I walk 100 steps a day right now. They want me to get to 500+ next week when I return home. This is all on the walker.
Notes:
1. Standing on one foot with no other support for one second will HURT but it doesn’t mean it will bend or break the nail from one incidence. I have the second largest nails in me, 10.7mm because despite being very tall for this I have small leg bone mass (despite normal arm size and a 7” wrist and above average shoulders… weird genetics). These support 50lbs per leg. Yet I weigh 160lbs and they let me for short periods of times stand straight up with no walker. This means 80lbs per leg. The nail won’t break from this if the weight is even and it’s not for too long. especially while the nail is not very extended yet. The more you extend the nail, the weaker it gets! Putting exactly 51lbs of weight on a leg won’t suddenly make your leg snap in half. I would have snapped my leg within moments of getting home otherwise. Even transfers from bed to walker or wheelchair would be impossible. You’re fragile but not like a porcelain plate. This just isn’t Stryde though where you can walk and carry heavy things under your own power without any worries. You’re on a walker (eventually crutches if wanted) but as long as you’re using the walker and not doing something really stupid or awkward, you are ok at all times.
2. Someone asked me in DMs about using bike pedals attached to a wheelchair for Physical Therapy. Be careful with this but you’ll end up doing this in PT anyways. Once you have surgery and done a few weeks of PT ask your own PT about what they recommend personally. If you use Dr D your PT will be Mike Russell and I won’t be around long enough to get his opinion. I’ll ask him on Thursday though and if I get a good sense from him, I’ll post it here. Also, him and his PTAs are all really good!
3. Walk more, not less. Walking really makes your legs feel better. Also I’m supposed to spend more waking hours in a chair especially when working. No working from bed even if it’s comfy
Precise 2.2 with Dr Debiparshad — June 2021
Quote from: HobbitMan on June 23, 2021, 03:21:52 AMI walk 100 steps a day right now. They want me to get to 500+ next week when I return home. This is all on the walker.
Notes:
1. Standing on one foot with no other support for one second will HURT but it doesn’t mean it will bend or break the nail from one incidence. I have the second largest nails in me, 10.7mm because despite being very tall for this I have small leg bone mass (despite normal arm size and a 7” wrist and above average shoulders… weird genetics). These support 50lbs per leg. Yet I weigh 160lbs and they let me for short periods of times stand straight up with no walker. This means 80lbs per leg. The nail won’t break from this if the weight is even and it’s not for too long. especially while the nail is not very extended yet. The more you extend the nail, the weaker it gets! Putting exactly 51lbs of weight on a leg won’t suddenly make your leg snap in half. I would have snapped my leg within moments of getting home otherwise. Even transfers from bed to walker or wheelchair would be impossible. You’re fragile but not like a porcelain plate. This just isn’t Stryde though where you can walk and carry heavy things under your own power without any worries. You’re on a walker (eventually crutches if wanted) but as long as you’re using the walker and not doing something really stupid or awkward, you are ok at all times.
2. Someone asked me in DMs about using bike pedals attached to a wheelchair for Physical Therapy. Be careful with this but you’ll end up doing this in PT anyways. Once you have surgery and done a few weeks of PT ask your own PT about what they recommend personally. If you use Dr D your PT will be Mike Russell and I won’t be around long enough to get his opinion. I’ll ask him on Thursday though and if I get a good sense from him, I’ll post it here. Also, him and his PTAs are all really good!
3. Walk more, not less. Walking really makes your legs feel better. Also I’m supposed to spend more waking hours in a chair especially when working. No working from bed even if it’s comfy
Wow, that's interesting. I thought that, with your size, you would be getting the big nail
Quote from: V21 on June 23, 2021, 07:42:40 AMWow, that's interesting. I thought that, with your size, you would be getting the big nail
Me too. My PT was beyond surprised too. My surgeon said from one angle it looked like 12.5 fit, from another it looked like it wouldn’t. He said he would TRY to get 12.5mm in there but I woke up and he said that 12.5mm would have been just a millimeter or two too large and would have been dangerous.
