The apparatus is fixated with four penetrations at the rear of the heel, four just above the ankle, one into the lower shin and another in line with that an inch below the knee. There are four more at the same level as the top shin penetration
Interesting. I had the 4 penetrations (actually from 2 pins, one penetration when it goes in and one when it comes out the other side) above the ankle and below the knee. And the 4 half-pins in the heel. But nothing like the single penetrations into the lower shin and an inch below the knee.
I know they changed their osteotomy method so people would have faster bone growth, but I wonder why they added 2 more half-pins.
Ni hao Thegosis. I hope all is going well with your lengthening! Did the Beijing doctors affix each of your cut fibula bones to their corresponding tibia in one place or two? Are both the tops and bottoms of your fibulas nailed or surgically attached to the tibia?
How do you like the Guang Ji hospital so far? Thanks so much for sharing your experience with us, and best of luck with your procedure!
I don't know the answer to this question about the fibulae. There is another foreign patient coming next week Christmas Eve which is the day that the only other foreigner leaves. Two others will come in the new year.
Just this afternoon I demonstrated the frames to visiting specialists from Japan and Korea and Dr Zhao has removed the stitches in my shins. I saw Dr Xia for the first time. Another local doctor has come by who speaks to me in English. All the x-rays have shown unproblematic progress, but I am still hooked up each morning to an IV to combat digestive infection and persistent cough. I can remain standing unsupported and walk with a frame, but not take steps that put all of my weight on one leg.
January is the coldest month and this month is the second coldest. 5pm and -4 Celcius outside.
The international contact for this place is Dr Wang Bei (Ronne): [email protected]
+86 13621226277 (office)
+86 1083685806 (mobile)
Tonight's canteen dinner
Hey Thegosis, how's everything going? how much have you lengthened and how much have you got left to go? Are you feeling better now?
It's really good to see a current diary from Beijing. Since there have been so many Beijing diaries on old forum in the past I can understand that there might not be a point in documenting every little thing which has already been documented in the previous diaries but I think what some people are wondering is if everything in the hospital is still the same as it was back a few years ago when we had all those diaries on old forum . Before your diary I was wondering if they still offered cosmetic LL in Beijing due to the fact that there were no new diaries and they hospital did not respond to Sysop's email requesting updates on their pricing.
So basically my questions are; is everything in Beijing the same as it was before 2012 or are they discouraging foreign patients from getting LL?,why aren't there other foreign patients at the hospital? And Do you have any idea roughly how many foreign patients get LL a year?
Thanks for your diary and I wish you a complication-free journey.
As of 15 February I'm back home doing my last two months of lengthening. I go back to Beijing via Kuala Lumpur on 15 April and around 15 March will be sending back an x-ray. Just before I departed Beijing the doc (Dr Zhao) informed me that my growth was 4.5cm based upon x-rays of the day before which revealed no complications.
By early February, thanks to a lot of monitoring and medication (including IV drips) I saw off first the respiratory infection and then the diahorrea.
There are three foreign LL patients (two male, one female) currently at the hospital and I think there may be a couple more as well by the time you read this. There have been between two and five foreign patients on deck, including myself, over the time since I arrived there except for on Christmas Eve when I was the only one for several hours.
According to Ronne just before I left, they are going to be taking less foreign LL patients this year because of their anticipated influx of local patients. That is just for space considerations.
It is a little odd if someone is emailing to [email protected] and not getting acknowledgement or reply. I have used that address on a daily basis to correspond with Ronne. She was absent for a period of seven days starting from 31 January which corresponded with the Chinese New Year.
Thanks for the update. Why did you leave?
I wouldn't have left at all if it wasn't the rule of the Australian Government which stops payment of social welfare benefits to those who've been outside of the country for more than six weeks, extended temporarily in some medical circumstances. Once that came into play on about 4 February I could apply for a further extension which always takes them around 4 weeks to decide, but would be backdated, or moot the issue by returning onshore. There's also the sheer tedium of not achieving anything, day upon day and week upon week, other than 4 turns of the frame dials which is a daily advance of .667mm The other advantages of being at home are:
* less tedium but still inching along there at .667 without a complication
* eating better
* being with family and pets. Staying at my home rather than a hospital
* facebook, bbc.co.uk and youtube are not blocked here, as they are in China
* daily temperature here is minimum 22 Celcius, whereas in Beijing it's still low single digits. Snow was covering the ground on the day I left
* removing the environmental factors which disposed me to respiratory infection and diahorrea while I was at the Hospital
* now if I want or need an abnormally long period for postlengthening rehabilitation under medical supervision in Beijing there's no risk of it costing me extra
It's atypical for a patient to request to do it this way, but the doc has excused my absence through to April. I'll be returning there 16 April, expecting to undergo investigative xray same day or very soon after. I had to undertake a course of antibiotics and herbal medication (called Sanqi Shangyao Pian, aiding healing of periostium bruising) as prophylaxis of the risks of travelling with legs unelevated for so long on the airline flight and airport transfers. The ideal and recommended posture of the legs for lengthening is to have them level and stretched out ahead with no bending at the knee. So having 24 hours with my feet on the ground and knees bent was trying and constantly distracting as far as the degrees of pain around the pin sites, but I will be doing it again on my return journey. Not looking forward to that. It felt so good as soon as I was able to have my legs raised and straight out level again in the wheelchair designed for that purpose which I have brought with me (cost covered by the inclusive surgical and rehabilitation treatment fee).
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