Big D is Growing - PRECICE 2 Internal Femurs - Dr. Paley

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Hope you like the title 

I've decided to make this diary to glean information from others as I go through my journey, and hopefully help guide you to one day starting your very own diary! This is an area for me to deposit my thoughts and see myself progress, and I completely encourage you to do the same if you haven't already.  Who cares if you don't have a doctor or date planned yet or even any money, your story of why you're doing LL is important too.  We all want to hear what each other has to say.

Who are you?

I'm BilateralDamage, but call me BD.  I'm from the US, 21 years old, weighing 140 lbs and my height is 167 cm.  I have a wingspan of 176 cm, a sitting height of 86 cm and a very athletic fit body (but I haven't tried doing any backflips yet- looking at you Sweden  ).  I used to think I was doomed to be a short man for the rest of my longevity on this earth and fell into a heavy depression.  I've had people call me names without provoking them, my so-called "friends" make me feel less of a human being because of my height, people not take me seriously in business, social, fitness, family life, and eventually outcasted from social circles because of my attitude in life after my depression.  But would you know it, as soon as I found out that LL existed, I had a slight skip in my step the very next day.  I'm becoming friendlier and happier and a lot more people started accepting me into their social circles.

I remember seeing the movie Gattaca and hearing rumors that the lengthening Jude Law's character did in the movie was actually physically possible, but only for very short amounts, and I never bothered to read up on LL after that point.  I also thought something like that looked disturbing and never imagined myself even considering it.  My girlfriend stumbled across the documentary Apotheosis had with 20/20 and she showed it to me in a joking manner, not realizing how seriously I would take it.  Thanks for something Apo/SysOp!

Who is my doctor?

I haven't fully decided that yet.  I am very strongly leaning towards Doctor Birkholtz (South African doctor who I have not seen any diaries for yet!)  I discuss why in the video I'm embedding below.  I'm not that great of a podcaster/speaker yet (I think this video is boring) but I promise to get to leechlet's level soon.   Just need more practice, it feels weird talking to myself.  I also have a great camera and will take some neat footage wherever I end up doing LL.

If you don't care to watch the video, I'll break down why I'm leaning towards Dr. Birkholtz into 3 bullet points.

• Pricing
• Honesty and Character
• Knowledge

The three things that really separate most surgeries, huh?

Dr. Birkholtz offers PRECICE lengthening at a cheaper rate than most doctors I've seen.  Most of the prices I've witnessed so far are considerably higher than his 54,000 USD cost for surgery, hospital stay, accommodation for 4 weeks, physio, food, etc.  On top of pricing, as I go into in the video, Dr. Birkholtz is an incredibly upfront and honest man and he has my full confidence that I'd be in good hands.  You don't have to look far to see this, in his thread on this forums, he posted even discouraging some people from doing CLL.  It's not a safe procedure and any doctor encouraging it is most likely a greedy hack.  In regards to knowledge, the man teaches doctors from around the world at a prestigious hospital in South Africa on LL.  If you just take a glance at http://www.limblengtheningforum.com/index.php?topic=137.0 where he answers many of our questions, you can tell he really knows what he's talking about.

He is not my final choice, and I still want as much input as possible from everyone to help me ultimately decide who I want to do my internal femoral lengthening with.  I chose the PRECICE because it seems to have faired better than other nails, I can afford to be in a wheelchair for extended periods of time, I'm not interested in bending or breaking my nail, and I'm also not interested in paying upwards of 80K-100K out of my pocket for this surgery.



When will I do the surgery?

May 2014, no matter what.  I'm graduating and finishing my studies completely in May 2014, and will be heading straight into surgery to get this over with.  I wanted to do this over my current winter break between last semester and next semester, but unfortunately, 1 1/2 months wasn't enough time!

What are you doing to prepare for your surgery?

I admit, I need to do more research in this department.  My honest opinion is that pre-OP doesn't matter much to the overall success of the surgery but I'm still going to do my research.  I'm going to pick and choose through each diary what seems to work and what doesn't, and then collect it all in an excel spreadsheet in this next week so I have the entire next 5 months to adhere to some regimen.

How much will you lengthen?

Max, 6.5 cm.  I don't plan on exceeding this point, for healing, safety, and time purposes.  I may do a second surgery on my tibiae for 6 cm of lengthening later down the road.

Second surgery?

I want to be an of average height male in the U.S. so I'm planning on lengthening my tibiae after my femurs heal up.  But who knows, maybe at that point I'll be so satisfied with my height that I won't need to do a second surgery.  That's years down the road!

Closing remarks?

Stay fresh.

