Well its more like, they're really stingy with handing you the meds.
Everytime I asked for more tramadol I used to get just like 3 or 4 days worth of.
So I guess that's how..., But now, other than asking about how many I'm taking, there's no special protocol to monitor your intake.
Quote from: JamesBrown on November 04, 2022, 08:55:48 PMI'm 22 years old and still in university (graduating Dec. 2022) so currently don't have the finances for the surgery.
When I do it in several years you guys will have already left Athens, sucks that I wasn't able to join your group, you guys seem very nice and chill.
No worries you'll find your group when the time comes. Just concentrate on making/saving as much money as possible. Work 2 jobs if you can. I can't even begin to think what it would be like if I had this done at 25. Go man, try your best.
Quote from: LimbExtender on October 27, 2022, 01:00:04 AMSpeedDialer, Bagga, Leonazula99, and OzBoy39,
Knowing what you know now, is there anything you would have done different or wish you had known prior? Are there any "must haves" you would recommend while in Athens during lengthening?
SpeedDialer - I'll be in Athens sometime around December 11.
If I were to do it again, I would bring:
- very large soft ice pads for legs (well I ended up ordering them from the German amazon which was expensive and took a while)
- regular slippers
- warm fuzzy slippers as well
- running shoes
- oversized fanny pack, like way oversized like the male nurse's waist fanny pack
- foldable grabber device
- optional and only helpful very very briefly: a very soft and comfortable vest, not too warm with large arm holes. Reason: avoids shirt arm sleeves, at one point I ended up with one IV needle in each hand and they asked me to put on a shirt when they wanted me to walk in the halls of the hotel
- for the vast majority of patients I think, post surgery pants (pants that have buttons can be torn off that way) are not as useful as I thought because you very very quickly get strong enough to put on regular pants normally
- if you're from the USA: probably good to get the schwab debit card (reimburse ATM fees, there is an ATM at the hospital, don't use the ripoff airport currency exchange) and/or transferwise or revolut debit card (good exchange rates). I don't use them, I use travel credit cards for rewards but the above might be good as a backup. The wealthfront cash management account might be good too for parking cash because it has high APY and doesn't need a phone number to login, only requires you to have authy or google authenticator on your phone/tablet if you set it up that way
- a light jacket might not be enough for december, might want to also bring a heavier jacket or at least use layers. When you go the hospital, the seats outside the doctor's office are very hard and some people lose alot of their glute mass, good to have something soft to sit on like a soft jacket or something
I know that HeightJourney on this forum recommends getting a toilet seat riser (you can buy it from the exercise bike people in Athens for like 45 euros ish, just message them on whatsapp). However, if you're in a handicap room then you can probably just easily transfer via the wheelchair without a toilet seat riser. If you do get the toilet seat riser, I know HeightJourney recommends a little stool for the feet (otherwise feet will hang in air and depending on your legs that can be uncomfortable or no problem)-> however, I have found that I can just use two rolls of toilet paper to rest my feet on when I feel uncomfortable from the legs dangling in the air after sitting on the toilet seat riser
Hey, see you in December! Are you going to be at Montaza hotel?
Quote from: SpeedDialer on November 05, 2022, 05:45:43 AMReason: avoids shirt arm sleeves, at one point I ended up with one IV needle in each hand and they asked me to put on a shirt when they wanted me to walk in the halls of the hotel
typo I meant hospital
Update at 79 days post surgery. 6.3cm distraction
A few practical notes for people from down under.
- x-rays are covered by Medicare
- my GP managed to get 5 sessions of physio bulk billed.
- usual meds (tramadol, Lyrica) are dirt cheap.
First thing to notice is that the.main daily focus isn't the lengthening anymore, but it's gone back to things like work, kids , chores. This is both good and bad. Time management is tricky because of how crippled I am (by that inkeam... Slow).
I drive normally and without any issue whatsoever and that is a massive plus.
I can walk kinda long distances with crutches (as in walking to and into the mall and back) and i do walk unaided occasionally in the house but without exaggerating.
My sleep is getting worse. For some reason I'm restless at night. I get 4 or 5 hours max of sleep and then I have to get up. I then also collapse super tired around lunch time.
My duckass is becoming annoying. It is not painful but I really make an effort to try and control it while I'm walking. Not easy.
My strongest desire is now to finish the lengthening process and start consolidating (basically I'm sick of the crutches, I'm sick of not being able to stand from a low sitting position and of all other movements I can't do).
