My diary of quadrilateral Precice2 LL with Dr. Gokhan

Quote from: GoodJuju on March 17, 2024, 01:00:50 PMHey Ted68 - happy to read that despite the difficulties you’re pushing through and getting there brother. I was think about how you’re doing while the forum was down for week. Will you stop at 12cm?

Hi, Juju.
Thank you for your concerns !
Yeah, I've been sad seeing the forum down for more than 3 weeks. I think nobody care about it, nobody secure it and let butchers (which are very disturbed by the truth that people are revealing here...) to pay hackers to put it down !

Anyways, I am not feeling well. I am still very stressed by my bow tibias, about my right femur implant curving and about my right tibia permanent pain, which doesn't let me do the normal PT. On right leg my "ballerina foot" is much worse than left leg... And because of this right tibia pain, my walking training is way behind than it should be currently, so I am pretty sure I will go back home in wheelchair, instead of with the walker/crutches !

I am in the last 9 days of my lengthening period and the lengthening pain is worse and worse every day !
This pain is totally different, is like a strong burn in muscles, on posterior side and is coming only when you lengthen your legs, especially when you do it same time on both legs close to each other. When I sleep it waking me up many times in night only doing simple thing to turn the body on normal back side position and trying to lengthen the legs on bed !

Yes, I will stop at 12 cm... but, as you know, I had a 1 cm discrepancy before coming here, so the total height gain will be 1 cm less. So I will have 1.82 instead of 1.83 m, finally.
That wouldn't be a drama if I will be like before, healthy and well aligned (with no bow legs)... but for the moment I am not happy...

Here you can see 2 pictures with my legs, that I cannot touch ankles anymore, and before coming here I could do it like nothing:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/k1QCbf1SEDtpfuuJ8

https://photos.app.goo.gl/zQLVTkb6H7zQ5uU68

Hi Ted68,

Thanks for your sharing your experience.

Hope you feel better soon! Hope you can walk normally in a couple of months!

Quote from: li2028 on March 18, 2024, 05:26:34 AMHi Ted68,

Thanks for your sharing your experience.

Hope you feel better soon! Hope you can walk normally in a couple of months!

Thank you, too !

Day 82-87

Few days ago Batu, the Remedy guy, asked me to be ready to go to a visa bureau, so they can get my fingerprints. I said “Why ? … Am I a suspect for something ?”. He said “No, but they changed the rules and they ask that for all people are staying in Turkey more than 90 days”. Usually it’s a simple online form to complete, but now they are more strict.
Ok, I was happy to leave my room, so I can see new people and places. He came with a special car for handicapped people and lifted my wheelchair with a small platform. Amazing ! 
We arrived to a big and well secured building and we waited 20 minutes in the street. Fortunately, it was a nice day. But we found is not the right place, so we had to leave and go to a different place.
We arrived there, moved me down again and we got in a crappy place, very busy, full of all kind of people from every corner of the world, looking to resolve their visa problems. Here I had to wait in the wheelchair more than an hour, which was way too much for me, because I cannot stay long, so I got pain in my legs. Finally they invited me in a room where they took my fingerprints with a device having a sensor plate. After finishing and get in the car I asked Batu to let me stay on the bench, so I can straighten and exercise my legs. Staying more than 15 minutes in wheelchair give me pain because I compress my vessels and nerves… but actually I stayed more than an hour, so just imagine how I did feel !
As expected, when I arrived to the hotel I noticed my feet were swollen and had a deep pain !

I went for the X-rays, which are scheduled every 2 weeks, and all things are pretty much same as previous x-rays, including the right femur curvature... which was my biggest concern.

Anyways, in 3 days it will be 3 months since I have been in Turkey.

I have 8 days left to the end of elongation period. 11mm left to do, so 5.5mm for each segment.

After finishing I will go for the last X-rays… then I have to do an intensive PT so I can touch with both heels the pool floor, otherwise I cannot do EOS to measure precisely my bones. The EOS should be done in vertical position, with heels down and straight legs, that means with the knees not bent at all !
The problem is that now I feel I have “ballerina foot” because I walk on tiptoes, on both. But the PT guys told me my ankles and Achilles tendons are still flexible, so is not a real ballerina foot, which is actually a deformity and hard to fix it.
Also my knees are slightly bent, but not bad.

