Dr. Monegal / Spain / Bilateral Femurs / Fitbone / August 25, 2015

Greetings fellow lengtheners,

Originally, I had flown to West Palm Beach, Florida, and underwent consultation with Dr. Paley. Despite his excellence, I declined on the $110,000 total rate, and instead contacted Dr. Alejandro Monegal, and selected him for less than half that of Dr. Paley.

ESSENTIALS
Who: Dr. Monegal
What: Bilateral femur surgery
When: August 25th
Where: Barcelona, Spain
Why: Lengthen 8cm
Me: 29 years, 165cm

RATE TABLE

Procedure:	$40,100
Residence:	$1,467 per month / $4,401 for 3 months
Physiotherapy:	$34 per hour / $3,060 for 3 months
Summary:	$47,561

Note: the doctor has required me to give him his share of the rate (20k-ish) in cash in person to avoid the 20% tax fees on sizable bank transfers. I consider this a hassle, because I will need to carry an absurd amount of cash, and declare it to customs. However, I blame the Spanish government for that, not him. Regardless, everything else has transpired very seamlessly, and friendly. Both he and the residency have answered every question courteously and timely.

LINKS
Hospital: http://www.clinicadiagonal.com/en/
Residency: http://www.barcelonadisability.org/en/
Interview: Click here

The residency, MCI Sant Jordi, specializes in disabled care, and every room and feature of the facility supports handicapped folks, which lends itself to our situation.

INQUIRIES
What type of pants can I wear over my healing legs for the 3 months? i.e. sweat pants, shorts, leggings, etc.
What type of shoes can I wear? I literally only wear leather boots; I do not own a pair of sneakers (not athletic).
Will I need to order food in every night for dinner?
How will I occupy my time, rather than lie on my back for 16 hours per day?

I do not currently feel very social about it; I almost prefer no one to interact with me in person while I exist in such a poor state. But then again, many insist that socializing helped their lengthening. According to Dr. Monegal an individual will also undergo the same surgery on the same day! I believe he utilizes the name "glenn" on here, or similar.

I vow to myself that I will enact the full 8 cm, barring an unexpected medical emergency. However, I do not wish to remain in Spain for a full 90 days, so I may do 60-75 days instead, although I would prefer the doctor locally if a health issue arises.

Be Well,
Bohemia

Hey,

what is your age and starting height?

I'd say: Try to learn a new language!

Anyway, please keep us updated on a regular basis! :-)

ps: what's your impression of Dr Monegal in comparison to Paley?

Hi Bohemia!

Yes, I am doing my surgery on the same day with Dr. Monegal. Can you believe it? After all these years, it's only about 22 days from now! The feeling is surreal...

Let's share notes:

QuoteWhat type of pants can I wear over my healing legs for the 3 months? i.e. sweat pants, shorts, leggings, etc.

I think I will just bring some shorts/swimming trunks. MAYBE I will bring one pair of jeans, but I'm not sure how that will make my life easier.

Here's the historical temperatures for September and October in Barcelona:
http://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/en/weather/weather-september.html
http://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/en/weather/weather-october.html

QuoteWhat type of shoes can I wear? I literally only wear leather boots; I do not own a pair of sneakers (not athletic).

I will fly to Barcelona in my flip flops and just wear those the whole time I'm there. Again, I don't see how bringing a pair of running shoes will make my life any easier. (Does anybody else know if Physiotherapy requires running shoes? Or can I do it bare feet?)

QuoteWill I need to order food in every night for dinner?

This is what I wrote on my diary. You can check it out here:

Quote from: glenn on June 13, 2015, 09:21:01 AMI asked about groceries as well; apparently online grocery shopping and home delivery is prevalent over there. Dr. Monegal recommended www.mercadona.es . It's got good prices, and English, but the only thing that irks me is that there's no pictures. You have to buy based on the description of the product. I looked further and I prefer the interface for this grocer: www.alcampo.es . The site seems more polished and easier for English readers to navigate. Another one I thought might be ok is www.carritus.com .

