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

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Day 35 - + 2.5 cm

It's been over a month since the initial surgery. I look back at what I went through with pride and amazement. To undergo such a complex phenomenon as osteogenesis and still be able to recover is unbelievable. The process so far has pretty much been combating problems one at a time. the first week after I arrived at the hotel, I had swelling in my left leg which made it impossible to walk due to the pain it caused. Then, My right knee started to hurt and I managed to resolve it by means of messaging and applying ice. Then, at approximately 2.2 cm nerve pains started to kick in which made sleeping harder. Now that I'm at 2.5 cm, my right calf muscle is getting tight and therefore painful to walk sometimes. But still, I keep myself motivated by seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I can see the change in height when I stand in front of a mirror, and that alone gives me a boost of motivation to push through the day and finish strong. Honestly, the challenges I've been experiencing so far are nothing compared to my status before the surgery. Height neurosis is truly a nightmare to live with. As for my daily routine, I pretty much focus on doing PT and maintaining a good diet, and for the time that is left I try to study and work on my hobbies. Socializing with fellow LLers here has also been a great way to pass the time. I like to call them my people, cause they are the closest to ones who can understand why I'm doing this. Sleep is getting hard too. I can only sleep for 5-6 hours now due to muscle and pain nerves. It's annoying but I've been trying to deal with it by messaging my calf muscles and increasing blood flow before I sleep. I also lengthen right before sleep. I don't know if affects my sleep quality. I'd be more than grateful if someone could help me with getting better sleep! One Other thing I worry about is when I touch my left leg on the side and also the top of the foot, I feel less sensation compared to other regions. If I'm not mistaken, there's a nerve that crosses the fibula and then continues its way to the foot on the tibialis anterior. Does this mean this nerve is damaged or what? I'm really curious to know the reason behind this and also whether it will get resolved in the future?
Hopefully, I'll have my x-rays taken this week. I'll share them here also. That's all I can say for now.

Cheers,
JOKER

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Dear Joker,

I sincerely appreciate your effort to calm down my pre-srugery nerves, your words and diary is truly helpful. I can very well relate to your reasons leading upto the surgery. I grew up as a teenager in highschool aware of the existance of this forum and surgery. Back then I still had hope of growing a couple of centimeters potentially curing my obsessive height neurosis. Fast foward 5-6 years I barely grew anything and now I'm doing my Master's degree while my neurosis remain. I am now financially ready to pull the trigger, I hope I will be mentally and emotionally ready soon aswell. If my school accepts, I may be able to take a leave of absence until November, this would give me over  2,5months to consolidate and get ready. I'm around 62 kgs so I'm medium weight for my height I guess.

Regarding your sleeping issues, ZMA (Zinc, magnesium, Vitamin B6) aswell as melatonin supplements can be helpful. ZMA makes me feel much more well-rested and increases my quality of sleep overall. Especially deep sleep. Small doess of melatonin was very helpful for me trying to fall asleep during the day when I worked night shifts. I think complementing your regular painkillers with ZMA and/or melatonin could improve your sleep quality. As a stomache/side sleeper the ring fixators bulkiness is what worries me the most, I think sleep along with PT and nutrition are the most important factors to healing properly without complications.

If you are still in Istanbul in June, I hope to meet you. Also, please do not hesitate if there is anything supply wise you need that I can bring, it is the least I can do.
Congrats on your 2,5 cm!! Almost there

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Quote from: LL2022 on April 17, 2022, 09:23:38 PMDear Joker,

I sincerely appreciate your effort to calm down my pre-surgery nerves, your words and diary is truly helpful. I can very well relate to your reasons leading up to the surgery. I grew up as a teenager in highschool aware of the existance of this forum and surgery. Back then I still had hope of growing a couple of centimeters potentially curing my obsessive height neurosis. Fast foward 5-6 years I barely grew anything and now I'm doing my Master's degree while my neurosis remain. I am now financially ready to pull the trigger, I hope I will be mentally and emotionally ready soon aswell. If my school accepts, I may be able to take a leave of absence until November, this would give me over  2,5months to consolidate and get ready. I'm around 62 kgs so I'm medium weight for my height I guess.

