Diary: Stryde Femurs with Dr. Paley September 2019

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Quote from: Ahd1978 on June 21, 2021, 06:03:25 PMHey brother

Congrats

Can you update if there was any corrosion in nails and if you had one year post pain or any issues with nails corrosion like everyone is making it out to be

Once again awesome news

Thanks! Great question. Very curious about this too. I had requested the nails be returned to me (my understanding is the raw material cost itself was nearly $40k to every patient) and Dr. D confirmed they would be shipped back, however, all nails are sent back to NuVasive in Irvine, CA for review/inspection before they are sent to us. Once I get them back, probably fall 2021, I'll report back and provide pics.

As for one year post op pain, honestly I didn't have significant issues. Less than a handful of times, I'd have random knee pains, (probably 2 or 3 times, lasting 5 seconds) at around the 1 year mark. It's been nearly 2 years and haven't consistently experienced any kind of pain to date. The one unfortunate outcome of this, is ongoing, persistant, numbness of my left shin, that I still feel till this day.

I'm going to ask Dr. D if he could let me know if he observed any corrosion/rust with m nails at my post op check up later this week.

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Thanks brother

Paley has scheduled me to have nails out by Nov that’s 10 month mark

I am hoping I am consolidated by then

It’s awesome you didn’t have much pain except shin pain. I had patient come to visit paley in poland asking about same shin pain and he suggested some excercises. Maybe you can ask paley too for same ?

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Day 8 Post Removal Surgery

Happy to report that things continue to get better at just over a week post rod removal surgery.

I came in to see Dr. D for a post removal follow up w/ x rays yesterday. The x rays looked good- due to the 4 small holes in the femur where the rod screws were once held Dr. D recommended no high impact sports or heavy lifting for at least another 2 to 3 months. He mentioned during that time frame, the bone will begin to regenerate within the screw/hole area, at which point you should be clear for high impact/running/lifting, however expect to see the holes fully filled in within a 6 to 9 month month time frame.  Really looking forward to playing sports, working out, and jogging again in about 2 months! 

Recovery wise I continue to progressively get better each day, although I'm not 100%. My left leg is probably 90 to 95% recovered, just minor stiffness and post surgery wound pain (pain level minor at aroun 1 / 10), but my right leg is noticably worse at about 80% recovered due to soreness/discomfort at the hip area where the rod was removed. Spoke to Dr. D about it, and he mentioned it's likely because the right Stryde rod was more difficult to remove, causing a bit more surgical trauma. He mentioned this is temporary and will likely subside in the next week or two.

I was also able bring my Stryde Rods home! Nuvasive is no longer requiring that they are shipped back to HQ for review.  I would take pictures and share but not much to report here, there was very minor rusting/corrosion observed around where the telescopic rods met and the screw area, Dr. D mentioned my Stryde rods were on the low end of corrosion/rust since the recall. It's a bit surreal holding these rods in your hands, knowing how they've been with you on this crazy journey and changed your life, a bit of a trophy. They've got some weight to them (would estimate a pound to 2 pounds) so having them out does make a difference in our biomechanics- my legs, even with the lingering  post surgery soreness, feel lighter and I feel more nimble on my feet.

All positive so far however one thing I didn't take into account was intimacy post rod removal surgery. Plannning for the removal, I thought it would be a quick in and out in a week type process, and in many ways it was, however, at a week out, I still have my bandages/dressing on (Dr. D recommended waiting a few more days to take off), legs shaved around the surgery sites, and I'd imagine, scarring and stitches at the surgery site. I've been actively dating someone who has no idea I had this surgery done and thinks I've been away for a little vacation. Heading home in a few days and not sure I can hide this from her, especially if she wants to get intimate/physical. Bit of advice if you are actively dating someone who doesn't know about the surgery, likely no sxx or physical intimacy at least a few weeks out or a month post rod removal surgery.

 

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Quote from: Ahd1978 on June 21, 2021, 06:55:29 PMThanks brother

Paley has scheduled me to have nails out by Nov that’s 10 month mark

I am hoping I am consolidated by then

It’s awesome you didn’t have much pain except shin pain. I had patient come to visit paley in poland asking about same shin pain and he suggested some excercises. Maybe you can ask paley too for same ?

I believe you will get there (full consolidation) at the 10 month mark! Good call on the shin exercises, honestly, after the rod removal, the shin numbness feels a bit better. Will ask about stretch exercises that can help! Wishing you well brotha!

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I’m so glad your nails turned out to have minimal corrosion. I also read a post from TinyTL saying the same thing and he had his nails in for 2 years.

At this point, a good question to ask the big 3 American doctors (Paley, mahboubian, deprishad) would be what percentage of the nails they’ve removed ended up having a significant amount of corrosion?

