1 month post op
So it has been 1 month since I was operated. I just had my last set of X-rays which I will be posting tomorrow and it shows a gap of 2,37cm. I went to the clinic with 2 more patients and the doctor was quite satisfied with the results of all of the X-rays.
The pain has been annoying at times but you can fight it with medication, ice or hot showers. 2 days ago, after doing my last set of clicks for the day I actually felt real pain for the first time and thought " Oh, so this is what they call lengthening pain ". I took a tramadol and it didn't do a thing. I was stuck with pain during most of the night. The next day, yesterday, I decided to take a break from clicking and it did the trick, the pain went down to 0/10. Today I'm feeling great again, pain wise. Keep in mind that I didn't prepare at all physically for this surgery. I used to practice sports in a daily basis and did not care at all about flexibility. Well, let me tell you that you should not follow my example because I can tell that some of the pain I feel is due to the lack of flexibility.
I will update the amount of money I've spent so far so you can estimate the costs (food escluded).
Surgery for 1 leg + hospital stay: 18900€
1 month stay at MIC Sant Jordi: 1710€ (Double room)
Medication that I bought after quitting the hospital: 62€
(Nolotil, Paracetamol, Tramadol 50mg, Clexane 40mg)
X-rays from 1 month post: 60€
Insoles from Amazon: 8€
I've bought some shirts from decathlon online, 2,5€ each but I'm not including it. I've also bought some economy books so I can learn the spanish terms while keeping myself entertained.
Total: 20740€
That's it so far 
Dr. Monegal - Two stage internal Femur - Fitbone - Auron
50 days after surgery, X-rays day
I’ve been lengthning between 0,54 and 0,81mm a day. I’m not in a hurry and it feels really good to be lengthning at this pace. I can’t remember the last time I had pain. As you can see by looking at the x-rays below I am at 3,72cm and will be stopping at 5cm for 2 reasons, proportions and recovery. I am doing unilateral so I can compare my starting height and proportions with the newly adquired ones. Proportions wise I’d say they were at its best when I hit 3cms, meaning that, imo, I had slightly short femurs and will end up with slightly long femurs. The height difference at 3,7cm is major, I had no idea it would be so noticeable, so much that if I stopped now I’d be pretty happy with my new height. X rays are next, sorry for the bad quality.
X-Ray 1 month post op at 2,37cm
X-Rays today, 50 days post op at 3,72cm
All Monegal’s patients here at MIC seem to be doing very well, we were comparing our X rays earlier to see who had the best bone formation so far and helloworld beat us hands down
Thats it for today folks!
:-) I have to admit I (helloworld) did not play fairly, lengthening at a slower rate of 0,6 and thus causing more bone cloud density.
But you got a gain of 3,7 while I got 3,3!
Can't edit my previous post to add another picture of my last X rays so I'll just post it here.
Something I forgot to mention, might be relevant to some people so I'll just drop it here.
Last month there was a medical team from Lisbon taking part in one of the Dr. Monegal's CLL surgery but only as spectators. It seems they were very interested in learning the technique used by Dr. Monegal. At the end they were very impressed by the the doctor and his team. I've also noticed that the Dr. Monegal's schedule has been filled with alot CLL surgeries so I'd say that more and more people are choosing him to do their CLL.
I understand now why Musicmaker keep telling me that Dr. Monegal is the best doctor in the world! We also always have a good time all together when he visits us.
Btw, tomorrow I'll reach 4cm!
I almost agree:
I think MusicMaker said he is "one of the best Limb Lengthening surgeons in the world".
But I agree with your point.
Hi Auron,
Thanks for providing details on your journey so far! Glad to read you're doing well and best wishes on reaching your goal. Just had a few questions around additional costs such as food, transport, PT's, + any other everyday expenses?
Would be awesome if later on you could upload some photos of your points of incision too 
Cheers!
I just read something written by Dr Monegal , written in 2014, where he mentions Fitbone bringing out an updated Fitbone in 2017/2018. Does anyone know what the improvements will be and would it change anyones mind about Fitbone v Precise. I have been in touch with Dr Rozbruch and he has quoted 100k for surgery with a lot of things still to be added so will add up to 130-140k. He would be my first choice but will be many years before this could be afforded whereas Dr Monegal is a more realistic goal.
Also thinking about India or South Africa for precise 2 but as I come from Europe I'm a bit nervous about those choices.
Doesn't Dr monegal require two surgeries though? One surgery per leg?
@forrestgump
It's my pleasure to provide the details of my journey as I know they will be useful to future LL'ers. Hopefully I will reach my goal by the end of the month.As for the costs, I usually eat food cooked at home but most people at MIC order their food and I'd say its quite cheap. We use justeat.es alot and by spending 20€ a day you get around 3 meals. If you use MIC's restaurant you'll be spending like 12€ per meal but they very good meals I'd say. I've got the bus and the subway just beside MIC and each ticket is 1€. PT's charge you between 25 to 40€ per session, depending on what PT you choose. I asked the doctor to recommend me a PT. You might spend money on daily coffee's while you hang out with other patients from MIC, we do it quite frequently.
@Col92
I don't have any news about the new fitbone but I'll make sure to ask the doctor about it. All I can tell you is that Monegal has had many patients from the US. If you're undecided about coming to Monegal or not just take your time to read the new diaries to make your decision, my diary has just started so I don't really have much information to give but so far I haven't had any problems and I'm very happy with my decision.
@yyes
He usually operates one leg at a time (he prefers doing so) which we call unilateral but if the patient still wants to do bilateral (the 2 legs at the same time) hes up for it as well.
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