PYOTR's ST. PETERSBURG JOURNAL

Pyotr

Member

Posts: 296

Joined: Mar 2018

Posted on Aug 25, 2018, 4:14 pm

PYOTR'S ST. PETERSBURG JOURNAL

Anticipated Surgery Date: September 21, 2018

Long-Term Goal: 14 cm

A Little About Me:

I am 56 years old; married for 33 years. I am a doctoral level professional and own and operate my own law practice. My experience and background is full and diverse.

Why Leg Lengthening:

I did not consider leg lengthening until recently. I have always been short; however, I have never felt that my height held me back. By example, in my youth, I was a Marine infantry platoon sergeant. Leadership was essential. I had to enforce my orders irrespective of my height. As an attorney, I am engaged in adversarial interactions every day. Taller others try to intimidate and I deal with it. I guess I am used to my height, never thought it could be changed, and never gave it much thought.

About six months ago, I saw a good-looking, good-quality pair of dress shoes that provided a 3" lift. I tried them and almost instantly noticed that others challenged me less.

The notion of leg-lengthening germinated. I realized leg lengthening was doable and I could afford it. So I continued to explore the process.

Dimensions, Goals, & Concerns:

I think I may have begun to shrink. I am 164 cm tall; my "wingspan" is 166 cm. However, my chest is about 43" and I weigh about 175 and I am in good shape--I have always worked out and have good muscle tone, size, and density. This means that my upper body is the size of a taller person. In fact, I think I look better when I am wearing 3" lifts.

I would like to lengthen by 14 cm. Doing so would make me about 5' 10" tall. Ideally, something like 8 cm in the femurs and 6 cm in the tibias.

I have two principal concerns--one is physical/medical; the other is professional. I have bi-lateral hip replacements so I have permanent stems in the top of each femur. This fact limits surgical options and dramatically increases the risk from infection. On the professional side, it is necessary that I be able to do at least desk work during this process.

Potential Procedures:

For my femurs, I may be a candidate for internal lengthening using a retrograde approach. I may also be a candidate for some form of peri-prosthetic lengthening. I am also a candidate for LON and LATN as well as pure external lengthening.

For my tibias, I am a candidate for all procedures.

I anticipate two procedures. I ruled-out internals for now because of the cost. I also ruled out pure externals due to the time required in frames.

I also ruled out cross leg lengthening because that process is just not for me. Because I do not know if I will undergo a second procedure, the first procedure must be complete in and of itself. Cross lengthening would result in one knee being about five inches higher than the other which forces a second surgery to even out.

I am anticipating LON or LATN hopefully on both femurs first. If I get 8 cm, then, maybe I will call that good.

Via LON or LATN, I will stay in St. Petersburg for about 3 months; then, return to California during the consolidation phase. Because I may be able to do some weight bearing during the consolidation phase, I hope to incrementally return to a full work load yet all the while do desk work.

Ultimately, I will consult with Dr. Solomin and his team the week prior to surgery; then, jointly decide the specific procedure, if any. I will work that procedure until I reach my goal or until further lengthening is contra-indicated, whichever comes first.

Why St. Petersburg?

I am cheap but I am not crazy. Foremost, there are only a handful of good and experienced cosmetic leg lengthening surgeons. I do not believe anyone should opine that Leonid Solomin is not a member of that group. In my opinion, it is hard to beat the combination of skill, experience, and value offered by the Solomin team.

In fact, when consulting with Dr. Solomin, he offered more options, courses, and possibilities than any other cosmetic leg lengthening surgeon. (Please note: I am merely sharing my experiences, perceptions, and conclusions for the general consideration of others--I am not trying to persuade anyone else--each candidate for lengthening should perform his or her own due diligence and form his or her own conclusions.)

I overcame my initial aversion and doubts about St. Petersburg through research. Compare St. Elizabeth's municipal hospital in St. Petersburg to St. Vincent's hospital in Los Angeles and you will probably agree that the Russians have it better.

Moreover, because much work and communication is now done electronically, I hope to continue to work without interruption (except for court appearance and the like) so the fact that I will be in Russia for several months is not an insurmountable problem.

Wish me success!

NEXT TIME -- Logistics.

Edit Post

PYOTR'S ST. PETERSBURG JOURNAL

Anticipated Surgery Date: September 21, 2018

Long-Term Goal: 14 cm

A Little About Me:

I am 56 years old; married for 33 years. I am a doctoral level professional and own and operate my own law practice. My experience and background is full and diverse.