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Hi BD,

Appreciate the thread along with your post, both the typed info and your video. It's valuable to read and hear your thoughts a few months before the procedure. Will be interesting to see how you develop as your surgery starts following through to your bone consolidation and road to recovery afterward. Your statements of how being short has affected your life brought me back to my own experiences, and it made me realize even further how many of us here can relate to each other and can therefore support each other as we go on this lengthening journey.

Have to say I'm also excited to see who you ultimately choose to do your surgery with, especially if you end up choosing Dr. Birkholtz. I messaged Dameon and gave him Dr. Birkholtz's information that was posted on the site later - I found him by typing into Google "leg lengthening Africa" - and was a bit disappointed in the initial reaction toward his addition to the doctor directory on the site because of his practice location. As we saw on the forums, Dr. Birkholtz appears to be an ethical and knowledgeable doctor and I hope it shows when you're under his care, should you decide on him. There's an article online showing that he performed the first ever lengthening in Africa, so he's a pioneer.

I'll be doing the opposite of you, with external tibias first and then internal femurs. My visa is in the middle of being processed right now and I'm already getting butterflies in my stomach just from the nerves. Will be lengthening the end of this month or beginning of February if all goes according to plan.

Looking forward to your updates.

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Awesome. The first video diary I'm watching. You can turn this into a real video documentary later on (just an idea).

Your experience will influence which doctor I choose later in 2014 for femur also.

What made you decide to do femur first over tibia? Tibia has cheaper options and there are more variety of doctors for tibias

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Thanks guys.  And thank you Kilokhan for finding us Dr. Birkholtz' existence!  I don't think I would have ever bothered to search up "african limb lengthening" tbh.

Why I'm doing femurs first and not tibias are broken down into two points:

• healing time
• proportions

Femurs tend to heal faster than tibias, and while I'll be confined to a wheelchair for probably about 3 months, I should be able to have my tibias lengthened within a year after my surgery.  I don't think it would be as possible for me to lengthen my tibias 6 cm within a year and be fit enough to jump straight into my femoral lengthening.
In terms of proportions, as a matter of personal preference, I'd prefer to have unnaturally longer femurs than unnaturally longer tibiae for the period between my two surgeries.  My femurs are already longer than my tibiae, yes, but they're in a 1.11:1 ratio and having the femurs lengthened 6.5 cm would put them in a 1.286:1 ratio.  Conversely, if I were to lengthen my tibiae, I would notice them to be longer than my femurs and have a much more unnatural ratio.  Also, in my opinion, longer skinny tibiae are not too aesthetically pleasing, but obviously this view changes from person to person.
 
My lengths currently (rough estimates using a tape measure)
Femurs: 40.9375 cm
Tibiae: 36.875 cm

X-ray of my legs pre-surgery:

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Exciting start of a diary, in so many ways! Looking forward to it, good luck!

Just curious, what's the height of your girlfriend?

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I loved your video (=speech)!!!
It is not boring at all.
And you spoke very well and impressively, you and Leechlet are on the same level there...

I'm always so amazed when I listen to you guys who are like 21 ore 22 years old and I almost cannot believe it. I feel like I was such a child at that age and you guys definitely seem to be more grown up than me!!!
And here I am , turning 46 in march... Crazy...
Somehow I think I will never ever grow up, no matter which age.
Sometimes I think this is good and sometimes I think it is sad...

Anyway, good luck with your journey, impressive start!

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I totally agree with OBG, you seem so mature.
Im older than you but i dont seem to grow in all sens ah ah -)
Very interesting diary  .

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old forum PartyLeaks,

Cheers!  I responded to your PM about this a few weeks ago.  Did you see that message?  For some reason, it won't show up in my Sent Box...
My girlfriend is around 5'1" - 5'2" (155 cm) and I think our heights mesh perfectly together.  I'd still prefer to be taller because I want her to be able to wear heels without me feeling short.

OBG,

Thank you! That means a lot coming from you, your writing style sounds very experienced and mature to me.  Btw, that video you posted in your diary today was badass.

Claude,

Thanks. 


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I'm going to be posting an entry soon on advice Birkholtz has given me in regards to where I should cut my femurs (metaphyseal vs. diaphyseal regions) and where the nail should be inserted from (antegrade vs. retrograde).

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Hi BD,

I plan on traveling to South Africa for holiday and to visit a friend there this "summer". (Summer for us, but winter for South Africans, lol). I guess Dr. Birkholtz is in Pretoria? Because that's probably where I'll visit. I'll make sure to pay you a visit as well if you choose to undergo LL there.

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Hi BD how long a minimum time gap are you planning to leave in between your twos surgeries, if you were to get two? Why do you believe pre-op preparation is not that important ? I am 19 now but I will also be getting my surgeries when I graduate and turn 22 and have the same starting height as you.