Plzen's journey Precice II , bilateral femurs (South Africa, Dr. Birkholtz)

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Quote from: Plzen on November 29, 2014, 03:56:41 AMI will omit the name of the guest house to protect my identity (sorry guys). The owner of the guest house is nice but I feel very socially isolated. I eat breakfast, lunch, dinner in the same room by myself. Before surgery, I did not think it was a big deal. But after surgery it is a different story. I chose this place (in a hurry)and I regret it, so it is not doctor's fault.
centurion is not that hot yet. quiet a bit of raining.
Good luck with your x-rays, I hope you hear a good news.
You helped me a lot through your PM and your journal.
Hang in there buddy! I was in the exact same situation as you. The isolation can become psychologically difficult but just focus on the end result.

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ShortyMcshort,
when are you planning to do your surgery? Have you chosen your doctor yet?

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Quote from: Plzen on November 29, 2014, 05:43:59 AMShortyMcshort,
when are you planning to do your surgery? Have you chosen your doctor yet?

Not anytime soon sadly, my work is very physically demanding and doing the surgery will put me out of commission for a long time and I wont be able to work until full consolidation which will probably mean I'll lose my job sadly 
If I worked in an office environment and sat on a chair all day long then I'd probably do it now, currently saving $30-40,000 more than the required amount so that I can live off that when Im disabled and not able to work.

Im thinking the end of next year or early 2016.
It was a battle between Dr Birkholtz and Dr Parihar in India, Dr Birkholtz was winning by the tiniest of margins thanks to TRS's diary  , thanks again for the diary TRS. But sadly the conversion rate of $52,000 USD now equates to about $62,000 in my currency, that conversion pretty much gives away my origin lol.

So atm Im thinking Dr Shah, also in India who does it for about $40,000 USD I think, plus 3 to 4 months accommodation, food and physio on top.
But still undecided and it could go either way a year or two from now. Glad theres another Dr Birkholtz diary

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What do you do regarding food? Are you making it yourself or ordering?
Does the place you are staying at serve food?

What do you do to keep yourself entertained? I also worry about boredom and isolation for long period of times

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Quote from: Plzen on November 29, 2014, 04:13:07 AMThank you for your support Programdude. Your diary and your PMs helped me a lot. It is not just the boredom, it is the social isolation that is driving me crazy. As mentioned above, I spend most of the day in my room, I can not get out of my room by myself. One of the few things that I look forward to is going to daily PT(they take us by car to the Physical therapy office). Unfortunately the Physical therapist decided that starting next week, I need 3 PT sessions per week instead of 5. I kind of feel sad about that. And I think it might be slightly unfair as well. Because the package mentions 75 days of daily physical therapy included in the package. And I have already paid the package price with understanding that I will have daily PT.
It sounds like I am ungrateful but I am not. I just want to tell everything that is going through my mind and things that I experience on daily basis. I still have pain, but the pain is for the most part adequately managed with pain medications that I am provided. But there are times especially at night that my pain keeps me awake and the pain medication does not touch my pain. But overall it (pain) is manageable so far.

First of all it is ridiculous to lessen the number of PT session when you've paid. Straight up theft if you don't get the 75. It also seems ignorant since even if they are saying that because you are good, the idea is to stay well ahead of the tightness.

There is really no way around the boredom I found, since I couldn't fully focus on reading or even watching something at first. Fortunately this improved and eventually watching things was doable.

I'm glad my diary was useful to you. One of the most important things from it/that I can tell you is that it does end! Someone posted that in my diary and it almost didn't feel real, but just remember one day you will be getting on a plane back home with your goal achieved and all the pain behind you. It will feel great, I promise you that.

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Thank you PD for encouraging words, and  for reminding me that one day this will all end. It really helped me focus on the end goal, at least it improved my mood for today.

ShortyMcshort,
The place that I stay at provides  breakfast. But there are many other guest houses and hotels within walking distance (wait, I can't walk!) that provide either lunch or dinner or both. Currently I am ordering my food from restaurants. What I do is order 2-3 days worth of food, and put it in fridge, then microwave. It saves me delivery cost and I don't care about microwaving part (I am not picky in that regard).There is one restaurant that does not charge delivery cost (other than tip to the delivery guy). You can also order groceries online. I ordered lots of fruits, yogurt, some frozen food, salad etc. Honestly, I have no complaints about food part (but that could be because I am not picky person when it comes to food). My appetite (for any food)was not good at the beginning, but it has gotten a lot better now.
Entertainment wise. TV is mostly South African channels+bbc where I am staying at , but other places might be different.
I have a few electronic books with me (kindle), also mini-laptop.

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Hi all, new to the forum but im hoping to someday make the big step and have limb lengthening surgery. Im just over 5 foot 4 and hoping to gain at least 3 inches if possible.

I have been reading as much as i can here and I know there are limitations and risks to consider.

I was reading some forum posts here where if im not mistaken, Dr Franz. Birkholtz was responding to posts directly. I thought i read him say that he does not go above 165cm as in he wouldn't operate on a patient who was above this height. Also i thought i read him say that he does not do cosmetic limb lengthening any more. Can you confirm if he has any such conditions and if he you know if he will be continuing to do cosmetic limb lengthening going forward?

Im impressed by what i have read regarding the Precise II method but Paley seems just way too expensive and Dr. Birkholtz seems to know his stuff from what i have read of him so far.

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Congratulation on your LL journey! And I'm sorry to hear about the PT days being reduced. Did you complain? How can they blatantly do something like that... anyhow, would you think Dr. Birkholtz would take on a patient like myself? If he does, your diary will be highly valuable to me.

I also wish to do femur lengthening. I have fully recovered from my tibias operation and now just want another 6-7cm in the femur. My next LL journey won't take place at least until the end of this year.

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No offence to Dr Birkholtz but having height restrictions is as stupid as Dr Guichet making you write an essay basically about how crappy your life is at your height, blah, blah and hand it over to him before he decides if he'll do your surgery. Not only is it ego deflating but its also just a complete waste of time, writing the essay that is...

Unless you are 180cm or so then what does it matter? If you are 180cm then I have no issues if a doctor refuses to do the surgery but anything less should be ok in my opinion

Also regarding the less physio days, why dont you have a chat with Dr Birkholtz about it? He seems like a very reasonable person from what I've read about him on here.
I mean if you paid for the physio then you should get it, insist on getting it.

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3inchhope,
I think Dr. Birkholtz evaluate each person individually to see if he/she is a candidate for CLL. In some cases (such as mine) he will operate on people above 165cm. I have NOT heard anything about him stopping cosmetic LL, but I will ask him. I will be seeing him in a couple of weeks.

Smallguy,
I don't know what your current height is. I can ask Dr. Birkholtz when I see him next.

Smallguy+ShortyMcshort
I have sent an email to Dr. Birkholtz regarding the PT, I am hopping to hear from him soon.