Hi, my name is Michael and I am a 25 year old male living in London. I'm 5ft3 and soon want to have LL surgery with Guichet. I've been in contact with Guichet, he has sent me the questionnaire form which I am in the process of filling out and soon will be scheduling a consultation with him at the Princess Grace Hospital in London.
I've been going through a lot of stress, anxiety, depression and also excitement and happiness in my research and my decision to go forward to do this surgery. Obviously I haven't meet Dr Guichet yet and had the consultation, but the surgery is something I want more than anything in the world.
I have the money to do this, my family is really supportive in my decision to do this and the fact that I live in London and don't have to fly overseas is a amazing bonus. I was really depressed when I thought this was not an option in the UK, but once I found out it was that was an incredible feeling of relief.
This is a huge life changing decision, I have a lot of anxiety and nervousness about meeting Guichet and hearing what he has to say. All I want in my life is to be happy, and this surgery which I hope I can grow 3 + inches with is going to give me that happiness.
Anyway any info and support you guys can give me would be so much appreciated, this is the start of a big journey for me and all I want is for it be successful. I'm scared, excited and happy to begin this journey, and to whoever reads this I hope you can help and support me in anyway possible. I'm gonna try my best to offer other people support going through this incredible decision on this forum as much as I can.
Well that's my story, I want you guys to be a part of it. To anyone here doing the same, good luck and I'll try my best to help.
I really hope we all make it.
I saw one American dr on YouTube called Shabab M, he did external ll on a guy who was my height and he got 3.5. He started at 5ft 3 and it worked out well for him. Videos on YouTube called Alex's story. This gave me hope. Flying overseas however is more money and more complicated for me.
Anyway with Guichet he works here in London at the Princess Grace hospital which from what I can tell is a fantastic hospital, especially compared to NHS hospitals. I get that unicorn had fked up results and she ended up having scoliosis ( I'm going to read the whole diary, haven't read all of it yet ) and her legs are in bad shape. She was correct me if I'm wrong a 40 year old woman, I'm 25 and male and obviously males have more muscle mass so my thinking is my body is going to be stronger then hers and therefore my chances for success with surgery are better then unicorns. It is tragic that it did not work out for her, but should her story stop me from doing this with Guichet?
Also if Guichet has had multiple patients with fked up results would he not be struck of his British doctors license, I mean the U.K. must have like strict and rigorous procedures that come with practicing surgery like this.
My point is that compared to places like India and China where I'm sure doctors can get away with being bad at their job due to corruption, lack of regulations and things like that then here in the
U.K. were things a more strict I can't imagine that Guichet is a crook/dangerous doctor. If he was wouldn't he have had his doctors license struck off?
You will find horror stories in all things in life, I'm confident that Guichet is my best choice. I'm still in the early stages of this whole thing, i just want it be successful.
Quote from: myloginacct on November 27, 2017, 10:10:27 PMI have to agree with MirinHeight's first 2 options.
Doing LL without a compression/shortening route available is gambling with your legs too much for me. Guichet's nail doesn't allow for compression (afaik), unlike Precice. Mike is in London and I'd really wish for him to be able to achieve his goal with Guichet, but there's no way to overlook this fact. Doing LL with Guichet's nail is an increasingly bigger gamble the older you are. If you smoke, the gamble becomes even worse.
Well good news is that I don't smoke so that's a positive thing, I'm 25 and I would say my body is in healthy condition. I agree the older you get the worse it is to have a surgery of this magnitude, so I feel positive about my body being put through this test.
I've never had a bone fracture, both my parents are in good health and all four of my grandparents are still alive. Obviously with height genetics I got dealt a bad hand but other than that my family has a good history of living long healthy lives.
The major bonus I get from doing surgery with Guichet is that he does LL in London. I live in London which means the amount of money and time I save is incredible compared to flying overseas to do this. Also being away from home does make the surgery/recovery time more difficult not just from a practical standpoint but also a emotional one.
Quote from: 0184946 on November 28, 2017, 02:17:31 AMThat's awesome that he is so close to you. Remember to stay strong in the head while lengthening. That's what will be important in order to remain positive. Keep your self busy,also. Good luck hope you achieve your goal and move on from this as an experience and get back to your normal happier life.
Thank you, I appreciate the advice.
