Stand Taller diary - The first day of the rest of my life (Betz Bone 14.01.2022)

Quote from: Limbfan2020 on April 15, 2022, 03:56:31 PMHi Stand taller,

do you know how many LL surgeries Dr. Axel Becker has already performed?

Not sure how many he's done, but I think he told me that he had been under training with Dr Betz for the last three years.

BTW.. I will write an update very soon, just passed the 7cm mark and even though I still have 4cm to go I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Day 93

Almost a month since I've written an update - and let's start with the bad.

In my last update I had just stopped taking Tramadol, and instead of having a plan with my doctor where I would take less and less over time - I just decided on my own to stop cold turkey. And I can sincerely say, do not stop taking Tramadol cold turkey! I had basically all the withdrawal symptoms you can have, and it was hard as fk! The worst was over after about two weeks, but those two weeks are some of the toughest two weeks of my life. Luckily I did not experience any pain, but my sleep went from pretty good to awful. The worst nights I would sleep 20 minutes at a time, throughout the whole night! Not only where the days long, but the nights where even longer.

At this time with all the withdrawal symptoms etc I was seriously considering stopping lengthening and calling it quits every day for almost two weeks. I am glad I stuck through though, because I am feeling much much better now! My sleeping isn't good, but is still much improved. I sleep around 1-1,5 hours at a time though the night, but i read that quitting Tramadol cold turkey messed with your sleep for several month after quitting it. So hopefully my sleep will slowly keep improving every night.

Pain has been almost non-existent, just some small pain here and there - not much to complain about. My duckass and wide-legs have improved some, but not enough according to Dr Becker. And also having hip swing in my gait, Dr Becker has to told me to reduced to 12 clicks per day, down from 15. He's also told me to focus more on stretching the hip flexors, and I feel like things have improved in just a few days. Hopefully Things will continue to improve.

I've now reached 7cm and I now stand at 172cm tall, and I feel tall around people who are at my old height now. I have two sisters who are a 166cm and 167cm tall, and there is a clear difference in our height - and knowing I was shorter than them that is such a weird and special feeling. And this is still wide duckass and wide-legs, so in reality I am not actually 172cm yet.

I also had a very funny experience with a female friend who is 169cm tall. I rang her bell, and when she opened the door she just looked up at me shocked, confused and stuttered "eeehh what?? ehhhh what??? ehhh hooww??" And I just replied "let me in and I'll explain". My new height was the first thing she noticed.

I've told most of my family and friends about my surgery, which has been a huge deal for moral support and my state of mind. Everybody has been supportive, even though some have been shocked and some have even said that they think it is outright cool that I've done this. The support has been immensive.

At around 6cm I took X-rays and it all looks tip top, with healthy callus formation.

My moral is up and down from day to day and to be honest I am really looking forward to the day I stop clicking and I can start actual rehabilitation. It's three months since my surgery and it feels like I've been doing this for a while now, and I am kind of sick of stretching and hour+ every single day and not being able to walk normal and just feeling exhausted going shopping for groceries.

Good news is that I am done clicking in 7,5 weeks and in the big picture, that really isn't that long. But for anybody considering going 11cm like me, it really is a loooooong distraction period of almost five months. And there is no way around that five month walking on crutches and not being mobile is a looooong time. So it does require you to be strong as fk mentally, because you will hit the wall like me. And it will require strength to push though that or those walls.

Even though I've had a relatively easy time lengthening and clicking has been a piece of cake (I do both legs in around 60-90 seconds without any pain) this is still by far the hardest thing I've ever done in my life! And I still have 7,5 week of lengthening and I hope I can walk relatively normal 1-3 months post clicking - so still a long time before I am "normal"

Congrats on your gains so far!

Do you mind sharing your recent x-rays here?

Quote from: Stand taller on April 16, 2022, 09:37:51 PMI speak a little and can read a fair bit of German. When in hospital I basically communicated in German with most of the staff, even though most spoke English.

That being said, all the documents with Dr Betz where in English and he walked me through it all step by step. And If I had any questions he explain it in detail. I felt that the paper work was taken very serious and was gone through thorough.

Hey Stand taller

thank you for the response. congrats on reaching 7cm. Thats a great gain. Opiods are very addictive, how much was your average dosage all these days before stopping? Are you still taking Xarelto and do you plan to take it till full amount of distraction?

