LON Tibia Dr.Mustafa Uysal March 18th (AFA)

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Quote from: PerfectBody on March 25, 2022, 02:01:46 PMThis is 1000% how I felt doing femurs. It's crazy, you really go from 100 to 0, it's so psychologically damaging. Haha but you'll recover, so don't worry. 3-6 months after removal you'll be back to normal. Stay strong brother.
Haha yeah, I read your diary , I know what you're talking about.  That's the plan! I'm hoping to be walking normally 3-4 months after the removal surgery. Fingers crossed!

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Quote from: PerfectBody on March 25, 2022, 02:01:46 PMThis is 1000% how I felt doing femurs. It's crazy, you really go from 100 to 0, it's so psychologically damaging. Haha but you'll recover, so don't worry. 3-6 months after removal you'll be back to normal. Stay strong brother.
Haha yeah, I read your diary , I know what you're talking about.  That's the plan! I'm hoping to be walking normally 3-4 months after the removal surgery. Fingers crossed!

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Quote from: MrJames on March 25, 2022, 02:07:37 PMFemur:
If you want more cm, painful days are waiting for you

Do you think it is necessary to use blood thinners?

I still take aspirin to be extra careful, not sure if it's required tho.

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Hey Joker, I am also doing LL with AFA. I am now on 6th day after surgery (not including surgery day), soon I will be also on the same hotel as you!

Wish you a good luck, good that you didnt have so much pain in the beggining, for me I am having a lot, its been the worst part, but its decreasing with time.

Regarding the condition of when you are in the verge of sleeping doing an involuntary moving and feeling a lot of pain in the knee, I am also having this too, what I did last night and maybe solved this is not to sleep with the legs completely stretched, but a bit bended (just a little bit), while also put the middle part of the bed, where the knee are a bit up.
Could you solve that problem?

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Day 25- + 1.5 cm

Wow, time flies. it's been almost a month since I got the surgery, and now I'm at the 1.5 cm lengthening mark. I haven't started to experience muscle pain or tightness yet. Reportedly, it gets harder for the tibia to elongate at the 3-4 cm mark, we'll see what happens. AFA's PT is great. They know what problems can occur further in the future and try to mitigate them early on so that the lengthening can continue smoothly. I had some hiccups along the way. For example, I experienced some pain in my right knee which is greatly reduced now. Having said that, I still feel some uneasiness there when I try to stand up or sit down . Sleeping has not been hard to come by. nevertheless, waking up with these frames after hours of being still is uncomfortable and takes time to get back to normal after blood circulation increases. At this point, I expected myself to get used to the frames but sometimes I just want to get rid of them for no reason. not because they're extremely uncomfortable, rather it's kinda wired to carry something foreign this long. For those who want to get external fixators done, I advise you to be careful not to make any sudden or forceful movements. Although they are sturdy and can carry your weight ( for most people), fixators can still malfunction and that's a scenario everyone should avoid. For now, I'm following 2hrs/5 times a week PT rigorously and also maintaining a protein-rich diet. Hopefully, I'll be done with lengthening in 40 days. Finger's crossed!

Best regards,
Jokerhastowait2022

 

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Hi Joker,

First of all, thank you for documenting your journey, it has been very helpful!

I'm planning to undergo surgery with AFA this summer for 5cm Tibia lengthning. I have a question. Does Dr Uysal not use monolateral fixators? Why not? It seems like monolateral fixators would be more comfortable for the patient, have less scarring, I guess maybe at the cost of stability of the broken bones?

Stay strong brother!

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Quote from: ll.patient on March 28, 2022, 12:46:57 PMHey Joker, I am also doing LL with AFA. I am now on 6th day after surgery (not including surgery day), soon I will be also on the same hotel as you!

Wish you a good luck, good that you didnt have so much pain in the beggining, for me I am having a lot, its been the worst part, but its decreasing with time.

Regarding the condition of when you are in the verge of sleeping doing an involuntary moving and feeling a lot of pain in the knee, I am also having this too, what I did last night and maybe solved this is not to sleep with the legs completely stretched, but a bit bended (just a little bit), while also put the middle part of the bed, where the knee are a bit up.
Could you solve that problem?

Hi! It's crazy how individuals react differently to this procedure. Some have a lot of pain, while others experience pain at manageable levels. I hope you're no longer having issues or pain. honestly, the involuntary leg movements have subsided. While at the hospital, I used to put a pillow under my knees to lessen the impact the movements had on them. That's how I dealt with it.

