Diary: Stryde Femurs with Dr. Paley September 2019

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Hey alchemist....
Any updates??
Hope you are doing good!!!

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Thanks for writing this diary! How are you doing now?

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Quote from: TheAlchemist on December 30, 2019, 05:36:49 PMInteresting take away from all of this is realizing how distorted everyones perception of height is. I've measured myself at home as exactly 6 ft. It's crazy when I'm out...the handful of girls I've talked to all think I'm over 6ft, one girl thought I was 6'3.

I've realized that women's perception of height is distorted because in general men inflate their height by a couple of inches or at least tend to round up to the next inch. I wouldn't be surprised if most guys who claim 6 ft are actually 5'10 or 5'11 barefoot. Hell I'm guilty of this, pre-LL I was around 5'9, maybe just under in the evening, and I self listed myself as 5'10 on my drivers license. Bottom line is women with shallow height standards probably perceive "6 ft" as a guy who is 5'10 or 5'11 in real life, hence their superficial standard of "only dating guys over 6 ft."

Nearly EVERYONE lies about their height.  I'm 5'7.5" and NO ONE believes me, everyone thinks I'm taller, sometimes I even get people guessing I'm 5'10" or 5'11" makes me laugh. Flattering though.  Just goes to show how everyone inflates their height.  When i do LL and God willing I become 5'10.5" I'm gonna say I'm 6'0" might as well since that's what everyone else does.  I'm probably gonna wear boots with a thick heel anyway to bring me to 6'0" when I'm outside.  Mostly gonna say I'm 6'0" for dating purposes above all else though.  Women percieve you so much more differently when you say 6'0" as opposed to 5'11".  I'm sure being an even 6'0" barefoot after being 5'9" must be great.  Definetely a lil jealous of you.  IMO 5'9" is the perfect height to do LL, you basically go from being percieved as average to being tall, I'm glad you're loving life, and hope to be right there with you in a year and a half. 

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UPDATE: 151 days post op, 63 days post distraction

Life is good. My focus continues to be regaining strength in the glutes and hips along with a bit of stretching each day. My walk ranges anywhere from 70 to 90% depending on a variety of factors. On a full tank of energy, with my legs warmed up, my walk looks fairly normal. If you were to look really closely you might notice just a bit of an arch down my back (duck ass) and a very slight waddle. For context, in public people don't seem to notice anything off about my walk, and I've been on a handful of dates and they didn't mention anything about the walk.

I had my 1 month consolidation x rays reviewed and the doctor says I'm progressing as expected. I should be fully consolidated at the 3 to 4 month post consolidation mark, or in other words the 6 to 7 month post op mark. In the mean time I'm avoiding any running, jogging or high impact activities.

Mental and cognitive abilities are at about 90 to 95%, almost normal. I believe that cognitive abilities are a bit limited throughout consolidation as your body still needs to dedicate resources to regenerating the bone. Libido and sxx drive is at about 70% due to bone not consolidated and fatigue.

My height dysphoria is completely gone. Pre LL I was consumed with thoughts about height for at least 1 to 2 hours a day, and now I'm completely free of any body dysphoria.

Areas for Improvement

-Stamina - After walking at about the 2 mile mark fatigue starts to set in due to the weak glutes and hips. I'll either have to take a quick rest or resort to a bit of a waddle walk. When the fatigue sets in I would describe my walk at about 70%, some waddle with a wider gait.

-Strength - Glutes and hips are still a bit weak. A few practical real life scenarios where this comes out is getting up from seated positions where I still use my hand to push off. Another example is going up and down stairs where I still need to use the hand rails for support.

-Stiffness - I feel tight after getting up from a seated position throughout my hips and quads and as a result have a bit of a waddle walk. After walking for about 10 to 15 seconds to warm up the legs my walk begins to normalize.

