Growing Experience - Bilateral Femurs - Precise 2.2 - Dr. Mangal Parihar

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Quote from: Growing Experience on May 11, 2023, 07:35:53 AMAnd, if you think 3 months of lengthening is the tough part, you'll be disappointed to know that getting back to normal walking is crazzzyyy fu********g son of a bi**h <add 10 abuses in your own language> TOUGH! 

Well, if you reside at a country where AAS are OTC I can’t imagine it would be a serious issue to ambulate assuming you’re training regularly and seeing a physiotherapist.

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DAY 300ish (10 months post-op) 


CONSOLIDATION

Finally, I have achieved 3 side consolidation in both bones. The parathyroid harmone + lots of walking has helped!

Latest XRAY - https://imgur.com/a/U00Ud4J


PAIN/ TIGHTNESS
- I was having really bad pain in my right quads due to over exercising. It took 2 months to get rid of the pain, felt like I started from the beginning (like I just had the surgery) as I couldn't raise my leg during PT and day by day built the strength again.
- POWERING THROUGH is the name of the game! I shouldn't have rested the leg for 7-8 days, it made it worse.
- I am back to feeling normal in both the legs, have decent flexibility and mobility during the day. 
- Little Pain and stiffness comes back as the day ends because I walk 5000-7000 steps, do PT, stairs etc and get tired by evening.

MOBILITY AND EXERCISES
- Walking 5-7000 steps daily, unassisted now
- Having very less sway & only on one side. In public, most people may not even notice BUT it doesn't remain the same all the time. For eg: - If I just walked 2000 steps and then sat down for half an hour in a coffee shop, when I stand and walk again, the sway gets worse for like next 50 steps. Completely getting rid of the SWAY is tricky!
- I am doing all these exercises to help improve my walk. It has been really helpful - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yxkUTP9WuU&list=LL&index=2



WORK AND SOCIAL LIFE
The big question - Has my work and social life returned back to normal at 10 months post op after doing conservative lengthening (<7cm)  ??

Ill update in my next post

Edit Post

DAY 300ish (10 months post-op) 


CONSOLIDATION

Finally, I have achieved 3 side consolidation in both bones. The parathyroid harmone + lots of walking has helped!

Latest XRAY - https://imgur.com/a/U00Ud4J


PAIN/ TIGHTNESS
- I was having really bad pain in my right quads due to over exercising. It took 2 months to get rid of the pain, felt like I started from the beginning (like I just had the surgery) as I couldn't raise my leg during PT and day by day built the strength again.
- POWERING THROUGH is the name of the game! I shouldn't have rested the leg for 7-8 days, it made it worse.
- I am back to feeling normal in both the legs, have decent flexibility and mobility during the day. 
- Little Pain and stiffness comes back as the day ends because I walk 5000-7000 steps, do PT, stairs etc and get tired by evening.

MOBILITY AND EXERCISES
- Walking 5-7000 steps daily, unassisted now
- Having very less sway & only on one side. In public, most people may not even notice BUT it doesn't remain the same all the time. For eg: - If I just walked 2000 steps and then sat down for half an hour in a coffee shop, when I stand and walk again, the sway gets worse for like next 50 steps. Completely getting rid of the SWAY is tricky!
- I am doing all these exercises to help improve my walk. It has been really helpful - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yxkUTP9WuU&list=LL&index=2



WORK AND SOCIAL LIFE
The big question - Has my work and social life returned back to normal at 10 months post op after doing conservative lengthening (<7cm)  ??

Ill update in my next post

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Thank you for the detailed update man!

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Hey! How are you doing now? I’m about 3 weeks P/O tibia LL with precise and wanted to know more about the walking time. My goal is conservative, 5cm max, and my bone fusion already looks like it’ll be good speed inA. But seeing you tooo
So long to walk that too doing femurs, any specific reason for that? What was your weight & your nail size? Was your consolidation slower than normal? And did you do any hydrotherapy to practise walking under water? Having said that congrats it’s now over & done with! It’s quite a journey!

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Quote from: Ayesha12345 on August 15, 2023, 04:06:21 AMHey! How are you doing now? I’m about 3 weeks P/O tibia LL with precise and wanted to know more about the walking time. My goal is conservative, 5cm max, and my bone fusion already looks like it’ll be good speed inA. But seeing you tooo
So long to walk that too doing femurs, any specific reason for that? What was your weight & your nail size? Was your consolidation slower than normal? And did you do any hydrotherapy to practise walking under water? Having said that congrats it’s now over & done with! It’s quite a journey!


Hello Ayesha,

I am doing GREAT! Thanks for asking
Dr. Parihar is a bit conservative, I guess. Thats why he suggested full weight bearing (assisted) only around 7.5 months post op. Also, my bone consolidation was not the best so had to take parathyroid harmone for 90 days.
My weight was around 62kg and nails 8.5mm; didn't do any hydrotherapy but I am sure it would have helped.

I got back to 100% walking normal in the 11th month, post op.

At 1 year mark, I am jogging, gymming, lifting weights, partying, dancing, hiking and what not haha!  But still cant run properly and go on long treks as my cardio stamina is still low. Will share a detailed update soon!

P.S - your goal of 5cm on tibias is quite sensible. If you have good consolidation, I am sure you can reach normal walk around the 8th month mark with consistent physio.

