Re comments that Mitkovic monorail is no good for correcting misalignments I just noticed his website with supporting pics says its used to correct various angular deformities such as varus valgus etc.
he has a device which attaches to the other device which pushes the pins down to correct the alignments..im getting one put on tomorrow.. im taking a break for a while from the site as it causes me too much unecessary stress.. i will be back on once im recovered and in better spirits.. wish everyone all the best with their journeys.. ill probably be back on in a few months for an update.. good luck to everyone. peace
Hi Descreteuser,
Sorry if I have sounded too negative on the monorail and your misalignment. It's difficult sometimes posting on a forum like this. You have to try to balance telling what you think to be true with the fact that people going through this surgery are very vulnerable, and that none of us really know what the future will hold for anyone.
It is true there is some capacity for a monorail to realign this misalignment. But monorails by their nature of being one dimensional and only having a few pinsites into the bone are not exactly ideal for this. I sincerely hope your surgeon is able to realign it adequately. What I would suggest to you is that if you are continuing with his work, do not be satisfied with it until it is perfectly aligned.
Almost all of the people who end up with chronic problems from leg lengthening get them due to misalignments that weren't fixed before consolidation. A large percent of those tend to be from monorail users. The remaining large proportion tend to be people who had their frames off too early or their internal nails bend.
Getting the alignment fixed is crucial to your future health. However that is done, just do your best to make sure it does get done. I hope you will have the best outcome possible. I'm sure we all on the forum do. I hope you will please continue to share your progress here. We all benefit from it. Try to understand that we are just concerned.
• Monday 25th to Saturday 30th May – Probably the most stressful week since being in the hospital 2 ½ months ago. Ive found that the hardest part of this process is mental stress more than physical stress. All week I had that bloody bump on my mind. I made the decision that I was going to have it fixed even though it could cause other complications.
• Sunday 31st May – After 2 sleepless nights of trying to make a decision I decided to have the doctor use his other technique to try and push the bone back in. He came around and attached another bar to my device which would be attached to the top pins, and lever them down to push the bone back in. This method made much more sense and I was more hopeful that it would work. He had to push down on the bump at the same time and I could feel it being moved back in. I was asked to tighten a bolt while he got it in the right position. Unfortunately the pins weren’t long enough to get enough leverage which meant the bump returned to where it was. The solution was to add extensions to the pins to provide more leverage. The doctor told me I would have to wait a few days for it to be made up. The bump on my leg was temporarily worse than before which caused more stress. Also after he left I noticed a clicking sound in my leg which made me worry.
• Monday 1st June – The clicking sound kept me up all night wondering what it was. Every time I moved my leg I felt clicking. It wasn’t painful but I worried that it might be something serious. I rang the doctor about it as I couldn’t get it off my bloody mind. He came visited me and told me that it was nothing to worry about. It turned out to be coming from the device and not my leg. While the doctor was there he said there was another way to fix my alignment manually. As the sight of the bump was driving me crazy I thought, stuff it lets do it. The doctor ensured me that as long as I stay still and relaxed everything will be fine. I put my leg on a pillow and he loosened the device from the pin and readjusted the device. He tightened the device to the top pins and pushed the bar down. In turn the top fragment of my tibia was pushed down and pushed back into alignment and tightened to the bottom pins. The bump was now gone. As I lost a few mm of length during the correction he immediately lengthened it back to match my right leg. It was big sense of relief.
• Tuesday 2nd June – Now that I had my legs where I wanted them, I felt I could concentrate purely on my recovery. I decided to start using the stationary bike which I had purchased earlier from the previous patient. The bike is a great way to strengthen the legs and improve movement in the joints. Strengthening your legs will make walking much easier. At this stage I decided to do 15 minutes a day. I continued to stretch approx 30 minutes a day to improve flexibility in my knee joints, ankles and hamstrings as well as strengthening my calves with calf raises. Walking with walker in hotel room approx 15 minutes a day at this stage.
• Wednesday 3rd June – Walking today with walker was better than ever. For the first time it wasn’t exhausting. My legs were feeling stronger already and gave me confidence that I was on my way to a speedy recovery.
