I passed out just before dawn.
Surgery Day +4
I let myself wake up naturally in the early afternoon. I got out of bed and go ready for the day. I took a painkiller and drank some water. I thought about whether I should bring my cane with me or not when I went out for food. I noticed last night that my knee flexibility had greatly improved, especially on the right side. I thought it could possibly be because of PT since my knees were very tight after PT yesterday, but got better than before after a full night of rest. I ultimately decided to go with the cane since it has only been four days since surgery. I planned to try giving up the cane after my next PT session. I left the hotel and walked to the nearest restaurant because it was the coldest day of the week and I didn’t want to be outside for too long in a light jacket.
I ate at the restaurant, noticing that I still have a little back pain while sitting down. I think my tight glutes and/or hips are causing this. After eating, on my way back to the hotel I stopped by the grocery store again for some fruit and snacks. After I got back to the hotel I rested for a bit and spent some time reading. Later at night I did a full set of PT exercises which took over 30 minutes. I noticed that my incisions felt a bit more painful at night than they did during the day, but working out and keeping them moving helped with the pain afterwards. I cleaned myself up the best I could without showering, then took my pills and lay in bed. I watched mindless TV until I passed out very late at night.
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Surgery Day +5
I woke up naturally in the early afternoon again. Looking back I probably could have worked remotely this week and saved a week of vacation to enjoy later on when my legs are fully healed, but it’s actually really nice not having to think about anything else while recovering from surgery. As usual I got ready and went out for food again. I debated if I wanted to bring my cane or not and this time I did not bring it with me. It’s crazy how much faster the body recovers after taking the nails out vs putting them in. I guess putting big metal nails inside your femurs is a very invasive procedure!
I think my penguin sway is now about 10 degrees to the left and 5 degrees to the right at this point, meaning my left hip/glute stabilizing muscles are slightly weaker than those on the right side. Unlike when I was walking with my cane, nobody stared at me on the street. While my gait wasn’t perfect it probably just looked like I had a limp or bad walking posture if observing closely and not like I was a full cripple or something. Most people weren't observing closely enough to notice anything. I ate at the restaurant slightly further away from the hotel and the walk felt way shorter than the first time I had walked over there.
After eating I walked back while focusing on my gait and enjoying the nice weather. At this rate I should be able to hit up one of the tourist spots that I missed before I leave. After I got back to the hotel I took the stairs up to my room and it wasn’t too difficult taking them but I noticed that I still sway significantly more going up and down stairs as opposed to walking on flat ground. I decided to rest for a bit and watch some TV and then do a full set of PT exercises. Everything felt pretty good and I was looking forward to showing the PT my progress the next day.
Later in the evening I took a “shower” again without getting any of my surgical incisions wet and then lay in bed with my phone watching YouTube and other stuff for a while. I actually got hungry late at night for the first time since surgery. I think it’s a good sign that my appetite is back and the snacks I stocked up on came to use. One thing I noticed tonight was that if I kept my legs straight for a while, bending my knees for the first time after that would hurt a bit and if I kept my knees bent for a while then straightening my legs for the first time would hurt for a bit as well. It’s definitely an issue with stiffness near the knee incisions but I don’t know if there is anything I can do about it aside from resting. I laid in bed and eventually passed out.
Surgery Day +6
I woke up to a message from the PT saying that her prior client had cancelled so I could come early if I wanted to. Since I was awake anyway I got up quickly, got ready, ate a snack, and headed out.
During today’s PT session I started with a legit massage, 30 minutes on the legs, which was really nice since everything had been feeling so tight since surgery. After that I did a few walking exercises and a speed walk down the hall and back. It took under a minute, which the PT said was about as fast as a normal person could power walk. Then we recorded a gait video to send to the doctor. She said that my gait looked pretty normal to her, though I could still see a bit of a swing to the left. I’m obviously very sensitive to this kind of thing so I may be nitpicking myself. Nevertheless, I’ve improved greatly since day 1 and I'm still improving every day. I believe I still have some hope for walking completely normally by the time I return to the states.
After the waking exercises we did some sitting exercises and she checked my ability going up and down the stairs. Everything looked great, so she gave me a "pass" for PT. Then when I was leaving, the receptionist said that I had to pay for a whole bunch of stuff, including PT, the pre-op anesthesiologist visit, and the follow up visit after surgery. The last one must have been because it was a different doctor than Dr. Downey. The PT visits cost about the same as they would in the US and the doctor visits were about what a specialist copay would cost in the US. I guess the surgical quote from Dr. Downey didn’t specifically include any of these, but regardless the total cost is still a fraction of what I would have paid in the US, and I would likely have gotten some surprise billing in the US too.
After that was sorted out I left the PT clinic. Technically at this point the doctor would have allowed me to fly home, though since I already had the time off I planned to stay for a few more days before leaving. I think there must have been some kind of local event, but it was really hard to get an Uber and traffic looked congested all over the city in the afternoon. I ate at the restaurant nearby the hotel and then picked up some snacks at the grocery store. Suddenly I had to rush back to the hotel to use the restroom.
