DJCyborg | Dr. Birkholtz | Precice 2.2 Femurs | June 2023

Edit Post

Day 85 post op  update
Went to the South African VFS today to extend my stay here in South Africa. Stellenbosch is an excellent place to work remote from my plan is to stay a few extra weeks just so im walking perfectly when I go to the airport and when I'm back in the U.S.

https://imgur.com/a/p6h9iG2 South African Countryside Pic

Xrays coming up next week Monday which is day 88 post op to see if we have reached full weight bearing status.

Edit Post

Day 88 post op update

We are officially full weight bearing for bodyweight walking. I can stand on one leg and walk now.

One last thing to be careful on is standing on one leg and twisting movements as the crown of the nail is the only thing vulnerable still but for everyday movements and walking we are full weight bearing
🛑 Do not distribute or share any x rays or content without my consent
https://imgur.com/a/fOkmfx7

Next x-rays are a month from now. My plan is to fly out on October 7th 2-3 day after my next xray 🌍🛫🌎🛬

Edit Post

Day 97 post op update
The day has come, the start of the walking gait videos

Today is 9 days after full weight bearing, 3rd day of walking unassisted without crutches, and 97 days after surgery

Overall over the next few weeks we will continue strengthening muscles in the hip/glutes, calves, feet, back, abdominals, everything that hasn't been used like this for the past 3 months

Dr. Birkholtz and the entire team has been nothing but amazing

(Day 97 after surgery walking video) (Sorry about the link not working earlier, had to reupload as a Youtube video and not a youtube short as I realized the forum doesn't recognize shorts, made me truly realize how ancient of technology the forum is compared to platforms like D!scord, the forum is seriously some 1990s type   haha)

Edit Post

Day 117 post op update

Final few days in South Africa now, my walk currently is 99% what it was pre surgery. I will post another walking gait video before I fly out when my PT and I have time to record next week.

I can walk about 3km at a time pretty easily, I can push 5-10km walks I'm sure but will be tired after.

Standing: I can stand all day 6-10 hours at a time.

Can't thank Dr. Birkholtz and the entire team enough for everything.

I will do one more xray 6 months from now back in NYC to see how the continual bone growth progress is and then from there it's nail removals.

Coming into this journey with precice 2.2 nails I was expecting a 99%-100% perfect walk around middle of December or 6 months post surgery but it's amazing to be here not even hitting the month 4 mark. Today is October 3rd, on October 8th is will be exactly 4 months as my surgery was on June 8th.

Updates will be less frequent now in my diary, I have a walking gait video coming next week, I'll post my March 2024 xray, and then from there I'll post to my diary
https://imgur.com/a/ruMv6wW Day 117 xrays

Edit Post

Day 118 Post Op Update

(3 months and 3 weeks post op, precice 2.2 nail, left leg 5.4cm, right leg 5.8cm)

Going up and down stairs

Edit Post

Day 126 Post Op Update

Had some important work come up so hopping on a new flight, would have loved to have the few extra days of my original schedule to enjoy South Africa a bit but such is adult life.

I am at the airport about to head off, came with only my bags. All walking aids, wheelchair etc all left behind.

Until next year South Africa ✌️

Edit Post

Day 129 Post Op Update

I am back in the United States, good news is everyone assumed I had a growth spurt, that is the benefit of doing 5.4cm on one leg and 5.8cm on the other leg and being young I guess 😂

I thought by now the 3rd/4th day talk would start calming down about my height but it's getting worse, more and more family and friends are talking about how "DJCyborg grew a lot"

Another observation is tall people are seen as taller than they really are, where as short people are seen are shorter than they really are.

When I was 174.5cm everyone always thought I was around 5'8-5'9, occasionally someone would think I was 5'10

Now at a little over 180cm people think I'm 6'1-6'2 even though I'm actually 5'11

The trick to pulling it off if you want absolutely no one to know is your walking gait must be absolutely perfect before you see anyone, I stayed in South Africa for 4 months and 1 week for that very reason. I could have flown back on day 90 since day 88 I was full weight bearing but it took the extra 5 weeks to have a flawless walking gait, going up and down stairs, etc

Edit Post

Day 138 post op update

I have regained the ability to squat "ass to grass"

Doing about 12-15 reps of bodyweight "ass to grass" squats for 3 sets

My walk is now exactly like pre surgery there is no difference, I feel like I can start running already but out of an abundance of caution I will wait until January for intense activities such as jumping and running.

When sleeping on my side, right side feels exactly like it was pre surgery, left side sometimes I will wake up in the middle of the night with about a 1-2/10 discomfort at the screw area around the hip

Overall day to day life I'm starting to forget I had limb lengthening surgury done until I get on my phone and then see a d notification and then I am reminded

Can't wait for Xrays in March as that will determine if I can get Dr. Birkholtz to remove my nails in August 2024 (14 months post surgery)

Currently today at 4 1/2 months post op

Bonus tip: For those of you who are full weight bearing and your doctor approved you for stairs start with a stair climber machine and then graduate to stairs. I feel this is the single most effective exercise at rebuilding glutes, I go up and down 4 flights of stairs about 3 times per day in my NY apartment and it has built my glute and quad strength drastically over the past week and a half.

Edit Post

Day 151 post op update

Today marks 25 days since returning from South Africa.

During certain times of the day I forget I ever had CLL and I'm not as consistent with taking calcium and vitamin d here compared to when I was in South Africa (not on purpose) in South Africa I never missed a dose of calcium, vit d, and multi vitamins.

Because I experienced my entire lengthening and getting back to normal life in South Africa psychologically it's as if everything was left behind in Stellenbosch

I went from surgery to a normal walk all while in South Africa so in my head so the moment I flew back it was as if I never had LL, it's so hard to explain and it's something I have never seen anyone talk about which is why I want to share my findings

If I were to lengthen and go through CLL in my hometown of NYC then without a doubt CLL will be in my head nonstop, maybe my desk would remind me how everything starts to get tight past 3cm etc etc etc

By doing CLL abroad and staying abroad until I was walking normally, going up and downstairs normally, every movement I need to do in day to day life normally and then come back to America it's like CLL and life outside CLL stays completely separate and the two worlds don't cross over one another

Quite interesting

Several days ago I went on a hike with a few friends outside the city, over 6 miles of total hiking and over 1000 feet of total elevation change over the course of the hike.

Day to day movements getting groceries, going out, restaurants, hanging out with friends, going up and down stairs, etc I'm pretty much 99-100% the way I was pre surgery

More intense activities such as a 6 mile hike with 20 pounds of gear, water, food, I feel I'm currently hovering around that 85% mark of what I was pre surgery.

Surgery was June 8th of this year and we are going to hit offical month 5 on November 8th.

The journey continues 🦾

Edit Post

Day 171 post op

Back to pre-surgury state in everything pretty much, jogging, playing light sports such as basketball, flag football, tennis, table tennis, etc (no heavy contact sports yet like tackle football)

At this stage I'd say my recovery is 99%, I've sent some private videos to some members such as Kanye don't ask them for it I requested them to not share, not comfortable sharing videos of me in NYC publicly in case someone on here is someone I know who has been over to my place or goes to my gym etc

What this update is really about though is since I have made a full recovery I have decided I will be doing my tibias next

As you all know I am a 100% unbiased person I simply go with the best team

For my tibias my choices are either Dr. Birkholtz or Dr. Donghoon Lee, I haven't made my decision yet but it's between the two of them

More to come for this part 2 journey