I have been conflicted as to whether to share this experience. However, if my experience can help others decide if this is the correct course of action for them then it is at least worth sharing as I had some unique experiences.
Background information: Male, about 40, starting height 5'3 and 1/2
March: I did two surgeries three weeks apart - one leg at a time. In each surgery, they did femur lengthening and corrected my bowleg from my tibia.
Pre-surgery: Spent three months prior to surgery going to Stretchlab and working on flexibility. I went to Stretchlab 5-7 days/week and my flexibility improved substantially. I recommend everyone stretch as much as possible prior to the procedure. I shudder to think about what my experience would have been like if I did not do this.
Initial recovery (first two months): Pain was 10 out of 10 for me. It took some time to figure out pain management. I was definitely the odd man out compared to others. Everyone else I spoke with had nowhere near as much pain as I did.
Mid recovery (months 3-6): Pain was manageable to almost non-existent. Legs feel heavy and sore all the time. Muscles tightened substantially. Outside of this though, the process was very manageable and it's just a daily grind. I had to accordion on one leg and slowed down lengthening substantially towards the end of the process. I went for the full 8cm and was able to accomplish this.
Late recovery (months 6-now): Went home after lengthening and was able to book time on anti-gravity treadmill as well as go to Stretchlab frequently. This has helped recovery move at a very fast pace. I was able to fully consolidate and weight-bear about two and a half weeks after lengthening in each leg.
Was it worth it? 100% Absolutely! Would do it again in a heartbeat! I am adjusting to the experience of being taller. I am about 3 and 1/4 inches taller now and still have some slight duckass. I anticipate I will be about 3 and 1/2 inches taller from the first surgery when all is said and done. 3.15 inches from lengthening and up to 1/2 inch from bowleg correction.
Next steps: I am going back to Sinai to do Tibia lengthening. My surgery is scheduled for early November. I am aiming for two inches from Tibias and will be happy to get to that point.
If you have any questions please feel free to ask and I will respond as well as I can.
Dr. Assayag - 3/22 Femur Lengthening/Tibia Bowleg - 11/22 Tibia Lengthening
So you had bowlegged tibias on both right and left?
They couldn't do the correction and lengthening on tibias at the same time? Or just easier to do it first since already surgery for femurs?
Interesting. Do you feel more confident now?
Quote from: EndGame on October 11, 2022, 09:43:44 PMSo you had bowlegged tibias on both right and left?
They couldn't do the correction and lengthening on tibias at the same time? Or just easier to do it first since already surgery for femurs?
There were a few different options all with their own pro’s and con’s.
Quadrilateral
I knew I wanted to lengthen as much as possible. The highest probability of success was doing that over two surgeries. We have all heard how difficult quadrilateral lengthening is. We have also seen how many people have tried that and come up short of their goals so that approach was not a serious consideration. I was interested in getting six inches if possible.
Femur lengthening followed by Tibia later
Ideal approach. Allows you to get the most length possible in the safest way. Staging it this way also provides a more clean exit point if I decided after the first surgery I am happy with my height. If I did tibia lengthening first, then I would get less height most likely. If it was a horrible experience, I would also be less inclined to do a second procedure. Lengthening from Tibias only also increases probability of knee/joint pain later on.
Bowleg correction and Tibia lengthening at the same time
While it can be done together, it gets complicated and harder to control results. Separating them seems to be the best course of action.
Femur lengthening and bowleg correction - followed by Tibia lengthening later
This is the option I settled on. It addressed my desire to lengthen and get the most height possible if I only did one lengthening procedure. It also allowed me to correct my bowleg and knee alignment issues at the same time. Otherwise, I would need to wait 6-12 months and then get them corrected. I didn’t imagine I would want to do that again, particularly if I had a bad experience in the first surgery. Another upside of this approach was that because a portion of the surgery was medically necessary, insurance was able to cover costs associated with that part of the procedure.
Quote from: shortisnotfun on October 11, 2022, 09:58:39 PMInteresting. Do you feel more confident now?
Hmmm, not sure how to answer this. I didn’t really have confidence issues prior. I was at the extreme end of short for an American male which makes people less likely to take you seriously. Despite this, I have had a lot of professional and personal success. Instead of spending time fixated on my height, I spent time and effort working on everything I can control.
With that said, I found out about the procedure through an IG meme October 2021 and spent about a month researching before flying out to meet Dr. Assayag and scheduling surgery. I feel that the increased height will open more doors for me professionally and socially. The ugly truth is that there are a lot of doors that are harder to open when you’re short. Not impossible, just more difficult. The height increase levels the playing field.
I can give a more thorough update on life after the surgery when I am 6-9 months post the next procedure. I think next summer I will get a better feel for that.
Quote from: cllin2022 on October 12, 2022, 08:17:29 PMHow much calcium/vitamin D did you consume throughout lengthening? Did it differ when you started consolidating? I’m in the consolidation phase for 8cm Precice femur but consolidation is taking longer than expected. I’m scheduling tibias to hit 6’ but I don’t want it to be a year-long ordeal.
I may be off on the numbers as I am doing this from memory but I took the same amount that I was taking throughout the entire procedure. I think that is 500mg of calcium 3x/day and then vitamin D as well. Don’t kill me if I have the dosage wrong and you are seeing this Dr. Assayag.
The things that I think helped my consolidation along were the following:
- I had slowed down to 0.50 towards then end and had to accordion one leg so there may have been more bone there than others at that point
- I did the alter G at least 2x/week while in Baltimore. When I went back home, I found a place where I could buy alter G sessions and went 4-5x/week. Each time I went I raised the body weight % by 1-3%. The bone responds to stress and I think this probably helped.
- I used the walker and stood a lot, even for stretches and moving around as much as I could. I noticed I did more than others throughout the procedure. Now if I bent a nail from putting on too much weight before I was ready, I could be singing a different song right now but I did not.
- I purchased one of those ultrasound bone growth stimulation devices. Dr. Assayag doesn’t recommend them that often but he was able to write me a script for one which I purchased and used a lot during consolidation.
Can you tell us the cost for your procedure? Thanks.
The cost of the first procedure was partially covered by insurance. The second procedure costs about $55k not including PT after that.
Thank you for sharing your experience!
May I ask whether you stay near Sinai for the first few months, e.g months 1-3? If not, is it okay to have PT in your local clinic?
My concerns are mostly about time management for the recovery stages since my daily working hours are pretty long (WFH). I am not sure whether the pain and the PT would take up most of my day to deal with.
I would appreciate any of your input!
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