Why Leg Lengthening:

About six months ago, I saw a good-looking, good-quality pair of dress shoes that provided a 3" lift. I tried them and almost instantly noticed that others challenged me less.

The notion of leg-lengthening germinated. I realized leg lengthening was doable and I could afford it. So I continued to explore the process.

Dimensions, Goals, & Concerns:

I would like to lengthen by 14 cm. Doing so would make me about 5' 10" tall. Ideally, something like 8 cm in the femurs and 6 cm in the tibias.

Potential Procedures:

For my tibias, I am a candidate for all procedures.

I anticipate two procedures. I ruled-out internals for now because of the cost. I also ruled out pure externals due to the time required in frames.

I am anticipating LON or LATN hopefully on both femurs first. If I get 8 cm, then, maybe I will call that good.

Why St. Petersburg?

Wish me success!

NEXT TIME -- Logistics.

Like (0)

fivetenneeded2016

Member

Posts: 11

Joined: Sep 2016

Posted on Aug 25, 2018, 4:46 pm

Good Luck Sir!
A lot of diaries with solomin now, great

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Pyotr

Member

Posts: 153

Joined: Mar 2018

Posted on Aug 26, 2018, 4:55 pm

ST. PETERSBURG LOGISTICS

Overview

Making St. Petersburg happen is not particularly difficult, but it does involve many steps. I suggest you begin 3-4 months before your anticipated consultation date.

Visa

Once you have a date, the first step is to get your Visa. Russia now offers a 3-year tourist Visa that allows you to stay in country for up to 180 days at one time. The advantage of this Visa is that should you need or want to return to Russia, you need not deal with the Visa process.

The first step in obtaining a Visa is to secure an invitation letter. Many organizations provide invitation letters for a fee. I used "Fortuna Travel". The invitation letter cost $49.

The Russian Consulate website sets out the process to obtain a Visa. The process involves completing a fairly lengthy application and submitting photos and passports. It takes about 4 weeks to receive the Visa. The cost for a 3-year Visa was $388.

Airfare & Accommodations

Because no airline flies direct to St. Petersburg from where I live, I decided to spend two nights in Paris as a stop-over on the way. The flight to France was about $300; the flight from Paris to St. Petersburg was about $200.

I used AirBNB for accommodations. Doing so avoided customary payment of one month's rent to an agent. Prices vary widely. The most challenging aspect was finding a wheelchair accessible unit. Only about 10% of the possibles I identified were wheelchair accessible. I found a new, modern, accessible unit for about $20 per day that includes cleaning, wi-fi, and airport transfers. Anticipated cost for 3 months is about $1800.00.

I will have a full-size refrigerator so will stock-up on supplies before my surgery. Many "hypermarkets" are near my apartment building and the building itself has a convenience store and several food shops. Most places deliver if necessary.

Wheelchair & Crutches

I have crutches and bought a modern wheelchair off Craigslist for $50. Almost every airline ships standard wheelchairs for free so I plan to roll onto the airplane with it so that I have it in St. Petersburg.

Getting Around

I hope to get around my apartment and building via wheelchair. For longer trips, Uber and Gett are available in St. Petersburg via phone apps and are both inexpensive.

Currency Exchange

Online you can find the "prime" currency exchange rate. The goal is to get as close as possible to the prime rate when exchanging currency. Two "fees" exist when exchanging currency. The first is that some organizations charge an exchange fee. The second and less obvious fee is the exchange rate itself.

For example, I can exchange currency at Wells Fargo--they do not charge me an exchange fee. However, the exchange rate offered by Wells Fargo results in a total exchange fee of almost 9%.

Most major banks in Russia do not charge an exchange fee; the exchange rate is close to the prime rate. So, I plan to carry USD; then, exchange dollars for rubles in Russia.

Where I can, I will use my credit card to save cash because my credit card offers a good exchange rate.

Internet & Phone

I purchased a quad-band dual sim phone. Once I arrive in Russia, I will purchase a local sim card. The cost of talk and data is very inexpensive -- something like $12 per month and includes International calls. Wi-fi is included in my apartment.

X-Rays & Consultation

Throughout this process I have been interfacing with Dr. Kulesh via e-mail. As we got closer to my arrival date, we scheduled x-rays and a consultation.

We will decide what specific procedure, if any, I will undergo a few days before the surgery.

All for now.

