Quote from: Whereintheworld? on October 15, 2016, 07:34:30 PMHey Camillo,
These first few days will be the toughest, at least they were for me mentally. The prospect of lengthening for 80-100 days may seem terrible, but it will go by faster than you can imagine.
As far as tightening the bolts, the rule of thumb is once a week, but if you go out and about through town, you may want to check the bolts when you get home. Honestly though, I moved around a lot and only once or twice was anything even remotely loose.
Walking will be a little weird, you might hear/feel little clicks and such- I probably messaged Dr. Pili 10 times during the first two weeks thinking I had broken something-everything was fine.
The blue shoes and the rubber band are by far the most difficult aspect of the entire process, but you'll get used to them.
*I reached 5cm (turned about 5.4 cm) without really any problems to speak of, other than a few times having a pin site get irritated or else a tingling sensation that came and went for a couple of days. After each time that I turned, I would stand against the wall and do the exercises, then I'd walk across my apartment for about 5-10 minutes- so that, 3 times a day.
Despite being satisfied with the 5cm gain, I decided to push my luck for 6. When I met with Pili last week, he said I was a little stiff, but that since I did not intend to lengthen any more, we could try physical therapy before yielding to the achilles lengthening surgery.
I tried to stay away from the painkillers and it wasn't really too hard- there were of course a few times were I was very uncomfortable, but I could manage it.
One piece of advice I will give you is to sleep with your legs straight (although elevated). I realized early on that it was MUCH easier to fall asleep at night when I had my knees bent, but as Dr. Pili explained to me last week, this is counterproductive to the stretching that needs to occur.
Sleep well tonight, you're in very good hands with Pili/Catagni
Thank you for all your suggestions.
Right now as I am back home I feel hard to walk. I didn't expect it but actually I have some pain in the pins and wires when I walk. So I was planning to go to restaurants, gym, supermarkets when back home but I had actually to change my plans. I hope it will get better in the next days or weeks so I will be able to do it instead of staying home.
Something else that it is annoying to me is the fact that I have to keep my legs straight all the time (at least this was suggested). This position is tiring after a while and I would rather prefer to sit with bent knees.
Last thing that is worrying me is being worried about pins and wires infection, tightening the bolts etc. I would rather prefer just to focus in my lengthening and Don't worry about the rest. But I think it is part of the game.
LL with Dr. Catagni and Pili TOGETHER in Milan
Quote from: Camillo on October 15, 2016, 08:23:50 AMSure
https://cl.ly/2S002r253O07
It looks like festival of ideas lol. Thanks for picture.
Good luck, know your limits so you won't regret it later.
I'm not sure if it was a good thing or not, but I always bent my knees while sitting. However, I would put the balls of my feet a pile of books of something, and let the heels 'hang' off the back, so as to have a little stretching going on.
-I don't want to point you in the wrong direction though, so you my want to ask the doctor about this
Quote from: The Kaiser on October 16, 2016, 07:57:26 PMYou will do 8 cm in femur or tibia?
and why you live far from Milan, not a good idea
Hi Kaiser, 8 cm in Tibia.
I live 2 hours from Milan, the doctor said it is fine because there are no serious complication with EF.
I have to meet him again in half November (after one month) and in the meanwhile I can contact him from remote for questions.
Quote from: Whereintheworld? on October 16, 2016, 12:40:11 PMI'm not sure if it was a good thing or not, but I always bent my knees while sitting. However, I would put the balls of my feet a pile of books of something, and let the heels 'hang' off the back, so as to have a little stretching going on.
-I don't want to point you in the wrong direction though, so you my want to ask the doctor about this
Hi Whereintheworld, would you mind to send me a video of how to tighten the bolts of the external fixator? I just received my two keys 10 but I'm not sure I know the procedure, and I am afraid to spoil the EF. If you do not want to post it here you can write me in private. Thank you.
Quote from: Camillo on October 17, 2016, 10:28:30 AMHi Kaiser, 8 cm in Tibia.
I live 2 hours from Milan, the doctor said it is fine because there are no serious complication with EF.
I have to meet him again in half November (after one month) and in the meanwhile I can contact him from remote for questions.
8 cm is too much for tibia, maybe there will be no complication, but put in your mind the recovery will be tough
Quote from: The Kaiser on October 17, 2016, 08:22:33 PM8 cm is too much for tibia, maybe there will be no complication, but put in your mind the recovery will be tough
Yeah but why go through this and do less than 8 cm?
Yes it is terrible, it is much worse than anyone can expect. Your life change for a period (I hope) but I think if you do it, you should go through the full tunnel until the end, without taking any exit on the way. This is my idea, I know it will be hard, it already is, but since I am not going to do it again, I want to take the biggest advantage of it.
Hi guys,
Just a quick update. Things are moving forward. It is not exactly how I expected this to be. I was planning to walk all the time, go gym, restaurant, cinema, supermarket etc. But the real story is that I have a continuous (but not strong) pain in all my pins and wires. The problem is that, when I walk, it became stronger, so I cannot walk that much, it is already a pain when I have to go to the toilet.
Does anyone have experience with EF? Was it like that for you too?
Also, yesterday night I woke up twice, first because of a strong pain in my low right leg, between the leg and the feet, it took a couple of seconds but it was super strong, i woke up screaming. Then again for the same kind of pain in the left leg. Has anyone of you ever experienced anything similar?
Thank you.
Hi Camillo,
Are you still taking painkillers, or are you trying to avoid them because they can slow down the bone generation?
You must be logged in to post a reply.