Also, I haven't explored the options mentioned on this page yet. But I have a feeling I will find this page useful in the future.

I don't exactly know how I will get stuff delivered to MIC Sant Jordi, but I'll figure it out once I'm there. I'll let you know when I know.

QuoteHow will I occupy my time, rather than lie on my back for 16 hours per day?

youtube.com, coursera.org, ocw.mit.edu, khanacademy.org.... You can also think of it as a chance to read all those books that you've always wanted to read but never had the time. Also, as Axelf said, it's the perfect time to learn a new language!

I have a question for you:

Quote...I will need to carry an absurd amount of cash, and declare it to customs.

I am bringing cash, too. What happens if I "forget" to declare it and they catch me?

RECORD LOW EXCHANGE RATE

The doctor gave me the exact fees and bank specifics to wire the funds. If you would like this procedure, then I strongly encourage you to book it now, or soon, because the Euro to Dollar exchange rate has fallen to record lows. For example, today, it hit 1.1 Dollar to 1 Euro, as opposed to last year it reached 1.4 Dollar to 1 Euro. To calculate, the whole surgery costs 35,510 Euros (26,010 to hospital, and 9,500 to Doctor personally), thus today it equates to about $39,000 only, whereas last year it would have costed $49,700.

In other words, you will save over $10,000 if you schedule now at the bottom, in comparison to the average rate.



AIRFARE

Route: Philadelphia-Barcelona nonstop round trip
Schedule: August 23 - November 3 (72 days)
Rate: $1,250

QuoteI think I will just bring some shorts/swimming trunks. MAYBE I will bring one pair of jeans, but I'm not sure how that will make my life easier.

I will fly to Barcelona in my flip flops and just wear those the whole time I'm there. Again, I don't see how bringing a pair of running shoes will make my life any easier. (Does anybody else know if Physiotherapy requires running shoes? Or can I do it bare feet?)

Dr. Monegal sent me an email that said verbatim:

---
Bring training clothes:
- running shoes
-shorts
-t shirts
- swimsuit

PT protocol includes:
- stretching
- Knee function recovery
- cycling/elyptic
-pool work
- parallel bar walk
---

I suppose the physiotherapy will include a degree of athletics.

Congrats on your upcoming surgery, wish you all the best!
I was just wondering what device are you going to use for your lengthening?

hey bohemia! how did it go?

I underwent all the physical measurements (blood, chest, xrays, etc.) and also the procedure all in the same day, on Tuesday August 25th. I remained utterly resolute to do this, and never once considered otherwise.

Dr. Monegal surprised me at how down to earth and and ordinary he is, yet very devout and sober toward his craft. He explained that he does surgery every single day of the week, and specializes in careful, precise treatment.

I awoke in the post-surgery area, and felt very alive and happy, albeit a tad kooky due to sedation. They wheeled me in my bed back to my room, and I texted friends about my condition. You retain decent lucidity once you awake. The epidural eliminates all pain whatsoever, and instead a bone-level pressure ensues, like if a person squeezed your thighs in their hands at half-strength.

Every day at 8:45am a food personnel enters the room and asks what you you like to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. As a matter of judgement, I consider the meals below average, regrettably. For example, the first day they gave me a 5-inch green and black banana. I literally laughed at it, took photos, and showed my friends. LOL I explained to the food person that I would not accept that, and she apologized but seemed confused, because apparently they eat green bananas. Besides this, the meals consist of staples and will suffice for the 7 day duration at the hospital.

At 9am, two nurses come in, sponge bathe your whole body with soap, and give new sheets and pillows. You will need to become content with letting staffers gently wash your genitals, because they will each day.

Then at about 12pm and 7pm they give you additional meals.