This last 2 cm are going to be another mental battle. Not against pain , but just wanting to end it all.
Forgot to mention, my nerve pain on my.right leg....still there. Never goes away, but I guess I got numbed to it. We can just coexist together.
My biggest wins since coming back have been
Starting strengthening excercises
Starting hydrotherapy and sauna regularly.
Strengthening you can just feel...it makes you more and more mobile. It is hard because it makes your muscles painful af, but after that phase...you gain back some ROM.
Hydrotherapy and sauna are just "feel good" activities to me. I'll keep doing them until I finish lengthening I guess.
How does the new height feel?
Guess... F.....g great! Not thinking about it anymore when I go out .
With friends and acquaintances, I've been super careful in wearing thin and flat shoes and also I tried to slouch as much as I could on my crutches.
Nobody of the close friends have made weird comments about it.
My wardrobe has officially been retired. Soon I'll have to spend some money and get meself some decent looking suits and clothing in general.
I can already tell that pants are gonna look great.
What else? Despite what many people say here on the forum, I believe the G-nail to be a far superior option than the precice. The weight bearing aspect of it makes the process so much more tolerable.
Every single precice patient in Athens at the time has agreed with that.
Athens... I so miss the weather, I miss the huge buffet breakfast i used to get at Novotel and in a way I miss the "focus" I had at the time towards this process. I was way more diligent with stretching and everything there than I am now. But I guess I'm close to the end and hopefully I can still stick.to it and avoid complications.
That's pretty much it. I better go stretching now.
See y'all past 7cm.
Quote from: OzBoy39 on November 14, 2022, 10:46:31 AMUpdate at 79 days post surgery. 6.3cm distraction
A few practical notes for people from down under.
- x-rays are covered by Medicare
- my GP managed to get 5 sessions of physio bulk billed.
- usual meds (tramadol, Lyrica) are dirt cheap.
That's awesome! So you explained to your GP you did LL in Greece and then he helped you get these subscriptions/therapy partially covered?
Yes I did. And he's helping me squeeze as much as I can from what I'm allowed to.
He's been very curious about it. Not judgemental at all.
Same for the people who did my x-rays (all young guys and girls). They asked me so many questions (maybe they laughed at my back later, but who cares). One of them was actually genuinely interested. Shortish type of guy, I'm pretty sure he'll be on the forum soon.
What are your thoughts about the nail removal timing?
I think I will most likely do gnail femur nail removal 1 year after the surgery, wait a 1-3 weeks, then do the tibia surgery, then stay in Athens for 5-6 months for precise tibias for 4-5cm, but I'll see what the doctor says.
So the other option I was considering was having the gnail femurs removed + have the tibia nails inserted on the exact same day
But basically, I don't know how easy/difficult it is to deal with both a recovering upper leg (from femur nail removal) and lower leg (newly insert precise into tibias) at the same time or if its not a big deal. I can't seem to find anyone on the forum who knows.
The thing about doing tibias is that it seems like someone can just stretch the tibias with the brace/splints so it may be alright, I'm not sure. I'm gonna ask the doctor about this + I'll ask the doctor on Monday about how much upper leg stretching needs to be done after the femur nail removal surgery
Man, these are questions that are probably better asked to the doctor.
How do I know?
It may just not be possible to do 2 surgeries in the same day. As 6ounsaid, ask the doc
Quote from: SpeedDialer on November 18, 2022, 02:37:21 PMWhat are your thoughts about the nail removal timing?
I think I will most likely do gnail femur nail removal 1 year after the surgery, wait a 1-3 weeks, then do the tibia surgery, then stay in Athens for 5-6 months for precise tibias for 4-5cm, but I'll see what the doctor says.
So the other option I was considering was having the gnail femurs removed + have the tibia nails inserted on the exact same day
But basically, I don't know how easy/difficult it is to deal with both a recovering upper leg (from femur nail removal) and lower leg (newly insert precise into tibias) at the same time or if its not a big deal. I can't seem to find anyone on the forum who knows.
The thing about doing tibias is that it seems like someone can just stretch the tibias with the brace/splints so it may be alright, I'm not sure. I'm gonna ask the doctor about this + I'll ask the doctor on Monday about how much upper leg stretching needs to be done after the femur nail removal surgery
yup, my old message says I'll ask the doc too
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