Stripe's Journal - Dr. Barinov LATN Externals

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Do you think you could of been done sooner or do you feel that you did everything you could to optimize getting better?

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Quote from: egocentrical on April 11, 2017, 10:27:22 AMDo you think you could of been done sooner or do you feel that you did everything you could to optimize getting better?

Yes, many things.

1. I got lazy very early on.
2. I got caught up in girls and the social life at the clinic.
3. I got distracted by personal problems at home.

4. I did not stretch everyday.
5. I did not walk everyday.
6. I got lazy with my supplements.

Had I had a planned and strict stretching routine everyday, that I timed and tracked.. I would have avoided the complications I faced and left much earlier. Also if I had walked at least two hours a day, I would have left earlier and been walking faster and better earlier.

What I HIGHLY recommend you bring with you is:

1. A stop watch. Anything you can click quickly to start and stop. Also anything that you can to countdown from a certain time.. obviously your phone will have these features but I recommend buying a separate tool that is dedicated only to timing. Believe me.
 
2. A paper journal - so that you can track how much time you've spent stretching and walking and see how much progress you've made. This is also very useful for writing down how much you've turned in a day and other notes you will want to keep track of about your lengthening and routine. I would recommend buying more than one to have better organization, but everyone will have their own method. Write these things down, do not use your phone!

I didn't use these above tools but I really wish I did. Others at the clinic used these types of systems and their recovery was miles ahead of mine. It kept them motivated and it kept them on top of their routines.

And my biggest recommendation of all especially if you go to barinovs clinic: USE THE FOOT HOLDERS THEY GIVE YOU EVERY MINUTE OF THE DAY THAT YOU POSSIBLY CAN. WHENEVER YOU ARE IN BED OR ARE IN THE GYM, USE THE FOOTHOLDERS!

No matter how flimsy and annoying they are, USE THEM. They will come off a million times and it will take a million tries to put them back on, and you'll prick your fingers during the process but believe me those stupid white footholders will save you so much time, money and stress. By that I mean they'll prevent ballerina which means you can achieve more height, avoid complications, leave quicker and heal better. Do not fool yourself into thinking you are the exception and that your legs are pretty flexible or that because you are athletic that you will not get ballerina. Everyone gets ballerina. You want to do EVERYTHING you can to prevent it from happening early and from getting worse once you see signs of it. Ballerina is the fastest way to cut your lengthening journey short. 

REMEMBER THIS: BEFORE YOU DO THE SURGERY: ASK THE OTHER LIMB LENGTHENING PATIENTS TO HELP YOU BUY THE VELCRO STRAPS FOR THE FOOTHOLDERS.

This will replace the strings that are attached with the foot holders which are VERY poorly made and made putting the foot holder on very difficult. They also can not be tightened too much and once you lengthen past a certain amount, they are useless because the strings get too short. BUY THE VELCRO STRAPS BEFORE YOU GO TO THE HOSPITAL!!!! write this down somewhere so that you do not forget.

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I also want to note for those who are reading my last couple of updates but are unfamiliar with this thread and don't want to read my entire journal...

it is a long journal, but I have made the effort to document my journey in detail from before, during and after so that anyone planning on doing externals.. knows exactly what to expect and learns from my many mistakes. I also made the effort to make the moderators delete comments and questions from other members  for most of my journal so that it's an easy reading experience for you guys.

I really wish I had read a journal like this before I went on my journey so that I didn't make so many of the mistakes I made and so that I was better prepared for the harsh reality of this procedure. In addition to journal entries about my experiences as they were happening, I also posted a few REFLECTION posts during my time, where I reflected on height, insecurities, ideas about proportions and other things that were going through my mind throughout my journey.

I hope that this journal, as up and down as it was - serves to be a valuable resource to anyone that hopes to lengthen. I encourage you to read it again while you are going through the process or are in the hospital as there will be many things that you will have forgotten or overlooked. I went back to many of the journals I had read before my journey and realized how much I could have learned from them if I had read them over again while I was actually lengthening rather than just before.

Cheers and keep the questions coming while I'm still here if you have any.

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Hey Stripes! I'd just like to say that your diary was one of the most entertaining diary I read during and before my journey. Your journal was one of the main reasons I decided to contribute back to the community so that we can continue the chain of good deeds on the forum.

I couldn't help but to draw parallels between your journey and mine; we both lengthened with externals and had LATN later, we both added 8 cm. Except my entire lengthening process was about 2-3 process total. Because of my high rate of lengthening I developed some tingling and slight numbness in my feet. So I just wanted to ask whether you have and/or still have such symptoms? From what I've read from journals, parasthesia is a temporary minor complication of lengthening, but I just wanted to hear your thoughts on this

Cheers to you, Stripes!

