Paley Institute | Bilateral Femur Surgery | Dr Dr Deszczyński & Dr Albrewczyński

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Quote from: Robert Adam on February 04, 2024, 08:07:46 AMWhy do you lengthen 8 cm on the femur and not 2x4 cm on the tibia/femur?

It's faster and arguably safer than quadrilateral. I get the maximum gain with femurs, and if I want to do it again I can get 4-5cm with tibias.

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You have crazy sitting height. Definitely short legs.

How is your tibia/femur ratio like? If it's normal ratio, won't lengthening somewhat short legs 8 cm make leg proportions look weird?

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Quote from: Hldrive on February 04, 2024, 05:53:23 PMYou have crazy sitting height. Definitely short legs.

How is your tibia/femur ratio like? If it's normal ratio, won't lengthening somewhat short legs 8 cm make leg proportions look weird?

Yeah my sitting height is pretty wild. My wingspan is like 6ft.

My tibia/femur ratio is 0.79-0.8 or something, post surgery I’ll have a 0.72-73 ratio or something. I feel like people really overthink proportions. The only people who will notice are LL Forum users who are trained to pick these things up. Also, I’d rather look slightly off and get 8cm of height. It’s all a trade off.

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Update 05/02/2024

Readmitted to hospital: medical emergency: Pulmonary Embolism

Admitted to hospital due to Pulmonary Embolism. Will be watched and have blood tests. I was able to get rid of the most dangerous blood clots (and hence stabilising the condition) because I calculated a new blood thinner dose from their medication to get rid of it (with a little help of clinical research papers). I’m not very worried as I feel like my condition has stabilised due to being a medical geek 

The negatives:

Pulmonary Embolism

Yesterday I coughed really big chunks of blood with clots that were approximately 1 inch long. Posted pictures in the server.

I used my background in STEM to calculate a dosage for my blood thinners that would dissolve most of the clots.

Today I saw the Paley Institute surgeon and they did tests on me on oxygen saturation and blood pressure to determine if I had a pulmonary embolism. They also did some physical exams.

I was then sent to the MediCare Hospital to do an angiogram. When I arrived, the nurses were quite dismissive of me having broken legs. There were 2 nurses: a nurse which was around 60 year old who gave me tough soviet lady vibes, and a younger nurse who spoke a few words of English.

My carer told them that I had a surgery and my legs were fragile. While I was transferring myself from the wheelchair to the angiogram machine, the old nurse seemed to be annoyed and picked me up BY MY FEMURS. The other nurse picked me up with the other leg but not quite the femurs. They ignored my groans of pain and just slammed me on the angiogram machine. After I had the iodine marker put in my veins and the imaging was completed, the nurses picked me up by my legs (the older by my femurs) and roughly put me in the wheelchair. Needless to say, I despite going to that hospital now. If they treat private patients like that, I can’t imagine how people are treated in public hospitals.

My legs were hurting for the rest of the day and I had to take some oral opioids to reduce the pain. However, I still have some pain as this old woman thought it was a good idea to pick me up by my broken femurs when she was told that I had a surgery on them. Very dismissive, felt so rush and an inconvenience.

Update: As I write this, I get a call saying that the surgeon wants me to be supervised at the hospital due to my blood clots.

The positives

My walking has improved. The physiotherapist is fantastic and has given me exercises to improve my flexibility. This has allowed me to take consistent steps without stopping. I am also walking a lot safer as I changed walker positions which allows me to put more weight on my upper body.

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There are many good outcomes and positivie diaries + german hospitals are much better than Polish ones especially if you paid higher price for what you could get in Germany but anyway good luck with your recover and keep us posted!

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Sorry to hear that Torso, hope you are feeling better.

Any idea on what could cause the pulmonary embolism?

I thought that was mostly a risk right after surgery but not weeks later.

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Quote from: TheDream on February 05, 2024, 06:43:10 PMSorry to hear that Torso, hope you are feeling better.

Any idea on what could cause the pulmonary embolism?

I thought that was mostly a risk right after surgery but not weeks later.

I am now in the Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit. It’s good that the Paley Institute Europe and acted fast and put me in the ICU to prevent further damage (my oxygen saturation was quite low, like 95-96%).

Initially I thought it was a clot embolism because of me coughing blood and large clots.

The angiogram indicates that it’s a fat embolism. These usually happen when fat is released from your femur during nail insertion. I guess I was unlucky.

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Quote from: lucindaris on February 05, 2024, 06:23:11 PMThere are many good outcomes and positivie diaries + german hospitals are much better than Polish ones especially if you paid higher price for what you could get in Germany but anyway good luck with your recover and keep us posted!

I am seriously considering suing this hospital.

I got admitted to ICU, needed to change beds, and their idea was to have 4 people grab me with a blanket and transfer beds. The issue with that is by lifting the blanket near my legs, they basically lifted my legs very quickly. I started screaming in pain and told them to stop and I’d do it myself.

Second time in a day now, first grabbing me by the femurs, and second by lifting my legs with the blanket very quickly. If you’re a LL patient, you know that it needs to be done slowly otherwise it hurts like hell, especially in the first weeks.

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Update 06/02/2024

Surgeon came to check up on me first thing in the morning. Seems like I’m fine (100% blood saturation). Much better than yesterday, the oxygen therapy was a good shout.

I will start lengthening after I leave the ICU.

Some people messaged me asking about whether I’d do it again.

I feel like complications can happen to anyone. What matters is the surgeons being decisive and taking action immediately so said complications don’t cause damage. In that regard, I feel really safe with Dr Michal and Dr Tomasz. Every time something comes up, they help me rapidly. The physiotherapists also do an amazing job.

The only issues I have are with their partner hospital which don’t really have Paley staff. Some staff in the MediCare hospital don’t seem to know how to handle someone with broken legs. This leads to a lot of pain. I dont think most of them are malicious. However, it happens often enough that I really dislike this hospital.

Essentially, I am really happy with the Paley Europe staff and not with the MediCare hospital staff. I’ve never been hurt by a Paley staff. I would definitely do it again. This complication can happen with any surgeon, but not every surgeon would’ve acted fast enough.

I had a complication which can happen to anyone. What matters is that the team is focused on safety so if any arise you’re treated immediately.

I will send an email to Dr Paley showing my concerns about their partner hospital. It seems like their partner hospital needs some training on orthopaedics as they’re pretty rough at times. Again, this is not every staff, I’ve had some really caring nurses here.

TL;DR; I am well and will leave the ICU after final safety checks are made. I’m here to prevent any lung related problems. I wasn’t admitted for lung damage, but because I was displaying low oxygen saturation so the surgeons acted fast to prevent damage by monitoring me and putting me me on oxygen therapy. Thanks to the surgeons, they’ve been amazing thus far.

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Just spoke to a Cardiologist.

Turns out I don’t have 1 big fat embolism in my lungs.

The cardiologist said that I had a really rare case. In his words, 50-70% of my lungs are covered in very small fat embolisms. This is very rare apparently, it’s as if one big fat embolism split itself into small pieces and filled my lungs with it.

My condition is very stable but I’m pretty scared right now 

Hopefully it clears up. I will be transferred to the cardiology ward and stay there for a few days. Right now we’re waiting for my lymphocytes to do their job and metabolise all the fat in my lungs.

Will keep you all updated.