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

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Last night right after I posted, I distracted 0.25mm (total of 1mm per day). I had terrible pain/cramping in my left thigh for about 1.5 hour. It was really severe.
Today, I have been doing 0.25mm distractions at time, and it is better (but cramping is not resolved yet). I hope this cramping will all go away soon.

Physical therapy is going well. Good news is that my PT is changed back to daily. I will still miss a lot of sessions because of the holidays (PT office closed for 7 days during the holiday season, and those are all weekdays, off course there is no PT on the weekends)

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Hi Plzen,

Congrats on taking a huge step toward your goal of being taller. How often do you get x-rays?

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Thank you Kilokahn. I have read part of your diary/journal and it has wealth of information especially for people considering Indian surgeons in the future.
I am getting x-rays every two weeks, but my first x-ray was taken about 8 days after the start of distraction (last week), and the doctor told me both nails are looking good and distracting.
I will have repeat x-ray next week.

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How exactly did you managed to get your pt back? By talking to Dr Birkholtz or the pt people?

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ShortyMcshort,
I emailed Dr. B. I wrote him the same thing as I wrote here on the forum (I need more PT, the package says that 75 days of daily PT is included). A couple of days later, he emailed me back and was sympathetic but did not say whether he would change my PT back to daily. Instead he said that he would "follow up".
I also discussed in person with Physical therapy boss. He told me that he had a meeting with the doctor that afternoon (Tuesday).
I found out Wednesday morning that my PT was changed back to daily, which made me a happy person.
I think, contacting the doctor helped more in terms of getting back my daily PT.

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1.7cm

I still have pain/discomfort but it is mainly at night. The pain is usually in the Quad areas (left leg worse compared to right).
I am more mobile, using walker, in my room. I also train on stationary bike at the PT office (biking is free of charge).
I am able to cope better with social isolation, and I don't think about it anymore on daily basis. I try to keep myself busy with reading books, surfing internet, talk to my family via Skype, and sometimes watching TV.
I hope things will keep improving, and hopefully no setbacks.

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Hi all,

Glad it's going better Plzen.

Yes it was me who changed the physio back. The issue is that they tend to individualize in our non-CLL patients and they thought they could do the same with you to save costs. Anyway, thats sorted and I am happy you are progressing well there.

I certainly have not stopped doing CLL. The rationale behind the limits is explained elsewhere, but I follow and individual approach and would encourage prospective patients to contact me directly to discuss.

Distraction rate is started at 1mm per day based on our experience with previous non-CLL patients, but is adjusted indvidually. Please discuss discomfort directly with the nurses so they can adjust your schedule.

Happy lengthening!

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Quote from: Plzen on December 05, 2014, 05:01:23 PM1.7cm

I still have pain/discomfort but it is mainly at night. The pain is usually in the Quad areas (left leg worse compared to right).
I am more mobile, using walker, in my room. I also train on stationary bike at the PT office (biking is free of charge).
I am able to cope better with social isolation, and I don't think about it anymore on daily basis. I try to keep myself busy with reading books, surfing internet, talk to my family via Skype, and sometimes watching TV.
I hope things will keep improving, and hopefully no setbacks.

Plzen good diary after the 1st 2 weeks isolation and sleepless nights were the worst part of the detracting phase.  Work, TV, blogging, and touching base with people back home all help but in the end you have to keep focus on the goal and visualize your new you.  Keep strong you can do it one day at a time!       

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2.1 cm

The cramping pain is all disappeared. I am lengthening 0.25mm, 4 times per day (1mm/day). No pain at all with distraction anymore
Unfortunately I do have contstant aching pain, my sleep quality has gotten worse.

New Problem today
off and on numbness in the left shin area (it is not total numb, I still feel the skin but it just does not feel normal, it does not have full sensation). The physical therapist had shown me some exercises for  hamstring stretching and I was doing them wrong ( I was stretching more my calfs and behind my knee areas). I hope this numbness is due to those exercises that I was doing wrong and hopefully not due to distraction.  I will be seeing Dr. B the day after tomorrow and I will mention it to him. I am worried because I am doing ok otherwise and I don't want this numbness to be the cause of me not accomplishing my dream.
I will appreciate everyone's opinion especially LL Veterans.
Thanks

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Is femurs rate/day higher than tibia?