If you elect for the epidural, which I recommend, you need to acknowledge that three cords will enter your body:

• Epidural in spine—which you forget exists
• Catheter in penis or vagina—which you do not forget, but spares you from urinating manually
• IV in arm—for nourishment, analgesia, and anticoagulation

It does seem a little artificial and disconcerting once you realize the number of wires in your flesh, but you remain moderately mobile in bed, despite their placement.

Today, day 4, Friday, they removed my epidural, and now employ only an IV analgesic. In fact, at the moment I type this, the bag has become empty, and I sit here on a chair next to my bed without any chemical support and feel pretty normal.

As encouragement, not a single time have I considered this an unwise procedure, and have not once suffered in any pain. I would grade the discomfort level at under 5 the entire time so far. In other words, you can do this.

As others have echoed, I suspect the crux of any dislike would be the boredom of lying in a bed for 16 hours straight, days upon days. However, watch your laptop, chat on your phone, do whatever, and it will pass.

All in all, the nurses have treated me extremely kindly and carefully, and Dr. Monegal is a truly world class surgeon.

I can safely recommend this to people so far!

Thank you for keeping us updated Bohemia. How are you doing now? How is the pain level and scars?

I need to revise a previous item. However I could not modify my post, so I will do it here:

I said falsely:

QuoteNote: the doctor has required me to give him his share of the rate (20k-ish) in cash in person to avoid the 20% tax fees on sizable bank transfers. I consider this a hassle, because I will need to carry an absurd amount of cash, and declare it to customs. However, I blame the Spanish government for that, not him. Regardless, everything else has transpired very seamlessly, and friendly. Both he and the residency have answered every question courteously and timely.

I wired 26,010 Euros to the hospital, and gave 9000-ish in cash to the doctor personally for he and his staff—not 20k.

In other words, I safely carried the cash in my carry on, and passed customs without any declaration.

I clarify this to avoid any confusion.

I have hit Day 6 now, and would like to update about my condition.

Frankly, the experience has underwhelmed me. In fact, my legs have remained under a 5 in pain level at all times. I had hardened my resolve to the reality that I may need to bear a 7-9 at certain points, but it never materialized—however I have not commenced stretching yet. I attribute this to two factors: my preexisting leg muscle strength, and Doctor Alejandro.

1. I played ice hockey from childhood through college, and my legs became utterly impervious to pain. Perhaps this caused my tolerance for discomfort in my lower appendages to rise.

2. The doctor explained that he utilizes a particularly gentle and careful procedure, as opposed to other doctors who may hammer harder or less tenderly on vulnerable areas, which exacerbates trauma.

So I will rate the factors so far:

Surgeon: 9.5 / 10 — very available, down to earth, and caring; the opposite of Dror Paley in terms of personality
Nurses: 7 / 10 — consistent in their duties, friendly, but a bit clumsy and scattershot at times
Food: 5 / 10 — boring and strange, i.e., they gave me two chicken wings for dinner one night WTF?; that said, I did not expect fine dining

Thus, as an average, I give a total of 7.1 / 10.

As a matter of a severe criticism though, the urologist required me to remain on a catheter for six full days; that is, three days beyond the epidural. Honestly, it became almost nightmarish by day 6 (today). Yesterday, I shat for the first time on the toilet, whereby I attained the trifecta: (1) my penis bled (2) my pee sprayed outside the catheter tube all over my thighs (3) tears dripped off my eyes—blood, piss, and tears in one moment.

If the cruel and unusual catheter requirement never occurred, then I would have considered this a nearly flawless experience.

So in fairness, I possess both a love and hate of what has taken place here. On one hand, I wholeheartedly recommend the procedure so far due to the seamlessness. On the other hand, sadly I cannot recommend it if you would need six days of catheterization.

(They had difficulty inserting the catheter tube into my penis at the time of surgery, and called in a urologist who implemented a special one for me. All the while I had no idea I have a particularly thin pee hole.)

Anyway, the doctor and Claudio the physiotherapist, helped me to stand up on my feet upright and unaided for the first time!