I had in person consultations with Dr Guichet and Dr Monegal and I have taken them out from my list of possible doctors for different reasons. I will share my experience.
1. DR GUICHET: Dr Guichet is serious and rigorous. He took the time to give me a good depiction of what I could expect if I did LL with him. He is serious about the preop, training requirements and motivation letters and preop agreements. This isn’t bad. I like Guichet’s seriousness but he seemed very greedy and money-driven. Some people think preop training is bull to make money, and I think the same. He had money in his eyes. He looked like a financial rapist who feels entitled to ENORMOUS amounts of money for routine tests. He was also cold and detached and I got the impression he would financially rape me if I got a complication (Unicorn). He was very proud of himself and his achievements, as if he was a god with no mistakes. He admitted he had had complications but blamed patients of their bad luck. Serious, responsible, rigorous but too proud of himself, greedy, callous, and detached. I decided to trust my guts and took him out of my list.
2. DR MONEGAL: Dr Monegal is the opposite of Dr Guichet in many aspects, not serious and rigorous at all. He was late for our appointment and didn’t offer proper information about LL. He didn’t say a word about motivation letters, training requirements or preop agreements. He wasn’t detached like Guichet, but overtly friendly, inapropriately close I would say. A doctor should be profesional. He talked about facts not related to LL and jumped from one topic to another without answering my questions about LL complications (Musicmaker). His attention was constantly drawn to unimportant items. He talked about football, women and the trolls of the forum with offenssive language and no manners. He didn’t have money in his eyes. He had madness in his eyes. I was really scared. He said he was the best surgeon in the world and spoke messianic that made me question his sanity (saviour of the world etc). His demeanour was scary, as if he was experiencing a manic episode. I'd never allow this man to touch my legs.
I’m about to quit my idea of LL. I trust my guts and wouldn’t allow these men to touch me. I can’t afford Paley or Rozbruch. I plan to visit Dr Pili. Are there other options right now? If Pili fails, I’ll quit.
Thank you!
Pili is also on my list amongst this Greek doc who offers TSF or Precise 2 or both , unfortunately he isn't well known here but whenever I write them an e-mail they answer fast and professional. https://www.athensbjr.com/cosmetic-limb-lengthening.html
Although you hear good things about Pili his ATL mthod scares me as some say that ATL isn't good at all. I still wait for the Greek doc's answer concerning ATL and if they charge extra (like Pili). On top of that you supposedly recover faster with TSF(4-5months) than HEF (7-11months) I don't know if that's true though
Thank you for your contribution.
You seem like sensible person. In the EU, there's only Pili, Betz, Salameh, and Giotikas left, I think. I wouldn't even think about Betz or Salameh. Betz is (as far as I know) known for promising/doing absurd amounts of lengthening, had bad cases, and my problem with Salameh were his words to jackson5. With that said, you could ask Constantine his opinion of Betz, or Jackson5 about Salameh. We know nothing about Giotikas because I don't think there's been a diary, or a review of a consultation, posted online yet.
If you're willing to travel outside of the EU, there's Solomin & Kulesh, and then Barinov in Russia. Solomin has been publishing about LL for a long time. I don't know anything about them other than that.
There's also Birkholtz in South Africa, who seems ethical, but he generally doesn't accept patients over 165cm. And his location seems to steer away a lot of people.
There's the Ilizarov center of Russia, and they're very strict with their requirements. They're carrying on the legacy of Gavril Ilizarov, and it's a big center. There's only two diaries posted with them in this forum, so far. Wikipedia page.
I don't know if Catagni still performs CLL on his own (i.e., not just being an advisor/working with Pili), but he had height thresholds too.
Best of luck. And if it comes down to giving up about LL, so be it.
Great321 has a thread with many e-mail back-and-forths too. Thought you might find the extra information useful in making your decision.
Oh yeah, Barinov was the doctor for RGKEY. I don't know anything about his capabilities as a surgeon or how much he cares about his patients, but he allowed someone to lengthen 9cm on their tibias. So I would exclude him based on that.
Only Stripes (who has one of the best diaries in the forums and did LL with Barinov) could convince me otherwise.
Quote from: myloginacct on May 04, 2018, 08:47:09 AMThank you for your contribution.
You seem like sensible person. In the EU, there's only Pili, Betz, Salameh, and Giotikas left, I think. I wouldn't even think about Betz or Salameh. Betz is (as far as I know) known for promising/doing absurd amounts of lengthening, had bad cases, and my problem with Salameh were his words to jackson5. With that said, you could ask Constantine his opinion of Betz, or Jackson5 about Salameh. We know nothing about Giotikas because I don't think there's been a diary, or a review of a consultation, posted online yet.
If you're willing to travel outside of the EU, there's Solomin & Kulesh, and then Barinov in Russia. Solomin has been publishing about LL for a long time. I don't know anything about them other than that.
There's also Birkholtz in South Africa, who seems ethical, but he generally doesn't accept patients over 165cm. And his location seems to steer away a lot of people.
There's the Ilizarov center of Russia, and they're very strict with their requirements. They're carrying on the legacy of Gavril Ilizarov, and it's a big center. There's only two diaries posted with them in this forum, so far. Wikipedia page.
I don't know if Catagni still performs CLL on his own (i.e., not just being an advisor/working with Pili), but he had height thresholds too.
Best of luck. And if it comes down to giving up about LL, so be it.
THANKS for your input myloginacct. You seem very well informed.
Quote from: Great321 on May 04, 2018, 05:46:00 AMThank you!
Pili is also on my list amongst this Greek doc who offers TSF or Precise 2 or both , unfortunately he isn't well known here but whenever I write them an e-mail they answer fast and professional. https://www.athensbjr.com/cosmetic-limb-lengthening.html
Although you hear good things about Pili his ATL mthod scares me as some say that ATL isn't good at all. I still wait for the Greek doc's answer concerning ATL and if they charge extra (like Pili). On top of that you supposedly recover faster with TSF(4-5months) than HEF (7-11months) I don't know if that's true though
I have checked your contributions too. Very good information. Thanks!
Quote from: badexperience on May 04, 2018, 03:31:38 PMTHANKS for your input myloginacct. You seem very well informed.
Hopefully we can keep this thread going for years to come, with more personal opinions from other members. The forum software is not very reliable to gauge each orthopedic surgeon who does CLL.
Quote from: badexperience on May 04, 2018, 03:17:35 AMI had in person consultations with Dr Guichet and Dr Monegal and I have taken them out from my list of possible doctors for different reasons.
DR MONEGAL: ...He said he was the best surgeon in the world and spoke messianic....
Great work, thank you. Did you do both consultations in one trip? Just wondering.
Can you tell us more about what you mean with messianic? .... it sounds scary indeed. He is still on my list though..
Quote from: Honore on May 05, 2018, 05:55:35 PMGreat work, thank you. Did you do both consultations in one trip? Just wondering.
Can you tell us more about what you mean with messianic? .... it sounds scary indeed. He is still on my list though..
Different trips. First Dr Guichet and then Dr Monegal.
Messianic means that he holds the belief he is destined to become a savior. He uses self-aggrandising narratives, same as Guichet but in Monegal there seems to be a scary break from reality. He doesn't seem aware of the difference between true and false. He changes topics, twists and distorts experiences to suit his agenda and distorted perception of being the LL god, the closest friend of famous footballers, top models and millionaires. I was really scared.
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