Quote from: hippo60 on November 06, 2022, 04:36:54 PMYeah I read that you stretched so much - that's impressive!
Can you share a little bit about your lengthening process? Did you have any issues / numbness / tightness etc? Don't think you wrote much about it 
What do you mean by "refreshing nutritious non-depressing living environment"? Are you referring to their PT center or just in general?
How's the experience in a wheelchair van? Wondering about it as well. Do you also mind sharing how much you paid?
Yeah, thanks!
Little about my process:
- My 1 issue was the 1 week delay of tibias (1st) surgery due to me catching covid lol. As a result my 2 surgeries were 2w apart instead of 3. However it was manageable for me in my 30s.
- 1-2 weeks after each surgery is pretty hard: prolonging painful in legs, very hard to sleep, sweat almost all night due to pain. I drank oxycodone almost every night during these initial periods.
- Disturbing night sleep pattern - all LLers mentioned this. Once I was in the process, I felt like it became the norm and I no longer noticed it as an issue. To aid night sleep, I usually waited several days to couple weeks to drink a 10mg oxycodone. This thing could cause addition but at my rate of consumption it didn't for me. I took naps during the day whenever the body demanded to compensate.
- According to comments form PTs at Paley's I didn't have tightness at all during the process. I think this is thank to my pre-stretch + frequent stretching + my super well living condition during the time + my lengthening goal was moderate.
- I had numbness at the front area of my right tibia toward the last 2w of lengthening. I was only lengthening femurs at this point as tibias were already done. So this was interesting. I knew another femur-only patient here who also had the same pattern of numbness. Though he almost maxed out the 8cm.
"refreshing nutritious non-depressing living environment" - I referred to my living space. Paley's care center is super awesome too. The center is super clean and smells nice. All the PTs are helpful & personable. My living space:
- Spacious 2b2ba apt for me & my sister as my caretaker. I literally relocated to FL just for this procedure. I signed a year lease so I didn't have to stress about moving out after lengthening completion.
- Took 3mo off work
- Plenty nutritious food cooked everyday by my sister
- Surrounded speakers, huge TV, xbox one, PS4, etc for entertainment. As said, I literally relocated here.
This thing by itself is critical I think:
- Single-minded mentality for LL: no pokes from nosy friends (I don't have any nosy ones), no work, no sxx, no going out (just Paley's & my home), etc you get the point. I lived as a comfortable peaceful disabled person who appreciated life during this time. By having no distraction from normal life aspects, I think it helped my mind+body take the LL process as a new norm instead of a burden. While many LLers despite the lengthening+recovery process, I myself enjoyed it (knowing that it had an ending). It gave me some new interesting perspectives of life.
Wheelchair van was good, very secure. I recommended the service I used in my sig. In fact I became good friend with the driver who ran this as his home business. Because it was his business, I'll give you a range: it's $80-$120 daily round trip. The price depends on distance, as my apt was only 4-5 miles from St. Mary hospital. Ask for discount if doing 5-day a week contract.
) per day isn't cheap. Uber/Lyft weren't significantly cheaper? Even with your sister with you, you were worried about it?