its been a while and I thought about giving a quick update on the last ten days.
good news, Prof Baumgart is happy, everything looks ok. xray showing 2,8CM by last monday and it feels even more using 3CM lifts and standing even...
and although its only 3CM it feels like a different world. curious what it will be like at 6...
bad news is that pain started to increase last couple of days. I somehow expected that but its still a bit tough. Sleep is getting worse and without pain killer I couldn't go to bed at all.
Most of the pain is in my knee, but coming from the muscles above the knee that run past it...started using warm pads and that kind of helps a bit.
Pain overall is still ok but I really hope its not getting much worse the next 5 weeks.
Walking around and being 3CM taller makes up for quite a lot. always laughing at myself when I am walking on the street.
Baumgart told me that the X-rays are not showing the real bone gap and that you need to deduct around ten percent to get to the real gap. that also means that if I aim for 6CM for my right leg I need to go up to around 7CM to be sure get there. (i know thats not exactly ten %)
I am bit skeptical but don't really care at the moment. lets see in 4 weeks....
Internal Femurs with Dr Baumgart / Fitbone
Hey Aturro,
hope you are doing fine.
As I intend to go with one leg at a time, let me ask you a question:
My plan is to do first leg, then rest for a month and return to an office job for 3 days a week while lengthening up to ~6cm. I'd have to get there via metro.
Do you think that this is possible?
Hey axelf,
Yes I think an Office Job should be possible after 4-5 weeks.
For me the Major issue would be that I need to elevate my leg after 30 Minutes otherwise I get pain in my knee.
If I could work in a comfortable position it would be ok. I couldnt do more than 5-6 hours though.
Metro Ride could be a bit exhausting, depends on the duration.
So all in all its manageable I guess.
Hi guys, my last entry was over a month ago mainly because nothing spectacular happened...which is obviously good news.
I am roughly at 5.7CM according to the latest xray. going for 7CM so I still have 2 weeks to go.
Pain is ok but got worse after reaching 4CM. apart from that the lengthening itself got more difficult, the device didn't work as well, probably because of the increased tension. So instead of 3 times I am doing 4 times lengthening every day now. This gets me to .8 or .9 mm per day.
Good news is that my bone heals quite fast so recovery could work better and faster according to the Prof.
Weird feeling to walk around with one leg being 6CM longer than the other...the special shoe looks stupid too...but thats my least concern for the moment.
bad news is that I got numbness in my upper leg around my knee (in addition to the numbness in my lower leg which I´ve already had after the surgery) It just started a week ago. I hope its from the lengthening and the nerves will recover later...otherwise it would be a big setback. hope its gonna be fine.
daily routine is all the same, try to sleep as long as possible, go to PT, sleep during the day, watch TV, etc. Problem is that after an hour sitting the pain is very bad and I need to lie down. So going out to cinema or long dinner is not possible for me. I am really looking forward to finishing the lengthening. my PT told me that the pain stops immediately after that...
sometimes I am really happy and glad that I´ve taken this path, other times I think about the second surgery next year, the remaining effort and pain and it gets the better of me. Not being at home, not having a job and no friends around....its tough. As I said some time ago, the physical effort to me is much less than the mental one.
I try to imagine the day when all this is done here and I can start living a normal and hopefully better life again...
best news is I am done with Leg 1! really happy I made it!
stopped lengthening on Friday and its great to spend a day without any need for the lengthening device...and without medication
According to xray I gained around 7CM on my right leg, so roughly 6 - 6.2 CM real height. I am very satisfied with that right now.
I started on June 28th, so it took me 91 days to get there, around .7 mm per day. Thats quite low, could have lengthened more per day I guess but at least it was a bit easier that way.
I have to admit the last 2 weeks were a tester for me, especially morally. Loneliness plus the handicap were hard to bear and my apartment started to feel like a prison cell...
I try to be more active now in the upcoming days. Go swimming, work out and do more PT on my own to improve bending level.
I was a bit lazy and didn't work enough on that so I am still below 90° and muscles are still very tight.
Stopped taking medication. Problem is that I got used to Tramadol 100mg per day, couldn't take the Novalgin, as my body didn't tolerate it.
The tramadol worked great but last night I felt some signs of withdrawal symptoms, shivering and general discomfort which is hard to explain. I expect that it gets better from day to day now...
I think 100mg per day is ok but I am glad I didn't take more. even better if you can avoid it completely...
Thats it for the moment, X-rays will be every 3 weeks now. Its all about bone healing now...before I take on my other leg of course...but thats a long way to go...
Congratulations on reaching your goal!
I'm curious about two stage lengthening and what it's like.....having to wear that silly shoe with the lift, etc.
I don't know if it's been mentioned before but it might be a good idea not to strengthen your good leg too much before your get your second surgery.....excessive walking might build your muscles on that leg since it's carrying almost your entire body weight.
all the best
thanks ouroboros!
the lift shoe definitely looks stupid. In my case is somewhat ok, I have 4CM outside lift and 2CM inside the shoe. I chose a black Reebook with black sole so you wouldn't notice immediately. I´v seen people walking with much higher lifts and then it starts to look really odd.
If I go to a proper restaurant or bar which I rarely do, I don't wear the lifts at all. Just normal shoes and walking on my crutches...
I was lying in my bed last night trying to fall asleep and then I imagined how it would feel to have the same discomfort and stiffness in my other leg too. It would be much worse I guess so for me the two stage procedure was definitely the better choice.
It goes from being a more physical to a more physiological effort, less pain but much longer timeframe of course...
If the nail would be full weight bearing I might have gone with a simultaneous lengthening though.
I agree with you that you shouldn't build heavy muscles before the surgery but compared to my pre surgery status I am still below my normal muscle mass in my healthy leg. Since you lose a lot during the months after surgery I think its better to have average or slightly above average muscle mass.
What I am concerned is now how my lengthened leg will look like before I have the second surgery. I definitely need more strength there...
Hi Aturro,
Glad to know things are going well for you as well. A few questions:
Quote from: Aturro on September 27, 2015, 09:12:58 PMAccording to xray I gained around 7CM on my right leg, so roughly 6 - 6.2 CM real height. I am very satisfied with that right now.
So, X-ray says 7cm and you think it's actually 6 to 6.2cm. Are you saying that x-ray discrepancy can be upwards of 12%? So for example, if another x-ray for another person shows 3.5cm then we can only assume it is 3 to 3.1 cm in reality? If you count the number of times you used the distraction machine, how many CM is according to those records?
I guess what I am asking is, how much should one discount the data to guess the actual amount?
Quote from: Aturro on September 27, 2015, 09:12:58 PMI try to be more active now in the upcoming days. Go swimming, work out and do more PT on my own to improve bending level.
When you say swimming, are you able to do the breastroke or freestyle? Or do you mean walking inside the pool?
Thanks for answering the questions, and good luck on the next phase of your journey!
Glenn
Hi glenn,
Thanks again;)
Baumgart told me that I need to do 7CM on xray to be surely at or above 6CM in real height.
Two factors: xray has an optical magnification effect of around 8-10% and if the gap is eg 6.3 the real increase in height is a few millimeters less...so yes, 10-12% is a conservative but reasonable Discount I am told...
Maybe it is only 8% in the end but rather be on the safe
I tried freestyle and that works fine for me. I can do that almost without using my legs at all
But I did quite a lot of swimming in the past, so I am used to that...
Breaststrokes are impossible.
Sleeping seems already a bit easier, also because the side effects of the medication are starting to dissapear
All the best
hey aturro!!!
how is it going? please update 
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