Life after a full recovery

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Quote from: Kintaeryos on January 05, 2024, 11:22:02 AMPaley often claims that he aims for full recovery of athletic capability with his patients, and "would never sacrifice functionality for extra height gain". Is that just marketing on his part then?


I have a lot of respect for Dr. Paley. The content on his website, particularly his "Frequently Asked Questions" documents were the primary information that guided me when I first began the journey. I didn't begin on the forum; I began by googling this topic (height increase surgery) and then reading all the information that Paley provided on his website, to better educate myself.

I will say that, yes, I do disagree with him regarding his recovery prognosis listed on his FAQs page. For one thing, based on my personal experience, I think anyone undergoing CLL will find it very difficult to regain full athletic capacity (concerning sprinting and high-intensity athletic sports). If it is indeed possible, it probably requires a lot of training and determination. I personally did not care so much about this (I am not a professional athlete), so I never trained hard enough to make this happen. But for some, I suppose it is possible, especially the younger guys who get this surgery in their 20's.

Regarding prognosis for return to athletics, Dr. Paley writes- Most patients can start to run one month after being freed to stop   using crutches. They can return to other sports after one month after starting to run.

This runs contrary to my experience. I started to run once I was fully consolidated, which occurred at least 2-3 months after I got off crutches. And even then it wasn't running, it was just very slow jogging. It is hard to describe, but your legs just move much slower if you attempt to run after this CLL surgery. You have to train a lot to regain your prior running speed.

As for returning to sports, I guess you can certainly return to sports a month after you start to run. But what does that really mean? It depends on the sport. You will not be able to sprint across a soccer field/ basketball court/ hockey rink at the speed you could before CLL. So yes, you will be able to play those sports, but you will not be able to do that competitively because you will be quite slow at that point in your recovery. Again with time and training, this will improve. You just need to work hard.                

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Cyborg has suggested 4cm and 6 cm, tibia and femur are the sweet spot for length vs recovery

Youth helps a lot; stories of 100% recovery of 19 yr olds

Donghoon has also commented on 4cm for tibias as best for recovery of athletic performance.

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I'm bringing up the topic again: are there any testimonials or experiences regarding complete recovery?