Quote from: readyprecisestryde on September 07, 2020, 06:03:49 AMHello, Doctor Robbins @ Paley institute prescribed me Gabapentin for nerve pain. It got rid of most of it and made it much more comfortable during the distraction phase. I was able to sleep while using Gabapentin. Safe dosage is 900mg daily. You may want to discuss this with the doctor in case you are still getting the nerve pain 
Hi readyprecisestryde,
Thanks for this information. I will certainly discuss this tomorrow with Dr. M. I will try to find out tomorrow from him, if my pain is mostly categorized as nerve pain or if it's something else.
My night sleeps were terrible during the first two weeks or so, but quickly changed to be close to normal! It's been weeks since I started to get much better sleeps. In fact in the days I was out of Tramadol and trying to survive on Tylenol, I slept for a few hours during daytime and also for most of the night, cause when I sleep, I don't have pain even if I don't take any painkillers! However as I had noted in my diary before, for that to work, I have to sleep face down!!! It somehow suppresses the pain when I sleep on my thighs and knees! It's a weird habit I have had even before the surgery and now it comes handy!!
I am wondering if anyone else has found sleeping face down helpful in terms of pain management!
Femurs with Dr. Shahab Mahboubian - July 2020
Day 46 (Sun., Sep. 6) - 38.6 mm Taller
Day 47 (Mon., Sep. 7) - 39.6 mm Taller
Nothing out of the ordinary! Just that having resumed on Tramadol, pain was 0-3 on left and 0-1 on right.
Day 48 (Tue., Sep. 
- Appt. with Dr. M. - 41 mm Taller
The day started great! Dr. M. was very impressed with my walk. He also said that my x rays look excellent.
Best in Flexibility and Moves 
Dr. M. also said that I am the best by far, among all the patients he has had, in terms of flexibility and moves
My goal has been to successfully complete this CLL challenge and getting some "best" titles out of it would be a great bonus
I asked Dr. M., if he thinks I am possibly the best overall in terms of quality of results and recovery. He repeated what he said during our first post-op appt., that it's too soon to tell and that I have tough competition (he once again mentioned a military guy from Hawaii and a teenager, both of whom apparently recovered exceptionally well).
Now here is the very surprising part: He said that the x rays are a bit too excellent for him! Then he clarified that in the spectrum of LL'ers recovering from the surgery, I am on one extreme end of the spectrum with my growth rate, exceptionally high, to a level that he is now a bit concerned that my bones may have an early consolidation. He thinks I must have a great diet and with all the vitamins and calcium and a very healthy body, my growth is exceptionally fast. He asked me to cut down on calcium! He also instructed me to do 4 distractions sessions for two weeks to try to create some head space for the bones. He also wanted me to try to cut down on Tramadol, however with 4 sessions, I don't see that happening for me!
I decided to add a 4th session starting today. That created some more pain that usual starting evening time and also some numbness, mostly on the left leg (tibia and foot).
Day 49 (Wed., Sep. 9) - 42.3 mm Taller
It was a painful day! I jumped into shower twice for a hot shower! I also took 3 Tramadols for the day. The feeling of numbness on my left leg started yesterday and got worsened today. I tried to mitigate it by doing more stretches and massages.
Great progress SNC! Just wondering how flexible are you actually if Dr. M said that? You can do full splits?
congrats SNC!
did you get anything for your nerve pain?
Quote from: wannabeidol on September 10, 2020, 05:36:02 PMcongrats SNC!
did you get anything for your nerve pain?
Dear wannabeidol,
He asked me some questions and determined that I have not yet developed nerve pain yet. The pain I have must be related to surgery (cause starting day 1 I had pain on left) plus the distraction pain. The new numbness feeling may be changing the story. I have already emailed Dr. M. about the numbness, and I am waiting for his response.
Quote from: brondo on September 10, 2020, 05:20:19 PMGreat progress SNC! Just wondering how flexible are you actually if Dr. M said that? You can do full splits?
Dear Brondo,
I have not tried that but I am sure I cannot. Do you think there is anyone who can do full splits a couple months post-op?
I mean looking at any patient here, their notes and videos, I think I can can beat them, but I have not seen a full split case yet. Please let me know if you know who the most flexible is on this forum and I then compare myself with him/her.
Quote from: StrydeNailChallenge on September 10, 2020, 06:17:17 PMDear wannabeidol,
He asked me some questions and determined that I have not yet developed nerve pain yet. The pain I have must be related to surgery (cause starting day 1 I had pain on left) plus the distraction pain. The new numbness feeling may be changing the story. I have already emailed Dr. M. about the numbness, and I am waiting for his response.
I better mention what stretches/moves Dr. M. tested me for: He asked me to bend knees. He checked my walk. Also bending to touch the ground (I think I am flexible enough to still be able to touch the ground when I will hopefully have grown 8 cm). He also check lifting legs like straight.
Snc
I bet you have been weight bearing alot. Which is a good thing.
But if Dr. m saids there's risk of preconsolidation and now is ordering you to lengthen more times a day, I highly suspect you will soon experience extreme nerve pain and need gabapentin.
If you do feel alot of nerve pain, I will simply recommend to talk to Dr. m about:
Lowering lengthening rate back to previously
And you should weight bear less.
Hopefully this no happen.
But if nerve pain starts, talk to him about distracting the previous rate and weight bear less so less bone grow instead of needing to distract faster
But good job man, 48 year old (or biologically a teen hue hue) having fast bone growth? Very impressive 😁
Quote from: StrydeNailChallenge on September 10, 2020, 06:19:22 PMDear Brondo,
I have not tried that but I am sure I cannot. Do you think there is anyone who can do full splits a couple months post-op?
I mean looking at any patient here, their notes and videos, I think I can can beat them, but I have not seen a full split case yet. Please let me know if you know who the most flexible is on this forum and I then compare myself with him/her.
Oh, I was actually talking about what your flexibility was pre-op. I was wondering if your flexibility prior to the operation helped you in any way. I don't expect anyone to do full splits just a few weeks after surgery.
-brondo
Quote from: ghkid2019 on September 10, 2020, 06:40:23 PMSnc
I bet you have been weight bearing alot. Which is a good thing.
But if Dr. m saids there's risk of preconsolidation and now is ordering you to lengthen more times a day, I highly suspect you will soon experience extreme nerve pain and need gabapentin.
If you do feel alot of nerve pain, I will simply recommend to talk to Dr. m about:
Lowering lengthening rate back to previously
And you should weight bear less.
Hopefully this no happen.
But if nerve pain starts, talk to him about distracting the previous rate and weight bear less so less bone grow instead of needing to distract faster
But good job man, 48 year old (or biologically a teen hue hue) having fast bone growth? Very impressive 😁
ghkid2019, my brother!
Thanks a lot for your kind words. I totally agree with you on weight bearing. When Dr. M. told me about my extreme growth rate, the first thing I told him was that perhaps it's because I walked unaided too soon and just too much walk per day. He said No! he thought it was a combination of healthy diet and body, and a lot of vitamins and calcium. I am still not convinced that walking unaided did not have an important role, so thinking like you, I already started using crutches at times, especially when I have a lot of pain, so to avoid putting too much weight on my legs.
Thanks for the advice. If my pain changes to shooting/electric pain, I guess I would know it's nerve related and I would ask him about the medicines you and others recommended.
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