G-Nail on femurs in Greece on Aug24th. Let's do this!!!

Edit Post

How are things going for you now OzBoy39?

Edit Post

Hi Thankscience,

All is "relatively" good.
Yesterday had my second appointment with the Doc.  I wanted to ask/check a few things.

1- Condition of the nails.
2- Nerve pain
3- Shin numbness
4- Bone regeneration.
5- Overall condition

So, results are positive throughout the spectrum

1- Nail and screws are super straight and we'll fixed. I was a bit bit worried as in the last 2 weeks I kinda pushed it hard up and down the stairs, on rough terrain (beach) and also started pushing my legs from a bent position. Nothing wrong there.
Also distraction length kinda match the calculation of the clicks with  one leg at 33 and the other at 32mm. That's not a problem as there's tolerance of +/-1mm in the x-ray images so he said we're gonna even veruthing out at the end.

2- this is actually disappearing (I was given excercises and stretches for thw sciatic nerve by PT and now it's almost gone... No problem there anymore.

3- shin numbnees. He reviewed my legs in terms of sensation, feeling and other aspects and told me not to worry of things like blood clots. There's no major vein down the front of the lower.leg.
We decided to stay at 12clocks per day because that doesn't give me much tightness of muscles and I'm not in a rush either.

4- Bone regeneration is good. In my left leg I can clearly see the bone formation in all 4 segments. My right leg is a little slower. There's 3 good sections and 1 with less regeneration but nothing to be concerned of.
Giotikas asked me to start increasing my walking time and push myself a bit harder to stimulate the bone more.

5- flexibility of both legs is ok. We noticed the duckass but he told me that that'll stay until we stop distracting. PT is taking care of it together with myself doing hip flexor stretches. For the rest I still have my right quad a bit tighter so he'll give instruction to PT to work on that more.

Other notable thongs in the last two weeks.
I am feeling strength coming back to my legs. What I mean is that until now, it was almost impossible to hold any weight on them if I bent them more than...say 10 degrees. As of this morning I almost stood up from the toilet using my legs. I was so happy to feel that. It's such a life changer. And it gave me a good boat in my head.

Clicking has become super easy (I'm touching wood in the meantime).
It takes me about 20 second per leg to do them all.

Even just at 3.3mm I notice the difference talking with hotel staff (Im wearing a pair of Homs Bondi 8 shoes which are very plushy and comfy... But also a 3 to 4cm sole so essentially they make me 171 or 172cm ). I kid you not. I already feel ecstatic when I notice I'm at a quasi normal height. , And I still have about 5 or 6 cm to go.

I met with another new patient who already had his femur done and now going for Tibias.

He looks so good with the longer legs. I was really focused on his legs and when he walks or run (he showed me how he could sprint on a treadmill at full speed and he was great), and the longer legs makes him look even taller than he is and don't look weird at all. So I'm really relieved in terms of proportions and all that.

I'm taking some sleeping pill and I think it's helping . I managed to have one super amazing solid sleep last night.

The only bad point I have now is the knee pain that arise after walking for a bit. That's the limiting factor for my walking. When that kicks in... I'm done. But it goes away after a good night sleep so I hope it's just a matter of training my legs and getting over it.

Other things I can comment on is about Novotel. I really like it. I've been there for a month and fell in love with many hotel staff. So helpful and nice. They help me and another patient (on her wheel chair with precice) in all we need. Such good people.

One last point is on the x-rays. I apologise to all but they give us a CD with the x-rays and I don't have access to a laptop or computer with CD player (I mean...who does today.. )

I'll try and get them read by someone but I don't wanna bother the nurses as they're getting sooo busy with all new patients.

That's pretty much it. Big finger crossed that the clicks stay as is.

Edit Post

Sent you a pm

Edit Post

Quote from: OzBoy39 on September 27, 2022, 09:12:41 AMHi Thankscience,

All is "relatively" good.
Yesterday had my second appointment with the Doc.  I wanted to ask/check a few things.

1- Condition of the nails.
2- Nerve pain
3- Shin numbness
4- Bone regeneration.
5- Overall condition

So, results are positive throughout the spectrum

1- Nail and screws are super straight and we'll fixed. I was a bit bit worried as in the last 2 weeks I kinda pushed it hard up and down the stairs, on rough terrain (beach) and also started pushing my legs from a bent position. Nothing wrong there.
Also distraction length kinda match the calculation of the clicks with  one leg at 33 and the other at 32mm. That's not a problem as there's tolerance of +/-1mm in the x-ray images so he said we're gonna even veruthing out at the end.

2- this is actually disappearing (I was given excercises and stretches for thw sciatic nerve by PT and now it's almost gone... No problem there anymore.

3- shin numbnees. He reviewed my legs in terms of sensation, feeling and other aspects and told me not to worry of things like blood clots. There's no major vein down the front of the lower.leg.
We decided to stay at 12clocks per day because that doesn't give me much tightness of muscles and I'm not in a rush either.

4- Bone regeneration is good. In my left leg I can clearly see the bone formation in all 4 segments. My right leg is a little slower. There's 3 good sections and 1 with less regeneration but nothing to be concerned of.
Giotikas asked me to start increasing my walking time and push myself a bit harder to stimulate the bone more.

