Stryde Giotikas July: Presurgery Thread

Hi guys,

I have the surgery booked for July¡ I will do 5,5 cm Stryde and I want to do a thread providing information about my progress and X-Rays. Taking into account that it's January, I think it's better to make a "pre-surgery" thread and then creating a new one. I'm a 172-173 male, which is honestly slightly below average in my country, and my goal is to be confortably over 175. I honestly did not have any external issues with my height in my life, but I'm quite obssesive I guess, and I have been obssesed with reaching 175 for quite a while. Thanks to my mindset I have achieved lots of great things, having a great long time girlfriend and a succesfull business. However, it also has it flaws, as my obsession with reaching 175 has caused me feelings of failure for a long time, to the point that I have been long periods of time without leaving my house. I perfectly understand that it is irrational, but I just can't let it go, and I want to reach my goal and take back my life.

Athletic recovery is really important for me, so I won't do more than 5.5: that will make me confortably over my goal of 175, and Giotikas says that I should be able to fully recover if everything goes correctly. Of course, I'm aware of the risks, but I'm willing to take them. In this thread, I will be writing recommendations that Giotikas has given me, stretches, diet... This forum has helped a lot regarding limb lenghtening, and I want to offer as much information as I can in order to help others

That's a good approach to the procedure, but I warn you to be disenchanted about the full recovery because that's possible but nobody can knows that, you can be perfect even after 8cm, you can be different from before even just with 1cm. The most traumatic event in LL is the surgery itself. For sure being young, staying conservative and having a good proportion after LL are all very important factors to have a full comeback.

Good luck. 177 .5 will be very cool and hopefully resolve you of that complex

Of course, you are right and I'm aware of it. To be honest, I'm happy if I'm able to run and do sports at a decent level, even if I lose some athletic capacities. If 1-2 years after the surgery I'm at 80% of what I'm now, I'm happy, and I think that's a realistic approach. As long as I don't get crippled...

Another thing that I'm worried about is the payment. When I paid the first part (small booking fee) my bank automatically showed a message blocking it. After talking with the bank via phone, they said they don't know the reason, it's an algorithim and it may just be because it's my first international transfer, but they warned me about being careful anyway. Of course, I know Giotikas is legit: I've had two online appointments with him, there are some threads about him with photos with the doctor, lots of articles published by him... but, of course, I'm paranoid of being scammed after so much effort to get the money. The payment is part to an Irish account and the rest to a greek one (the nuvasive distributor). My idea is to contact nuvasive first so they guarantee that the distributor is legit. Any suggestions for further safety? Maybe I'm being dumb, but it's a huge amount of money lol¡

Well, I contacted nuvasive and they told me that the greek distributor is legit, so I guess that everything is safe.

Regarding the first contacts with Giotikas, in case anyone is interested:

In the first place, you book the free introduction appointment, 15 minutes via skype. After that, you have to book the long appointment other day (200 euros) or fly to Greece for a presential meeting. I chose the skype way, and Giotikas sends you a questionnaire with questions about your expectations and psychological status. I was surprised that no X rays were asked, but the Dr. says that they do it when you are in Greece a couple days before the surgery. This second meeting is like 45 mins, and Giotikas solves all your doubts. The truth is that, if you have done your research, you won't hear anything new. The Dr. is quite honest about the surgery and warns about the importance of discipline when doing PT: at least 4 hours per day if you want to recover "fast". I do think he downplays the pain a bit, because he said that usually pain is not more than 4/10.

He doesn't require X-Rays?  That's alarming.  He needs to know your canal diameters to determine what size nail you can use.   If you weigh under 150lbs, that's probably not an issue.  But if you're over 150 it could preclude you from having a nail that allows full weight bearing.  If I were you, that's not something I'd want to discover a few days before surgery in Greece.

Quote from: Stryde2021 on January 20, 2021, 08:56:28 PMHe doesn't require X-Rays?  That's alarming.  He needs to know your canal diameters to determine what size nail you can use.   If you weigh under 150lbs, that's probably not an issue.  But if you're over 150 it could preclude you from having a nail that allows full weight bearing.  If I were you, that's not something I'd want to discover a few days before surgery in Greece.

They have all sizes of nails available on the self in Athens and Giotikas asks for your body weight months before you travel there for your surgery..Don't see a problem here, I think Dr DG has it all covered.

He said that I probably will be able to have the biggest nail, but as the other user said, it will be determined in our presential appointment. They have all types of nails. I'm currently 77 kg (170 pounds) and he told me to cut to 70 (155),

Quote from: Giotikas2021 on January 20, 2021, 09:27:48 PMHe said that I probably will be able to have the biggest nail, but as the other user said, it will be determined in our presential appointment. They have all types of nails. I'm currently 77 kg (170 pounds) and he told me to cut to 70 (155),

How did he determine this if he didn't have X-Rays for you?  At 155-170 you can weightbear with the middle-sized nail, so you're probably fine.  All im saying, though, is it could be a real nightmare if you get to Greece and discover your canals can only accommodate the smallest nail (which does not support weight bearing above 150). 

He said that being 172-173 and 170 pounds I will likely be able to have the big nail. Anyway, just in case, he told me to be 70-73 kg the day of the surgery, taking also into account that I will lose weight after the procedure.