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Quote from: Jokerhastowait2022 on March 09, 2022, 09:47:09 PMHi AsianCyborg,

Yes, During my research phase AFA stood out as well. This was because they never shared their patients' identities (Unlike other agencies in Turkey) unless they wanted to. Also, the doctors they work with are top-notch and have good track records as far as I know. 6 CM is definitely possible in tibias but everything gets harder after 5 cm and you need to listen to your body and not get too greedy about an extra 1 cm or so.  To answer your questions:

1- As far as my research tells me, Dr.Uysal has done many CLL surgeries in both Femur and tibias with great results, and I don't think he'd have problems performing surgeries on either segment.

2- Absolutely! LL is a very compilation-prone surgery, and you need to be monitored by your doctor regularly to identify possible obstacles in advance and prevent them from getting worse. Dr.Uysal visits his patients at least once a month ( sometimes biweekly) to make sure everything is on the track. In fact, this was one of the main factors that made me choose him. After all, LL is no joke.

3- Initially, I was planning to get monorails. But, after my consultation with Dr.Uysal, I decided to go with Ilizarov frames. The reason was that he emphasized that Ilizarov frames have a lesser capacity to cause deformities in tibias in comparison to monorails ( monorails can cause valgus). And also the pins at the top and bottom in Ilizarov frames can effectively fixate fibula to the tibia to prevent any shifts, especially in the ankle area, which in turn prevents arthritis in the future. So, Although they are bulkier I rather have lesser chances of complication and deformity. that's why I chose them.

4- I am aiming for 5.5 cm, but if things get hard after 5cm I might settle for 5.2 or 5.3 cm as well. So, fingers crossed!
Quote from: LL2022 on April 08, 2022, 07:05:07 AMHi Joker,

First of all, thank you for documenting your journey, it has been very helpful!

I'm planning to undergo surgery with AFA this summer for 5cm Tibia lengthning. I have a question. Does Dr Uysal not use monolateral fixators? Why not? It seems like monolateral fixators would be more comfortable for the patient, have less scarring, I guess maybe at the cost of stability of the broken bones?

Stay strong brother!
Hi, thanks for the words of encouragement! Congratulations on the decision! it's defiantly a life-changing and very hard decision to make. Regarding your question, I had already answered it. You can find it in the mentioned quotes.

Stay safe,
Joker

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Thank you Joker, Not gonna lie... I'm starting to get extremely nervous thinking about all the possible outcomes that can happen during the procces this summer, also when I get home in September when I have to attend classes again. Maybe 1 month post external fixator removal is not enough time and I have to think this over  .

Anyway, how do you pass the remaining time you don't have PT? Are you able to sit down infront of a laptop and play games/browse etc? Or are you mostly bed ridden? 

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Quote from: LL2022 on April 10, 2022, 02:26:56 AMThank you Joker, Not gonna lie... I'm starting to get extremely nervous thinking about all the possible outcomes that can happen during the procces this summer, also when I get home in September when I have to attend classes again. Maybe 1 month post external fixator removal is not enough time and I have to think this over  .

Anyway, how do you pass the remaining time you don't have PT? Are you able to sit down infront of a laptop and play games/browse etc? Or are you mostly bed ridden?

Dear LL2022,

Overthinking "what might happen" is actually pretty normal. I used to stress about different kinds of minor/major complications months leading up to the surgery. I'm kind of a nerd, so I skimmed through a lot of academic papers that concerned different aspects of LL to see what I might have to deal with after I give my consent for my legs to be broken lol. But the thing for me was, I had this procedure in mind for almost 2 years. So I had to make a decision eventually since it was becoming an overly unhealthy obsession. Also, I knew that there were so many risks involved with the procedure that I'm sure you're aware of. Up to that point, I had lived almost 6 years of my life with a severe height neurosis which got even worse when I started university. It affected many aspects of my life negatively and didn't allow me to live a fulfilling life without having crippling thoughts regarding my stature.  I had also tried to accept it but it never worked. So I knew If I didn't fix it then I'd live a very sad life till I'm 60 and then regret why I didn't do something about it. Believe it or not, IMO severe height neurosis can't be cured unless by the means of surgery. it is deeply entrenched in the mind of its victim that only the physical change may be the cure. So, I made the decision to do it no matter what as if I didn't have anything to lose anymore. Honestly, I'm happy with the decision. If I knew what I know now, I'd still do it.

1-month post removal is indeed a limited time to recover before attending the classes. Isn't there any way for you to take a semester off? You can also use crutches to attend classes if you're a lightweight person.

I can pretty much do anything by myself. This is one of the perks of LON. it enables you to weight bear right after the surgery (again if you're a lightweight-average weight person.) and yes I can sit in front of my laptop and also study without much difficulty.

Hope this addresses your concerns!

Take care,
JOKER