Raisin Bran - Internal Femurs - Dr. Betz - 2015

Edit Post

Hey Bran,
My name is Ilay, I'm 15 years old and 1.63cm (done growing...)
I've read all of your comments, and I would be happy if you'd let me talk to you personally. Phone call would be best. My Email address is: [email protected]
I'm interested in a surgery at Dr.Betz's, but I'm very concerned about the healing process, pain and gaining back my full abilities from before the LL.
This is my story by the way: http://www.reddit.com/r/short/comments/32bj59/being_short_for_life_is_new_for_me/
Since then I've learned a lot about the surgery and got more used to the "short for life" thing, since It's been almost 2 months after I've been told I won't grow any taller anymore.

Thanks a lot (:

Edit Post

Quote from: Metanoia on May 14, 2015, 05:53:31 PMI made it very clear that you would get flames if you lied about other patients. Therefore stop it and i'll leave you alone.

Or you can leave Raisin Bran's thread alone because flaming is against forum rules:
http://www.limblengtheningforum.com/index.php?topic=1007.0

Major Violations(will result in a warning or immediate ban depending on severity)

1) Insulting/Name Calling/Hostility toward another member (ie. retard, piece of s**t, mentally ill).   This include instigating/provoking another member into hostility.

Minor Violations (will result in warning if repeated)

8 )  Taking a thread off topic

Do not derail threads with posts that are not related to the topic of the discussion. Either find/create another more relevant thread or send a private message if you want to discuss something off topic with people contributing to the thread.

9) Getting into an heated argument with someone

Similar to taking a thread off topic, if you are getting into a heated argument with someone in a thread, start a private conversation with that person so you do not take the thread off topic.

I said before that you're free to voice your dissatisfaction with Dr Betz on the forum, but do so outside of Raisin Bran's thread. Accusing Raisin Bran of lying is also unfair. You're not there to share his experience with him. 

Edit Post

Congratulations on reaching 10cm!!

Please post a picture of you standing up. Just cover your face with a Tshirt or something.

Edit Post

So mean people over here... 

Edit Post

Re: KiloKAHN

Appreciate the support and the clarification of forum rules.

Re: Sweden, Alittletooshort

Appreciate the warm regards from both of you. In terms of photos of my current condition and proportions, I have been going back and forth the last few days on whether I should post or not, due to worries about being recognized by anyone that I am familiar with. As I've mentioned before, no family members, friends, or acquaintances know that I've done this surgery. However, I finally decided that I will provide some pictures of my lower body proportions. I'll definitely try to post them on my diary later this week.

Re: greatheight

Yes, there are. Can't let them phase you though.

Edit Post

Day 115

Hey, it's been 5 days since my last post, so let me update on my recent happenings. I've finished taking my painkiller prescriptions (Mydocalm, Tramadol) and my blood thinner (Xarelto). I should also mention that I stopped taking a third painkiller (Novalgin) about 6-7 weeks ago, and returned my remaining boxes to the pharmacy for a full refund. My supply of magnesium and calcium has also been exhausted, but I purchased a combination calcium/magnesium supplement that includes a proper daily intake of each. Dr. Betz said that they were a fine replacement for the original supplements that I'd been taking and they were only €5 at the drug store for a 6 week supply.

Since removing painkillers, my leg muscles have been more tense and fatigued daily, especially right after a physiotherapy session and the morning after the session. Peter Woll has definitely increased the intensity of our stretches and exercises since I've stopped clicking. I think I will start drinking a slow-acting casein protein shake every night now. I purchased a few KGs of high-grade casein prior to the surgery, in anticipation of this recovery period. I think this is the perfect time to start giving my leg muscles some extra fuel.