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Quote from: Sibirsky on April 11, 2017, 02:30:48 PMHey Stripes! I'd just like to say that your diary was one of the most entertaining diary I read during and before my journey. Your journal was one of the main reasons I decided to contribute back to the community so that we can continue the chain of good deeds on the forum.

I couldn't help but to draw parallels between your journey and mine; we both lengthened with externals and had LATN later, we both added 8 cm. Except my entire lengthening process was about 2-3 process total. Because of my high rate of lengthening I developed some tingling and slight numbness in my feet. So I just wanted to ask whether you have and/or still have such symptoms? From what I've read from journals, parasthesia is a temporary minor complication of lengthening, but I just wanted to hear your thoughts on this

Cheers to you, Stripes!

Hello Sibirsky!

Thanks for the kind words

Do you mean to say you lengthened 8 cm in 2-3 weeks?! That's crazy but awesome if you don't have any complications!

I know the sensation you're talking about, it's very normal. It's because of the nerves lengthening, you deal with it more as you lengthen in the higher numbers.. it'll go away eventually, although it's very uncomfortable. It's nothing to worry about though, I had it for a couple of months and you will too before it goes away.

I'm really impressed that you achieved what you achieved in the time frame that you did.. I'm going to go read your journal, I'm super curious about how things went for you!

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Hi Stripes, thanks for the journal man definitley read a thing or two in here that I plan to use during my recovery.  I had a couple questions, first being what exactly is a footholder, and how would it compare to the soft splint?  Also how early post op can you begin using it? 

Cheers

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Quote from: crusader1980 on April 12, 2017, 05:30:07 AMHi Stripes, thanks for the journal man definitley read a thing or two in here that I plan to use during my recovery.  I had a couple questions, first being what exactly is a footholder, and how would it compare to the soft splint?  Also how early post op can you begin using it? 

Cheers

Hello Crusader,

A foot holder is very similar to the soft splint expect it uses the frames as support to pull on the foot. At Barinov's clinic it's a rectangular piece of wood that's a little bigger than your foot, covered in a plastic material and has two ropes that loop around on both ends. The ropes or "strings" are used to hook on the top of the frames, and when tightened raise the foot and in turn stretch the calf muscles.

I've attached a photo here that shows the velcro straps that I was referring to earlier (these replace the weaker ropes). You can see that they wrap around the foot (under the foot is the wooden foot holder, its not visible here) and come up and wrap around the top front of the frame. When you tighten the velcro strap, it pulls on the foot holder - very similar to how the soft splint works - but much stronger.

You can and should use the foot holder immediately after you wake up from surgery and are able to. It should be used from day 1 until the day you remove the frames. At Barinov's clinic they will provide this to you before you go in for surgery and will show you how to use it.. if they forget to do this, remind them. DO NOT FORGET TO BUY THE VELCRO STRAPS BEFORE YOU GO TO THE HOSPITAL. This is not provided by the clinic, the patients at the clinic buy these straps from a tailor who custom makes them. They are cheap, just ask one of the limb lengthening patients to call the tailor for you.

If you are not at Barinov's clinic and are doing externals, ask your doctor if they have any devices like the foot holder that you can use.. if they don't have one, I would strongly suggest making one.


A photo showing the velcro straps attached to the frames and foot holder.

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I'm going to barinov if I do external. How long do you think it would take me for 4 cm if I am dedicated and do latn.

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Quote from: bander72 on April 12, 2017, 08:02:39 AMI'm going to barinov if I do external. How long do you think it would take me for 4 cm if I am dedicated and do latn.

For 4 CM, you'll only need to lengthen for 1 month & 1 week. I would say for you to get the initial surgery, lengthen and then get the nail you would spend about 3 months.

You will have to wait 10 days after the first surgery to start turning. If you turn 1MM a day, it will take you 40 days to lengthen. That's about 1 month and 20 days from initial surgery. That's if you don't have to stop turning for any reason - but you might take a few days off because of pain or just to let your legs rest. I would assume that Barinov would make you wait at least one month after you're done lengthening to do the nail surgery. Then you will need to stay in the hospital for 10 days. In the best case scenario that's 90 days. He might let you do the surgery in two weeks instead of a month, but it all depends. I would go for 5CM if your goal is to get to 180. That's 10 extra days of lengthening. 5 is in the safe area, it'll still be easy for you to do as long as you keep up with your stretches and walking. After that is where you run into limitations. For the amount you want to do, I would definitely go with external LATN.

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Ah man 3 months seem to long for 4 cm. I wonder if he would let me do the nail surgery in two weeks.