Quote from: Dr Monegal on September 10, 2014, 11:40:24 PMHello all.
I am Dr Monegal And i have been working with Dr Ginebreda for 9 years. I have been the guy in Charge of Fitbone project in Dexeus And I changed clinic a few months ago. Dr Ginebreda continues performing cases but he is not very keen to perform cosmetic. If you want to contact him you will fins his contact details at www.fitbone.com
About pricing, in the new clinica it is 5000 to 6000€ cheaper per segment. And when I say segment I am refering to bone (fémur or tibia)
About the discussion of performing a 1 or a 2 stage lengthenning i must say I have done both. Life quality And recovery is much better with a 2 stage. Apart from that, from a Medical Point of view it is much safer. We presented some cosmetic cases performed in 1 stage at Last years Fitbone users meeting in Aalborg (denmark) And all Fitbone users found them extremely risky.
It is true we create a temporary limb lenght discrepancy which can be compensated othopedically. But believe me it is much better to deal with this rather than with fat embolism syndrome.
My best regards for all
Hello Dr Monegal
You are really helpful answering questions about LL. I am also interested in Fitbone, which I believe would cause less complications, like scarring and infections. Thus, I am planning to go for it.
I am currently staying in Hong Kong and will migrate to Australia in 2015, before which I would like to have my LL done. I do not think I have time for a two-stage operation (which requires me to travel among several places). Will it still be safe if I do bilateral lengthening simultaneously using Fitbone?
Regards
Shuya
Dr Alex Monegal (Barcelona, Spain) Clinica Diagonal
Not being a killjoy - nor saying I am correct, but I find it familiar to see this come into occurrence in the forum - sounds more like a promotion rather than an opportunity. Sure, that business is on MakeMeTaller, and is part of why this forum was created; however, that doesn't mean the same can't happen on this one.
Just my opinion, but I am willing to see success in patients during and after operation.
Quote from: Outgrown on January 12, 2015, 03:57:06 AMNot being a killjoy - nor saying I am correct, but I find it familiar to see this come into occurrence in the forum - sounds more like a promotion rather than an opportunity. Sure, that business is on MakeMeTaller, and is part of why this forum was created; however, that doesn't mean the same can't happen on this one.
Just my opinion, but I am willing to see success in patients during and after operation.
birkholz did the same
Hi outgrown
I don t know if I get your Point but let me say something about What you just posted.
I have never used this forum to promote Myself. I think the goal of this forum is for you the patients to be aware of LL techniques and specialists, to solve Medical questions rather than to promote doctors.
I receive emails from worldwide on a daily basis, and do believe that I try to reply to all of them and in most cases I do not advice the treatment. Such is the case of Musicmaker to whom I Did not recommend to perform 2 segments per limb...I even adviced Her not to be operated. She is very determined and we finally agreeded to perform 1 segment per limb.
Secret of success when performing LL surgeries is time, full dedication to your patients, planification and protocol whatever treatment you perform. This includes Number of cases...the more you operate, bigger are the chances to get into trouble. So I am not here to promote Myself (i have enought patients) I am here to try to assist you guys from a professional Point of view. If for some reason you are not happy or you want to speculate, it s up to you. Maybe you want doctors to be banned to participate in this forum.
On the other hand, I Was surprised that Xavi posted here. But he is a web designer and he is in touch with forums and similar sites... So for me, as a doctor, this Was very pleasant. None of my patients gets any benefit from participating in the forum.
You might think whatever. But forum is an experience sharing and if patients are happy with procedure they should be welcome to participate.
I told you before you can think whatever and it s up to you. I have a lot of work and it takes time for me to reply here. So I beg you to be respectful with me and all participants. And yes, i Also hope the result at the ends is optimal. And the secret of success is to study, listen and being respectful with each other.
I hope I Was clear enought
Nothing wrong, but let me advice you to better keep everything about the patient as private as possible, things like web designer
Hi Hallijah
You are 300% right. I always try to keep my patients privacy.
He is not exactly a designer maybe I should have said he is "in touch with computers".
You will never see me posting neither x rays or clinical pictures of my patients.
This is Also part of success and It s legal to keep privacy. That is why I sometimes get upset when private messages are posted, or some participants just post relevant Medical information.
But i do believe in the principle of freedom.
But once again thanks for your words and advices. I am a rookie here!
Quote from: Dr Monegal on January 12, 2015, 07:38:44 PMHi outgrown
I don t know if I get your Point but let me say something about What you just posted.
I have never used this forum to promote Myself. I think the goal of this forum is for you the patients to be aware of LL techniques and specialists, to solve Medical questions rather than to promote doctors.
I receive emails from worldwide on a daily basis, and do believe that I try to reply to all of them and in most cases I do not advice the treatment. Such is the case of Musicmaker to whom I Did not recommend to perform 2 segments per limb...I even adviced Her not to be operated. She is very determined and we finally agreeded to perform 1 segment per limb.
Secret of success when performing LL surgeries is time, full dedication to your patients, planification and protocol whatever treatment you perform. This includes Number of cases...the more you operate, bigger are the chances to get into trouble. So I am not here to promote Myself (i have enought patients) I am here to try to assist you guys from a professional Point of view. If for some reason you are not happy or you want to speculate, it s up to you. Maybe you want doctors to be banned to participate in this forum.
On the other hand, I Was surprised that Xavi posted here. But he is a web designer and he is in touch with forums and similar sites... So for me, as a doctor, this Was very pleasant. None of my patients gets any benefit from participating in the forum.
You might think whatever. But forum is an experience sharing and if patients are happy with procedure they should be welcome to participate.