Back at the hotel I realized I should not have taken any antidiarrheal medication after surgery because I had been constipated for days and just realized it when I had to go #2. On another note I saw that I had a confirmed business class upgrade on my return flight to the US, which put me in a good mood. Given how uncomfortable sitting down remains for me, having a lay down seat will be much better. I picked a center aisle seat so I could get up whenever I wanted to and wouldn’t have to get up to let anyone else out. I planned to try and go to sleep a little earlier since I wanted to visit some tourist spots the next day. I booked a ticket with a specific entry time at a popular destination to force myself to get up somewhat early. I watched TV in bed for a while and eventually fell asleep.
Surgery Day +7
I woke up to my alarm and fell asleep again. When I woke up naturally it was almost time for my tour to start so I had to get ready quickly and rush out. I didn’t have time to eat so I took a taxi to the city center and started doing my tourist stuff. I think my legs were actually weaker than yesterday, but most people didn’t look at me weird. I spent over two hours walking around stopping to sit down a few times when I had the opportunity. Honestly it didn’t really help to sit since my legs would feel very stiff after sitting with my knees bent for some time. My glutes were also very sore the whole afternoon and evening.
I ate at a restaurant with outdoor seating and local food. The weather had been perfect all day and I felt like this was the perfect send-off to my time spent in this country. After dinner I called a cab and went back to the hotel to figure out my remaining travel itinerary. I would have to get up a little earlier than I did today but everything should go pretty smoothly as long as I pass my COVID test tomorrow. I watched some more TV, finished the remaining snacks in my hotel room, and then took a real shower for the first time.
I’m really glad that I showered because while I was replacing the bandages near my hip incision I noticed that I had a bedsore or some kind of open wound on one side. It might have been related to the position of the previous bandage. I used an extra bandage and covered the open sore by itself. I also sent an email to Dr. Downey’s office to confirm that it wasn’t anything else. The incisions themselves looked fine and were still healing. The incisions are definitely bigger than before, but I’m not sure there’s much I could do about that. Overall, at this point I thought that my recovery was still going well. I passed out shortly after going to bed.
Surgery Day +8
I woke up to my alarm and checked my email. Dr. Downey confirmed that it was a regular sore and told me to disinfect and bandage it. At this point if I’m more concerned I’ll just stop by a clinic in the states to get it looked at. I did my morning routine and then packed my luggage. I was packed pretty light given the length of the trip but still brought more clothes than needed. I debated if I should even bring my cane back to the states since I don’t think I’ll ever need it again. I ended up tossing it in the trash as a sign of confidence in my recovery. I called an Uber and headed to the airport.
I went through security without setting off the metal detector (which used to go off sometimes) and then found a place to eat lunch. After eating I headed to the counter to talk with airline staff because I was reassigned a window seat from an aisle seat. I wanted to tell them that I was at risk of a blood clot after orthopedic surgery but somehow no one spoke English. The airport here is really bare-bones too but at least the chairs by the gate were somewhat comfortable. I was walking with some penguin gait through the airport, but overall I feel like I was in a much better position now than during my first flight back home after initial surgery. However, I was on Xarelto back then so not as worried about a blood clot. Thinking about that reminded me that I still had some ibuprofen on hand, so I took a pill before boarding the flight.
After boarding the plane I wanted to ask a flight attendant about getting an aisle seat, but there was no one in the seat next to me so I decided to stay. I watched TV the whole time and just tried to move my legs constantly in the background. I did pretty much all of the PT exercises given the limited space I had. It was tiring for me to fly, but I think that would have been the case even with no surgery. Eventually I arrived at the city from where I would be flying back to the US the next day. Before leaving the airport I got a COVID test which came out negative. After that I was originally going to go directly to the hotel but it was still early so I took the subway into the city to go shopping.
I returned to the hotel near the airport and dropped my stuff off. Since there didn’t appear to be any delivery services available at the hotel I ventured out to look for food, and the restaurant next to the hotel seemed acceptable. There was also a grocery store nearby, where I stopped by after dinner to pick up a snack for the flight tomorrow. Then I returned to the hotel and prepared everything so I could leave quickly. Before going to bed I checked my sore and it looks like it actually dried or crusted already. I had some liquid alcohol gel from the hotel which I applied to the area and then rebandaged it. At this point I’m not too concerned about it overall. After that, I lay in bed on my phone until I passed out.
Surgery Day +9
The next morning I got up early so I could eat breakfast and run some errands at the airport before my flight. I didn’t know how to get from the hotel to the airport but there was a taxi outside. He ripped me off by €5 but I didn’t even care anymore; I just wanted to go home lol. Everything went smoothly at the airport and I got everything done and arrived at the gate right shortly before it was my turn to board.