5- flexibility of both legs is ok. We noticed the duckass but he told me that that'll stay until we stop distracting. PT is taking care of it together with myself doing hip flexor stretches. For the rest I still have my right quad a bit tighter so he'll give instruction to PT to work on that more.

Other notable thongs in the last two weeks.
I am feeling strength coming back to my legs. What I mean is that until now, it was almost impossible to hold any weight on them if I bent them more than...say 10 degrees. As of this morning I almost stood up from the toilet using my legs. I was so happy to feel that. It's such a life changer. And it gave me a good boat in my head.

Clicking has become super easy (I'm touching wood in the meantime).
It takes me about 20 second per leg to do them all.

Even just at 3.3mm I notice the difference talking with hotel staff (Im wearing a pair of Homs Bondi 8 shoes which are very plushy and comfy... But also a 3 to 4cm sole so essentially they make me 171 or 172cm ). I kid you not. I already feel ecstatic when I notice I'm at a quasi normal height. , And I still have about 5 or 6 cm to go.

I met with another new patient who already had his femur done and now going for Tibias.

He looks so good with the longer legs. I was really focused on his legs and when he walks or run (he showed me how he could sprint on a treadmill at full speed and he was great), and the longer legs makes him look even taller than he is and don't look weird at all. So I'm really relieved in terms of proportions and all that.

I'm taking some sleeping pill and I think it's helping . I managed to have one super amazing solid sleep last night.

The only bad point I have now is the knee pain that arise after walking for a bit. That's the limiting factor for my walking. When that kicks in... I'm done. But it goes away after a good night sleep so I hope it's just a matter of training my legs and getting over it.

Other things I can comment on is about Novotel. I really like it. I've been there for a month and fell in love with many hotel staff. So helpful and nice. They help me and another patient (on her wheel chair with precice) in all we need. Such good people.

One last point is on the x-rays. I apologise to all but they give us a CD with the x-rays and I don't have access to a laptop or computer with CD player (I mean...who does today.. )

I'll try and get them read by someone but I don't wanna bother the nurses as they're getting sooo busy with all new patients.

That's pretty much it. Big finger crossed that the clicks stay as is.
I can't believe it's been more than a month already. Glad to hear everything is going well so far.

I'm kinda shocked you went to the beach already. Did you use the crutches walking on sand?

I'm still tossing up between Novotel and Montaza. I'm trying to work out which will end up being cheaper overall after factoring in travel costs but it's difficult without having much information yet on the (potential) new vehicle they will use to transport patients around.

Edit Post

Haha, yeah it's gone fast. I'm glad too because I also think (hope) that the worst is behind me.

Definitely used the crutches. And it was ok. Not super easy but doable. I had to go up and down a lot of stairs which was a good training, but then I enjoyed the reward of spending a few hours sunbathing on a sunbed watching beautiful....people" around me.

Man, my little 2 cents on the hotel. If you can afford the higher rate, go to Novotel 100%. Being in a hotel that is big, clean and fully serviced....with a swim pool on the roof top, gym and bars... And super nice staff it's priceless. Keeping a good mood is super important through this journey and from what I hear from other patients, the Montaza got none of these extras that make life easier and more enjoyable. Plus also the food here is great whereas I hear there is very limited in choice at Montaza. Maybe some other patient staying there can comment more, but that's what I understood so far.
One patient already moved from there to here so we're having a good time together.

Edit Post

I did some very rough math for Novotel, did I make any obvious mistakes?

If I do internal tibias, I think I'd need to decide between Novotel and between the handicap room at Montaza

Novotel 86*7=602 euros but then subtract out 4*13 euros for money saved on shorter taxi trip
602 - 4*13 = 550 euros per week when factoring in money saved from a shorter taxi trip

montaza hotel I think is like 61 or 62 ish per day for a handicap room, which seems like 427 ish Euros per week

Across 6 months for internal tibias, that could be like 123*4*6 = very roughly 3000 more to be at Novotel versus the montaza hotel handicap room

1. How often do the nurses come to Novotel? I think you said earlier it was they come just when some has a specific problem and also early on their journey?

The other x factors are the noise at Montaza from the strip clubs and also whether the upcoming potential arranged travel option will go to Novotel (I have to think it would, given how close Novotel is to Montaza though)

2. How big are the desks in the room at Novotel? They are pretty tiny at Montaza

3. How's the noise at Novotel?

Thanks!!!!

Edit Post

er typo, shoulda been "how close novotel is to the PT center"

Edit Post

I feel like the biggest problem with Montaza is that there is a bit of a dice roll of whether you happen to end up close to the strip club noise or not (then sleep from 11pm - 5 am ish is potentially screwed)

How much does the food cost at Novotel and what dishes do you like there?

Edit Post

Quote from: OzBoy39 on September 27, 2022, 12:30:44 PMOne patient already moved from there to here so we're having a good time together.

For that patient's privacy, I won't use the name, but I think that is the girl right? She is the only one who has been to both right? And she prefers novotel despite the lower frequency of times the nurses come?

Edit Post

Yeah it's that one patient. She's loving it apparently.
The reduced frequency of the nurses is not because of being at Novotel, but just because both of us have absolutely no need for them to come.

From what they told me at the beginning, I understood they would come indefinitely if there were problems with clicking or to conduct some indispensable task.