Regarding your sleeping issues, ZMA (Zinc, magnesium, Vitamin B6) aswell as melatonin supplements can be helpful. ZMA makes me feel much more well-rested and increases my quality of sleep overall. Especially deep sleep. Small doess of melatonin was very helpful for me trying to fall asleep during the day when I worked night shifts. I think complementing your regular painkillers with ZMA and/or melatonin could improve your sleep quality. As a stomache/side sleeper the ring fixators bulkiness is what worries me the most, I think sleep along with PT and nutrition are the most important factors to healing properly without complications.

If you are still in Istanbul in June, I hope to meet you. Also, please do not hesitate if there is anything supply wise you need that I can bring, it is the least I can do.
Congrats on your 2,5 cm!! Almost there

Hi there,

Since you weigh 62 kilos, you'll have much easier time in terms of mobility. I weighed 72 kg before the surgery and the fixators could bear my weight, so you'll have nothing to worry about.

As for the sleeping quality, I've been taking sleeping pills and they work fine. I can sleep at least 6 hours a day which is a huge improvement compared to before.

Don't worry about sleeping sideways, during your 10 days stay at the hospital after the surgery, you'll probably have to sleep on your back. But when you get back to the hospital, you can easily put a pillow between the legs and sleep on your side.

Yes definitely! most of your time here would be spent doing PT, eating healthy, and sleeping.

I don't think I'll be available by June, but you can still contact me through IG or here. thank you so much for the offer, but I really do not need anything at this point. 

Kindly,
JOKER

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Day 42 - +3 cm

I got my x-rays taken this week and turns out the real amount lengthened is off by 2-3 mm than the recorded one. In other words, in my diary, I had recorded a 2.9 cm amount of lengthening, but on x-ray it showed 2.6 cm. This is probably due to pin bending which is a result of weight bearing. So, If you're aiming for 5 cm of real length, you should more or less lengthen 5.5 cm worth of "recorded length". This the case for my frame, do not assume this applies to other types of ex-fix. I haven't gotten pin site infection up to this point, but one of my pins has been hurting for the last two days and I'm suspecting it's infection. I'll get it checked tomorrow, hopefully nothing crazy is happening. Now that I'm past 3cm, I decided to bump up PT. before, I used to do PT 2hours /day. Now, it's 3 hrs/ day. This is because stretching a lot can prevent ballerina foot, rather than letting it develop and then take care of it. Honeslty, There's not much to what I was up to for the last week. The lengthening phase has been a routine to follow for me. Hopefully, It will continue like this for the remaining part of it.

Regards,
JOKER

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Hi Joker. Just curious, for example if you have an infection concern, can you contact the doctor and set an appointment for the next day immediately? or you have to wait for your regular appointment?

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Quote from: canterk on April 25, 2022, 08:17:50 PMHi Joker. Just curious, for example if you have an infection concern, can you contact the doctor and set an appointment for the next day immediately? or you have to wait for your regular appointment?
Hi, You don't actually need to book an appointment. They directly contact the doctor if anything comes up and he responds as soon as he can, somtimes even immediately. Turns out i have inflammation and redness around my pin site which is a result of aggresive PT and is normal. No signs of infection is present. But it sure does hurt a lot!