-Speed - My normal walking pace is about 80%. Although it looks normal, I can't walk as fast as I did pre- op. It's fine for casual settings. For example, I went on a couple dates and the pace of my walk was fine in a relaxed environment where me and the girl were just casually walking around and enjoying the scenery, but in other scenarios that require a speedy walk, for example, crossing a cross walk when the meter is counting down or speed walking to and from meetings, is tough.

- Nerve pain / numbness - Unfortunately still have a bit of nerve pain and numbness in my left shin lingering around. It's improving every week and barely noticeable now. I suspect it will be completely going in the next few weeks.

Overall, I'm still very happy with the outcome and am thankful that I did this, pushed through the pain and conquered my dysphoria. Freedom of height dysphoria is a powerful thing. At times I still have those random moments where I say to myself "this was crazy, I can't believe you did this....." but for the most part the whole experience starts to become a distant memory and you get used to the new height fairly fast, life goes on and you just feel normal in your current state.

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I just love this feedback, so accurate !

Thank you and well done

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I can relate so much to the “I can’t believe I just did this” aspect.

I wish I can tell my story sometimes, but then remember the negativity on the other side. We have such a unique story to tell lol.

Glad you’re on track brotha!

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Quote from: Futureller on February 14, 2020, 06:47:31 PMNearly EVERYONE lies about their height.  I'm 5'7.5" and NO ONE believes me, everyone thinks I'm taller, sometimes I even get people guessing I'm 5'10" or 5'11" makes me laugh. Flattering though.  Just goes to show how everyone inflates their height.  When i do LL and God willing I become 5'10.5" I'm gonna say I'm 6'0" might as well since that's what everyone else does.  I'm probably gonna wear boots with a thick heel anyway to bring me to 6'0" when I'm outside.  Mostly gonna say I'm 6'0" for dating purposes above all else though.  Women percieve you so much more differently when you say 6'0" as opposed to 5'11".  I'm sure being an even 6'0" barefoot after being 5'9" must be great.  Definetely a lil jealous of you.  IMO 5'9" is the perfect height to do LL, you basically go from being percieved as average to being tall, I'm glad you're loving life, and hope to be right there with you in a year and a half.

Do it man! I think it'll be as life changing for you as it was for me.

Quote from: Antoine187 on February 16, 2020, 03:58:35 PMI just love this feedback, so accurate !

Thank you and well done

Thanks man!

Quote from: E Z on February 16, 2020, 04:29:11 PMI can relate so much to the “I can’t believe I just did this” aspect.

I wish I can tell my story sometimes, but then remember the negativity on the other side. We have such a unique story to tell lol.

Glad you’re on track brotha!

Thanks brotha! Really happy for you too. I totally know what you mean about wishing we can tell our stories. The LL journey becomes such a huge part of who we are, beyond just the pure length, the journey from conceptualizing our new height all the way through enduring the pain and pushing through to the finish line to actualize our height makes us mentally tougher and builds so much character. Every time I meet someone and they ask about what I've been up to I keep LL private, that's why I value my LL friends that I met at Paleys so much, as well as this online community, because we have a deep connection through this rare, unique experience.

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Awesome update! I love reading LL success stories like this. Glad it turned out well

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Quick update: Just tried getting up from a seated position independently without using my hands to push off the seat and I did it. Also, last night had dinner with a few friends and was able to climb up a few sets of small stairs without using the handrail.

Never thought something so simple like getting up from a chair or climbing stairs independently could feel so good. Could have probably done it sooner but stayed cautious.

Guys, I'd highly recommend doing stretch and strength exercises during consolidation with the same amount of dedication and intensity as you did during distraction. I myself have slacked off, during distraction I did physical therapy 5 to 6x a day, and now I only do it 1x a day and I wish I did more. Life goes on fast and during consolidation we tend to want to integrate back to our normal lives again and slack off on the physical therapy but I believe dedicated physical therapy is still a worthy investment of our time at this stage. I believe that I'd be in even better shape now if I had a more rigorous routine throughout distraction. Keep pushing!

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I was looking back, but unclear -- how long was it post-lengthening before you could walk without a cain?