Day 19 - Another day in the Books. 100% walker and 100% Weight bearing! (But I do like to roll around in the Wheelchair, sometimes)....Healing slowly; but key word is "Healing" [1.188 Centimeters Taller]
How we doing today LL'ers? I have said this quote in the past and I'll put it up on the board again and likely will put it again.... In life there are things we want to change in someway...sometimes its your height, maybe it's your income, your relationships, etc...it can be anything.. The key to resolving any matters of the heart is to place yourself into a "process". Once you're in the "Process", your effort and the inevitable passing of time shall carry you forward. I have barely blinked and I'm already 18 days into this. I'm almost 25% complete with the distraction phase. You have to take chances in this life. You only get ONE chance at this life. Perform your due diligence and go for it! Okay, I'll get off my soap box now here is the summary for the day.
My Pain Level Today = 2 Max...Here is my not so secretive concoction.... 2 Tramadol over 4 hours (when pain is reduces over several days reduce to 1 tablet..and adjust to 6 hours)...about 1 hour before bed, take 2 Tylenol PMs.
My Left Leg Issue = No pain while resting, tenderness when bending and putting weight on it, 100% weight bearing, but requires support and slower movement when walking. Requires Walker also. I have a feeling the left leg issue will take a bit more time to resolve. With this in mind; I'm going to continue to stretch it out and build strength and weight bear on it. It will catch up with my right, in time.
My Walk = Slow, but nice. I'm 100% weight bearing on my walker. Walker is used to keep me balanced and to assist in exercises. There are many muscles within my legs that are not yet activated. Until those are strong again; my walk will not be where it needs to be. This will take time. Oh, let's not forget the whole I have 2 broken legs part to. :-)
My Typical Day: Wake up at 5:00am Lengthen, Take medication, work out on bow-flex machine, walker myself to bathroom and prep for day, Sit my butt at my home office chair and put in a full 8 hour work day so that my company continues to strive. Mixed in with this is constant stretching, walking using walker, Self-PT and Pro PT as well as family PT. Wind down the night with a movie or maybe some Madden.
Sleeping: Slept very good last night. No aches and pains. Still sleeping on back. The nail site/incision areas are still painful to move. I anticipate being able to sleep on side in 2 - 3 weeks, maybe sooner. I'll be conservative with my estimates. What helps me? Tylenol PM, a cool wind fan blowing on me (not sure why, but i tend to get hot at night, esp after this procedure), and some sleep/meditation music flowing through my headset.
The process will get easier and easier and the process will have it's tough spots as I get tighter and tighter; but I'm going to try my best.
Guys, let me know if you have ANY questions. So far my experience has been just fine and I'm excited about my brand new 1 centimeter of height. I have a brother who is my exact same height and we stood next to each other and he said to me.. "dude you're taller than me".... Made me smile.
Best regards and I'll update again tomorrow
Diary - January 2019 - In Full Stryde with Dr. Mahboubian of North Hollywood.
Great journal! Great to hear the process has been good for you thus far.
Some questions:
When are you expected to start walking relatively normally? I read about this nail a while ago and was under the impression recovery times are supposed to be substantially quicker and "normal" walking is supposed to take place relatively soon...
Sorry if I missed it, but are you in California? I imagine most people would need to take a flight back after their surgery. Sounds a little daunting.
Are you supposed to go back at some point and have the nail removed?
Thank you 
Quote from: psilocybe on January 23, 2019, 03:27:47 AMGreat journal! Great to hear the process has been good for you thus far.
Some questions:
When are you expected to start walking relatively normally? I read about this nail a while ago and was under the impression recovery times are supposed to be substantially quicker and "normal" walking is supposed to take place relatively soon...
Sorry if I missed it, but are you in California? I imagine most people would need to take a flight back after their surgery. Sounds a little daunting.
Are you supposed to go back at some point and have the nail removed?
