Day 102 - LAST DAY!
Today is my last day of clicking. As I'm writing this, I have reached the apex of my journey, 10.44cm. As you can imagine, I am very glad to be finished. Although I've reached the top of the mountain, I have to deal with my descent down now. The recovery process will definitely be easier than the lengthening period, but there is still much work remaining.
Earlier in the afternoon, I had a 1hr physiotherapy session with Peter Woll. It was the last physio I will have during lengthening. I discussed my x-ray results with Peter, and he was surprised that I had more bone growth on the outer portion of the femur than the inner. Typically, patients will see a bone bridge on the inner portion of the leg because the muscles are more prevalent in this area. He even showed me some pictures of x-rays from previous patients on his phone as further evidence of this growth. Regardless, this was not an issue for my level of bone consolidation.
At the end of our session, I showed Peter the improvements I'd made in my right ITB. I could stand with both legs closed and straight, back straight, heels down, and shift my entire body weight onto each leg pretty well. He was a bit shocked at this dramatic change in my ITB during the lengthening phase, but I told him I had been working on this constantly. I did not do a specific exercise for the IT band, but I focused on lowering the left heel every time I would stand up, and balancing my weight evenly on each leg every time I would walk. On a negative note, I have developed a very slight lordosis in my lower back. It was imperceptible until Peter showed me in the mirror. However, it is there and can develop into a larger issue if it is ignored. This will be a new issue to focus on for the next few weeks.
According to Peter, I should be able to do physio training without the crutches in 3-4 weeks because of the 13mm nail and my current condition. I can't wait until my mobility is strong enough for me to put away the crutches. My long term plan is to stay in Germany for a full 3 months of recovery. I think 3 months should be more than enough time for me to regain my old form.
Since my lengthening phase has concluded, I will post less frequently in my diary now because my days will be less eventful. Instead of daily updates, I think I will post every 3 days, regarding my progress. Of course, I will always be available to answer any questions or requests within 24 hours. Feel free to reach out to me in this thread.
- Raisin Bran
Raisin Bran - Internal Femurs - Dr. Betz - 2015
Day 102 - LAST DAY!
Today is my last day of clicking. As I'm writing this, I have reached the apex of my journey, 10.44cm. As you can imagine, I am very glad to be finished. Although I've reached the top of the mountain, I have to deal with my descent down now. The recovery process will definitely be easier than the lengthening period, but there is still much work remaining.
Earlier in the afternoon, I had a 1hr physiotherapy session with Peter Woll. It was the last physio I will have during lengthening. I discussed my x-ray results with Peter, and he was surprised that I had more bone growth on the outer portion of the femur than the inner. Typically, patients will see a bone bridge on the inner portion of the leg because the muscles are more prevalent in this area. He even showed me some pictures of x-rays from previous patients on his phone as further evidence of this growth. Regardless, this was not an issue for my level of bone consolidation.
At the end of our session, I showed Peter the improvements I'd made in my right ITB. I could stand with both legs closed and straight, back straight, heels down, and shift my entire body weight onto each leg pretty well. He was a bit shocked at this dramatic change in my ITB during the lengthening phase, but I told him I had been working on this constantly. I did not do a specific exercise for the IT band, but I focused on lowering the left heel every time I would stand up, and balancing my weight evenly on each leg every time I would walk. On a negative note, I have developed a very slight lordosis in my lower back. It was imperceptible until Peter showed me in the mirror. However, it is there and can develop into a larger issue if it is ignored. This will be a new issue to focus on for the next few weeks.
According to Peter, I should be able to do physio training without the crutches in 3-4 weeks because of the 13mm nail and my current condition. I can't wait until my mobility is strong enough for me to put away the crutches. My long term plan is to stay in Germany for a full 3 months of recovery. I think 3 months should be more than enough time for me to regain my old form.
Since my lengthening phase has concluded, I will post less frequently in my diary now because my days will be less eventful. Instead of daily updates, I think I will post every 3 days, regarding my progress. Of course, I will always be available to answer any questions or requests within 24 hours. Feel free to reach out to me in this thread.
- Raisin Bran
Day 110
It's been 8 days since the conclusion of my clicking. Apologies for not updating my journal according to the writing timeline I had given. When nothing of consequence transpires over the course of many days, I suddenly lack the initiative to write another entry. However, as it's been more than a week now, I do have a few things of interest to write about.
