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Dr Birkholtz - The road to new heights | { 175 --> 181-182}| PRECISE FEMURS

D
DoctorStrange
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Posts: 369
Joined: Sep 2023
Posted on Sep 2, 2023, 7:42 am
#1
It’s almost surreal to be writing a diary. You begin this journey years before getting the surgery done, vicariously living through the day to day diaries and updates of other patients, but almost never quite believing you will go through with it.


Dr Birkholtz - The road to new heights | { 175 --> 181-182}| PRECISE FEMURS

My surgery was in July, 2023, with world renowned surgeon Dr Birkholtz, for bilateral femoral lengthening, including an ITB release. It took place at IOR (world class private orthopaedic institute) in the affluent region of Stellenbosch. I am between 30-40, half Italian, half Asian.

Starting height: About 175cm early noon
Goal height: 181-182cm early noon
Ammount to lengthen: 6.5cm Precise 2.2 FEMURS

Finding the right surgeon has been an almost gruelling and painstaking process.  You need to be certain. You need to sometimes look yourself in the mirror and truly be brutal honest - no matter how invested you might be in a particular surgeon.

I had spoken to several surgeons, flown across the world, and had even had my surgery booked in a European country, before cancelling it altogether because I just could not allow myself to undergo this procedure when there were significant doubts and causes for concern. It was painful to walk away, it was painful to cancel a dream I had aligned my whole life around for the last few years.

When doubts surface, when you begin to learn more about worrying surgical techniques, omissions of critical aspects, and you see these manifest in current patients, there is no way I could justify taking this risk, no matter how determined I was. If you take anything from this diary, if anything I am writing makes any difference to your life, do not take the random opinion of lay people online who make claims like “ITB release is not needed” having no medical background at all. Do not fall for well-made websites, good marketing, or the gimmick of weight bearing nails. Engage in objective, meticulous and truly sober research.
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DoctorStrange
Member
Posts: 475
Joined: Sep 2023
Posted on Sep 2, 2023, 7:44 am
#2
PART TWO


Ignore the noise, and ignore any desire you may have within your own self to accept half baked explanations just so you can justify a surgeon or a particular nail. Engage in objective, meticulous and truly sober research. Accept harsh truths, rather than convenient lies.

Part of me didn’t want to even make this diary. The work to afford this surgery, the many disappointments I have been through in surgeons I consulted, and the surgery itself, put me in a place where I genuinely just wanted to lengthen, change my life forever, and move on quietly.

However, I ethically can’t allow myself to do this. There are people out there who are intelligent, determined, who have this deep rooted dream, excitement and courage to undertake CLL, but because of the misinformation, may well make choices which adversely affect their lives, or cause significant unneeded suffering.

The advice I will give also applies to this diary itself. Don’t just take what I write as gospel truth. Don’t trust any random anecdotal accounts, but perform your own rigorous and objective research.  Find out for yourself.

In my next post, I will detail why I made my decision to go with Dr Birkholtz, and why I believe this is arguably one of the few world-class surgeons/packages. Now approaching four weeks POST OP in about a weeks time, I am living through this, so whatever you read are real experiences.

I want to make my diary detailed and brutally honest, and I hope, and sincerely pray, that I am successful in my journey, and that, whoever you choose as a surgeon, you are safe and successful in yours too.
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DoctorStrange
Member
Posts: 277
Joined: Sep 2023
Posted on Sep 2, 2023, 7:46 am
#3
Why Dr Birkholtz?

I had consulted with over four to five different surgeons, and even had my surgery booked with one of them. However, in my year or two of research, I began to realise that this was a very unregulated field. I am not here to name any surgeons directly, but I will instead focus on what I looked for, and why I found it in Dr Birkholtz.

|Surgeon competence and ethics|

He wasn’t just an orthopaedic surgeon who qualified and then went into CLL. He has extensive experience in trauma, research, teaching. In fact, he is one of the surgeons people often go to when they are botched/butchered in other countries. That is the caliber of surgeon I wanted, someone whose breadth, depth, and expertise expanded far deeper than CLL, but still retained a significant and long standing body of work in both medical and cosmetic limb lengthening.

To put this in perspective, during my time in the waiting area before viewing X-rays, I saw patients of his of all ages. I then consulted with him and he discussed research. The next morning he came to see me first thing before anyone else, suited up, and about to go lecture/support at a university facility. Anyone in the medical field will tell you that a doctor of high caliber does exactly this - operates, researches, teaches and grows.

He is regarded as world class by respected peers in the US and abroad, and has partaken in training some of the doctors. You can verify this for yourself.

Ethically, he has had to deal with many cases of botched surgeries. During my meetings with him, it was clear how saddened he was by adverse outcomes, and aside from his obvious skill and experience, I could sense the empathy and genuine desire to put safety at the absolute forefront. Of course this is ultimately a business - but this is not a surgeon with money at the forefront of his mind. This is a surgeon who wants to provide quality , safe, and world class treatment - and if money comes as a result of providing value, then that is accepted.

And ultimately, when you’ve left your family and flown half way across the world, I can’t express the peace it beings to my heart to see him walk in - very tall, but extremely personable and friendly, and a truly calming presence.

|After care and MDT approach|

He in someways, is ultra protective over every single patient. This to me was critical. Some surgeons will happily perform the surgery and have you fly home after a few weeks. Dr Birkholtz follows the same model as elite US surgeons - he wants you to remain for the lengthening period minimum / has a 3 month package.

You will get X-rays every 2 weeks, he will meet you right after in person and extensively discuss them. While in hospital , I was there for 3-4 weeks and he came to see me almost twice a day, sometimes three times, to the extent we joked that we were running out of topics to say to each other.

I recall how he once said to me that if there was an adverse outcome, he would look after me - he was not one to refer me elsewhere or add on a big bill.  There’s a personal sense of pride and true value here.