Quote from: Pandora on November 28, 2017, 09:59:37 PMI wish you well dear... Can't wait for your journey to begin 
Thank you 
Quote from: InferiorityComplex on November 28, 2017, 10:09:12 PMTo stay on topic, obviously Guichett is the best option if you are in London. Don't think you'll have any problems whatsoever...also a big plus is support of family, some people do it all alone
It must be 100 times more difficult to do this alone, I sympathise with people who do this by themselves very much. As you say, Guichet is my best option due to the fact I'm from London. The thought of flying overseas did make me a lot more nervous and unsure about all of this.
Quote from: myloginacct on November 28, 2017, 11:44:40 PMAny other doctors in London or is it really only Guichet? I recall something about Pili doing appointments there. Not sure about the actual lengthening, though.
Either way, Mike, how far are you in this whole process?
From the research I've done, Guichet is the only doctor in all of the UK who does CLL. Throughout the UK there are hospitals that do this for other medical reasons, but not CLL. He is the only one, and when I found out about this it was a big weight of my shoulders. Going overseas was not really an option for me.
I wanted to take my time and answer Guichets medical form/questionnaire as accurately as I could, almost done and once I send that his personal assistant will set me up a consultation with him. I'm nervous to meet the man and hear what he has to say, but I'll keep you guys updated.
Quote from: Zeo on November 25, 2017, 01:51:19 PMDespite what has happened to Unicorn, I do still think that Guichet is a good choice. If you reread Unicorns diary, she did a lot of things wrong. Not saying it's 100% her fault and of course Guichet does not have good bedside manners at all. But is he a good surgeon, yes. Can he be a jerk? yes.
Even if it's a more painful/older nail, you cannot lie with his results. Other than unicorn, look at how soon his patients are back to their old lives, and look how much they can excersise during the whole thing. THAT is what you are paying for. You may say that it is "overpriced" for the nail, but you need to account for the experience of Guichet and how quick you will be back to life compared to other methods
And for the aspirin thing, look at how many patient's have been forced to lengthen fast at 1.25 mm+ just to avoid preconsolidation, and look what it does to your soft tissues. Honestly I am more fearful of preconsolidation than non-union. With the amount of weightbearing that his patients do, im not surprised that he gives something to slow down the consolidation.
Just listen to him but also listen to your body/bones, if you see you are not consolidating well, then take a break from lengthening + help your soft tissues catch up etc etc all of the basic things that you learn from actually researchign the procedure
Thanks for the advice, I'm going to try my best to exercise and be in as good shape both mentally and physically as I can before doing the procedure which I think will really increase my chances of success by a lot. Also this will decrease my chances of failure too, hopefully.
I don't have a problem with taking painkillers, I'm gonna do more research but from what I gather the pain is more apparent at night when trying to sleep. Either way thanks for the advice.
Quote from: Unicorn888 on November 29, 2017, 01:49:33 PMHey Mike,
I'm not allowed to say much because what I've exposed to you guys are very sensored. But please do your research. Call the GMC (https://www.gmc-uk.org/) which is the UK regulatory body providing doctor licenses and Princess Grace Hospital to check a doctor's track record in terms of suspensions, audits or compliances etc.
This is not something doctors need to disclose to you but you should do your homework first, ok?
By the way, lengthening recovery is not about MUSCLE mass, but about soft tissue flexibility and your lengthening rate. Just make sure every 2-week xray show calluses that are bridging. If they don't bridge, STOP DISTRACTING, until they bridge again.
That will prevent you from non-union, since the nail cannot reverse nor stop. Don't end up like me following instructions blindly with the fast distraction of 70mm in 65 days.
This lengthening process can be successful and safe if all patients know what to look out for and not depend on their doctors 100%.
All doctors and even more so, lengthening doctors, are like construction tradesmen. They want to win the project and once they have the money, the service level decreases and completion date is endlessly postponed.
You've all the chances in the world to succeed, being younger and male. But just be very careful and not flirt with risk Always question the doctor, don't stress your nails, don't distract too quickly and keep stretching those soft tissues.
Best of luck and do your homework. There's a patient who refuses to be named who has done both Albizzia nail and Precice, and she says it's a difference of NIGHT and DAY in terms of pain and stress level of clicking, risk and overall experience. So have some thought ahout that too.
Yours sincerely,
Unicorn
Thank you Unicorn for all the advice, I had no idea something like the GMC even existed. I'm going to give them a call, see what information I can find out. I'm also in the process of reading your dairy, I'm grateful for how open and honest you have been in it. It's been helpful reading it.
I'm doing more and more research every day on how the whole surgery and leg lengthening process works, all I want is for it to be safe and a success. Thanks for the advice about it, also appreciate you telling me about the GMC which I will definitely look into.
Thanks again and take care.
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