Seriously thinking this through

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Great feedback The Alchemist !

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This surgery has been done for decades already, and it continually progresses to be safer than it was in the past. There's risks but procedures like drilling venting holes have been invented to prevent fat embolism and blood thinners prescribed. Just because some people chose to go to bad doctors doesn't mean the whole field of LL did not improve its methods. You have the best chance of a successful LL if you do it right the first time, save up the funds, using the best up to date device and technology available with the reputable doctors. Yes there are risks like with many things we do in life. Driving a car probably has more risks than dying during this surgery if done in a first world country under hands of some of the World's First Class Surgeons because the circumstances of your surgery are very controlled with reliable medical devices monitoring the whole process. They are equipped to respond accordingly as issues arise. Just like the one Paley patient that was saved from suffering consequences of a blood clot. That is why some overseas pt around the world would rather pay the money and prefer doing it in USA because of safety.

The body is actually very resilient and can adapt to the bio-mechanical changes that occurs after LL finishes if no additional deformity was introduced during your LL and you did not suffer some drastic complication. Just like some people are born with shorter femurs or shorter tibias and people of different heights already. Your body will compensate and you will not notice too much if you do not lengthen some crazy amount. 5 cm gives you the best chance for recovery and not reducing your quality of life.

Stryde is the way to do it if you consider femurs and now I'm beginning to be pro-Stryde for tibias because external fixator devices is showing to have a higher chance of lasting nerve damage through the pins if you happen to be unlucky, although not everyone suffered the same fate. Just keep in mind there will be some small percentage of deviation caused from the lengthening device itself the more you lengthen.

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Quote from: TheAlchemist on January 13, 2020, 06:31:07 PM
Dr. Robbins said he had 1 stryde patient who had numbness in one leg over a year out from surgery.

Is this numbness a superficial skin numbness or mobility reduction such as drop foot?

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Quote from: TemakiSushi on January 13, 2020, 10:48:30 PMIs this numbness a superficial skin numbness or mobility reduction such as drop foot?

Superficial skin numbness. From what Dr. Robbins told me she is ambulatory but has lost sensitivity / any feeling on the skin of her shin.

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Thanks
Skin numbness seems to be quite common with this surgery,
but her case maybe a bit severe than usual if she really got no sensitivity after a year
Very interesting, femur lengthening actually affect a lot to the lower limb nerve
A dropfoot was reported with the femur side of cross lengthening in Russia

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Quote from: TemakiSushi on January 13, 2020, 01:47:00 PMThere is death case of External tibia, DVT then developed PE

External is not really the safest
need to find the best doctor possible to lower the chance of complications
Physicians skills are lot more important than methods
There are just too many unskilled doctors doing terrible jobs with externals

not if done with a good surgeon who prescribed blood thinner medication..

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Yeah this is a tough surgery during extension especially and even consolidation when you are trying to get range of movement back. This Surgery has resulted in ongoing issues for me, both my Tib's (anterior) have skin numbness and tingling still after 4 years (Precice 8 cm LFemur, Fitbone 5.3 cm RFemur - both Retrograde i.e through the knee insertions).
LKnee now has max 130 Deg flexion with at times a strong pain in my distal anterior/lateral femur and superior lateral Patella, with variable associated uncomfortable swelling, RKnee is now very noisy and "clicky", which makes even light semi-Squats uncomfortable - both knees are always stiff (even worse in the mornings, and horrible in winter) and are at times quite sore around top of patella.
I still have a 2.7 cm LLD, and getting down and up from the floor is a struggle (even though I am  a pretty fit/strong  62 KG/179 cm) and I find it very hard to pick up something from the floor especially with a baby/toddler in my arms!).
Basically I dont take pain killers (I value my brain) , but I need a hot bath at the end of each day to soothe my aching knees and stiff back (and I try to eat a low inflammatory diet).
I can no longer run (chasing kids is out !), as my knee range is limited, and I do some kinda weird shuffle instead.
The Tib/Femur ratio feels strange (my tibias now feel stubby and ineffectual), and the Tib/Fem ratio looks weird and I am quite self-conscious about it (it was about 0.83, (ideal is 0., now about .74 Right leg and .70 LeftLeg).
Basically to feel 'Normal" I think I need to add the missing 2.7 cm to my R.Femur, and also add at least 4 cm to my Tib's (5cm would be ideal but time and risk factors preclude this ), this would bring my T/F ratio to ~ .77 i.e within the range of normal variation.