I have some questions if you don't mind

1) I am a bit worried about signing patient consent forms which might allow them to use your photos for advertising and so on. I had thought that as a rule, all legal documents in Germany must be in German. You say it was in English which is great. Are there 2 sets of documents you must sign? One during patient registration before consultation where you might have to read where your photos and information get shared. One before surgery stating the risks involved and that you agree there is no liability on the doctors. Is that it?

2) I am quite confused about where Betz institute currently is, where people are getting their consultations, surgery and follow-up check ups. Their website lists St ingbert as the location for consultations and follow-ups and Kreikrankenhaus St. Ingbert as the surgery location. On google maps Betz institute is in Neunkirchen. Someone posted links to DrBecker's cosmetic surgery practice in Freiburg.  Can you choose among multiple options?

3) I speak no German and am a bit concerned on how to travel around within Germany especially since Betz works out of smaller towns (not Berlin/Munich) without uber. If you find some time can you please elaborate on how you reached the place, traveled around (from airport to consultation, where did you stay 2 weeks in Freiburg, hotel to hospital, PT and so on).

Thank you Stand taller. Hope the next 4cm are easy.

Quote from: randy on April 17, 2022, 06:25:08 AMHey Stand taller

thank you for the response. congrats on reaching 7cm. Thats a great gain. Opiods are very addictive, how much was your average dosage all these days before stopping? Are you still taking Xarelto and do you plan to take it till full amount of distraction?

I have some questions if you don't mind

1) I am a bit worried about signing patient consent forms which might allow them to use your photos for advertising and so on. I had thought that as a rule, all legal documents in Germany must be in German. You say it was in English which is great. Are there 2 sets of documents you must sign? One during patient registration before consultation where you might have to read where your photos and information get shared. One before surgery stating the risks involved and that you agree there is no liability on the doctors. Is that it?

2) I am quite confused about where Betz institute currently is, where people are getting their consultations, surgery and follow-up check ups. Their website lists St ingbert as the location for consultations and follow-ups and Kreikrankenhaus St. Ingbert as the surgery location. On google maps Betz institute is in Neunkirchen. Someone posted links to DrBecker's cosmetic surgery practice in Freiburg.  Can you choose among multiple options?

3) I speak no German and am a bit concerned on how to travel around within Germany especially since Betz works out of smaller towns (not Berlin/Munich) without uber. If you find some time can you please elaborate on how you reached the place, traveled around (from airport to consultation, where did you stay 2 weeks in Freiburg, hotel to hospital, PT and so on).

Thank you Stand taller. Hope the next 4cm are easy.

Thanks a lot! 7cm really is a massive difference, and I also hope the next 4cm are fast and easy. I'll try answer you questions:

1) Germany has pretty strong privacy laws and even stronger culture, so I wouldn't worry about this. To be honest, I don't remember how many sets I signed since I am in my home town now in easter. Can check later next week. I do remember signing something stating that the surgery is not for medical reasons but for cosmetic reasons. Basically signing that I am healthy.

2) Their institute is in St. Ingbert, and surgery has also been at a privat hospital there. But Dr Betz told me that the hospital they usually used went bankrupt during Covid, so they are now using different hospitals. I had my surgery at Praxisklinik 2000 Orthopädie in Freiburg, and I was the second patient to stay here. Because I was in Freiburg most of my followup was with Dr Becker.

Dr Becker is Dr Betz predecessor and as I understood the plan is to move Betz Institute to Freiburg within a few years. Dr Becker has his clinic in Freiburg

3) Most people in Germany understand and speak some english, so getting by shouldn't be very hard. I flew to Frankfurt and Betz will arrange a shuttle if you want to your hotel in Freiburg. I stayed at a hotel in the city centre, and was picked up by Dr Becker the day of surgery. I spent the first week in the hospital and the second week in flat provided by Betz in the floor underneath Dr Beckers clinic. This was a massive 150 square meters luxury flat. And having Dr Becker close by was very comforting. I flew out of Zurich and Dr Becker arranged a shuttle to the airport. Both Dr Betz and Dr Becker where very helpful and will arrange everything.

