May 11th Update:
Completed 2 cms of lengthening.Things are going well for the most part. The only inconvenience I have is that I have a hard time getting into sleep mode.
Physical Activities:
I keep my day physically very active to avoid sore calf and muscle stiffness/pain. Below is the schedule I've been following for the last 3 days, and it's working pretty well.
Walking/Standing - 1.5 to 2 hours.
Physiotherapy session with physiotherapist - 1 hour
Physiotherapy/Exercises (myself) - 1 to 2 hours
Gym (work out on upper boy) - 1 hour
Also, I wanted to show you guys how the distractors are turned on TSF frame. Hope this is informative.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JV7rjR_WPlk&feature=youtu.be
Bilateral Tibia Lengthening and Varus correction with TSF
May 24th Update:
Hi everyone. Today, I reached 3 cm. The extra length is definitely noticeable. I got feedback from my friends over here that my tibia earlier was considerably short with respect to my overall body length. At 3 cm, it now looks good and proportionate.
Things are going well over all. I lost quite a bit of weight - became 70 Kg (was 76 Kg prior to the surgery). I guess major reason for the weight loss can be attributed to muscle atrophy. I still see chunks of fat and loose skin hanging around my thighs and hips. I'm trying my best to exercise and get in good shape.
I met the doctor today. He stated that my bone growth looks good and I should continue walking and exercising, and retain my current physical state for the next few cm. Now that I completed 3 cm of lengthening, my bow leg correction would start from today. I'm guessing it would last for next couple weeks, and then further lengthening would resume.
X-Ray:
Please help! Need some information regarding bone grafting.
Hi Everyone. I'm trying to find information regarding bone grafting. As you know, I'm currently undergoing lengthening using external frames, which can take up to an year for recovery. So I'm trying to find out if bone grafting can help reduce the consolidation period. Specifically, I want to know if allograft can be used for my case, as it doesn't need another surgery to extract bone from my body. I want to know if it's feasible or advisable to perform on tibia bone, and what's the recovery rate - for say 6 cms.
I found couple of posts on this forum about grafting, but they only state that grafting is performed in the event of non-union. I couldn't find if grafting is performed in a situation where there isn't a non-union, but to accelerate bone formation and speedy consolidation.
Appreciate your support on this. Thank you.
I haven't heard of bone grafting being used to just speed up recovery. I think they'd have to take the bone from your fibula for the graft. Has Dr Dhawan said anything to you about what he thinks of your idea? If it were me I'd just go through the process normally and avoid the grafting. With any surgery there are risks. Why take more?
Thanks Kilo. I haven't asked the doctor about it yet, I was planning on asking him after lengthening is done. I wanted to get the input from Sr. Members of the forum prior to that so that I have sufficient information. On the same note, I found few diaries where they've used low intensity ultrasound device to accelerate bone healing (like Exogen and Sonic 628 WD). I called Exogen customer care to find out the price and I'm surprised that it costs a whopping 4000$ without insurance. So Exogen is out of reach. I don't know if there are other affordable ultrasonic devices, I'll keep researching. Please let me know if you know of any.
I'm thinking of "plating" post lengthening. I was told that plating can hamper bone growth. I read an article few months ago that plating done with bone graft can significantly reduce the consolidation time. In that article, the average consolidation rate was 20 weeks, which is 5 months. I want to be able to get back to my life as early and safely as possible, which is why I'm researching options like grafting etc. You're right that there are risks with extra surgeries, so I'm also researching for non-surgical options like ultra-sound device etc.
Gym Workout Video
I'm sharing this video to provide my current state of movement, flexibility & proportions.
Any updates?
I'm going through few complications over the last few weeks. I'm waiting to get them fixed before posting on the forum, so that I post factual information rather than something emotional and biased info (which I'll regret later).
In the states they take it from the hip.
Quote from: KiloKAHN on June 15, 2016, 06:25:29 PMI haven't heard of bone grafting being used to just speed up recovery. I think they'd have to take the bone from your fibula for the graft. Has Dr Dhawan said anything to you about what he thinks of your idea? If it were me I'd just go through the process normally and avoid the grafting. With any surgery there are risks. Why take more?
Quote from: fujitora on June 17, 2016, 06:05:02 PMThanks Kilo. I haven't asked the doctor about it yet, I was planning on asking him after lengthening is done. I wanted to get the input from Sr. Members of the forum prior to that so that I have sufficient information. On the same note, I found few diaries where they've used low intensity ultrasound device to accelerate bone healing (like Exogen and Sonic 628 WD). I called Exogen customer care to find out the price and I'm surprised that it costs a whopping 4000$ without insurance. So Exogen is out of reach. I don't know if there are other affordable ultrasonic devices, I'll keep researching. Please let me know if you know of any.
I'm thinking of "plating" post lengthening. I was told that plating can hamper bone growth. I read an article few months ago that plating done with bone graft can significantly reduce the consolidation time. In that article, the average consolidation rate was 20 weeks, which is 5 months. I want to be able to get back to my life as early and safely as possible, which is why I'm researching options like grafting etc. You're right that there are risks with extra surgeries, so I'm also researching for non-surgical options like ultra-sound device etc.
When I got back to the states the doctor gave me whats called a bone marrow stem cell shot, which is an innovative way to speed up the bone healing and just recovery in general.
Here is a link:http://www.andrewssportsmedicine.com/getpage.php?name=regenerative-injection-bone-marrow
Since it is so new, it may be hard to find. The best places you could start in India is SPORTS therapy hospitals. OR sports therapy doctors, since the best candidates for this procedure are athletes, you will want to reach out to there doctors.
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