Great news tiggy ! !
It appears like Dr R is quite conservative with walking while lengthening even with stryde nail. Or did you yourself hesitate to walk much? From other stryde diaries like Dr M and Dr Paley it appears to me like some of those patients walked a lot while lengthening.
And yes it is well known that weight bearing helps regenerate bone. Strange he didn't agree. Why didn't you probe with more questions ? 
Are your meetings with him rushed? From watching a video of Dr R about 'stature lengthening' about a boy called 'Sam' it had appeared to me that he does a super detailed meeting each time.
And are you going to be back to college soon? I read that you are a student on summer break.
Sorry for so many questions
I hope you achieve your goal !
Rozbruch- Internal Femurs with Stryde
Quote from: cena on September 06, 2019, 07:27:01 PMGreat news tiggy ! !
It appears like Dr R is quite conservative with walking while lengthening even with stryde nail. Or did you yourself hesitate to walk much? From other stryde diaries like Dr M and Dr Paley it appears to me like some of those patients walked a lot while lengthening.
And yes it is well known that weight bearing helps regenerate bone. Strange he didn't agree. Why didn't you probe with more questions ?
Are your meetings with him rushed? From watching a video of Dr R about 'stature lengthening' about a boy called 'Sam' it had appeared to me that he does a super detailed meeting each time.
And are you going to be back to college soon? I read that you are a student on summer break.
Sorry for so many questions
I hope you achieve your goal !
Hi Cena,
He is conservative when it comes to walking, even with stryde. I think because it's still a new nail, he likes to exercise caution and not invite patients to do too much too quickly. I never hesitated to walk, in fact I've been able to walk without assistance for quite some time. He told me not to do so and use at least one crutch so as not to bend a nail. I follow his advice even though he was able to insert a larger nail into my femurs.
Re bone regeneration and weight bearing, I didn't probe him much because I didn't care to. At this point I do what I think is right while also taking what he says into account. I firmly believe walking helps growth and I do so whether he also believes this or not.
My meetings with him are not rushed. In fact he tends to take his sweet time with patients and this results in extremely long wait times to see him. I waited almost 3 hrs to see him last time. I find this absolutely ridiculous and frankly it pisses me off every time I'm there. Thankfully I don't have pain that makes it difficult to sit and wait (as opposed to laying down) so the visit is tolerable. But in those early days when discomfort was there, it was extremely annoying having to wait for long periods of time. It's been almost 4 months of follow up visits and the earliest I was ever seen is after almost 2 hrs of waiting.
I'm already back to school (grad school) and again killing hrs at his office really takes the valuable time I have away from my school work. In addition, now that I started lengthening, I expect discomfort to kick back in, especially on my right leg. I actually drive to class so you can imagine it becomes quite difficult because pain kicks in while driving (since you use the right leg when driving). I have another month of lengthening to reach 7.5cm so I expect some major discomfort on this front. I actually drive over an hr to get to class so this is going to be challenging to say the least. But it is what it is. Oh and I'm also sporting a crutch in school lol. It's annoying limping around people but my eyes are on the price so I couldn't care less what others think!
If I missed a question, please feel free to point this out.
Hi tiggy,
Thanks for answering my questions.
It is amazing that you drive a car to school. It is also great that it's close to your family's home. I am still trying to imagine how you are able to hop into a car, drive, hop out, walk to classes sit on a chair for an entire lecture, all while being on crutches! It seems impossible to do without putting full weight on one leg?
I am thinking I will be in a similar situation as you because I cannot afford to quit my job for multiple reasons. I am not sure if I will be able to manage to go to work after 1 month. Some diaries paint this easy picture of walking crutch free after LL which is actually quite scary to imagine (walking on 2 broken bones).
Dr R seems to be good after all. He at least seems to care and be on the safer side.
tiggy one more question - Did you have to pay 125k after surgery? That is how most surgeries in US happen. You get surgery and then they send you a receipt. Or did you have to pay it all before (like Paley asks)? How much time do you get to pay the whole amount?
Thanks buddy!
Quote from: cena on September 07, 2019, 07:09:36 AMHi tiggy,
Thanks for answering my questions.
It is amazing that you drive a car to school. It is also great that it's close to your family's home. I am still trying to imagine how you are able to hop into a car, drive, hop out, walk to classes sit on a chair for an entire lecture, all while being on crutches! It seems impossible to do without putting full weight on one leg?
I am thinking I will be in a similar situation as you because I cannot afford to quit my job for multiple reasons. I am not sure if I will be able to manage to go to work after 1 month. Some diaries paint this easy picture of walking crutch free after LL which is actually quite scary to imagine (walking on 2 broken bones).