Edit Post

ST. PETERSBURG LOGISTICS

Overview

Making St. Petersburg happen is not particularly difficult, but it does involve many steps. I suggest you begin 3-4 months before your anticipated consultation date.

Visa

The first step in obtaining a Visa is to secure an invitation letter. Many organizations provide invitation letters for a fee. I used "Fortuna Travel". The invitation letter cost $49.

Airfare & Accommodations

Wheelchair & Crutches

Getting Around

I hope to get around my apartment and building via wheelchair. For longer trips, Uber and Gett are available in St. Petersburg via phone apps and are both inexpensive.

Currency Exchange

For example, I can exchange currency at Wells Fargo--they do not charge me an exchange fee. However, the exchange rate offered by Wells Fargo results in a total exchange fee of almost 9%.

Most major banks in Russia do not charge an exchange fee; the exchange rate is close to the prime rate. So, I plan to carry USD; then, exchange dollars for rubles in Russia.

Where I can, I will use my credit card to save cash because my credit card offers a good exchange rate.

Internet & Phone

X-Rays & Consultation

Throughout this process I have been interfacing with Dr. Kulesh via e-mail. As we got closer to my arrival date, we scheduled x-rays and a consultation.

We will decide what specific procedure, if any, I will undergo a few days before the surgery.

All for now.

Like (0)

BK524

Member

Posts: 305

Joined: Aug 2018

Posted on Aug 26, 2018, 10:19 pm

Hey how much is this costing? I ask as they've increased their prices recently

Like (0)

Body Builder

Member

Posts: 282

Joined: Feb 2017

Posted on Aug 26, 2018, 10:52 pm

I really can't see any significant reason an 56 man, married for 33 years, wants to do 2 LLs for adding 14cm and with lon-latn even on femurs.

I could understand to do about 6cm on tibias to become 1.70 and live normally your remaining 30 or more years with a normal height, but doing 2 LLs and ruining your body at that age where the rehabilitation and risks are much harder, for no real reason (dating, carreer etc) really is something I can'r understand.

But it is your life so I hope everything go well.

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Pyotr

Member

Posts: 395

Joined: Mar 2018

Posted on Aug 27, 2018, 1:54 am

What an asinine comment on so may levels.

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Jayjay

Member

Posts: 319

Joined: Jul 2018

Posted on Aug 27, 2018, 1:14 pm

Quote from: Pyotr on August 25, 2018, 04:14:51 PM
PYOTR'S ST. PETERSBURG JOURNAL

Anticipated Surgery Date: September 21, 2018

Long-Term Goal: 14 cm

A Little About Me:

I am 56 years old; married for 33 years. I am a doctoral level professional and own and operate my own law practice. My experience and background is full and diverse.

Why Leg Lengthening:

I did not consider leg lengthening until recently. I have always been short; however, I have never felt that my height held me back. By example, in my youth, I was a Marine infantry platoon sergeant. Leadership was essential. I had to enforce my orders irrespective of my height. As an attorney, I am engaged in adversarial interactions every day. Taller others try to intimidate and I deal with it. I guess I am used to my height, never thought it could be changed, and never gave it much thought.
About six months ago, I saw a good-looking, good-quality pair of dress shoes that provided a 3" lift. I tried them and almost instantly noticed that others challenged me less.

The notion of leg-lengthening germinated. I realized leg lengthening was doable and I could afford it. So I continued to explore the process.

Dimensions, Goals, & Concerns:

I think I may have begun to shrink. I am 164 cm tall; my "wingspan" is 166 cm. However, my chest is about 43" and I weigh about 175 and I am in good shape--I have always worked out and have good muscle tone, size, and density. This means that my upper body is the size of a taller person. In fact, I think I look better when I am wearing 3" lifts.

I would like to lengthen by 14 cm. Doing so would make me about 5' 10" tall. Ideally, something like 8 cm in the femurs and 6 cm in the tibias.

I have two principal concerns--one is physical/medical; the other is professional. I have bi-lateral hip replacements so I have permanent stems in the top of each femur. This fact limits surgical options and dramatically increases the risk from infection. On the professional side, it is necessary that I be able to do at least desk work during this process.

Potential Procedures:

For my femurs, I may be a candidate for internal lengthening using a retrograde approach. I may also be a candidate for some form of peri-prosthetic lengthening. I am also a candidate for LON and LATN as well as pure external lengthening.

For my tibias, I am a candidate for all procedures.
I anticipate two procedures. I ruled-out internals for now because of the cost. I also ruled out pure externals due to the time required in frames.