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Quote from: Growing Experience on August 25, 2023, 12:58:26 PM
Hello Ayesha,

I am doing GREAT! Thanks for asking
Dr. Parihar is a bit conservative, I guess. Thats why he suggested full weight bearing (assisted) only around 7.5 months post op. Also, my bone consolidation was not the best so had to take parathyroid harmone for 90 days.
My weight was around 62kg and nails 8.5mm; didn't do any hydrotherapy but I am sure it would have helped.

I got back to 100% walking normal in the 11th month, post op.

At 1 year mark, I am jogging, gymming, lifting weights, partying, dancing, hiking and what not haha!  But still cant run properly and go on long treks as my cardio stamina is still low. Will share a detailed update soon!

P.S - your goal of 5cm on tibias is quite sensible. If you have good consolidation, I am sure you can reach normal walk around the 8th month mark with consistent physio.

Conversvative is always good!

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Quote from: Growing Experience on August 21, 2022, 03:03:57 PMStarting height was 162cm and planning for min. 6cm lengthening.

What lead you to set your goal at 6 / 6.5cm?

Quote from: Growing Experience on August 21, 2022, 03:09:34 PMWoke early at 6 AM for sponging.

Was sponging performed by you, or by a female staff-member, or a male staff-member?
Would a person that is considering this hospital have a choice?
(I'd prefer to not have a man sponge me if possible)

Quote from: Growing Experience on August 21, 2022, 03:09:34 PMTIP: CONSULT THE PHYSIO THERAPIST WHO ARE WORKING WITH YOUR LIMB LENGTHENING DOCS ATLEAST 6 MONTHS BEFORE THE SURGERY. THERE ARE SOME MUSCLE GROUPS WHICH NEED A LOT OF PRE-OP STRENGTHENING.

Which stretches/exercises and muscles did they want you to do before the operation?
I have heard some people say that for femurs it is recommended to do stretches for the quads, hamstrings, and "IT band".

Quote from: Growing Experience on August 21, 2022, 03:09:34 PMDAY 11
Got discharged and moved to hotel which is just 100m away from hospital.

Which hotel?
Do you recommend it for other limb-lengtheners?
Did you have to haggle on the price?
I have heard that many Indian hotels reject foreigners because they have to inform the local police about it (perhaps they must do some paperwork).

Quote from: Growing Experience on August 21, 2022, 03:09:34 PMGot medical certificate for air travel

May you share more about this?
Is this specific to India?
What is its purpose/benefit?

Quote from: Growing Experience on August 21, 2022, 03:09:34 PMDAY 17-20
Life at home is great!

Did you leave India 2 weeks after surgery, then returned later? If so, why do so rather than stay? Is the airfare un-concerning for you? Is the airfare less expensive than the hotel and other expenses of staying near the hospital for the entire distraction phase?

Quote from: Growing Experience on April 10, 2023, 12:38:19 PMThere was 1 patient with me 2 more patients after me who did full 8cm but they are not active on this forum.

Regarding the people going for 8cm, do you know whether they were also doing precise 2 nail, or a different method (did you see any external fixators on their legs)?
Do you suspect that another person going to Doctor Parihar for cosmetic femur would be able to go for 8cm?

What part of the experience was the most painful, and how would you rate that pain on a scale of 1 to 10?
I am told the internal nails tend to have less pain than external fixators.

What kind of visa did you get?
How much did it cost?

How would you rate the overall experience?
Are you glad that you did it? How does it feel now that you're 6.5cm taller?

Thank you for your story, I read the entire thing and I also appreciate the photos!

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nice writeup . im learning alot from this post and it seems that u are walking unassissted after 4.5 months after stopping lengthening. that is quite long. not sure what i will be doing with all that time. also the you tube video is going to help alot thanks for that too. precice 2.2 is a difficult one for sure.

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EXACTLY 3 YEARS AFTER SURGERY


NAIL REMOVAL

My femur CLL journey is officially over 
- Got the precise nails removed 3 months back. Took 1 month to regain my strength and walk normal.
- I have started light gymming and jogging. Will start running soon and Im excited to test my endurance after the nails removal.
- Also, I was under the impression that I'll get to keep the nails BUT doc did not allow it. They withheld it for further research and will probably send it back to Nuvasive.


FINAL GAINS

I have definitely gained total 7cm after consolidation. There has been no height loss after nails removal.


CHANGES IN LIFE

- You get adjusted to the new height very quickly and will forget how it used to feel being 2-3 inches shorter.
- Overall confidence has definitely increased and getting through the process itself will make you mentally stronger.
- Body proportions look much better than before. Femurs was the right decision for me.
- Many times my close friends and family have mentioned that I look taller/ better/ fitter. It makes me really happy. Height is relative but as per India, I am close to the average male height now. So people have stopped pin pointing the height thing; its weird how few centimeters can actually change people's perception of you.


FINAL COMMENTS ON MY DOCTOR

I believe that Dr. Mangal Parihar & Dr. Divya Ahuja have done a great job to get me through this journey. They are very skiLL Forumul doctors and they know their work. I chose Dr. Parihar because he works on limb deformities and corrections, helps lot of patients who had an accident. His core business is not cosmetic lengthening but if a sincere patient comes to him, he might do the surgery.
I will recommend going with Dr. Parihar and if I was to do a second surgery, I'll choose him again.