Hey Sunshine,
Thanks for responding. I was wondering how the stretching regimen was for using Precise instead of Stryde. Is it difficult to stretch without weight bearing nails?
Thanks Bro SNC!
I'm following your trail lol. I think you should be at 6.5cm now? You look so far ahead of me and nearing the finish line! I'm amazed by your handling of lengthening even doing 1.25mm/day!! How can you tolerate the pain?!! You seem to have struck a nice balance between PT and tricks hot tub/shower to dampen pain. I'm gonna keep pushing on stretching till the end!
@brondo,
It's true I sometimes think about compromising these Precice nails when pushing on knees bent. The weight bearing and walking unaided offered by Stryde is definitely a game changer in recovery!
Quote from: Sunshine on June 17, 2020, 11:19:00 PMOk makes sense, I still have 2 months to decide on the surgeon. Anyway regarding pre-op preparations I read some doctor recommends to work out and gain leg muscle mass as much as we can while other patients say we'd better stop working out and let the muscles relax 🤷
Hi Sunshine,
Have you got the answer now? As pre-op preparations, is it better to have more muscle mass? Does more muscle bring you more pain during lengthening? I went through the thread, can not find the answer:(
Quote from: init1alove on October 02, 2020, 06:00:51 PM Hi Sunshine,
Have you got the answer now? As pre-op preparations, is it better to have more muscle mass? Does more muscle bring you more pain during lengthening? I went through the thread, can not find the answer:(
Hey init1alove,
There are contradictory opinions on that question. Some say having too much leg muscle mass will hamper their flexibility post-op while another doctor advises his patients to gain as much leg muscle mass as possible to compensate for the mass loss post-op!
I'm not sure what to think about that. I personally decided to go into this surgery as light as possible and focused on stretching my legs rather than working them out. My legs were already naturally big and I didn't want to develop them further than they already were..
Hi Sunshine
Thanks for sharing your experience and helping people like us to make the right decisions...
Could you please answer a couple of questions:
1) how's your pain now? Are you still doing the distraction?
2) how much weight you have lost since the surgery?
3) distraction from home country is manageable as you flew back to your home country?
4) Do you feel you will be pre-LL after 1 year or so? Hows your knees now?
5) will you recommend Dr H to someone based on your overall experience?
I hope you get through this ASAP... And max out the nail...
Best regards
P.S : you have solid runners legs man... Your cardio game must be top-notch
Hey AnotherShorty,
You're welcome! I hope my experience may help future LLers and that they can take from my diary. To answer your questions:
1) my pain has plateaued since +4cm. It didn't decrease nor increase. My legs are super stiff and especially the quadriceps-front muscle group and lateral IT Band are super hard and under permanent tension. This stiffness creates more discomfort than pain when resting in my bed or standing up. In fact what causes pain is continuing distraction. Although I stretch before and after each distraction, every additional 0.33mm adds stress and tension to these already stretched muscles/soft tissues. From my understanding, in one of his interviews Doctor Paley said that there's only so much a muscle can stretch. Eventually it starts to grow past a certain threshold. And we have to keep stretching in order to stimulate that muscle growth.
So yes as of this writing I'm still continuing distraction. When I wake up at 5:30am after a very short night where I barely slept and tossed in my bed like a dozen times due to the discomfort and pain, my thighs are super stiff like a rock lol. My first fear of the day is how my feet ankles and knees are going to react when I get out of the bed and stand up! Some mornings I feel pain coming from my ankle and feet when I start walking (with the walker of course!). Overall, despite my fear every morning of what's coming, so far the pain has been somewhat bearable. It's not really noticeable during the day. It's more obvious at bedtime especially after the third distraction. When laying in my bed and playing on my phone waiting to fall asleep. It's when that throbbing pain comes alive from deep within the muscles or nerves or arteries (I'm not really sure where lol). It's on and off and would last couple hours. I have to keep bending my quads to relieve that throbbing pain.
2) I haven't stepped on a scale since surgery. I don't think I lost weight because I've never eaten so much in my life lol. I feel hungry every 2-3 hours and I have to refrain myself to 4 or 5 mini meals a day. This is in stark contrast to my pre-surgery diet where I never had breakfast and always ran on an empty stomach and started my first meal of the day late afternoon!
I don't think I gained weight neither just by looking at my overall body! It's still relatively lean despite my calories intake. Note I stay away from sugar and junk food.
