Starting Bilateral Tibial Surgery With Dr. Paley - Dec-02-2021

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I got my X-rays during my last meeting with Dr. Robbins on Monday (Feb-14) and I will soon post the X-rays here.

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Sorry to hear you are going through so much pain. It really sucks to be suffering so much and have to see outside specialists far away while being disabled. I remember it took me a month before I could sleep well and every journey out of town was such a struggle at the beginning.

Would you say most of the pain is coming from the tibias or the femurs at this point?

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Quote from: GodsGrace on February 17, 2022, 03:00:47 AMFeb-16-2022 - Tibia+30 - Femur+13


Alright guys today was a very tiring and rough day for me. Slept only for 2 hours (disturbed sleep with lots of pain) and woke up at 6.30 AM. My wheelchair van service came to pick me up by 7.30 AM and reached the Fort Lauderdale office (Canterspine - seems like a franchise or other office of paley institute, IDK exactly) by 8.45 AM. My appointment was at 9.15 AM so waited for 30 mins and met Dr. Giufridda at 9.30 in his office. He was asking me few questions about when the surgeries happened and what's going on with the pain med situation. I explained him everything very clearly and he said sometimes different bodies react differently to the set of medications. So he finally prescribed Percocet for me. And as it has acetaminophen in it already I should not take the tylenol. The dosage level still goes like the same as oxy meaning one tablet in every hours. Also he was asking did they already prescribe you gabapentin. Yes during my last visit with Dr. Robbins on Monday (Feb-14-2022) his assistant prescribed me gabapentin. I believe it helps with nerve pain. The dosage level for gaba goes like this, first 2 days 0-0-1 (meaning only one 1 in the night) the next 2 days 1-0-1 and the next 2 days 1-1-1 and the next 2 days 1-1-2 and the next 2 days 2-1-2 and the next 2 days 2-2-2. Once you reach this level you will continue with this dose (basically 6 tablets a day) and they will evaluate you in your every 2 weeks follow up and make any adjustments if needed. For now this is what I am going to follow for the next 2 weeks as my next follow-up appointment with Dr. Robbins is on Feb-28th and with Dr. Giufridda on March-8th.


I asked Dr. Giufridda what could be the reason oxy is not working for me? He replied there is no one definite answer for that question, aging factor and different body types there are so many reasons like that. I am in my late 30s so thought for me aging could be a thing but I could be wrong and who cares. As long as the the percocet does what I am expecting I will be so happy to achieve my target. Fingers crossed.

Then From there I directly went to my PT at 12.00 PM. Reached there by 11.20 AM and waited for 40 mins before the PT and after the PT is done my wheelchair van service was late by another 40 mins to pick me and by the time I reached home it was 2.30 PM and was very tiring. On top of that I finished my 3 lengthening sessions with 2 hours apart and now my quad muscles are very tight. SMH, Hopefully the percocet works.

Lengthening statistic so far,

Tibia: 16.25 mm
Femur: 5.75 mm
Total: 22 mm

Wish me luck guys. Thanks.

Hope you get better and rid of pain fast, first of all!
The tablets of gabapentin you refer you are going to take (2+2+2)/day are of which quantity each? 200mg, 300mg  400mg?

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Each pill is 300mg

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Quote from: tallerwouldbenice on February 17, 2022, 07:04:34 PMEach pill is 300mg
Sorry to doubt, but as you aren't  "GodsGrace", how can you know?
In my country there are diferent pills with diferent quantities of gabapentin each: 200mg 300mg or 400mg.

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Very inspiring Diary, man. I am also planning on doing QL with Paley in 2024 or 2025. Currently saving up, everything going well. So this diary is a godsend for me!

I saw on Paley's website the max length for the double procedure at once is 10cm? Unless you wait 1 year between?

I am planning on 11-12 cm. Do you think this would be possible without waiting 1 year in between? I am in my mid 20's and more flexible than the average person.

I hope you get your pain problems under control, mate. Rooting for you!

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Quote from: Will955 on February 17, 2022, 07:16:05 PMVery inspiring Diary, man. I am also planning on doing QL with Paley in 2024 or 2025. Currently saving up, everything going well. So this diary is a godsend for me!

I saw on Paley's website the max length for the double procedure at once is 10cm? Unless you wait 1 year between?

I am planning on 11-12 cm. Do you think this would be possible without waiting 1 year in between? I am in my mid 20's and more flexible than the average person.

I hope you get your pain problems under control, mate. Rooting for you!

20's is a great age to do this. Wish you well onto this journey!

In 1 of the past diary, an LLer asked PT's your question. The answer was: "the most they can go was 9.75cm. The rest was lower than this.". GodsGrace mentioned to me another patient who wanted to do more than 10cm like you. What he did was waiting for tibia to complete lengthening then starting femur surgery. So his 2 surgeries should've been like few months apart.

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Quote from: motoboarder on February 17, 2022, 07:22:19 PM20's is a great age to do this. Wish you well onto this journey!

Thank you, man! I've known about LLS since maybe 2012 at age 16~. 

But never considered it back then because I thought I was gonna keep growing.

I'm from a Scandinavian country. Just about 5'8, maybe 5'9 in the morning. My father is above 6'3+. And all my friends are above 6'2. Younger generation in Scandinavia is HELLA TALL!

I had disease in teenage years which stunted my growth.

Quote from: motoboarder on February 17, 2022, 07:22:19 PMIn 1 of the past diary, an LLer asked PT's your question. The answer was: "the most they can go was 9.75cm. The rest was lower than this.". GodsGrace mentioned to me another patient who wanted to do more than 10cm like you. What he did was waiting for tibia to complete lengthening then starting femur surgery. So his 2 surgeries should've been like few months apart.

Alright, I see. That sounds very promising to me then.


Sorry I hijacked your thread a little bit, Godsgrace. I am really looking forward on following your journey!

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Quote from: zaozari on February 17, 2022, 07:09:09 PMSorry to doubt, but as you aren't  "GodsGrace", how can you know?
In my country there are diferent pills with diferent quantities of gabapentin each: 200mg 300mg or 400mg.

yes, I have been prescribed with 300mg per pill.

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Quote from: motoboarder on February 17, 2022, 07:22:19 PM20's is a great age to do this. Wish you well onto this journey!

In 1 of the past diary, an LLer asked PT's your question. The answer was: "the most they can go was 9.75cm. The rest was lower than this.". GodsGrace mentioned to me another patient who wanted to do more than 10cm like you. What he did was waiting for tibia to complete lengthening then starting femur surgery. So his 2 surgeries should've been like few months apart.



Thanks motoboarder for answering. Hey Will955, "IAmReady" is the diary I was so impressed with (it's an interesting read) and he split the QL into 2 parts, like first tibia surgery and finished his complete tibial lengthening then after a week of his tibial lengthening is done he started with his Femur surgery because he doesn't want to deal with pain from all 4 segments of his legs and also he wanted to achieve a little more than 10 cms. I initially was planning to do the same but it took him around 7 months (need to recollect my notes) just to finish the lengthening part on both segments (tibias and femurs). That's a lot of time for me and I don't have that much time and  I am not working right now. I quit my job for 5 months for now. Also the other reason I dropped that plan was when I was speaking with Dr. Robbins he mentioned that your request can be accommodated but the amount of time you will be on blood thinners, pain killers and other tablets will be doubled which is not good for your liver considering your age since I am in my late 30s. So I had to drop that plan and stick with QL with 2-3 weeks apart.

My base goal is 10 cms however I would be happy if I can achieve 11.5 cms. I need to check with the doctors to see if they let me do that as there are so many factors involved in it. Time will tell.