Hi IFS
Wow looks like you are still doing lots of PT and workout! That should be very helpful for you to recover. I never went to any clinic or PT after coming back home 
I am just doing very lazy or minor PT (like stretches and walking) by myself but am still recovering. You will recover much faster than I do.
Good luck!!
Late congratulation on finishing your first phase my man!!!
Quote from: Ghostfish on April 14, 2019, 07:12:57 AMHi IFS
Wow looks like you are still doing lots of PT and workout! That should be very helpful for you to recover. I never went to any clinic or PT after coming back home I am just doing very lazy or minor PT (like stretches and walking) by myself but am still recovering. You will recover much faster than I do.
Good luck!!
Thanks for the good thoughts, man. I am indeed working hard. Hope to be walking with a quality gait by July 1st or sooner.
Quote from: Singapore on April 14, 2019, 08:40:55 AMLate congratulation on finishing your first phase my man!!!
Thanks buddy! How are you doing? If my calculations serves me correctly; you're hovering around the end of the distraction phase? Let me know how you're doing when you can. No rush. Great to hear from you.
(Sunday) Day 100 Post Op - Day 8 Consolidation/Recovery Phase - DISTRACTION COMPLETED....[7.5 cm Achieved / 3 inches Taller!]
Good evening LL'ers,
It's hard to believe that I have been at this 100 days. Cosmetic Limb Lengthening is truly a journey. Again, more of the same. I have a feeling that in consolidation the highly impact updates come weekly vs daily; but I'll try to update with my thoughts and CLL related happenings as much as possible, still. I will say that so far, I feel a bit better each day. A bit looser, a bit more mobile, etc. My left leg is feeling a bit better as well and I even did some cane walking today. I can take baby steps unassisted as well. I'm really trying to work on stride length and other gate factors as I continue to heal. There is no pain at all; unless I'm fully bearing weight on my legs for which its not really pain but more like discomfort from muscle weakness and tightness. Again, each day I feel progress.
Another cool thing.. I got out my Statiometer and just measured myself once again..several ticks over my goal of 5'4". It is outstanding that I reached my goal of 3 inches. I'm hoping that the 2nd week of consolidation brings me major gains. I'm working hard...literally, stretching and strengthening for 3+ hours a day. I'd love to be able to 100% ditch crutches and stick to the cane by end of week. We will see how it goes!
Talk soon and all the best,
IFS
Quote from: InFullStryde on April 15, 2019, 12:21:15 AM(Sunday) Day 100 Post Op - Day 8 Consolidation/Recovery Phase - DISTRACTION COMPLETED....[7.5 cm Achieved / 3 inches Taller!]
Good evening LL'ers,
It's hard to believe that I have been at this 100 days. Cosmetic Limb Lengthening is truly a journey. Again, more of the same. I have a feeling that in consolidation the highly impact updates come weekly vs daily; but I'll try to update with my thoughts and CLL related happenings as much as possible, still. I will say that so far, I feel a bit better each day. A bit looser, a bit more mobile, etc. My left leg is feeling a bit better as well and I even did some cane walking today. I can take baby steps unassisted as well. I'm really trying to work on stride length and other gate factors as I continue to heal. There is no pain at all; unless I'm fully bearing weight on my legs for which its not really pain but more like discomfort from muscle weakness and tightness. Again, each day I feel progress.
Another cool thing.. I got out my Statiometer and just measured myself once again..several ticks over my goal of 5'4". It is outstanding that I reached my goal of 3 inches. I'm hoping that the 2nd week of consolidation brings me major gains. I'm working hard...literally, stretching and strengthening for 3+ hours a day. I'd love to be able to 100% ditch crutches and stick to the cane by end of week. We will see how it goes!
Talk soon and all the best,
IFS
Congrats - bro - you're doing really well!
(Monday) Day 101 Post Op - Day 9 Consolidation/Recovery Phase - DISTRACTION COMPLETED....[7.5 cm Achieved / 3 inches Taller!]
Good evening LL'ers,
I hope the day is wrapping up nicely for everyone. I had probably my best day since ending distraction. My legs, hips, and lower back were looser than they had been in a while. There is still a ways to go but it was nice to hear my physical therapist say that there is a marked improvement in my hip mobility. I'm wound up pretty tight and things are starting to loosen up. As far as my walking goes; I'm walking unassisted, I'm walking with crutches, and I'm walking with a cane....basically whatever i can handle. At this current date, I'm mainly using crutches because my left leg is sore. Since the start; the left leg has trailed the right leg in its healing; so I must be patient and keep working on it. The great news is that I can stand on one foot for a very long time for either leg. It's just a matter of soft tissues healing and loosening up a bit. My goal is to be using the cane almost exclusively by the end of the month or sooner. We shall see. Guys, other than that; not to much to report. Work is great and I can feel myself getting better slowly.
All the best,
IFS
Hello In Full Stryde,
I've been keeping up with your journal and want to preface by thanking you for keeping such a transparent journal about your journey. I know I've learned a great deal from your forum and I'm sure many others have as well.
One question I've been wondering since following your journey are your thoughts about how the STRYDE nail performed compared to your expectations of it? Did you expect walking to be easier after the first few months than it was, a faster recovery to normal walking gate, or would you say your expectations in terms of recovery and regaining normal walking have exceeded what you expected?
Thank you again for keeping such a detailed journal.
Best,
Michael
Quote from: michael33 on April 16, 2019, 03:48:06 AMHello In Full Stryde,
I've been keeping up with your journal and want to preface by thanking you for keeping such a transparent journal about your journey. I know I've learned a great deal from your forum and I'm sure many others have as well.