On my right tibia, on proximal anterior, I have 2 bumps from the upper screws, which are very painful when I put the ERC on them to elongate. So, to dim the pain I must place on the bumps a folded socket or something, so I can do elongation…

The general pain in the right tibia is much more than left tibia, so I cannot do PT normally. Also I cannot sleep well because the straighten position pain.

The both tibias are internal curved, like bow legs, but the left tibia is more curved than the right one, so I cannot touch my ankles. Doctor told me it will both straighten in the lengthening process… so I am still waiting for that...

I have many scars, but especially few long and red scars, which looks bad. They gave me a special cream, so I hope at least it will change the color to the skin color...

3 months of suffering, pain, sleepless and other bad effects. So, I still have to stay one month and I hope all these will go away and I can get back to my previous shape… and I can get rid of my main medication, because I took too many pills !  I will take only with my supplements which help the callus formation and the healing process...

Overall, I feel myself like a wreck. My legs are very weak, so I cannot even walk in the swimming pool, because my right tibia pain. I am scared about this long delay in walking and regarding the delay in recovering my walking.
I am pretty sure I will go back in my country in wheelchair, because not enough time for the final period of PT...

You’ll get there brother. Nothing great comes easy. Sending you good vibes. Seperately, may i ask what drugs you’re on for pain management ?

Quote from: GoodJuju on March 20, 2024, 12:43:00 PMYou’ll get there brother. Nothing great comes easy. Sending you good vibes. Seperately, may i ask what drugs you’re on for pain management ?

Hey, Juju... and thank you for your good vibes !

Well, everybody knows is not easy, obviously... but for me is more important to get a great result finally, not to leave this place being worse than the moment I came here. So thats why I am stressed about...

Regarding pain, I am not sure if you have read what I wrote along of these 3 months, but I had to stop the normal pain killing scheme of narcotics (3 opioids) after the first week, because the very strong side effects of them which ruined me completely... so, I had to switch to a much lighter scheme, based on Paracetamol and Voltaren.
Thats why I have much more pain than the majority of patients, because they could take a strong pill or skin patch, whenever they need, and me...not.
For me was impossible to live with opioids, so for almost entire period I had to take soft painkillers and to accept more pain.

Quote from: Ted68 on March 20, 2024, 01:19:34 PMHey, Juju... and thank you for your good vibes !

Well, everybody knows is not easy, obviously... but for me is more important to get a great result finally, not to leave this place being worse than the moment I came here. So thats why I am stressed about...

Regarding pain, I am not sure if you have read what I wrote along of these 3 months, but I had to stop the normal pain killing scheme of narcotics (3 opioids) after the first week, because the very strong side effects of them which ruined me completely... so, I had to switch to a much lighter scheme, based on Paracetamol and Voltaren.
Thats why I have much more pain than the majority of patients, because they could take a strong pill or skin patch, whenever they need, and me...not.
For me was impossible to live with opioids, so for almost entire period I had to take soft painkillers and to accept more pain.

Oh yes I recall that. Thanks for sharing

Day 88-94

Tomorrow is a big day for me, because I finish the elongation !... I gained a total of 121mm: 77.7 mm on femur plus 43.4 mm on tibia. So that means 182 cm height.
The last week was bad, each more millimeter I could feel it. The tissues stretch is hard to get for the body and I couldn’t sleep. I am happy that I decreased from 2 mm/day to 1.4 mm/day… otherwise i couldn’t do it !
The both feet are still flexible on tendons, but I walk only on tiptoes and having big pain in tibial bones.
In 2-3 days I will get the last regular x-rays. I hope the right femur curvature is stable !
After finishing elongation the pain should decrease and callus formation will increase…

Day 95-98

After finishing elongation I had 3 days of no elongation, but the happiness is not forever, because i have done the x-rays and 2 days later doctor gave me a bad news that my right tibia has late and slow callus formation… so I have to do reversing cycles so it could start the normal process…
The left tibia is a bit better but not great, so he advised me to do it on both.

Ohh, great !... so now I have to start over the schedules for the lengthening machine, for 3 weeks…

The PT is painful for me every day, as I told you already.

As you can see, I am busy permanently, never relaxed so I could sleep well…

Good your doctor saw it. It's not an easy process, but you are doing alright. Three week is not so long in the whole picture - you'll soon finish the elongation. Good luck.