Thank you
Hi there Psilocybe! I'm glad to answer any questions for you. I am expecting to really start to get my walk back in a couple or even a few weeks or so; which would be a bit north of 1 month. To be honest, my right leg is ready to really take off; but apparently my left leg just took the surgery a little bit tougher than my right so it's slowing down my gait recovery. I can fully weight bare, meaning, i can stand straight up and down for probably an hour or more (haven't tried), without any support. I'm thinking during month 2 of this process that the muscles in my legs will re-activate and I'll really start feeling good about my walk soon. The main difference with the new Stryde nail is that it is weight bearing; meaning you can put your full weight on the nail without worrying about it breaking. One must still be able to tolerate their own weight however. That is where the healing in my left leg comes in. I just need a bit more time.
I'm actually fortunate enough to live about 45 minutes from Dr. M; so normal transporation is good enough. In fact, my recovery so far has been 100% in the comfort and privacy of my own home.
After one year post-op; it's best to have the nail removed. I hear it's a quick procedure and you're out same day.
Best regards,
Thank you for the response.
Wow, that's convenient! How do you think you'd feel if you had to of gone out of state (like Vegas, or Florida) for the procedure?
I'm assuming full weight bearing means your entire body's weight on the one nail (not both legs splitting your weight). I think I read something like the new Precise nail can take up to ~250 pounds?
I wonder what would happen if you didn't get the nail removed...
Yes - exactly. Full weight bearing means that even one nail can withstand my body weight.
The process would likely be a lot more difficult on me psychologically if I had to leave home. I would be out of pocket completely to my family life, work, etc. These things are helping this process go by a lot quicker for me.
Hey buddy - this is a great diary and thanks for taking the time to write it.
My question is about tramadol - I broke my kneecap 4 years ago and I was given tramadol for the first couple of weeks to pain manage.
For the first couple of days I took 2 tablets at a time and that stuff would be so hard to stay awake on - do you get that same drowsiness? I’m impressed you’re able to work a full day with that stuff.
1 tablet at a time effected my concentration - and definitely would’ve impacted my work output to some degree - how are you finding the affect?
Hi Michael Jose,
Thanks for your question. There is no doubt that Tramadol will make you drowsy. I have the same symptoms after taking it. For me, I had to pick my challenges there. The pain was at a dull resting state of 4-6; so I was willing to fight through the drowsy state vs. struggle against the pain. My advise would be to battle against your pain first; the best you can and then ween off to 1 every 6 hours and eventually, maybe 1 every 8 to 12 hours, and even stop taking the medication all together once your pain is under control.
Quote from: InFullStryde on January 23, 2019, 06:26:13 PMHi Michael Jose,
Thanks for your question. There is no doubt that Tramadol will make you drowsy. I have the same symptoms after taking it. For me, I had to pick my challenges there. The pain was at a dull resting state of 4-6; so I was willing to fight through the drowsy state vs. struggle against the pain. My advise would be to battle against your pain first; the best you can and then ween off to 1 every 6 hours and eventually, maybe 1 every 8 to 12 hours, and even stop taking the medication all together once your pain is under control.
One question - what is problem with drowsiness? that is better right? I mean sleep helps recover the body and rather than watching tv for 8 hours out of 24 I would rather sleep for 12 or 14, so is not it (drowsiness) a benefit? or am i missing something here?
Quote from: 7231 on January 23, 2019, 09:10:02 PMOne question - what is problem with drowsiness? that is better right? I mean sleep helps recover the body and rather than watching tv for 8 hours out of 24 I would rather sleep for 12 or 14, so is not it (drowsiness) a benefit? or am i missing something here?
Hi 7231! I agree with you. When in heavy pain, especially, I prefer to be drowsy and enjoy sleeping through much of the episode. In this case, I believe MichaelJose is referring to when at work, he is trying to avoid being drowsy. So far, I have been fortunate enough to be able to work despite being drowsy. I feel pretty wired right now with everything going on with the CLL procedure; so that could be what is keeping me up.
Let me know if you have any other questions! I'll update my diary tonight with how today went. Each day is another adventure.
