Day 8: Settling into the nest
My grocery delivery arrived. I feel that my diet may have had a huge influence on my good bone regeneration. For an estimated 80 days stay, I bought 70 litre of milk and 300 eggs. Two people had to carry my groceries to the apartment, but I suppose they weren't mad or anything since I was visibly crippled. Also they were nice enough to entertain my request to help move some furniture nearer to the bed. So my diet varied daily, but I would drink a carton of 1 litre milk a with about 4 eggs daily during meals. That would provide ample calcium and protein for the bones and tissues
Daily routine was walking for about 20-30 mins twice a day with a set of physio done 4 times, once for each of the 4 turns of the rod. Other than that it was actually a pretty unremarkable stage in the journey. I regretted not having bought a PS4 or brought some books cause damn, was it depressingly boring. I did have a TV though, but it took time to get used to the Russian shows. I preferred watching the Russian-dubbed Hollywood movies, it's quite interesting rewatching movies in Russian
Day 14
Had my first X-Rays. Doctor said my my bone regeneration was 'excellent'. So 'excellent' he was worried about preconsolidation. He recommended that I increase the rate to 1.25 mm a day, with special attention to any changes in ROM and nerve sensations. And so I stepped up the lengthening to 1.25 mm a day from then on
I actually was concerned why I WASNT feeling pain. I read most veterans in their diaries complained of at least some form of pain or aching. Well, I suppose time would tell whether or not this was going to be a difficult process. With all that boredom, I actually was looking forward to something eventful to happen.....
I did 8.0 cm LATN on tibias in 2016......AM(a)A : Ask Me (almost) Anything
Quote from: Sibirsky on April 09, 2017, 12:34:19 PMGood question. My main plan was a generally agreed upon 'safe' plan: 5cm on tibias and 7 cm on femurs. That would put at about 188 cm, as tall as my brother. But I realised that that I would be spending a total of 1-2 years in either crutches or a wheelchair; it would just be far too long, not to mention the cost of internal femurs 
. So I decided to push myself for that extra 3 cm and reach a respectable 184 cm and not go through such a long time of my life recovering. I was a gymnast throughout my schooling years, I'm very flexible for a guy so I was quite sure my body could take more than the average person
I do think flexibility helps tremendously.
Quote from: Sibirsky on April 09, 2017, 12:27:12 PMVery true. One would have to deeply consider all the risks and potential benefits of the few cms of height before embarking on this journey
The sad truth is that the taller your initial height, the more your body can tolerate the lengthening without developing complications. So paradoxically, the shorter you are, the more you would 'need' the surgery, yet the harder it would be compared to a taller person. Sad, but that's the reality guys...
Very ironic but good for those with taller than average starting height.
Quote from: Sibirsky on April 07, 2017, 08:52:04 AMBack to temporal factors, since I generally don't have much time (I'm hustling for online jobs currently) I won't be posting much of a diary.
As you are currently looking for online jobs, I am guessing you quit your job in order to do this surgery?
This would be the conclusion to my story, though really it's just the last 70% of my lengthening journey compressed down to a single post. I promised I would complete the diary so here it is, but understand that it's been months since that journey and let's just say I wasn't taking notes during the process.
So we ended previously with me in my room with all my groceries, a tv, some books, a smartphone and recommendations to make weekly visits to the doctor for X -rays. And really, that's all there was to it. The days would go by without much happening. For the 1st cm I lengthened at 1.0 mm a day, subsequently up to 8.0 cm I lengthened 1.5 to 2.0 mm a day. My bone regeneration was good and the doctor allowed it and so this is how we proceeded. Trust me, this phase could have been very painful for me and very painful for you. But the absence of pain, complete physical isolation from the outside world (other than the weekly visits) and slow internet connection made this part of the process very unremarkable. I suppose the only thing worth mentioning was that I realised I had contractures after 5 cm. Contractures can be considered a minor complication or an obstacle, it took me about 6 weeks to completely remove them from my knee and I can only get past 90 degrees on my knee by less than 10 degrees
I stopped lengthening somewhere mid February, I think February 15. After that the doctor did correction in a span of 2 weeks. I had the nailing operation on the 1st of March. I was discharged about 5 days later.