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Quote from: E Z on June 25, 2021, 06:05:26 PMI’m so glad your nails turned out to have minimal corrosion. I also read a post from TinyTL saying the same thing and he had his nails in for 2 years.

At this point, a good question to ask the big 3 American doctors (Paley, mahboubian, deprishad) would be what percentage of the nails they’ve removed ended up having a significant amount of corrosion?

Thanks man! Would love to hear this too - hopefully they can release some data. Great to hear from you E Z, we started our journeys around the same time- are you planning on getting the rods out? How's everything else?

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How did ur family react when u told them u got surgery? Weren't u keeping it hidden?

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Quote from: TheAlchemist on June 25, 2021, 02:51:15 PMDay 8 Post Removal Surgery

Happy to report that things continue to get better at just over a week post rod removal surgery.

I came in to see Dr. D for a post removal follow up w/ x rays yesterday. The x rays looked good- due to the 4 small holes in the femur where the rod screws were once held Dr. D recommended no high impact sports or heavy lifting for at least another 2 to 3 months. He mentioned during that time frame, the bone will begin to regenerate within the screw/hole area, at which point you should be clear for high impact/running/lifting, however expect to see the holes fully filled in within a 6 to 9 month month time frame.  Really looking forward to playing sports, working out, and jogging again in about 2 months! 

Recovery wise I continue to progressively get better each day, although I'm not 100%. My left leg is probably 90 to 95% recovered, just minor stiffness and post surgery wound pain (pain level minor at aroun 1 / 10), but my right leg is noticably worse at about 80% recovered due to soreness/discomfort at the hip area where the rod was removed. Spoke to Dr. D about it, and he mentioned it's likely because the right Stryde rod was more difficult to remove, causing a bit more surgical trauma. He mentioned this is temporary and will likely subside in the next week or two.

I was also able bring my Stryde Rods home! Nuvasive is no longer requiring that they are shipped back to HQ for review.  I would take pictures and share but not much to report here, there was very minor rusting/corrosion observed around where the telescopic rods met and the screw area, Dr. D mentioned my Stryde rods were on the low end of corrosion/rust since the recall. It's a bit surreal holding these rods in your hands, knowing how they've been with you on this crazy journey and changed your life, a bit of a trophy. They've got some weight to them (would estimate a pound to 2 pounds) so having them out does make a difference in our biomechanics- my legs, even with the lingering  post surgery soreness, feel lighter and I feel more nimble on my feet.

All positive so far however one thing I didn't take into account was intimacy post rod removal surgery. Plannning for the removal, I thought it would be a quick in and out in a week type process, and in many ways it was, however, at a week out, I still have my bandages/dressing on (Dr. D recommended waiting a few more days to take off), legs shaved around the surgery sites, and I'd imagine, scarring and stitches at the surgery site. I've been actively dating someone who has no idea I had this surgery done and thinks I've been away for a little vacation. Heading home in a few days and not sure I can hide this from her, especially if she wants to get intimate/physical. Bit of advice if you are actively dating someone who doesn't know about the surgery, likely no sxx or physical intimacy at least a few weeks out or a month post rod removal surgery.


That's definitely good news for you Alchemist, you're recovering quickly ! Yikes, that's going to be an interesting situation.

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Quote from: vegeta24 on June 25, 2021, 07:29:02 PMHow did ur family react when u told them u got surgery? Weren't u keeping it hidden?

100% supportive. They had no idea I was doing the surgery and I went off to Florida for LL alone. I saw them about 6 months post op after I had recovered / fully consolidated with a normal walk/gait. Once they saw that I was happy and healthy, they didn't care and were just happy to see me. If they saw me while I was going through distraction they would have freaked out lol - which is why I kept it a secret until I recovered.
Quote from: Movie on June 25, 2021, 07:31:36 PM
That's definitely good news for you Alchemist, you're recovering quickly ! Yikes, that's going to be an interesting situation.

Thanks Movie! Yeah the rod removal recovery isn't so bad!

One other comment I have, I am very happy with my decision to go with Dr. D for the removal. While I still have tremendous respect for Paley and his team, I don't believe the premium price was justified for the rod removal procedure (lower risk, less invasive, out patient when compared to the original LL surgery and distraction process) and I am glad I realized cost savings of >20% for the removal. Dr. Dr has been impressive so far.


If I had to do LL all over again, I would do ithe initial surgery and distraction with Paley, but for those of you guys exploring who to go with for the rod removal procedure.....I would optimize cost and risk and I think any US doctor would be a good choice - go with the one with the lowest cost.

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Hey TheAlchemist! When you started dating were your scars already faded or did you have to come up with some excuse for them? My scars are still pretty dark compared to my skin and very obvious which is making me hesitate on going out on dates right now.