I had my LL in 2001-2002

Hi all, this is my first post in about 10 years but I underwent a limb lengthening in 2001 and 2002 with Dr. Vladimir Dragon in Kiev, Ukraine.   It was quite a process and I did have complications but at this point I am very happy with the results. The one piece of advice I would give is do not under estimate the amount of time it will take and the seriousness of any complications that could happen.

If anyone has questions about my experiences I would be happy to try answer questions.

Some of you might know this but Dr Dragon has passed away since I had my surgery.  He was a great guy.

He was young. What did it happen to him?

About you, how many cm did you do? Internals? Price? Which complications did you have? How long did it take for you to lead a normal life?

What kind of problems you had?

Looking back, do you think it was worth it? Would you do it again? Would you change anything or do something differently?

Vladimir was only in his mid 40's. He was alone in his apartment and suffered a massive heart attack. He didn't show up for work so they sent someone out and found him. Very sad.

I slipped in the shower and broke the Greater Trochanter on my left femur.  This caused my recovery to take about 2 years.  I had a non-union and had it repaired (thank God) here in the States.

Prices wouldn't be relevant from then to now.

I'll tell you the truth, it changed my life for the better because I ended up marrying a fabulous girl who is taller than I ever would have dated before.  But, I don't think my legs will ever have the strength that they had before.

It's a very difficult process. 

I went from 5'5" to 5'8".  Life changing for me.  The complications were bad but I'm not sure I would do anything differently.

The best advice I can give is do the rehab and don't put much weight on your legs while you have the fixtures in, or on.

How do your legs feel today? In what way you mean that they will not have the strength in them as before?

10 years is a lot man, hope you don't mind if I ask some broad questions.

 First though, what segment did you get operated on? How did you manage to meet this doctor/gain information on him? How old were you?

Onto the bigger questions:

Is there anything you were able to do in the past that you can't do as well anymore/as well as others?

Ever tell your girl about the operation? How'd she react?

Would you ever be willing to share some pics of yourself? (You can protect your identity of course)

Most important question for me: after all this time, have you ever thought about your height/LL at all? Or have any sort of insecurities gone away?

(BTW how did you find this site? Why come now after all this time? I'm curious, not so much skeptical or judgmental)

What complications did you have?

How did you deal with them?

Do you still suffer from complications?

Did you tell your family and friends or did they figure it out?  How did they react?

How old were you?

Any regrets or things you would do differently that us new potential LLers should be aware of?

Alu, I have been a member of this site since about 2001. When I was in Kiev in October 2001 I posted my story on this site. I posted under the name of Steve, which is my middle name.I don't know if the webmasters of this site can make my old posts available but I made them.

You have to tell your family and friends if you decide to do it. I guarantee they will find out. Mine did.   You just can't tell them all that you're going away for three months for some mysterious purpose. Someone asked if I told my girlfriend. Yes, I did, as soon as I met her because I was still on crutches.  She was 100% on board, if the girl you're with doesn't get it, get a new one.

I was 49 when I had it done. Too old? Yeah, probably but they were happy to take my money.

 How am I today? As I said earlier I don't have the strength in my legs that I had before and I probably never will. Part of it is because, I have to admit that I have not exercised like I should have. I'm not that kind a guy. I have have no problem whatsoever getting around but LL did compromise my legs.  Not complaining, everything is a trade off.

Do I think about it?  Yep, every day.  This might be crass but every time I am standing in a group of people, towering over them I think about it.

 There are a lot of potential downsides and complications but if you get through it like I did I think you will be happy. But it's a gamble and you have to think it over .