One question I've been wondering since following your journey are your thoughts about how the STRYDE nail performed compared to your expectations of it? Did you expect walking to be easier after the first few months than it was, a faster recovery to normal walking gate, or would you say your expectations in terms of recovery and regaining normal walking have exceeded what you expected?
Thank you again for keeping such a detailed journal.
Best,
Michael
Hi Michael,
First - I very much appreciate the fact that you have come along this journey with me as a reader, observer and your kind thoughts are helpful to what is a challenging process even for the strongest. Your questions are outstanding for community insight. I'll break them down and answer each below:
One question I've been wondering since following your journey are your thoughts about how the STRYDE nail performed compared to your expectations of it?
The Stryde nail has been everything I could have expected, hoped for and then some. The nail is truly weight bearing and to that end, I have been able to take advantage of this fact by standing full weight on the nail since the first day. The accuracy of the lengthening has been incredible and surprisingly great. The entire process on the technology side has been streamlined, straight forward, and without confusion. It's incredible to me how I have these two nails in my legs that I can't even feel and I was able to painlessly lengthen my legs through magnets on both the nail and ERC apparatus. Stryde is truly a game changer and I am so blessed to have been able to move forward with this surgery on the Stryde technology vs. the Precise 2.2.
Did you expect walking to be easier after the first few months than it was, a faster recovery to normal walking gate, or would you say your expectations in terms of recovery and regaining normal walking have exceeded what you expected?
This question begs reflection, honesty, and transparency. I'm going to provide all 3 to the community. My idea of CLL, to begin with, was that it would be for lack of better terms, "really hard". I had known of CLL for over 2 decades and gave up the imagining of it completely because there was just no way I would be okay with the external fixation through my shins. Also, I was only 17 years old at the time and wasn't willing to allow my parents to invest so much money, time, energy and displacement, in order to help me achieve an extra inch or 2. 20 years, go by and here I am...37 years old and in a position to completely finance the entire procedure on my own. The idea of CLL wasn't even one I was taking seriously but when you have that lingering thought in the back of your head similar to..."gosh, ... 2 to 3 added inches would be most helpful"; you just start to gravitate toward options. Low and behold, after performing some research I learned of the intramedullary rods that are placed within the femurs and can offer 3 inches of height gain in a relatively safe manner. So I decided to dive in deeper and I stumble upon this forum. Here, I review the diary after diary and also learn of the new Stryde nail. One of my primary angsts with CLL was how the precise requires individuals to be primarily wheelchair and very partially walker bound for nearly 5 months before they are truly able to take steps. Now, now...I know there are exceptions to this rule; but the general order of things was 4-5 months of mostly sitting. So, with this in mind; I was still interested in CLL; but not excited at the prospects. I went in for a consultation and with Dr. M to learn more in September of 2018 and low and behold he has just gotten his hands on Styrde. This nail would allow me to train and push my legs from day 1 and if I could tolerate it...I could even stand and walk...worse case I could use a walker and crutches in full bearing capacity. Well, that is exactly what I have done. Okay, now that I have rambled for a bit; let me answer directly below:
My expectation was truly unknown as it related to my walking and my gait progress during this process. I had very tight soft tissue before the procedure, lacked flexibility and to be completely honest with you I have not done alot of walking around in years. It just turned out this way; so, as a result, I found out that I have very tight hipflexors as well. In the back of my mind, I knew that my recovery could likely take a bit more work and time than your average person, much less your gymnastics pro. In my mind, I saw the Styrde nail as a way to OVERCOME some of my inate challenges of tightness; being that I could remain mobile throughout to prevent over stiffness. I don't gamble much, but i was right..Styrde did this for me. I truly believe that had I been on lengthening technology other than Stryde that I would of had a much more difficult recovery ahead of me. As it stands now at 3 months and oh, about 10 days... I can balance on each foot with full body weight and take steps that are good enough to train with. I believe that compared to other, younger and more flexible patients I'm likely behind the curve; but as far as my expectation, I think I'm right where I imagined I would be. I hope this all made sense :-). One other challenge that is unexpected and I want to inform other patients of is that "you never know" factor. My left leg, from the start, has been a nuisance. The left leg has seen its good days and its bad; but all in all, I've had to compensate for it. I'm glad to report that today its feeling good.
As an actual patient of Stryde, I believe that a person can be walking decently by month 3 or 4 if they are flexible and in good shape before surgery. An average to sub flexible person, I believe can expect to start seeing the walking "light" if you will around month 5 or 6. Either way, you're still ahead of the curve. My goal at the moment is to be fully using only a cane by May 1st, with a dash of unassisted walking. By June, I would like to be walking unassisted. I'll keep everyone closely tied into my story and we will see how it goes.
Again, I hoped this perspective helped and I'm on your side CLL'ers. Feel free to reach out with any questions.
(Tuesday) Day 102 Post Op - Day 10 Consolidation/Recovery Phase - DISTRACTION COMPLETED....[7.5 cm Achieved / 3 inches Taller!]
Good evening LL'ers,
I hope all is well. Another decent day today. Each day get's a bit better and better. I'm took about 1000 steps today, full weight bearing with crutches support (just to keep my balance). During which time, I usually sprinkle in some unassisted walking to test my gait. My legs are definitely getting stronger! My main objective at this time is to strengthen and increase flexibility in my legs so that walking feels more natural. As mentioned before I can stand on one foot, for each leg for minutes at a time with no issue. Things are looking good. I just got home from the office; so not much to talk about for now; but feel free to reach out if any questions. My next follow up visit with Dr. M with X-Rays in on April 26th. We'll see how everything is looking in a couple of weeks!
Talk soon,
IFS
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