3) Distraction at home was in my plans since day 1. It saves me on living cost abroad for 3 months while distracting in the comfort of my own home! So yes I stayed in Turkey for 15 days post-op then flew back home for distraction. That was possible since dr. Buldu allowed me to bring the ERC remote controller with me back home for the 3 months distraction. I'll have to fly back to Turkey though at the end of distraction to return the remote controller coz it's super expensive lol. I have no one to help me at home during distraction so it's quiet challenging but manageable as long as you can walk stand up and bend your knees to sit down on the toilet and for shower. Of course if you have your family around you to help during distraction that would be even better and more comfortable.
4) My knees especially the left one has been giving me issues since +2cm. The left knee has always been more painful than the right one.
I don't think I will be pre-LL after one year and don't even expect so! One year post-op is barely around the time I expect to remove the nails out of my femurs and until then I won't feel comfortable running or pushing my body. In fact my biomechanics will shift and be disrupted with that added length on my femurs. My center of gravity will shift, my thighs will never be the same again. I don't think they will ever be as strong as before surgery! In fact I don't ever expect to regain my pre-surgery athleticism and I already accepted that going into this surgery. My prime is behind me. Being able to run again one day will be bonus and will remind me the nostalgia of all those years dedicated to running.
5) Will I recommend Dr. Halil to someone based on my overall experience? Yes absolutely! Had I had any doubt about him and the safety of my legs I would of course never choose him. Based on my interaction and contact with him pre-surgery and in person after I met him, I can say I can recommend him. Now it's your responsibility to make your own research, get in touch with doctors you consider and see for yourself how you feel about each of them. I think his number has been listed on this forum and if you consider him drop him a line and see for yourself how you feel about him. Me personally, I flew there, met him in person and I can say he's exactly how he sounded like throughout our communication before I met him. Down to earth, approchable humble and caring. Even now back in my home country, whenever I have a concern and send him a message he replies promptly. But again don't take my word for it. It's your responsibility to contact doctors you shortlisted and see for yourself.
Each day now is a big unknown for me as I wonder every morning when I wake up how my legs are gonna hold up when I get out of bed and stand up. I wonder if I'm gonna feel pain when I make my first step lol. My relief comes at the end of each day after the last distraction around 7pm, after another millimeter lengthened!
Running and cardio was my life. It was painful and required lots of dedication and sacrifice to reach that level. That life is now behind me. I'm not getting younger and regaining that pre-surgery athleticism is no more a priority as I already gave it all during these years running day in day out. Living the rest of my life height neurosis free is more important...
Many thanks Sunshine for your detailed and kind response...
So I guess this surgery is something where EVERY day is a hustle 
I didn't know that you don't have anybody with you to help at your country...but endurance is your game and I am sure some where down the line you will again feel that ”Runners High”...
Keep Strong Sunshine ☀️
Thanks AnotherShorty!
You sure won't have a day rest after getting your legs drilled and your bones cut lol. Basic tasks such as walking sitting down standing up using the bathroom suddenly require more energy and become somewhat difficult. Right after surgery, any movement of the legs will induce sharp pain especially at the bones and osteotomy site.
I too think that Runners High feel will come back when I watch the Olympics next year. It's in my blood and can't be inhibited so easily! TBH I already dream about getting back to my pre-surgery fitness. I already envision the path to recover my athleticism and run again at the level I used to. But this is simply impossible because it's just a fact that my biomechanics and balance aren't natural anymore. I think once a muscle is overstretched it will never be as powerful as before.
Hi Sunshine,
I hope that you are doing well. I have to say that it is disappointing to me that you feel you won't be able to have your athleticism ever again. I was under the impression that it would be possible to gain it all back as long as you are conservative with lengthening (around 5cm) and work hard on your PT. Even if someone were to lengthen as much as you they can still get most of their athleticism back if not all if they work hard. Do you really feel this is the case? Do you think this is because you aren't doing Strydes or going above 5cm or would that same thought apply to everyone who does CLL? Thank you.
Hey Brondo,
I of course will get back to running once consolidated because it's in my genes. I already envision what it will take to run again after LL. It will be hell lol. In my case, at age 48 it's delusional to expect to run at my older pace after LL with different biomechanics. Longer legs will affect the pressure and angle of my foot/ankle landing on the ground on each stride. And I will probably be heavier too with longer femurs.
Anyway I will hit the road again once all is said and done in a couple years and I'll be curious to compare my pace to post-LL. I have all the data on my running app..
Now I can say not being able to walk unaided during distraction is detrimental to my recovery. And of course the less you lengthen the less you disrupt your biomechanics if athleticism is your priority.
I still think that a deviation of your center of gravity and biomechanics from your natural ones can't be beneficial to your athleticism.
You must be logged in to post a reply.