I also ruled out cross leg lengthening because that process is just not for me. Because I do not know if I will undergo a second procedure, the first procedure must be complete in and of itself. Cross lengthening would result in one knee being about five inches higher than the other which forces a second surgery to even out.

I am anticipating LON or LATN hopefully on both femurs first. If I get 8 cm, then, maybe I will call that good.

Via LON or LATN, I will stay in St. Petersburg for about 3 months; then, return to California during the consolidation phase. Because I may be able to do some weight bearing during the consolidation phase, I hope to incrementally return to a full work load yet all the while do desk work.
Ultimately, I will consult with Dr. Solomin and his team the week prior to surgery; then, jointly decide the specific procedure, if any. I will work that procedure until I reach my goal or until further lengthening is contra-indicated, whichever comes first.

Why St. Petersburg?

I am cheap but I am not crazy. Foremost, there are only a handful of good and experienced cosmetic leg lengthening surgeons. I do not believe anyone should opine that Leonid Solomin is not a member of that group. In my opinion, it is hard to beat the combination of skill, experience, and value offered by the Solomin team.

In fact, when consulting with Dr. Solomin, he offered more options, courses, and possibilities than any other cosmetic leg lengthening surgeon. (Please note: I am merely sharing my experiences, perceptions, and conclusions for the general consideration of others--I am not trying to persuade anyone else--each candidate for lengthening should perform his or her own due diligence and form his or her own conclusions.)
I overcame my initial aversion and doubts about St. Petersburg through research. Compare St. Elizabeth's municipal hospital in St. Petersburg to St. Vincent's hospital in Los Angeles and you will probably agree that the Russians have it better.

Moreover, because much work and communication is now done electronically, I hope to continue to work without interruption (except for court appearance and the like) so the fact that I will be in Russia for several months is not an insurmountable problem.

Wish me success!

NEXT TIME -- Logistics.

Good luck on your journey PYOTRS

@bodybuilder: I'm sure people must have said the same when you were going to go for limb lengthening. What is important to you only you get to decide not your friends and relatives or anyone on this forum.CLL doesn't have a age limit and I'm sure there is medical reason behind it. Otherwise experienced doctors like Dr.Paley won't do it in first place. Yes, your recovery might not as fast as a 16 year old person but you will recover . One of Dr Paley's patient completed CLL at 56 successfuly.

Edit Post

Quote from: Pyotr on August 25, 2018, 04:14:51 PM
PYOTR'S ST. PETERSBURG JOURNAL

Anticipated Surgery Date: September 21, 2018

Long-Term Goal: 14 cm

A Little About Me:

I am 56 years old; married for 33 years. I am a doctoral level professional and own and operate my own law practice. My experience and background is full and diverse.

Why Leg Lengthening:

I did not consider leg lengthening until recently. I have always been short; however, I have never felt that my height held me back. By example, in my youth, I was a Marine infantry platoon sergeant. Leadership was essential. I had to enforce my orders irrespective of my height. As an attorney, I am engaged in adversarial interactions every day. Taller others try to intimidate and I deal with it. I guess I am used to my height, never thought it could be changed, and never gave it much thought.
About six months ago, I saw a good-looking, good-quality pair of dress shoes that provided a 3" lift. I tried them and almost instantly noticed that others challenged me less.

The notion of leg-lengthening germinated. I realized leg lengthening was doable and I could afford it. So I continued to explore the process.

Dimensions, Goals, & Concerns:

I think I may have begun to shrink. I am 164 cm tall; my "wingspan" is 166 cm. However, my chest is about 43" and I weigh about 175 and I am in good shape--I have always worked out and have good muscle tone, size, and density. This means that my upper body is the size of a taller person. In fact, I think I look better when I am wearing 3" lifts.

I would like to lengthen by 14 cm. Doing so would make me about 5' 10" tall. Ideally, something like 8 cm in the femurs and 6 cm in the tibias.

I have two principal concerns--one is physical/medical; the other is professional. I have bi-lateral hip replacements so I have permanent stems in the top of each femur. This fact limits surgical options and dramatically increases the risk from infection. On the professional side, it is necessary that I be able to do at least desk work during this process.

Potential Procedures:

For my femurs, I may be a candidate for internal lengthening using a retrograde approach. I may also be a candidate for some form of peri-prosthetic lengthening. I am also a candidate for LON and LATN as well as pure external lengthening.