Dr. Betz came for a visit to Elke's house last Friday, which was a few days after I had finished. He discussed the positive results of the x-ray with me. Everything he said was pretty much in line with my earlier statements about my x-ray in the last post: solid bone development, bridge formation in the inner leg, nails and screws in perfect condition, and equal lengths between the two legs. My initial femur-tibia percentage was an uncommon 86%, and my final percentage is 70%. Although 86% is closer to the average of 80% than 70% would be, my proportions look fine in my opinion and in the opinions of other people I have asked. As I've mentioned before, I wear all my pants at hip level, before and after surgery, so that definitely allows me to get away with the lower percentage.
As far as the other patients in the house, Dr. Betz met with each of them as well, and gave his points of praise and/or concern. The LL user, september14, was there too, but Dr. Betz had very little to say to him because of his very positive condition. He is a testament to the benefits of youth, exercise, and short-term human hibernation, lol.
The worst patient was this Asian girl (femurs) who was just completely delusional about her physical issues. Dr. Betz was very worried about her because she would only do exercises that she was already good at, such as quad or hamstring stretches, and avoided working on her major problem areas, such as the hip flexors and IT bands. At less than 3 cm, she had already developed a bad duck a**, wide legs, no bone growth, and much more. Just terrible. Even worse, she would not listen to the advice of current patients or professionals, like Dr. Betz and Peter. Her mindset is that she has all the time in the world to get better, on her own terms. She would say things like, "It's fine if I need 3 more years to walk normal." Fortunately, she left the house recently, so we don't have to see this walking tragedy ever again. I only mention her as a strong example of what not to do for future and current patients. Always listen to the advice of your doctors, trained professionals, and successful patients. Their combined knowledge is much greater than your own.
Also, my medication is almost finished. I still take the various painkillers and a blood thinner, but I have significantly lowered my intake since last week. Hopefully, when I have run out of meds, I will feel fine without their assistance. Of course, I still need my daily intake of calcium and magnesium, which I can buy without a prescription.
In terms of my current physical condition, I don't feel much different than during the lengthening phase. It has just been 8 days. Every few days, the areas of weakness in my legs changes and that does feel very strange. You get used to standing straight a certain way to leverage your weight on a part of your legs, and when things randomly change, that former area of strength suddenly feels stiff when you try to walk afterwards. This is more of a nuisance than an issue though. Today, when I woke up, my quad and hamstring muscles felt looser when I touched and massaged them. This is definitely an important development that I'd been hoping for. Also, the nerve sensitivity on the back of my right knee is mostly gone, which is a big relief in my everyday routine.
In conclusion, I'm feeling better and I can't wait to get back the parts of my function that I had lost in lengthening. I will try to write an update soon, but I don't want to promise a time frame. However, it should be more recent than this last 8 day hiatus. I appreciate everyone who reads my diary and hope that you continue to read and post.
- Raisin Bran
Day 110
It's been 8 days since the conclusion of my clicking. Apologies for not updating my journal according to the writing timeline I had given. When nothing of consequence transpires over the course of many days, I suddenly lack the initiative to write another entry. However, as it's been more than a week now, I do have a few things of interest to write about.
Dr. Betz came for a visit to Elke's house last Friday, which was a few days after I had finished. He discussed the positive results of the x-ray with me. Everything he said was pretty much in line with my earlier statements about my x-ray in the last post: solid bone development, bridge formation in the inner leg, nails and screws in perfect condition, and equal lengths between the two legs. My initial femur-tibia percentage was an uncommon 86%, and my final percentage is 70%. Although 86% is closer to the average of 80% than 70% would be, my proportions look fine in my opinion and in the opinions of other people I have asked. As I've mentioned before, I wear all my pants at hip level, before and after surgery, so that definitely allows me to get away with the lower percentage.
As far as the other patients in the house, Dr. Betz met with each of them as well, and gave his points of praise and/or concern. The LL user, september14, was there too, but Dr. Betz had very little to say to him because of his very positive condition. He is a testament to the benefits of youth, exercise, and short-term human hibernation, lol.
The worst patient was this Asian girl (femurs) who was just completely delusional about her physical issues. Dr. Betz was very worried about her because she would only do exercises that she was already good at, such as quad or hamstring stretches, and avoided working on her major problem areas, such as the hip flexors and IT bands. At less than 3 cm, she had already developed a bad duck a**, wide legs, no bone growth, and much more. Just terrible. Even worse, she would not listen to the advice of current patients or professionals, like Dr. Betz and Peter. Her mindset is that she has all the time in the world to get better, on her own terms. She would say things like, "It's fine if I need 3 more years to walk normal." Fortunately, she left the house recently, so we don't have to see this walking tragedy ever again. I only mention her as a strong example of what not to do for future and current patients. Always listen to the advice of your doctors, trained professionals, and successful patients. Their combined knowledge is much greater than your own.