Late last week, I almost caught a fever/cold. I had a bad headache for 2 days and starting getting other early symptoms all through the weekend. Fortunately, it passed on Sunday night, leaving me with a small cold sore/fever blister. It's remarkable to get something like this in mid-May, but it's been quite cold in Wadern (Germany) lately. However, this had a terrible effect on my last 2 physio sessions this past week. According to Peter, it's the worst condition he'd seen me in since we started. I persevered through the combined 2 hours and we did not reduce the intensity, but I was just physically worn down after each session.

Lately, I've been walking short distances without my crutches again. The walking is a work-in-progress, but it's getting more normal everyday. The difference in height between the left leg and the right leg, due to IT band tightness, has especially improved. I can walk without a slight drop on my left side now, and when I stand straight with my legs closed, I can get both heels down with almost equal weight on each. Trying to do this before would require a lot of effort. Also, I have been working on moving my shoulders and torso more as I walk, so I don't look as stiff as I did when walking with crutches.

Anyway, I haven't had much else happen these past 5 days. The best time I had though was probably watching the Golovkin boxing match on HBO Sunday night. I think that match got me pumped up enough to kick the fever out of my system. LOL.

I'll update again later this week, and hopefully, have some pictures of my proportions as well. Thanks for the reads and responses.

- Raisin Bran

Edit Post

That's great you're able to walk. Feels much better than being bed ridden even if walking is difficult.

So I take it that Dr Betz doesn't perform an IT release? My surgeon doesn't like doing IT releases most of the time and I hear that Dr Guichet is the same way, despite Dr Paley insisting that everyone should get one when lengthening femurs.

Edit Post

Re: KiloKAHN

Thanks bro, I read through your diary recently and in a kind of selfish way, it made me appreciate my own improving condition even more. I came into this with a lot of self-discipline, but I think I would've gone insane if I had a longer process of recovery since no one knows about my surgery. Probably would've had to exile myself to another country for years. It's great to see how much you've progressed though, from the earlier days post-surgery.

As for the IT band release, I forgot to mention this in my diary, but Dr. Betz talked about this at my consultation last year. He mentioned that typically, patients develop much tightness in the ITBs during lengthening and that proper physiotherapy will help resolve this. Then, he told me that some other lengthening doctors decide to alter the bands during surgery, but he chooses to avoid this because he believes that it can lead to an unnatural function during recovery. He prefers to have patients work through their IT band issues through stretching and exercise. Also, Peter Woll talked to me about the releases maybe 6-8 weeks ago during a session. To paraphrase him to the best of my abilities, he said that the function of patients can be quite compromised after the releases. Although a patient would not have the tightness in their ITBs, they could have to worry about the opposite problem: unstable legs, from the knees to the hips, that cause a weakened gait. So, if a ITB release patient has such a condition, they would have to work with physiotherapy on resolving those issues instead. In my opinion, I'd take the tight IT band over loose/limp IT band. However, I'm just making this judgement from the advice of others and my own IT band experiences.

- Raisin Bran

Edit Post

Why didn't you go with Guichet since his nail is better at weight bearing?

Edit Post

Day 325

Hello, I just wanted to post back on my diary after a significant period of time had passed, and I did not really have anything notable to write about. Regardless of that, my experience in this 210 day period has been good, but also very ordinary. I have been working, traveling, and exercising. Just moving on with an ordinary life. My biggest mistake in this recovery period has been not practicing yoga or low-impact pilates. Doing either one of them would have greatly benefitted my overall lower-body flexibility. For exercise, I have been doing low-impact cardio, plyometrics, and weight training. The keyword here, of course, is low-impact. It's always important to be safe, as Peter Woll loves to say. Personally, in terms of physical performance, my sprinting (running) is back, but still extremely lacking. I only feel comfortable for 15-20 minutes. Side-to-side lateral movement is really great for less than a 1 year after the procedure. I have even been shooting some hoops (basketball).

My bone growth has been developing nicely. I will be getting some new x-rays in a few weeks, and I'll try to figure out a way to scan it into my computer. If anyone has any questions, I'll try to post a few times a week, hopefully.

- Raisin Bran