Two days after surgery:
My lovely Svenska friend has kept me company on Skype video whenever she is not at work and I've never been too bored. Other time is spent writing, reading, and overall trying to be as productive as possible. Dr. Kulesh has told me with amusement on several occasions that most patients come for lengthening making bold claims about all the productive things they'll do during the lengthening/consolidation process and always end up just becoming couch potatoes, watching TV, and browsing the internet.
This is something that I want to avoid at all costs.
Other time I've spent talking with the nurses and staff whenever they come to visit me for administering medication, cleaning, and helping with my toiletries.
The young nurses are Anna, Ina, and Maria. None of them speak much English, but we've managed to communicate using iTranslate Voice and lots of eye contact and gestures. Maria is beautiful and especially communicative. She's only been in Saint Petersburg for seven days and I guess this is all pretty new for her as well.
The cleaning and cooking staff are more elder, but equally as gracious and interesting. Oxana does the cleaning and mostly helps me feel more human by providing face and body wipes, emptying my chamber pot (I've yet to use my bed pan yet and hopefully won't have to before I can walk to the toilet.) and setting up a system for me to brush my teeth and shave in bed.
Nina, the cook has pretty much shared her entire life story to me over the iTranslate app and she's been very affectionate and concerned about my well-being.
The chief of MEDEM clinic, Alexey, visited me today and said that my condition was very good. He told me that, if my condition remains stable, I may be able to attempting walking with support tomorrow.
The physiotherapist today didn't speak much English and, while he was nice, he was no where near as helpful as the lady from yesterday. In any case, I still remember most of the physiotherapy from yesterday, so I'll probably do it on my own.
I'd like to make an apology if you find this diary neither as entertaining or informative as some of the others on this forum. While I definitely hope this can provide all of you with information regarding the situation here in Saint Petersburg (and thus you are welcome to ask any specific questions you might have), I am writing this mostly in stream-of-consciousness and as Blaise Pascal once said to a friend he wrote, “I have only made this letter longer because I have not had the time to make it shorter."
So please feel free to skim through the bulk of it and find whatever information you deem relevant to your own personal journey.
Saint Petersburg - External Tibias - Dr. Solomin
Quote from: theuprising on September 21, 2015, 09:36:31 PMThis is a very rational approach that will serve both you and your body well. Seen too many guys do what they want rather than what their body can handle and end up with both mechanical and aesthetic problems. What is your starting ratio?
I'll ask the doctor and get back to you regarding my starting ratio.
Btw, last night I had some pain from my gauze foot holder support, so I asked for some extra painkillers (injection). Problem solved. Pain really has been a nonissue for the most part.
Sounds like you're having a really good start. Would be interested in seeing a full picture of your frames later. I bet they look similar to the ones I wore.
Will you be seeing much of Dr Solomin or do you see Dr Kulesh primarily? Does Dr Solomin perform the surgery on both legs or does he do one and Dr Kulesh the other?
Hi KiloKHAN,
Dr. Solomin did the osteotomy on both legs, although, after considering your question, I would probably have felt comfortable with Dr. Kulesh performing them as well. I will see Dr. Solomin once or twice a month for a check-up and X-ray (one of these will be at MEDEM, per the conditions of their visa support).
Dr. Kulesh will come visit me regularly (around 3 times a week) and has promised to be on call whenever I need him. This was very surprising to me at first, but there is another patient from NY (that is an active member of this forum) whom I met before surgery and he has confirmed that Dr. Kulesh has gone beyond and above the call of duty to be there for him whenever he needed help of any kind. I was a little skeptical at first, but already I've experienced this first hand. Once again, this is only my current opinion of the situation and time will tell.
I've added a picture of my frames. The photo was taken from a lower angle with my feet tilted, so my femurs appear oddly short. From the start, I've been worried about ballerina foot as I've worn 6cm+ lifts for over a decade. With the doctors, I've gone over options of how we will deal with this when stretching alone will not suffice.
Hey man
I'm glad you're doing fine, seems like Dr Kulesh is taking everything seriously. Btw would you be able to post some xrays, Id love to see if fibula if fixed to tibia and what technique has been used. Thanks.
Take care.
Those are some compact frames, which also seem more securely attached than mine were (I didn't have any of those thick bolts going into the leg.) Maybe you'll have better mobility and less pain when moving than I did.
Thanks for the info, badwolf. Those are some cool looking frames. I like the look of them more than Dr Barinov's or Dr Bagirov's frames as they appear more stable.
What was your consultation like with Dr Solomin? Was it easy to get your questions answered? How's his English?
Sorry for the lack of an update. I moved to Saint Elisabeth Hospital 3 days after surgery to save on hospital fees and currently don't have internet. Saint Elisabeth Hospital is a municipal hospital and obviously the level of service here is no where near MEDEM's. That being said, one of my goals during this process is to be as independent as possible and so the changes have not affected me much (other than the lack of Internet access and maybe the quality of the food -- but Doctor Kulesh will buy me any food I request when he visits and one of the nurses, another girl that I met, and this one random Russian writer have been kind enough to bring me other food to eat as well.)
Today is my 6th day post surgery and I've started lengthening. Already, I can stand and walk (with some difficulty) on my own. My main issue is a low, throbbing pain (tension? pressure?) that I've started experiencing after intense training with my new trainer yesterday. Dr. Kulesh told me the Russian patients call this a "pressing" and it is basically the soft tissues being stretched/manipulated. This may or may not get worse as I lengthen. It would suck if it got worse, but already I am attempting to re-associating this feeling, in my mind, as a positive sensation. Seriously guys, after all the years I've spent waiting to do this procedure, only pain that I should perceive as undeniably permenantly damaging will stop me from entertaining any doubts or regrets.
I've started studying again since yesterday, something I have set my mind to do while lengthening. Once I get Internet access back, I'll start working again as well. I'll also try to upload my post-surgery X-rays:)
Hello badwolf , good luck with your journey. I'm also from Asia, my starting height was 164 and have been lengthening for two months now , I have reached 4.8 cm my target is 8cm. No problems so far only very little ballerina.
You must be logged in to post a reply.