Thank you LLCaptain. It was my pleasure to talk about myself while lying on the beach.
I don't know who he is, I've never met him before nor has anyone mentioned him to me before.
Aug 2016: 3 months post L leg lengthening
As promised, here are some photos. Sorry for the poor quality; I'm not used to selfies.
http://imgur.com/rJ1zFKx
http://imgur.com/a/9Ou3v
I'm getting back the mobility and muscle shape in my thighs; walking is almost normal except for the first steps after getting up from the chair.
Pain: L pain in knee after stretching, R shin pain after strenous workouts
Flexibility: L knee flexion 135 deg. R 180 deg.
Strength: Squats 30 kg, leg press 40 kg
Stamina: Walking 1 hour, Swimming 2k no problem
After my first leg workout, I had shooting nerve pains along my right shin, and could barely walk for two days afterwards. It was great! It meant I was targeting the right muscles and after the pains subsided, it meant that the pains were muscular and not from the joints.
Now I'm following a 1 day on/3 day off cycle; I train legs every other workout and arms/upper body every other. Cardio (swim 2k) 2 days after workout. Walk half hour every day. Stretch 4x a day every day.
Quote from: Antonio on August 12, 2016, 07:34:15 AMAug 2016: 3 months post L leg lengthening
As promised, here are some photos. Sorry for the poor quality; I'm not used to selfies.
http://imgur.com/rJ1zFKx
http://imgur.com/a/9Ou3v
I'm getting back the mobility and muscle shape in my thighs; walking is almost normal except for the first steps after getting up from the chair.
Pain: L pain in knee after stretching, R shin pain after strenous workouts
Flexibility: L knee flexion 135 deg. R 180 deg.
Strength: Squats 30 kg, leg press 40 kg
Stamina: Walking 1 hour, Swimming 2k no problem
After my first leg workout, I had shooting nerve pains along my right shin, and could barely walk for two days afterwards. It was great! It meant I was targeting the right muscles and after the pains subsided, it meant that the pains were muscular and not from the joints.
Now I'm following a 1 day on/3 day off cycle; I train legs every other workout and arms/upper body every other. Cardio (swim 2k) 2 days after workout. Walk half hour every day. Stretch 4x a day every day.
Hello Antonio, we're of similar age and I just finished LL on internal femurs with Dr.Guichet. I've a couple of questions for you. When did you no longer have pain when walking? How much and what kind of leg exercises did you do after stopping LL? When were you able to walk without crutches?
Hello dream_catcher,
Congrats on finishing lengthening. Good diary. I actually had a consultation with Guichet in 2014 but the timing was not ideal.
To answer your questions, I didn't have any pain while walking from about May onwards, or about a month after I stopped lengthening my L leg.
During 2 months after lengthening, all I did was walk every day for at least half an hour with crutches or one crutch, and do stretching. Then I started to do swimming and light cycling on the exercise bike. I didn't do any weightbearing (additional to bodyweight) exercises until end of last month.
I was able to walk without crutches 2 weeks after lengthening my L leg.
Keep your spirits up. 90% of the LL battle is mental anyway. I found it helpful to keep a training log, and used it to motivate myself by seeing the progress I made, no matter how small. I remember counting the tiles in the pool when I stretched to check my knee bending progress!
Looking good Antonio 
Hows the consolidation going in both legs?
Thanks NoRegrets.
I don't know from the last xrays. I will ask Dr. Monegal to have them done again at the beginning of September.
Hi,
A forum user has sent me a private email. I wish to say that I do not wish to correspond by email, but only via the forum (public record). However, as the user posts some interesting questions, I will answer them here. For wider benefit, I will translate his questions from Spanish.
Q1. How much weight do you think the Fitbone can handle? Of course I will use crutches during the procedure, but I am afraid that an accidental overload could damage tha nail (or screw, as was your case)
A1. According to Dr. Monegal, the Fitbone nail can handle up to 25 kg i.e. partial weight bearing during distraction. The manufacturer Wittenstein does not specify any weight except says that it is up to the discretion of the surgeon based on the recovery of the patient.
I personally think that if you weigh 70 kg or less and place most of your weight on your good leg, and are careful about not placing weight at an angle on the operated leg, then with crutches you can move around without problems. Of course if you start jumping or fall down, then of course there are no guarantees.
Q2. Another patient has told me that he used only one crutch after the third or fourth week, which implies some weight bearing on the operated leg. Do you think this is feasible?
A2. Assuming you are going to do the two-stage lengthening, then yes, it is feasible, as you will have recovered on your first leg to place most of your weight on it. The crutch will support the weight of the second leg.
With bilateral lengthening I don't think it possible as you will probably still be in the wheelchair then.
Suerte! Un abrazo
Thanks for the answers, Antonio.
I want to say that it was me who asked Antonio these questions. I did it via PM to avoid the apparently unavoidable trolling by "that user" in every Monegal thread. But I agree that making them public will benefit more users.
Quote from: Antonio on August 24, 2016, 09:13:04 AMI personally think that if you weigh 70 kg or less and place most of your weight on your good leg, and are careful about not placing weight at an angle on the operated leg, then with crutches you can move around without problems. Of course if you start jumping or fall down, then of course there are no guarantees.
This is particularly interesting. You are not the first to point that it is the bending moment, rather than the pure compressive strength, the most likely cause for a nail failure. Even in jbc's recent consultation with Paley, he was told that "they [internal nails] are most vulnerable to breaking at full extension". Another point in favour of not lengthening too much!
Your proportions look great :)what is your wingspan?
Thanks Peaceout.
My wingspan is 171.5 cm.
But I don't think wingspan is a good measure of proportionality as it depends a lot on shoulder width and flexibility. I prefer armlength.
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