I think frame is part of it, I have a medium frame overall (good shoulders, big torso, normal wrists) but small in others (small leg bones for my height). So don’t assume just because you’re big that you’ll get the biggest nails.
I wish you all the best towards your lengthening journey, HobbitMan 
Quote from: chasing_higher_dream on June 23, 2021, 06:16:37 PMI wish you all the best towards your lengthening journey, HobbitMan
Thanks, and to you as well!
Also I may probably get more sparse with my journal going forward now that my life is starting to return to a new normal. Will give major updates.
Edit: I’m also fully productive at work, less than 2 weeks after surgery. Pain and painkillers are not affecting my productivity.
Quote from: HobbitMan on June 19, 2021, 05:21:59 PMThanks last night was rough though. Like 6-7 pain all night. I just hit 4mm (5mm overall) last night and then slowly my legs got worse and worse. Even this morning they’re not the best even after morphine and the Percocet. Ronnie says I can take a tiny bit of acetaminophen with it so let’s see how that goes. I hope it’s just that I need to ice them more.
Define easy 
my surgery was one week ago. For PT in my hotel room I had to show that I could walk around on it with semi-normal steps, ten overall. In the hospital I had to walk 40 feet down the hallway for them to consider me “fully ready”. Despite that I don’t use the walker as much right now because I’m truly an expert at the wheelchair. I plan when I go back home in a week to use the walker 50-100 steps a day. I can give you a better idea then I think.
remember to stretch like crazy. I forgot to stretch on the first 2 month and half and focused on walking too much, that mistake should never happen to any LL patients.
Went in for my 13 day follow up. X rays look perfect so far, no concerns from the doctor. Bone healing is average is which considered great — unlikely chance of early or late consolidation. Stadiometer measured me at 176.5cm. I’ve only lengthened 1cm as of this morning.
Quote from: dexter1930 on June 23, 2021, 08:57:18 PMremember to stretch like crazy. I forgot to stretch on the first 2 month and half and focused on walking too much, that mistake should never happen to any LL patients.
I’ve been very good with stretching! The only ones I’m bad at are the ones where I have to be on my stomach — my legs twist a lot and I need help.
12mm. I feel slightly taller standing up in familiar settings already. My legs don’t look any longer yet. It’s all very subtle though. I took my first shower today. It was very hard to do standing up in a walker. Slowing down on the diary because flying home was very difficult. Sitting for 8 hours from Uber to airport to plane seat to long flight to Uber home… so much strain on my pelvis. Not looking forward to flying two more times to see the doctor but it’s survivable, just unpleasant to fly this way. I have 4 weeks before I have to worry about that though.
I suspect I’ll notice a lot more changes after the 30mm mark.
Hey HobbitMan - Sounds like the trip home wasn’t horrible, but not fun either. Hopefully, you at least got to board the plane first based on the ole legs there! 😂. I’m sure it is good to be back in a familiar environment. When you have time for the next update, I’d be interested in knowing more (if you’re willing to share of course) about your pain levels and how much you’re using wheelchair vs. walker. Also, how do you manage stairs? I have stairs to deal with in any post-surgical environment and am paranoid about bending the nails by just navigating the stairs when I have to. Thanks for the update. Stay strong brutha 💪
Quote from: L8GrowthSpurt on June 29, 2021, 12:32:27 AMHey HobbitMan - Sounds like the trip home wasn’t horrible, but not fun either. Hopefully, you at least got to board the plane first based on the ole legs there! 😂. I’m sure it is good to be back in a familiar environment. When you have time for the next update, I’d be interested in knowing more (if you’re willing to share of course) about your pain levels and how much you’re using wheelchair vs. walker. Also, how do you manage stairs? I have stairs to deal with in any post-surgical environment and am paranoid about bending the nails by just navigating the stairs when I have to. Thanks for the update. Stay strong brutha 💪
Thanks! If you have stairs and own a house (or staying with family) you can rent a chair lift like I did. 3 months was only $1500 total including installation and eventually the removal. I might extend it to 5-6 months eventually as needed.
Pain levels are never super high. After lengthening I am tight, the more I walk the better I feel. I’m still utilizing the painkillers but in a week or two I would hope to be off them mostly.
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