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Day 52 - + 4 cm
 
I'm at 4cm now, and I can clearly see the boost in height. 4 cm might not seem a lot on the ruler, but it clearly is a noticeable difference on a lengthened limb. 4 cm is where you start to get ready for the end of the lengthening journey... counting days to get the fixators off and head home... Honestly, I'm glad I've come this far. I was met with a few obstacles on the way, but I managed to overcome them and continue the lengthening as a routine. This is perhaps the most important takeaway: to establish a routine and never give up when obstacles arise - which they will. the redness and swelling around one of the pin sites are now healed. Since it was near the ankle I could not actively dorsiflex it and therefore it took some time to be able to move my ankle. My muscles are tight but not to an extreme extent. I think they've adapted to the tension cause the tightness was more pronounced at around 2.5 cm. I have no nerve pain, but the reduced sensation on my left leg still persists. at this point, the ballerina foot is not an issue. I can passively dorsiflex my ankle up to 20 degrees and up to 10-15 degrees actively. I've been doing extra PT on my own by the means of a stretching strap and other normal stretching exercises. This has been crucial to maintaining my flexibility and hence managing the pain. The end is near for me, finally. time really does fly. almost 2 months have passed since the surgery. This has been a rewarding and tiring experience at the same time. I can now say the troubles have been worth it.


Cheers,
JOKER

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Day 60 - + 5 cm

Hi, I'm at 5 cm now, and the tension in the muscles has increased which in turn is pulling the foot down. my active dorsiflexion is barely at neutral but passive is OK. I've been experiencing more nerve pains for the last 3 days which made me use more painkillers. I can sleep fine with sleeping pills but without them, it's a nightmare. the reason why I'm at 5 cm now rather than on day 62 is because my latest x-ray measurements showed a greater amount of lengthening which was unexpected. I've decided to reduce the lengthening down to 0.75 mm for some time to experience less nerve pain but planning to bump it up to 1mm again since I have 6 days of lengthening left until removal. God, I CAN NOT wait to get these off and get back to normal. My callus looks good according to Dr.Uysal. I'll make sure to post my last x-ray before removal here. So far, I've had no major issues and have been pleased with AFA. IF you ask me whether or not I recommend them, I'd say considering what I experienced so far, Absolutely! Dr.uysal is a caring and conservative doctor, and AFA provides good services. Having said that, make sure you do your own research and just don't take my word for it. For now, I have to push through the last days and finish strong.

Peace!,
JOKER

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Just a week left until you are completely done with the most difficult part of the process, congrats!! I will in almost exactly one month also be going through the same hell you have haha... Sorry for asking you so many questions but may I ask what kind of sleeping medication you use, is it something the Dr has prescribed? Furthermore, are you only able to sleep on your back?

I suppose you will be taking advantage of the included 90days of physio AFA offers, so you will be in Istanbul for another month or so? Do you reckon you will be able to walk unassisted by then?

Take care man, I hope you will be around on this forum after you leave Istanbul to keep us all updated, if not we will understand too.

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Quote from: LL2022 on May 12, 2022, 11:30:27 PMJust a week left until you are completely done with the most difficult part of the process, congrats!! I will in almost exactly one month also be going through the same hell you have haha... Sorry for asking you so many questions but may I ask what kind of sleeping medication you use, is it something the Dr has prescribed? Furthermore, are you only able to sleep on your back?

I suppose you will be taking advantage of the included 90days of physio AFA offers, so you will be in Istanbul for another month or so? Do you reckon you will be able to walk unassisted by then?

Take care man, I hope you will be around on this forum after you leave Istanbul to keep us all updated, if not we will understand too.

Hi, yeah it's finally over. What a ride it has been! I'm sure you can get through it also so don't worry. As for the sleeping pills, I've used tramadol for the nights I was in really bad pain. Other than that, I tried to avoid it as it can be addictive. I can sleep on my side by putting a pillow between my legs to avoid fixators from touching each other. It's comfortable and I can sleep fine. I'm only going to stay for 1 week after the fixator removal as I have to go back ASAP. Walking unassisted is possible only after bone matrix is consolidated which takes about 2-3 months on average. So, I'd say at least 2 months is needed to walk unassisted. I'll try to update my journey after removal as well but not as frequent as before. Hope this helps.

Cheers,