Quote from: thankscience on October 07, 2022, 07:11:33 AMIf you take a bath you might have to heat up the kettle and pour it in
I was also going to say you could try a hot water bottle if you don't have a bath
I feel now the hardest part is the extreme soreness/stiffness/unresponsiveness of the legs I feel right after waking up
I often nap after physical therapy, and I heard this napping is common (not sure how much is from exhaustion and how much is from the cooling of the legs they do at the end)
The soreness after physical therapy -> it is very difficult psychologically to do clicks that night. So far I've won the battle each night against the urge to skip clicks but I am afraid I may lose this battle someday if I don't figure out something
I've found the massage gun useful for this, I sort of glide it gently over the legs and it "wakes" them up a little and makes them more responsive to being moved
Then I go use the pedal machine a bit to "wake" up the muscles even more
Unfortunately, it doesn't make the soreness go away
I keep pushing the evening clicks to be later and later at night to buy me time
Its often not so bad once it gets started, its only 7 clicks..
Sort of becomes this battle "cmon evening painkillers, please kick in already and help me do the evening clicks"
There is something psychologically difficult about the clicks too "alright time to lose my flexibility progress a bit by lengthening my legs"
My hands and feet often sweat easily in real life before this, and they seem to sweat more during LL in general
Right now, the things stopping me from using the shower hot water to stop soreness is:
1. the lack of hot water in shower nozzle
2. I could boil some water and then I think to make it safe, I would need to dilute it with regular tap water and then it would only last like one pour on my legs, not like a continuous stream of hot water
3. The overall awkwardness of getting into the tiny crammed shower area. Requires several points of not being supported by the walker (one to fold walker to be able to fit inside, one to grab shower chair to pull it into the shower area since otherwise it would block my entrance if I left in the shower area to begin with, one to fold the walker to pull it outside of the shower area). Still working out with Evi the best way to do this if I'm alone without her
"just walk inside without the walker" I could I guess -> but with the anti gravity treadmill even walking at only 50% of my weight is a significant task and same w/ walking w/ the crutches, I'm still afraid to try walking unassisted
However, the extra large cooling pads should be coming soon and I wonder if they will be a game changer. Unfortunately, unlike hot water, I don't think it is a good idea to use them before clicking or exercise, they seem more like a pain relief method to use when you're exhausted and can't exercise or stretch anymore
Anyone at Montaza been able to get like actual hot water and not just kind of warm water from the shower nozzle?
Thanks for your post. I've had a rough idea about what to expect from this surgery.
The burger at montaza- the edges of the patty are always burnt, I gotta remember to remove those edges before I eat them
Still debating whether to get a protein powder of sorts. Kinda feel iffy about the mostly carb dinners I usually have. Just kinda afraid of cross reactions with other things
Then again, protein powders/drinks are probably common. I am pretty sure the guy with a starting height of about 175 cm said he takes them everyday hm..
Definitely leg lengthening related
Quote from: LothLorien on October 07, 2022, 05:21:25 PMThanks for your post. I've had a rough idea about what to expect from this surgery.
I wonder if they have the Hobbit on the United airplane ride to Athens, I might watch it on the way back since I already watched the original LOTR trilogy on the way to Athens
Quote from: thankscience on October 03, 2022, 10:29:15 AMI know it's still early days as you are lengthening but I'm surprised it's much of an issue if you are using the nails that support 95kgs per leg
yeah so like for some context
On the anti gravity treadmill, currently I'm using like 50% of my weight (a machine is holding up my upper body so that it feels like only 50% of my weight is on my legs) -> it seems to be standard for them to start patients off with 50% or 40% is on the anti gravity treadmill
I don't think I could do 100% now
1. Imo don't get cash at the airport unless its for small amounts like 75 USD or less -> prepare to get ripped off and lose 25% of your money, the trolls at the airport currency exchange will try to convince you to trade in even more "how long are you staying in Athens?"
2. The hospital has an ATM -> I'd get there early and try it out
I still don't know the best ATM near montaza, they all seem like they involve crossing that very wide set of two huge roads (frankly looks like hell to cross even before the surgery)
I don't know if schwab's debit card works for this (schwab gives ATM fee reimbursements) but I heard maybe fidelity also is a good option to get cash, not sure, anyone wanna chime in?
I don't know if Schwab's debit card even works at the hospital ATM or not
Anyone knows the questions the hospital ATM asks? Keep hearing that some ATMs will try to trick you at first into a bad rate, see youtube for that
Cash (physical Euros) is super useful for:
1. Exchanging money / splitting bills between other patients
2. Now it will be super useful to use on the cheaper transportation costs of the SUV service they are setting up
3. Giving money to a nurse so they can buy something for you in case you forgot to bring something like some warm clothes (even though its Athens, it will get cold starting in October sometimes, especially mornings)
If you are going to use the nonhandicap room, I'd say its probably worth it to bring some kind of shoulder/sling bag that is big enough to hold water bottles, useful for refilling your water each night (montaza sells filled new plastic water bottles for like 0.50 euros which is great
For handicap rooms, it doesn't matter, you just roll in to the bathroom with your wheelchair and water bottles and go up to the sink, but even in that case I think some kind of shoulder bag would be good. Maybe a strap connected to a strong thick grocery bag too would give you more room to hold stuff
Right now I have like 3 water bottles that I rotate between the bed desk, the fridge, refilling them in the sink etc
There's always the option to just walk into the bathroom with the walker, use their cup to drink the tap water (which I hear is supposed to be safe in Athens) but I'm partial to cold water
I mean I could use a non-plastic bottle for the water bottles, it might be better but it would be heavier and annoying if it ever fell and broke
I keep imagining a sarcastic troll Christmas poem about a hypothetical Larry the Leg Lengthener who wakes up and eats a "balanced and nutritious breakfast" of one tramadol, two paracetamols (painkillers), one lyrica for nerve pain, and one xarelto. To practice his singing and warm up his voice box, he goes to physical therapy to get his legs stretched extra hard today. He meets a 5'11 patient who is trying to get to 6'2 and asks him "why not go for even more". I have to think there are some sarcastic jokes related to leg lengtheners
I have yet to meet a patient who is very tall who is trying to become shorter but I wonder if Dr. Paley has encountered this with extremely tall women wanting to be discriminated against less / wanting to feel more normal
It is different for very tall women though. Although they face discrimination in dating, at the same time, their height/long legs is also kind of seen as desirable
I used to eat bigger breakfasts but somehow now I only eat like a bunch of eggs, chocolate milk, and maybe a small amount of OJ, I can't seem to eat anymore. I hope the hotel gets some like sausage patties or something to spice things up, their usual small thumb-sized sausages I feel are not so appealing after a few times. I'd recommend not eating their honeydew, tasted a bit odd and too soft to me
I feel like there is always a useful thing that can be done in a moment (rest, stretch, refill water, clean up room a bit, set alarm, plan for the upcoming day, exercise on the pedal machine)
I vaguely remember programmerdude or some username said with Dr. Paley LL he just played computer games to pass the time and it wasn't so bad. However, I'm finding sitting at desk to be totally unappealing and less comfortable than a bed, like the thighs will not feel so good after being on a chair for a while, maybe some cushioning helps
podcasts seem to be better when you're exhausted, you just close eyes and go limp
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