Also, my medication is almost finished. I still take the various painkillers and a blood thinner, but I have significantly lowered my intake since last week. Hopefully, when I have run out of meds, I will feel fine without their assistance. Of course, I still need my daily intake of calcium and magnesium, which I can buy without a prescription.
In terms of my current physical condition, I don't feel much different than during the lengthening phase. It has just been 8 days. Every few days, the areas of weakness in my legs changes and that does feel very strange. You get used to standing straight a certain way to leverage your weight on a part of your legs, and when things randomly change, that former area of strength suddenly feels stiff when you try to walk afterwards. This is more of a nuisance than an issue though. Today, when I woke up, my quad and hamstring muscles felt looser when I touched and massaged them. This is definitely an important development that I'd been hoping for. Also, the nerve sensitivity on the back of my right knee is mostly gone, which is a big relief in my everyday routine.
In conclusion, I'm feeling better and I can't wait to get back the parts of my function that I had lost in lengthening. I will try to write an update soon, but I don't want to promise a time frame. However, it should be more recent than this last 8 day hiatus. I appreciate everyone who reads my diary and hope that you continue to read and post.
- Raisin Bran
Good luck Raisin, hopefully you can prove that 10CM is possible to do in one egment under the right circumstances.
Quote from: Raisin Bran on May 14, 2015, 11:51:11 AMDay 110
The worst patient was this Asian girl (femurs) who was just completely delusional about her physical issues. Dr. Betz was very worried about her because she would only do exercises that she was already good at, such as quad or hamstring stretches, and avoided working on her major problem areas, such as the hip flexors and IT bands. At less than 3 cm, she had already developed a bad duck a**, wide legs, no bone growth, and much more. Just terrible. Even worse, she would not listen to the advice of current patients or professionals, like Dr. Betz and Peter. Her mindset is that she has all the time in the world to get better, on her own terms. She would say things like, "It's fine if I need 3 more years to walk normal." Fortunately, she left the house recently, so we don't have to see this walking tragedy ever again. I only mention her as a strong example of what not to do for future and current patients. Always listen to the advice of your doctors, trained professionals, and successful patients. Their combined knowledge is much greater than your own.
Wow, so how come you know all those intimate details about this “bad patient”? Did Betz tell you in breach of his medical confidentiality? I remember him often badmouthing other patients in front of me. However you should abstain from respectlessly bashing other patients. It's disgusting.
Re: Uppland
Thanks Uppland, hope everything turns out well. There are actually 4 patients in our house, including myself, who have lengthened 10cm or more with the femurs. You already know my condition. If you looked through september14's diary, he's doing very well. The other patient is the one I mentioned earlier, who left to go home just 2 weeks after surgery, did not do any Physio at home, and returned a couple of weeks ago with little flexibility in his hip flexors and a bad duck a**. His condition is gradually improving, but it will take another month or two for him to get rid of this issue. The final guy is a removal patient, who had his nails taken out 2 days ago. Looking at his condition after 18 months with the 13mm nail, it is just amazing. He was actually running and weight training, before he came back for removal. It seems that doing 10cm in one segment is somewhat common for the femur patients of Dr. Betz.
Re: Metanoia
LOL, buddy, do you even read the entirety of my posts? She was staying at our house, so I was closely familiar with her habits and issues. I'm sure readers would like to know how it is possible for some patients to have a terrible lengthening and recovery period, and that is why I provide these anecdotes. Just sharing all positive success stories can be a bit boring and one-sided. I could care less about your vendetta against Dr. Betz, so please don't spam my diary again with your nonsense. If you are honestly disgusted with my entries, I should suggest something that might help: ignore them. Please and thank you.
I made it very clear that you would get flames if you lied about other patients. Therefore stop it and i'll leave you alone. How are you supposed to know about her exercises just because you live in the same guesthouse? Does she make the exercises in front if you? And you can immediately judge it? Your so-called diary is the most disingenuous ever.
Re: Metanoia
It's amazing that you know I must be lying. 
Regardless, if you live with another person in the same house for months and go to Physio together, you know all of their lengthening successes and failures intimately. Stop trying to second-guess everything I post bro, just worry about your own life.
Hey Bran,
Could you post a picture of your current proportions or will you post one in the future? I´d be highly interested in how you look after such a large amount of lengthening.
Cheers!
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