• Saturday 6th June – I decided to go for a walk with the walker outside for the first time. Very hot day. Was good to get out and get fresh air. I walked to a park about 500m away and sat there for a while and enjoyed getting some vitamin c from the sun. I had to cross a few roads on the way, which I was nervous about, and was quite slow but cars were understanding and were patient. Very rarely had I enjoyed sunshine for the past 4 months. It kind of made me feel normal again rather than just being locked inside my hotel room all day. I decided at this stage just to walk outside once or twice a week as it is a bit dangerous.
Hello Descreteuser,
It's really good to hear that you were able to get your misalignment corrected with relative ease. The last few posts before this made the Mitkovic monorail seem a little too risky or just off-putting for CLL purposes to say the least.
After following your journey this past month, I've been strongly considering doing tibia LL and go with Dr Mitkovic if at all possible. I'm just a little concerned that 5-6 cm on the monorail may be asking for trouble.
I couldn't seem to find any reference as to your starting height before LL.
I understand that Dr Mitkovic is a really busy guy who mostly deals with non CLL patients, but I'm curious to know just how long it took you to secure an appointment with him? How long does it typically take to secure an appointment once you have expressed an interest to go through with the surgery?
Please keep us posted on your progress:D
Quote from: ewf on June 09, 2015, 12:32:42 AMHello Descreteuser,
It's really good to hear that you were able to get your misalignment corrected with relative ease. The last few posts before this made the Mitkovic monorail seem a little too risky or just off-putting for CLL purposes to say the least.
After following your journey this past month, I've been strongly considering doing tibia LL and go with Dr Mitkovic if at all possible. I'm just a little concerned that 5-6 cm on the monorail may be asking for trouble.
I couldn't seem to find any reference as to your starting height before LL.
I understand that Dr Mitkovic is a really busy guy who mostly deals with non CLL patients, but I'm curious to know just how long it took you to secure an appointment with him? How long does it typically take to secure an appointment once you have expressed an interest to go through with the surgery?
Please keep us posted on your progress:D
6cm is the absolute max that id suggest anyone do with this device.. if i could do it all over again with what i know now things would have been alot smoother. i was 181cm before and am now 185cm. i first contacted him in 2011 but i kept delaying it due to financial situations.. i contacted him on and off for the next few years but i kept backing out and kind of forgot about it for a while. i contacted him again half way through 2014 and this time i had my financial situation completely sorted and was definite on following through this time.. i booked and began my journey on february 14th.. once u talk with him and he knows ur goals are reasonable and that u r serious then he accepts you and you can organise a date pretty soon.
kind of hard to decide between mitkovic or barinov using ilazarov
what would you think Descreteuser, would you say the risk of misalingment isn't worth it and to stick with barinov, or is there some reason to choose mitkovic over barinov.
Thank you very much for clearing that up. So it sounds like we're looking at a 6 month time-frame.
I had no idea you were so tall to begin with. It's very positive to hear that you're 4 cm taller than me, and Dr Mitkovic had no reservations about taking you on as a patient.
Until I read your posts, I didn't feel that LL would be financially viable for me for at least another year or two, but seeing your positive posts on this very affordable doctor has forced me to confront whether or not I really want to go through with this. It's quite a lot to take on board.
To me, getting a minimum of 6 cm feels like it's hard-wired into my mind. I understand that allot of those who wish to undergo two surgeries for maximal gain rarely ever go through with the second LL op. So I think it's important that I do get to 183 cm (6 ft) tall with my initial surgery.
At an above average starting height of 181 cm, I'd like to know what made you finally decide to got through with the surgery? Also, do you mind if I ask your age?
I do apologize for hijacking your thread. You've been unbelievably helpful. Thanks!
Quote from: microman on June 09, 2015, 02:15:08 AMkind of hard to decide between mitkovic or barinov using ilazarov
what would you think Descreteuser, would you say the risk of misalingment isn't worth it and to stick with barinov, or is there some reason to choose mitkovic over barinov.
For me, the Mitkovic monorail seems to be much less invasive and much easier to manage. The thought of having to wear a large clunky Ilizarov frame for an extended period of time would be quite unpleasant in comparison. If that wasn't enough, Dr Mitkovic is based in Europe, so if you're European (like me) not having to worry about a visa is a major advantage when planning your stay 
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