LATN Femurs - Dr Singh

Hi,  I am new to this forum.  I am currently doing femurs lenghtening with LATN method done in Singapore Mount Elizabeth hospital on 10th Jan 2015.  I've written a blog of my journey in the following link: https://bluebarbiedoll.wordpress.com

Hello Bluebarbie, welcome!

When was the surgery performed and how are you feeling now? From all I've read, femur lengthening with an external device is very difficult. You're a tough one!

This forum was a big help to me when I was going through lengthening. It helped to write when I was feeling frustrated or in pain. Hope you give us more details

Quote from: KiloKAHN on March 07, 2015, 06:34:59 AMHello Bluebarbie, welcome!

When was the surgery performed and how are you feeling now? From all I've read, femur lengthening with an external device is very difficult. You're a tough one!

This forum was a big help to me when I was going through lengthening. It helped to write when I was feeling frustrated or in pain. Hope you give us more details

Thank you KiloKAHN. Im gonna be 2 months post op on 12th of this month. Yeah its a really rough journey for me. I still dont know how to use this forum well. So i'll work on it and try to share more of my experiences. 

Hello bluebarbie,



hmmm.. 2months post the surgery , I guess you've done with lengthening phase , right?
I second kilo, it would be great if you can share more details with us .

I hope things will work out wonderfully with you   

Bluebarbie hos many centimeters are you going to lenthen? Are the scars in femurs very big? How much range of motion have you got ?  Are you able to walk? Do you think is much more dificult to do femurs than tibias?Thanks

Hello bluebarbie. I hope everything will be OK - Good luck.

Hi,
I am currently in distraction phase with ex-fix on femurs.(Latn with monorail). By the time I distracted 4 cms, I found out that I have only grown 3cms on my x rays. I felt terrible. Yet my doctor ( Sarbjit Sign from Mount Elizabeth Sg) said it is normal. I found out that it is caused by slanted (bended)  pins. Have anyone doing externals experienced it? Will I lose more days? What can be done about it? I am feeling very bad and stressed.

Yes, this is normal and everyone doing externals has to deal with it.  It gets to the point where you stop counting how much you've turned and just start going by what the doctor measures in the x-rays.

Hi. Medium Drink Of Water and friends from above
 
Thanks for the reply and greetings. I am now doing a blog and I will try to share experiences as soon as possible.

What's your lengthening goal Bluebarbie? Doing external femurs you must want those devices off asap, but at least I see that you plan to do the LATN method. Just remember that leg lengthening requires much patience and is not something you ever want to rush through. Make sure to check your x-rays regularly and don't lengthen too fast.

I also want to tell you that I hear alot on the forum about how femurs lengthen at an angle, unlike tibias, and therefore you might not get all the height that you have lengthened. But your 4 cm lengthening amount and the 1 cm loss that you mentioned doesn't seem all that bad and so probably the 1 cm loss would be considered within normal range. However, I am not certain how much pin loss applies when using the monorail fixator, being that the pins used are known to be larger and thicker in size.