I arrived home with anaemia, terrible knee and ankle contractures on both legs, numbness, being unable to move both my feet, muscle wastage from not walking at all for about 2 months; I was a sick, broken cripple. This was one of the lowest days cause I had to face my family in such a terrible condition. They knew about my decision and supported me through it but were definitely not expecting the poor state I was in. And so began the longest part of this process; consolidation and recovery. I underestimated how long this phase would take, and how much more difficult recovery would be compared to the lengthening, and I certainly hope no one else will. Trust me, it is gruelling fighting those contractures and gaining back the strength to walk.
2 months later in May, here we are -- the present day. Progress has been very well. I am able to move my legs and feet except for the some of the toes on my right. Contractures on the knee are gone, I need 5 more degrees to be within normal range. I have regained I think about 90% of feeling on my feet. But movements are still weak though and need to be strengthened. More importantly, I can walk with absolutely no support -- neither wheelchair nor crutches required. People don't notice anything when I walk cause I don't limp or have a foot drop or anything like. But still one thing will stick out from the muscle weakness; speed. I am walking at about half the speed of a normal person. To hide this in the uncommon circumstance where I have to walk with peers, I would ask my peers to slow down, fake a limp and say I had a knee injury playing sports. So other than that I find myself settling into normal life pretty well.
So now I'd like to include my thoughts on the height gain and whether or not I think it's worth it. I was 176 cm before and now 184 cm. I went from average to tall in my country, I think about only 10-15% are within my height range or taller. And damn, I have noticed girls, even the ones passing by on the street, seem to stare at me longer, they seem to pay more attention to me. I have a stable relationship so Ive been out of the game for quite a while, but I'd imagine it would be a lot easier with the new height. As to the situation with other men, I have noticed some men are actually a bit intimidated by the height, usually men 170 cm and below. I don't try to scare them or anything but I didn't notice I had this effect before. So usually I would hunch on to a table or something or sit down to equal the height . Frankly, adding 8 cm especially since I was average before is very noticeable, to myself and to others. Many people noticed my height gain, and trust me at this age there isn't much you can do you can convince them you grew that much. So to different people I would give different reasons, followed by a diversion other topics. Hoping they won't notice. But trust me, it's not comfortable convincing people you know to ignore the elephant in the room; 8 CM IS IMPOSSIBLE TO HIDE.
Which leads me to my current thoughts on whether it's worth doing this procedure. These views may or may not change in the future. Overall, definitely worth it doing LATN tibias. People are concerned about the permanent knee pain thing, a valid concern from what I've read from research journals. But in my opinion, it's better than staying upwards of a year in frames for 8 cm, not to mention the recovery time after that. Also, tibias can be done easily with external frames, a whole lot cheaper than internal femurs. Socially, I feel a whole lot more confident and I enjoy the attention I'm getting fbeing this tall. But do consider one thing, I was an average height man becoming a tall man. I understand many of you are/were sort and are aiming/aimed to be average. And so socially, the benefits are gonna be different and the changes you will feel will be different. And you must understand the unfortunate circumstance that it's harder for shorter people to undergo limb lengthening. So consider my advice, do research, read journals and all the best to you, comrades!
Great summary! can you post a photo of your scars?
Why you didn't try to push it to 9 or 10?
He did a ridiculous amount at 8 cm yet you ask why he didn't push beyond that....
Yunggud you know many people that did 10cm in tibias and are not got crippled?
And with an initial height of 1.76 8cm lengthening was an unnecessary risk but fortunately everything went well.
Sibirsky you should have better stayed at 6-6.5 cm to have more proportionate tibias and most of all to not change so much the biomechanics of your feet, as you already had a good initial height and you didn't need so much lengthening but congratulations for your smooth LL trip.
Keep strong!
Your first surgery was Dec 29.
Its been 4 months, you lengthened 8cm and are walking without supports now.
I am sceptical of your story.
Can you please post an x ray or 2?
You must be logged in to post a reply.