 

Day 116

I've now reached 8,3cm and stand at 173,5cm.... well that would be if I could stand straight. Due to duckass I am not able to stand straight. Clicking has been reduced to 10 clicks per day courtesy of Dr Becker and I have regained more function as a result, but my duckass only seems to be marginally improved. In the first time in what seems like months I can move around short distances in my flat without crutches. For most of the lengthening time I've only been able to move around with crutches due to stiffness, tightness and duckass.

After upping my stretching game to around 1,5 hours a day and doing fysio three times a week stiffness and tightness seem to be improving little by little each day, and even duckass seem to be progressing ever so slightly. A few days ago I was actually able to go shopping while pushing a shopping cart all by myself through the whole grocery store. This is something I've not been able to do in months, so I am optimistic about my form improving a little bit every day moving forward.

If I am able to speed up clicking to 15 a day next week I will hit my height goal on June 15th (in 37 days), but If I have to stay at 10 clicks a day throughout the remaining 2,7cm I will be done on June 30th (in 52 days). Either way, the end is getting close!

The past week I've been sleeping much better, so instead of waking up ever 1-1,5 hours, I now only wake up 2-3 times during an 8 hour sleep - which what I usually did before the surgery - so yeah. Sleep is back to normal!

My energy levels are also at its highest since the surgery, so I feel that I am slowly getting back to the old me - which is a good feeling.

It's been a long process and there is still 37 - 52 days to go -  though I really hope it is the former. I can't wait till I'm done clicking so I can finally start to actually rehabilitate.

betzinstitute fked up my legs, and I am going to file a Class-Action Lawsuit against them

I am currently gathering other patients who have severe problems with their surgery with Betz, please message me to discuss further and get our justice!!!

@Stand taller how are you finding your proportions?

My proportions are great, and have never been better! I've written about this more in detail earlier here.

Day 158 - Lengthening done and I've reached 177cm!

Been a while since I've written here, but finally guys I'm done lengthening and I can now focus on recovering. First let's start with the positives, and that is I've surpassed my original goal of 11cm lengthening and reaching 176cm. I've actually lengthened  11,5cm and reached 177cm which insane! I can officially say that I am not short anymore, and average height in most western countries. Even in the tallest countries I'm just below average, which is more than good enough!

Tomorrow I will wake up and not ever have to do another click, wow! 158 days of lengthening has been an insane amount of time and at times it felt like forever. My life the last five months has basically been centered around lengthening. It has been a real test of will power and the self control.

Like so many others here the last cm was very hard, and around 14 days ago I actually decided to stop lengthening at 176cm. I had a few bad nights of sleep and some really bad pain in my knees and thighs. On top of that I was just feeling overall tired after being in this process for five months. I can not emphasize enough how long of a process this really is (and I'm far from done). But after talking to friends, family, my physiotherapist and Dr Becker I decided to go the last cm to reach 177cm. And I am happy that I've gotten the maximum out of the Betz Bone. Initially Dr Betz wanted me to only do 11cm, but would allow an extra 0,5cm if everything was looking good at the end. So I'm happy lengthening as much as possible, and will never feel any regret for not doing the maximum.

But, it's not all good because I still have quite pronounced duckass. After slowing down to 10 clicks a day and doing physio three times a week my duckass was slowly improving. But around a month ago I felt I just wanted to reach my goal as fast as possible so I could start rehabilitating as fast as possible. I've felt so sick at tired if this process so many times during distraction that at some point I just wanted to get on with it and end it sooner than later. I then decided to do 15 clicks a day and up my stretching from around an hour a day to around 2,5 hours a day. What this did was just keep my duck ass in check. This does mean that I am still dependent on crutches to walk and move about.

And this also means that I am not standing straight and I don't actually stand at 177cm tall. So I still don't know how it feels to be this height. I'm guessing I am around 170-171cm tall now. But on physio last Friday we where able to flatten my duckass quite a bit and I must have gained around 2-3 cm that day. But because I clicked for few more days that gain was lost. So I am hoping now that I am done clicking I can make progress quickly. It may take two weeks for my duckass to resolve, but more likely 4-6 weeks, or it could even take 8 weeks. Time will tell. But It feels so good to know that I can actually start to make some progress with my physio and stretching and not just keeping it in check.

Dr Becker reckons it will take 4 weeks to resolve my duckass ass and another 4 weeks before I can walk quite normally without crushes, so crossing my fingers.

Either way I'm happy I did the maximum lengthening and will keep you guys updated on how recovery goes!