Having walked around for a few hours in the morning I felt like I had improved greatly compared to the prior day. From yesterday to today was definitely the biggest single day improvement since the nail removal surgery. Movie also mentioned that his gait returned to normal about a week and a half after surgery. I would say I felt like I was at about 85-90% at this point and compared to yesterday I felt much less stiff in both the near hip and near knee incisions right after getting up from either a sitting or laying down position.
I got on the plane like a normal person. It’s funny to think that I was considering getting wheelchair service for this flight a week ago. I had a lay flat aisle seat, so I was much less concerned about being cramped for space or not being able to stand up and walk around than my flight the day before. I slept about 1/3 of the flight and stayed up for the remainder since it was a daytime flight. I watched some TV shows that I had downloaded on my phone and got up a few times to walk around and use the bathroom. Generally, I was able to move my legs around and do exercises even when laying down, so getting up to walk wasn’t even as important as it would be if I was stuck in economy. After stretching and doing leg exercises I could get up and walk around with minimal stiffness.
Before I knew it the flight landed and I didn’t feel weak at all walking around the arrival airport. I went through customs without a hitch and called an Uber to take me home. Although my legs were more than strong enough to take the subway I wasn’t really in the mood. After I got home I started catching up on all the stuff I left behind in the states when I flew out of the country for the nail removal procedure. Seeing my giant to-do list made me snap back to reality and mentally I instantly left the surgery recovery bubble that I created for myself in the last two weeks.
I would say at this point I’m feeling great. While my legs are not yet back to 100% of their pre-nail removal level, I’m confident that I’ll get there in a few days at most so I’m going to end my daily nail removal updates here. It doesn’t seem like the forum is very active now so I doubt many people are reading this anyway. I might come back at some point to give a final update when I’m feeling back to 100% but if this is my last update then I want to end it on a good note.
I’m pretty happy with getting CLL overall. While it was frustrating at times the process has made me appreciate my life a lot more and helped me discover some other important goals that I want to achieve, which may even be worth more to me than the height gain itself. Of course I wouldn’t take back those three inches either as I’ve already incorporated them as part of my identity, and the height itself gives me greater mental fortitude and confidence in pursuing my goals.
Again, I wish everyone here the best of luck on their height seeking journey. Please remember that any type of surgery poses risks and to be careful with your one and only body. I hope that everyone here ends up satisfied with whichever path they choose in this journey.
Until next time,
BelowTheMean
Happy to hear you made it back home safe BTM ! PM me a means to stay in touch with you once in a while, since I'm not on the forum either bro!
Hi BelowTheMean,
Just got a chance to check this forum after months.
I am glad you are doing well.
BelowTheMean
You went to Spain alone and checked into the hospital. they must have asked your for your passport as identity proof during check-in. So before you were knocked out did you leave your phone wallet passport at the hospital for them to keep it safely for you while you lost consiousness?
what would you do if they had lost your items upon your awakening?
As always, great to hear from you guys, Movie and SNC!
Quote from: LandmarkPen on April 24, 2022, 07:02:48 PMBelowTheMean
You went to Spain alone and checked into the hospital. they must have asked your for your passport as identity proof during check-in. So before you were knocked out did you leave your phone wallet passport at the hospital for them to keep it safely for you while you lost consiousness?
what would you do if they had lost your items upon your awakening?
SpeedDialer's alt..? Why are you worried about this? Have you never traveled before? Maybe try doing a regular vacation abroad before you do international CLL. I just put my stuff in the hospital room after checking in and before surgery, and then after surgery they wheeled me into that same room. How would I lose my stuff?
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As for an actual update I don't really have anything to update right now. A month after nail removal and it doesn't even feel like I ever did CLL anymore. However, I'm also pretty sedentary right now and can only walk around. I suppose my legs don't feel weak at all but I know I still have some empty screw holes in my femurs. The two guys on here (that I'm aware of) who fractured their legs after nail removal both did so while stretching so I'm always paranoid while stretching. I haven't tried anything athletic yet, but once I do I'll come back and update you guys. I don't expect to recover 100% athletically, but I do hope that someday I will be able to do everything that I still want to do physically.
On a social note I met a few more people who I haven't seen since the pandemic started and none of them showed any signs of realizing that I grew taller, although one of them tried to set me up with her friend (who everyone knows is a height queen) so I'll take that as a subtle sign of success lol. I think because I timed the entire process during the pandemic and because I look and act completely normal hanging out with other people, no one can even conceive of the notion that I broke my legs to grow taller. If I was limping around hanging out with my friends I think there would be a lot more people who were suspicious, even if I had a good cover story.
I actually find it weird that so few noticed such a great increase. 8cm is a lot (atleast, I think it is). And you went from somewhat shortish to a hair above average. Maybe people notice but don't say anything as the vast majority don't know of the possibility to grow after puberty.
Anyway it is nice to see everything is going smoothly for you.
Take care
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