Dr.Uysal + AFA - 2021DEC21 - LON (Tibia + Femur)

Hello world 

I am BagOfMilk. From Eastern Canada. Male. You can call me Milk.

IG - bagofmilk2022

I will start this diary today and slowly update it as I progress through this process. Hopefully helping out a fellow or two down the line. Or at least entertain some ppl reading my story of spending loads of cash to break my perfectly working legs. Enjoy 

I am 174 cm and 150 lbs. Very average in every dimension. Looking to get 8cm + by the end of this process. I was pretty set on getting the precise 2 nails in my femurs. Distract 7-8cm and call it a day. As I read and learn more and more, through Victor (C4L)'s YT videos and other patients experiences. I'm now going to split up my CLL into two segments. 4cm in tibias and 6cm in femurs. I'm totally aware of the consequences with more surgeries... still.. I'm pretty sure about splitting it up. Pain might be the main factor for many.. but I have had my fair share of surgical experiences in my life. Not too worried about the pain. Definitely more concerned with bone alignment; nerve damages; blood vessel and muscle tears etc. Which led to the decision of splitting it up into two segments.

The question is wether to do LON or Precise 2. If I made more money or had support from families etc.. this would have been an easy decision. Precise 2 in 4 canals... As you can tell, I'm not in the States nor are my doing internals… "I make good money.. but.. not that good" As Nicholas' leg lengthening on YT said. Cheers bro =) I am also not taking out a loan for this... nooo.. I hate owing money. I saved up every penny that came along during Covid. Spent almost no money besides the necessities. The image of having broken legs and paying back a monthly loan just don't seem too bright to me...NOT to deter anyone else from taking out a loan for this. Just the way I live.

I first contacted team AFA in Aug of 2021. Along side a few other LL companies and surgeons. With more contact between AFA and I..The choice of going with AFA and Dr.Uysal surfaced quickly. AFA seems to be keen on PT. 5 PT sessions a week for every patient. Dr.Uysal had a limited amount of info on the net... but with what I can dig up. He seemed to be conservative and less promoted. As time went on I felt more confident dealing with them. Being able to feel comfortable asking them questions at anytime, requesting things that is a-little out of the ordinary. Is definitely the most important aspect to me. Their patient Advisor Omar totally took all my needs and promptly satisfied them. Which quickly resulted in a confirmed surgery date for Dec 21nd 2021. Deposit was wired over in mid-November 2021. As you can see. I have waited about two month from the time I first made contact with AFA. Just enough time to get a good feeling for their work flow and etc.

Today is Dec.16th.2021. I flew into Istanbul two days ago on the 14th. With a 3 hour layover in Frankfurt, Germany. The new Omicron virus is now wildly abundant... The fear of flying got REAL...again. The Canada to Frankfurt leg of the flight was quite empty. Almost everyone had their own row of seats, with plenty of distance between passengers. On the other hand the flight from Frankfurt to Istanbul was packed with 0 empty seats. I was literally breathing on / being breathed on by other passengers. I had my n95 on and double masked it with a medical blue mask. I did not take it off for the whole duration of the flight to Istanbul. Didn't even take a sip of water ... Yep... not even a sip. ='(

Also.. if you are flying economy.. you will pay for your check in baggage. I don't know if its due to Covid..or what.. So...I suggest upgrading your seat to at least Premium Economy with 1 check-in baggage included. Or else its 150 CAD for a 23kg bag.. which is almost the same cost for the upgrade. Also.. the baggage weight allowance for the second leg of the flight was 20 kg... I had to pay for the extra 3 kgs... which was 115 euros...really really really stupid for international flights. Flight companies taking advantage of the situation...trying to make up for their losses.

Once I got through the customs and picked up my baggage...The AFA team picked me up from the Istanbul airport. Nice 30 min drive right to the hotel they had booked for me. The name of the hotel is Fraser Place in the Antasya district. Its quite a clean and nice hotel. The suite they had booked literally has all the amenities one may need. Which was a pleasant surprise. Washing machine. dish washer. oven. pots. pans. plates. forks. two TVs. etc. I just need to figure out the food and entertainment situation.=))

It's been 4 days since my arrival. The AFA team has taken me around the city. I quite like the vibes here. A good change from Canada. They also took me to the PT room where I met a few of their patients here at the Fraser Place. They also have patients at their old location. I have met almost 6 AFA team members already. 5 CLL patients. Precise 2 tibia patients; LON femur patients and Illizarov + LON tibia patients. Of which two are quad patients on their second lengthening process. To be frank... I was keen to see how their conditions are. Definitely mind blown when I saw the type of conditions they are in. All are mobile on walkers. Besides the pain caused by PT sessions. They are ALL quite painless otherwise. Majority of them aren't even on pain killers anymore. They are all prescribed with painkillers along side supplements like D3. Calcium ZMA etc. Their main concern is what to make or order for food and how to keep entertained. I was lucky to have met a few patients whom asked me to join their daily routine. Mainly eating their food...=) Getting My Pre OP X-ray tomorrow.

Hi Milk
Could you give the rationale of what difference you believe it makes to lengthen your femur 6cm instead of 7-8cm?

Hi
Congratulations. I hope you complete the process without any complications.

Tibia or femur first ? which method will be used ?