Dr R seems to be good after all. He at least seems to care and be on the safer side.
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Dr R is definitely a safe option, too safe at times lol. Getting in and out of the car is quite simple actually. You first sit sideways on the seat and when you are comfortable enough, you lift your legs and place them in. Same process is used to get out of the car.
Yea sitting in lectures that are 2-3 hrs long is going to be a challenge once the discomfort kicks in. But I will try to lift my legs up on a chair if I have too much discomfort. But I will keep you guys posted on how well I do with this. Dr R even flirted with the idea of me deferring a semester until I finish lengthening and then resuming next semester but I told him that's not an option. I just want to get this over with and not postpone my life any longer because of the surgery. It's definitely tough and will get tougher for the next 4 weeks but that's temporary, I just need to pull through a little longer! It's totally doable.
As to going to work a month post op, I think that is absolutely insane. While you will feel much more comfortable with the process at that point, it is still extremely difficult to walk for long periods and your legs get tired extremely quickly, within minutes (at least for me). I would stay home at least couple of months if I were you, though again putting hard timelines is not very realistic now because you will only know how you feel once you are going through this yourself. But 6 weeks I'd say is the bare minimum to take off.
Walking crutch free is not recommended, at least this is what dr R urges me not to do (mostly because my bone growth isn't all that great right now). It's ok for you to put full weight on a leg from time to time because you won't be able to avoid doing so completely. But that's different from ditching the crutches altogether and putting that type of pressure on the legs all day. Again this all would depend on how well you are taking the lengthening and how quickly your bones are healing, none of which you can predict in advance.
Quote from: cena on September 08, 2019, 01:28:48 PMtiggy one more question - Did you have to pay 125k after surgery? That is how most surgeries in US happen. You get surgery and then they send you a receipt. Or did you have to pay it all before (like Paley asks)? How much time do you get to pay the whole amount?
Thanks buddy!
Correct me if I'm wrong but your question suggests that you are not American. If you are not, you will be expected to pay the full cost upfront. I did not pay the entire amount upfront because I was awaiting insurance approvals/denials. However, I did pay dr Rs costs upfront. Hope that helps
Thanks tiggy. You are right, not yet a citizen, but I doubt that changes anything because I'm insured through my employer.
I am a quite disappointed that going to work (desk job) will not be easy after a month. I am looking forward to reading how it works out with your school. Remember to take it easy! This is a once in a lifetime thing.
Hi Tiggy, hope you are well.
I sent you a DM; please let me know if you have received it.
Thank you in advance.
Quote from: cena on September 08, 2019, 05:07:31 PMThanks tiggy. You are right, not yet a citizen, but I doubt that changes anything because I'm insured through my employer.
I am a quite disappointed that going to work (desk job) will not be easy after a month. I am looking forward to reading how it works out with your school. Remember to take it easy! This is a once in a lifetime thing.
You are correct, it doesn't change anything. If your insurance does not cover the cost, dr R will want his fees paid upfront and the hospital will also. However because my insurance denied coverage right before the actual procedure, the hospital was more flexible with me. So it's all very individual.
You shouldn't be disappointed whatsoever. This is a demanding surgery and requires dedication and hard work in terms of constantly stretching and lengthening. If you went back to work within a month, it would be difficult for you not only to attain your goals but also to properly stretch your legs to accommodate the height. You really can't cut corners with this thing. You will only truly know what I mean when you get this done. Yes indeed, this is a once in a lifetime thing, so you gotta do it right. I wish you luck!
Hey Tiggy,
Been lurking on your diary for a while. I'm usually not the type to post a response in a forum post, but I feel that I should since I'm also going through the same thing that you went through. I had my surgery back in June 2019. I had 0-1 level pain all the way through. My bottle of Oxy is still full. My case is pretty unique. I was able to walk unassisted a week after thanks to the Stryde nail and never really used my crutches around the house. I resumed working from home after 1 month. Everything went exceptionally well until my recent check-up with Dr. R. I'm currently at 56 mm distraction and the bone formation on my left leg is really lagging behind. Dr. R has me doing the accordion method and prescribed Strontium. Pretty much everything he prescribed you. This happened on Tuesday 9/10.
I have a question regarding you diet before the improvements. Were you eating enough? I noticed that I really haven't been eating. I think that could be causing the slow consolidation. I was 160 lbs. before the surgery and now I'm at 144 lbs. and seems to still be dropping. You also mentioned that R didn't want you to walk unassisted and that was interesting, because he told me I can walk as much as I can tolerate. If you have any tips on what you think you did during the 1 month of shortening and lengthening to help with bone growth, can you share with us?
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