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Quote from: AimHigh on January 15, 2020, 03:50:32 AMYeah this is a tough surgery during extension especially and even consolidation when you are trying to get range of movement back. This Surgery has resulted in ongoing issues for me, both my Tib's (anterior) have skin numbness and tingling still after 4 years (Precice 8 cm LFemur, Fitbone 5.3 cm RFemur - both Retrograde i.e through the knee insertions).
LKnee now has max 130 Deg flexion with at times a strong pain in my distal anterior/lateral femur and superior lateral Patella, with variable associated uncomfortable swelling, RKnee is now very noisy and "clicky", which makes even light semi-Squats uncomfortable - both knees are always stiff (even worse in the mornings, and horrible in winter) and are at times quite sore around top of patella.
I still have a 2.7 cm LLD, and getting down and up from the floor is a struggle (even though I am  a pretty fit/strong  62 KG/179 cm) and I find it very hard to pick up something from the floor especially with a baby/toddler in my arms!).
Basically I dont take pain killers (I value my brain) , but I need a hot bath at the end of each day to soothe my aching knees and stiff back (and I try to eat a low inflammatory diet).
I can no longer run (chasing kids is out !), as my knee range is limited, and I do some kinda weird shuffle instead.
The Tib/Femur ratio feels strange (my tibias now feel stubby and ineffectual), and the Tib/Fem ratio looks weird and I am quite self-conscious about it (it was about 0.83, (ideal is 0., now about .74 Right leg and .70 LeftLeg).
Basically to feel 'Normal" I think I need to add the missing 2.7 cm to my R.Femur, and also add at least 4 cm to my Tib's (5cm would be ideal but time and risk factors preclude this ), this would bring my T/F ratio to ~ .77 i.e within the range of normal variation.

You’ve done fitbone with Monegal, right?
Did you do precice with Monegal also?
Why Monegal put IMnails into femurs through knees?

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Quote from: AimHigh on January 15, 2020, 03:50:32 AMYeah this is a tough surgery during extension especially and even consolidation when you are trying to get range of movement back. This Surgery has resulted in ongoing issues for me, both my Tib's (anterior) have skin numbness and tingling still after 4 years (Precice 8 cm LFemur, Fitbone 5.3 cm RFemur - both Retrograde i.e through the knee insertions).
LKnee now has max 130 Deg flexion with at times a strong pain in my distal anterior/lateral femur and superior lateral Patella, with variable associated uncomfortable swelling, RKnee is now very noisy and "clicky", which makes even light semi-Squats uncomfortable - both knees are always stiff (even worse in the mornings, and horrible in winter) and are at times quite sore around top of patella.
I still have a 2.7 cm LLD, and getting down and up from the floor is a struggle (even though I am  a pretty fit/strong  62 KG/179 cm) and I find it very hard to pick up something from the floor especially with a baby/toddler in my arms!).
Basically I dont take pain killers (I value my brain) , but I need a hot bath at the end of each day to soothe my aching knees and stiff back (and I try to eat a low inflammatory diet).
I can no longer run (chasing kids is out !), as my knee range is limited, and I do some kinda weird shuffle instead.
The Tib/Femur ratio feels strange (my tibias now feel stubby and ineffectual), and the Tib/Fem ratio looks weird and I am quite self-conscious about it (it was about 0.83, (ideal is 0., now about .74 Right leg and .70 LeftLeg).
Basically to feel 'Normal" I think I need to add the missing 2.7 cm to my R.Femur, and also add at least 4 cm to my Tib's (5cm would be ideal but time and risk factors preclude this ), this would bring my T/F ratio to ~ .77 i.e within the range of normal variation.

Aimhigh would you say a contributor to your complications was the surgery with the insertion of the nail through the knee? I've heard there is a much higher complication rate when the nail is inserted through the knee.

Paley and all other US doctors, to my knowledge, insert the nail through the piriformis fossa at the top of the femur which Paley explained to me is the much safer method with low risk of long term complications.

 

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There is little doubt that purely external procedures have the lowest overall risk and most flexibility; however, a purely external procedure also takes the longest.

However again, you appear to want to lengthen only about 10% of your tibia length or less (which is the medically accepted ideal amount).

Because of the small amount of distraction you desire, you could be out of frames in four-five months.  About seven weeks for the initial surgery and to complete distraction (surgery + 7-10 days before beginning distraction + 40 days to distract = 47-50 days.)  Then, consolidation until you are cleared to bear weight without frames.

So, if you are willing to carve six months out of your life, you could reasonably and safely achieve your goal.  Contact an expert in externals like Kulesh if you are interested and discuss the situation with him.

However again, it does not seem that a 1.5 inch gain will really change your life.  For a 1.5 inch gain, it would be far easier to change your shoes.