Shadow91,
No doubt that having this procedure done is something that you should think hard and long about. However, if you decide to move forward, I highly recommend Dr. Monegal; there is absolutely nothing that i went though during lengthening that Dr. Monegal did not already let me know about. That includes, lengthening targets where the muscle tension will be the worst.
I got xrays every two weeks when I got back home because I was so worried about some of the concerning PMs I got about the xray I had posted of my first leg. I was mostly concerned about non-union of the bone. The US radiologists never had any concerns about the consolidation process.
Dr. Monegal certainly has some quirks (as do I) ; but I'm convinced he is a very skilled. I have absolute confidence in him and am really happy with my decision to come to Barcelona for the procedure.
Dr. Monegal (Barcelona) - Two stage internal Femur - Fitbone
A quick update:
I stopped lengthening on July 11th and was walking, maybe more of a shuffle, without crutches for about the last 10 days in July. I felt it was important to start full weight bearing on my leg since I was about to return to Barcelona for the second procedure.
I arrived in Barcelona , on August 1st for my surgery on my second leg. Surgery went very well and and the xrays look very good (IMHO). I have been over at MIC for the since Tuesday.
I should have given myself more time to recover from my first surgery before returning; it is very difficult to walk on crutches because my knee is still a bit sore on my first leg. I decided to only begin a slow lengthening regiment and stay off my feet for a few days to give my leg a little more recovery time; I hope that I can walk more competently on crutches by Monday.
Unexpectedly, I do have more pain this time around, but it's still manageable without the need for pain killers.
Look forward to returning home in September and finishing up the lengthening of my second leg while continuing a rigorous stretching routine!
Thank you for taking your time to answer me and thank you for sharing your story. The more information we have, the easier it is for the rest of us to make a decision. I wish you the best on your journey to become taller:)
Quote from: Four Inch on August 11, 2017, 12:44:18 PMA quick update:
I stopped lengthening on July 11th and was walking, maybe more of a shuffle, without crutches for about the last 10 days in July. I felt it was important to start full weight bearing on my leg since I was about to return to Barcelona for the second procedure.
I arrived in Barcelona , on August 1st for my surgery on my second leg. Surgery went very well and and the xrays look very good (IMHO). I have been over at MIC for the since Tuesday.
I should have given myself more time to recover from my first surgery before returning; it is very difficult to walk on crutches because my knee is still a bit sore on my first leg. I decided to only begin a slow lengthening regiment and stay off my feet for a few days to give my leg a little more recovery time; I hope that I can walk more competently on crutches by Monday.
Unexpectedly, I do have more pain this time around, but it's still manageable without the need for pain killers.
Look forward to returning home in September and finishing up the lengthening of my second leg while continuing a rigorous stretching routine!
Hi Four Inches,
Good on you and your accomplishments! I am also going with Monegal on 19 Sep(two stage). Hey buddy how many centimeters in total have you lengthened? Same as you I dont live in Spain so I will have to come back to my home country and go back later to Spain for the second surgery so if you dont mind me asking how was you whole experience of walking with one leg longer than the other. Did the insoles do the job? Do you have any anecdote you wanna share of people questioning your temporary handicap? Any inconvenience such as loose screw in your home country? Thanks a lot buddy and I wish the best in your LL road!
Thank you Shadow!Quote from: Shadow91 on August 11, 2017, 02:42:13 PMThank you for taking your time to answer me and thank you for sharing your story. The more information we have, the easier it is for the rest of us to make a decision. I wish you the best on your journey to become taller:)
Thank you Shadow!
Quote from: U only live once on August 12, 2017, 02:23:52 AMHi Four Inches,
Good on you and your accomplishments! I am also going with Monegal on 19 Sep(two stage). Hey buddy how many centimeters in total have you lengthened?
Hi U only live once!
I lengthened 7.58 cm, based on the number of "clicks" that i tracked though the lengthening process, (plus the initial 4mm of gain that Dr. Monegal included during surgery.) However, my xrays were showed less gain so I more or less tracked lengthening based on my xrays and clicks. Based on xrays in Barcelona, Dr. Monegal calculated that I had lengthened about 6.5 - 6.7 cm. and that seems to match up with the last xrays taken while in the US.
If think the discrepancy might have been from the Fitbone transmitter and receiver not being lined up right; a click may still turn the nail but seemingly with limited power. I remember when lengthening, I would sometimes hear the nail turn with a strained sound. At the time I though it was due to muscle tension because I remember first hearing it when I was well into the lengthening process. However, I have heard the same strained turns with my second leg and I'm nowhere near reaching muscle tension yet; when I realign the transmitter the turns sound health.
It's certainly possible that I just miscounted the number of times in lengthened on multiple days. Maybe others that have been though the process can chime in on this thought.
Quote from: U only live once on August 12, 2017, 02:23:52 AMif you dont mind me asking how was you whole experience of walking with one leg longer than the other. Did the insoles do the job?
The insoles did the job for me. I felt very comfortable on crutches using the insole.
Quote from: U only live once on August 12, 2017, 02:23:52 AMDo you have any anecdote you wanna share of people questioning your temporary handicap? Any inconvenience such as loose screw in your home country?
At times I was most definitely bearing more weight on the fitbone then recommended, so I was concerned about loosening screws. However, the screws held up fine. No issues, other than the discrepancy in clicks. I would recommend tracking the lengthening based on both clicks and xrays, that seems to be a workable approach.
Quote from: U only live once on August 12, 2017, 02:23:52 AMThanks a lot buddy and I wish the best in your LL road!
Thank you, and a big congratulations on your decision to move forward with the procedure! I wish you the best!
I interviewed 7 people that tracked their clicks about precision of supposed lengthening according to clicks versus real lengthening and 4 out of 7 had less distraction than what they should have had!
The discrepency between clicks and real lengthening increased for all patients. That means to me that either the bone density and thus the resistance became stronger or that the resistance made the winding inside the nail wear out.
The most extreme case seemed to be myself where I did clicks on the left side amounting to more than 10 cm but actually only lengthened 5 cm.
It is not a big deal as long as you follow your x-rays closely and then at the final stages have frequent x-rays to fine tune the length.
This is a big drawback for fitbone imo.
But Helloworld haven't you done enough x rays during lengthening? Haven't you seen that the lengthening was less in reality than in clicks? Why in the end you lengthened less than you wanted?
Does precice 2 have that problem ( Angle Q is real, but shouldnt be more than .5 cm)?
Quote from: Body Builder on August 13, 2017, 12:00:02 AMThis is a big drawback for fitbone imo.
But Helloworld haven't you done enough x rays during lengthening? Haven't you seen that the lengthening was less in reality than in clicks? Why in the end you lengthened less than you wanted?
Yes, you are right.
The thing is that I was assuming that the difference was minor and/or that I must have made a mistake in the clicking schedule. Also, the difference was small at beginning and became much bigger at the end. Also, my PT told me it was almost impossible to have a preconsolidation and the only thing to be scared of was too little consolidation, so I went slow on purpose at the beginning. Later I accelerated, but likely because the actual lengthening was much less, I will still distracting too little.
The day I became full aware oft the magnitude of the difference after my last x-rays, I came home wanting to accelerate lengthening, but both nails simulatenously did not respond anymore as bone was consolidated.
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