Day 20 - Concluded Home Health Physical Therapy, Signed up for Outpatient PT (Starting next Thursday!) Long Slow Walk, Ouch - Hurt my Hip Flexor, Recovering, Okay. [1.297 Centimeters Taller]
Today was decent. It did not start out well, however. Piece of advice for all CLL'ers. Sleeping is going to be its very own adventure for you during the early stages of CLL. I suggest having some great pain killers, sleeping medication, etc and making sure that the environment is as comfortable and calming as possible. AND do not twist around or TAKE ANY CHANCES with hurting your legs when turning off lights, reaching for things etc. There is just no reason to aggravate your pain. Last night, while reaching to turn off the light (a very basic and common movement); I aggravated my left leg pin site around the hip flex-or. OUCH! It went into a cramping cycle for most of the next day. When you strain or aggravate your leg, esp, after surgery, your muscles and surrounding muscles go into protector mode...so your entire leg starts to tighten up whenever you move that area. Needless to say it was rough. My left leg did battle through it however as i forged on with my home health physical therapy. The leg is actually feeling okay now. I just iced it on and off all day and I anticipate it feeling good again by Friday.
I'm up on my walker now and performing all needed tasks at home on my feet. Albeit, I'm walking slowly; but I'm walking and I'm full weight bearing on the Stryde Nail. The right leg is so strong and working great. Left leg is trailing behind and we'll just keep building its strength and working toward catching up with the right leg. Today was actually my last day of "Home Health Inpatient Physical Therapy". My PT Jason, did a good job getting me back on my feet, keeping me stretched out and getting me through his initial phase of the CLL process. I'll be stretching and using all the skills I learned from Jason for the next week on my own and with my Brother and Sister....prior to my outpatient PT starting up. I'm looking forward to the outpatient PT...finally I'll be going outside around people; other people battling with physical challenges and getting some great fresh air to. I anticipate doing outpatient PT with formal PT Professionals 3 times a week and then the other 4 days of the week; consistently stretching, walking and performing my self-trained PT skills on my legs. As far as today was concerned I walked the length of about 1/2 a football field! I walked all that way on my new 1/2 inch of height. That's right. I'm 1/2 inch taller!
Today, I also worked a full 8 hour work day and worked out my chest on my bow-flex home gym.
Other notes, in case you are wondering. Once you are comfortable with your walker; you are able to pretty much do all the needed things required to sustain a decent life routine through this process. I prepare my meals, I can move things around (carefully), I'm able to get into my shower chair (carefully); and showering is good to go. I can get on the toliet...no problem. I'm 95% walker and i just use the wheel chair whenever I feel like I need to rest any post surgical pain that is lingering. I'm actually looking to shed the wheel chair within the next few weeks.
Here is a brief overview of "MY" transitions. These are unique to me and not necessarily what everyone else can expect.
- Week 1 - 100% Wheelchair and needed full time assistance
- Week 2 - 50% Wheelchair and 50% Walker and needed someone to watch over me a bit for safety purposes - My weaker left leg was finally able to deal with movement and weight bearing; so I began to explore using walker and became much more independent.
-Week 3 (This week) - 95% Walker and only using wheelchair when I want to fully rest a surgical pain. I could be 100% walker if I wanted to. I am 95% independent as well. I only require assistance for any objects that require a more awkward type of movement.
-Week 4 Goals (Next week) 100% Walker, Further smooth out the walk and have a more stronger left leg to work with during my first outpatient PT next Thursday.
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Guys, all in all. Everything is fine at the moment. Dr. M has done a good job with my legs. No swelling at all; nice soft calm legs. You woudn't even know anything had been done to them unless you saw me walk. Had it not been for my left leg being a bit weaker (unforseen); I believe that I could probably walk without any assistance already on these great Stryde nails. I literally stand up without any assistance all day long with perfect balance. How is that for some great PT? Full weight bearing and standing!
Okay, I'm going to sign out for now. My first x-rays will be on Friday. I hope to see that 1/2 inch that I'm measuring on my own.
Best regards,
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