I told you before you can think whatever and it s up to you. I have a lot of work and it takes time for me to reply here. So I beg you to be respectful with me and all participants. And yes, i Also hope the result at the ends is optimal. And the secret of success is to study, listen and being respectful with each other.
I hope I Was clear enought
Excellent. We've had issues of heavy promotions on an older forum from unprofessional surgeons through admins, patients, and blackmail, but I am happy to see that you would take the time to reach out to us.
Quote from: Dr Monegal on January 11, 2015, 06:12:00 PMHi Ghostfish
I am pleased to answer instead of Xavi.
All Fitbone users planify all cases as we are all trainned by Professor Baumgart and Wittenstein in Munchen Germany. We all use The Reverse Planning method (published by Rainer Baumgart) and it s a way to planify, NOT only LL But Also axial deformities and malrotation of limbs. That s one of the reasons I prefer Fitbone by far rather than others like Precice or Guichet systems. With Fitbone and Reverse planning method (Available when you use Traumacad 2.0) you can measure limbs, make allignment test and planify lengthenning and axial/rotational Correction.
It is a matter of reliabilty and Also to we in the safe zone not modifying the biomechanics of the limb. You might have seen x rays (mainly when using ex fix) where tibias finish with a terrific valgus deformity (I ve seen it in some of the x rays posted) which Will cause knee pain and early osteoarthritis.
Xavi had genu varus on his legs. We optimized his mechanical axis and lengthened his left limb. You obviously cannot modify tibia vara by operating a femur, you can improve the mechanical axis but not the tibia (if that s the origin of the deformity).
You can check Payley's malalignment test where you will find all the basics to understand How the Limb allignment works.
It is very important that patients understand that LL is not Just a matter of cm, a bad procedure can end up with a limb malalignment which might cause issues in the future.
I hope my reply Was helpful
Dear Dr. Monegal
Sorry for the delay for your reply. I have been quite busy lately. Thank you so much for taking your time to explain how Xavi have his legs treated and how Fitbone is working as compared to other methods. Your reply is indeed of great help for me to understand not only Fitbone process but also LL in general. I am really grateful to you making time for everyone in this forum.
By the way, I just don't understand why or how some people think or feel some sort of promotion from his or his patients' posts. I may be too naive but have not perceived any sort of that kind of implication. I do believe that he has been trying to help us understand better about LL or to clarify some procedures. I don't really know what happened to the old forum. But just let's be not too much cautious about the posts and let people decide what is good for them. Most of people should be able to figure out what it is good or right for them.
Quote from: musicmaker on January 12, 2015, 11:47:55 PMHi, everybody.
I can’t but confirm what Dr. Monegal says.
He’s a very busy doctor. Thus, he has no need of using this forum to attract patients. In fact, he even rejects to perform procedures if he feels that they are not indicated at all for a particular patient.
In my case, I was thinking about four segments, and he advised me to do only two. He would have made more money by performing four separate surgeries, but he decided to perform just two because he considered that 6 cm. were enough for me. As he has explained to all of you, when I had my first appointment with him, he even told me that the surgery was not indicated in my case, because I was not particularly short, and agreed to perform CLL just because he understood how important height was for me and my self-esteem.
Dr. Monegal is a very sympathetic doctor. It is obvious that he is not trying to sell anything; he genuinely tries to help people feel better about themselves and to instruct everyone here about LL, which is very necessary, since most of us don’t have medical background. I like his approach very much.
And not, I’m not being paid for saying this nor I am getting benefits of any kind. I am writing this post just because I cannot stand the fact that some of you misthink of him and spread fake rumors in this forum.
Best regards,
I have never heard of any of us wanting to do one segment, then a separate surgery for the other segment. It takes too much time even though it very well may be the 'safest' way to do it.
Many patients have done bilateral surgery and are fine. Virtually nobody does all 4 segments at the same time .
I hope you have a much success with Dr Mongeal . He seems like a caring guy. I will only do it if he agrees to do my entire right leg in one surgery then the left a year later.
Otherwise I will external tibias for much cheaper elsewhere then internal femurs.
Good luck.
Quote from: musicmaker on January 13, 2015, 11:24:05 AMHi TomD,
I understand what you’re saying. All of us want to complete the process as soon as possible. But when the doctor explained to me that bilateral lengthening was not safe nor comfortable I decided to follow his advice and have two separate procedures. That way we could avoid the risks of fat embolism and the uncomfortableness of being confined to a wheel-chair for months.
When he told me about the necessity of performing two separate procedures, I started thinking about having my entire leg lengthened, to maximize the results obtained in a one year time. But it was expensive and not really indicated for me. Looking like a giraffe is not nice either. That’s why I finally accepted his proposal of having only two segments performed.
I would also like to share with you some feelings I had after completing the first procedure, when I was at hospital. As you know, I’m not a strong guy like you, but a girl, and I am as fragile as a flower. The surgery was not a walk in the park. I lost much blood, which is particularly worrying in the case of a person who usually suffers from anemia, like me. Some hours later, when I was in my bedroom, I had the feeling that I would not have been able to overcome the surgery if I had had my two legs done. The experience of having one leg operated was strong enough for me.
I am sharing this with you so that you can see that I am not here to promote this doctor, but to share my experiences. Non, je ne regrette rien, but I can assure you that this surgery is not for the faint-hearted.
Best wishes,
MusicMaker
Hi MusicMaker,
As a girl, you are really brave. Wishing you all the best in your LL journey. 
I have a few questions regarding your LL with Dr Monegal:-
1. How long do you need to stay in the hospital for each surgery?
2. How often do I need for follow-up after discharge?
3. How long is the interval between two surgeries?
I am quite concerned about the interval since I am not staying in Spain. I need to travel back and forth Spain if I choose Dr Monegal.
Best wishes,
Shuya
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