For my tibias, I am a candidate for all procedures.
I anticipate two procedures. I ruled-out internals for now because of the cost. I also ruled out pure externals due to the time required in frames.

I also ruled out cross leg lengthening because that process is just not for me. Because I do not know if I will undergo a second procedure, the first procedure must be complete in and of itself. Cross lengthening would result in one knee being about five inches higher than the other which forces a second surgery to even out.

I am anticipating LON or LATN hopefully on both femurs first. If I get 8 cm, then, maybe I will call that good.

Via LON or LATN, I will stay in St. Petersburg for about 3 months; then, return to California during the consolidation phase. Because I may be able to do some weight bearing during the consolidation phase, I hope to incrementally return to a full work load yet all the while do desk work.
Ultimately, I will consult with Dr. Solomin and his team the week prior to surgery; then, jointly decide the specific procedure, if any. I will work that procedure until I reach my goal or until further lengthening is contra-indicated, whichever comes first.

Why St. Petersburg?

I am cheap but I am not crazy. Foremost, there are only a handful of good and experienced cosmetic leg lengthening surgeons. I do not believe anyone should opine that Leonid Solomin is not a member of that group. In my opinion, it is hard to beat the combination of skill, experience, and value offered by the Solomin team.

In fact, when consulting with Dr. Solomin, he offered more options, courses, and possibilities than any other cosmetic leg lengthening surgeon. (Please note: I am merely sharing my experiences, perceptions, and conclusions for the general consideration of others--I am not trying to persuade anyone else--each candidate for lengthening should perform his or her own due diligence and form his or her own conclusions.)
I overcame my initial aversion and doubts about St. Petersburg through research. Compare St. Elizabeth's municipal hospital in St. Petersburg to St. Vincent's hospital in Los Angeles and you will probably agree that the Russians have it better.

Moreover, because much work and communication is now done electronically, I hope to continue to work without interruption (except for court appearance and the like) so the fact that I will be in Russia for several months is not an insurmountable problem.

Wish me success!

NEXT TIME -- Logistics.

Like (0)

Arch

Member

Posts: 104

Joined: Dec 2014

Posted on Aug 27, 2018, 3:11 pm

Hi Pyotr!

Are you planning to pay the doctors by cash or via wire, I can't comprehend how you will stack bills of 5000 roubles, if the payment requires 300k in advance.
If so, are you just gonna visit a lot of ATM or using western union as a currency exchange?

Goodluck and have a safe trip!

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Pyotr

Member

Posts: 326

Joined: Mar 2018

Posted on Aug 27, 2018, 4:51 pm

In the "logistics" post above, I mentioned currency and currency exchange. Feel free to read through that post for additional information.

I plan to take about $10K USD with me. As I need rubles, I will exchange dollars for rubles at one of the major banks (i.e., Sberbank as "Android" mentioned). Doing so will yield an exchange rate close to the prime rate (within a couple percent of the prime rate). Otherwise, to exchange to rubles in advance would cost 7-10%.

Naturally, I worry about carrying that much cash so have devised several ways to be comfortable about my ability to protect my cash (which I will not disclose because to do so would undermine the protection.)

Moreover, the sheer bulk of 675,000 rubles renders it impractical to attempt to carry rubles.

If you are wondering about cost, I suggest you contact Dr. Kulesh. He will provide you his "file" that contains information about procedures and costs so that you can calculate the cost for the procedure you anticipate.

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Body Builder

Member

Posts: 416

Joined: Feb 2017

Posted on Aug 27, 2018, 5:04 pm

#10

Quote from: Jayjay on August 27, 2018, 01:14:25 PMGood luck on your journey PYOTRS

@bodybuilder: I'm sure people must have said the same when you were going to go for limb lengthening. What is important to you only you get to decide not your friends and relatives or anyone on this forum.CLL doesn't have a age limit and I'm sure there is medical reason behind it. Otherwise experienced doctors like Dr.Paley won't do it in first place. Yes, your recovery might not as fast as a 16 year old person but you will recover . One of Dr Paley's patient completed CLL at 56 successfuly.

Of course they didnt. There is not a better candidate for LL than a less than 1.70 young man.
I was 1.68 and 22 yo when I did LL and the extra height helped me hugely with dating. Also the younger you are the easier tha rehabilitation.

If I was married or more than 50 I would never do LL.
But I cant understand why someon at that age and married would do it. But not both segments and for big amounts. That is crazy and nonsense.

Still I wished good luck to our fellow LLer though.

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