STRYDING to 3 INCHES with Dr. Mahboubian - Support is appreciated

Hello LLers,

So I wanted to jump on these boards, to share my experience, and also gain your feedback/support to get through this "journey".

I had my operation on August 15th, with Dr. Mahboubian, and I am on my third month of the distraction phase. I am currently at 5.5 CM. I will follow up this post with my first 2 months experience, but for now, I will pick up where I am at (Month 3).

My stats:

sxx: Male
Height: 5ft 1.25 inches
Goal Height: 5ft 4.25+
Career: Entrepreneur - Owner of a successful, self sustaining company, which allows me to take time off and get this done without skipping a beat.

LL Doctor: Dr. Mahboubian located in North Hollywood. I live about 1.5 hours away, so choosing this doctor allowed be to keep surgery and post care local. In addition, of the doctors I had researched on this board, and online, this surgeon seemed to render very successful results. Finally, his response times are same day over email, and text. That was an extremely important factor for me. I did not want to go through this process, without close care, step by step.

PT Plan:3 Times per week with a local Physical Therapy Office. Top reviews on YELP, very happy with these guys. All other days, I stretch all leg muscles 3 times per day, and walk every 30 minutes to an hour to keep legs loose as possible.

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Diary entry One:

As mentioned, I will start today's post with Month 3, but will take time to post the first 2 months in a follow up entry here soon.

I have currently reached 5.5CM, which means I am just about 1 inch+ away from my goal. This is a great mile stone. I completed, my most recent checkup yesterday, and my doctor found that all is going well with bone growth, and flexion. Recent bone images are linked below.

https://imgur.com/a/6USgcp7



Question LL Brothers and Sisters:

Even though I have reached this wonderful 2 inch milestone, I have to admit, I am tight and sore. I notice that as I crossed that 2 inch mark, I felt a bit of back sway, and my legs began to get sore/achy again. In fact, I find that in the morning, it seems my legs are so stiff and sore, I prefer using my walker for the first 30 minutes of the day to get them warmed up before I move to my cane, and/or unassisted "duck walking" throughout my apartment. My Questions is: Have any of you experienced this? If yes, I would be gracious to hear your experience about what I should expect as I creep up on the 7.5 to 8CM mark this month. As I am doing this alone in my apartment, any feedback/encouragement is appreciated greatly.

Thank you all, from this point I will begin reporting my daily "feels" and "routine" as we march to the end of distraction, and post recovery phase.

God Speed.

What's up bonestretching congrats on a successful journey so far, x rays look good bro nicely aligned bones, I also had my surgery with Mahboubian August 1st and I experienced the tightness and constar aches as if my muscles were super sore all the time at around 5 cms too. I'm at 6.6cms now I took a break yesterday I didn't lengthen at all and today I'm not either, I will resume tomorrow and it seems a day break did me a bit good, my right shin is starting to get numb and nerve pains when I stand for a long time or if I'm driving for more than 15 minutes, It's unbareable. I've just been pushing through bro, sleep is worse than it's ever been since 5.5cms I wake up in pain and have to take half a norco to go back to sleep, and just pushing through the pain bro, knowing pain is temporary but the 8cms will be forever. last stretch baby lets get it!

Thank you Movie,

It is good to know that these symptoms are a common thing at this stage of the journey and it looks like you are nearing completion; Excellent job.
Today was a little better, I found that just staying consistent on getting up and walking around every 30mins to an hour, helped keep me legs warm, and suppressed a lot of the aches and pain. Also, being productive on my computer (paying bills, working on business things, educating myself on life, etc through articles, and youtube) helps me pass time, which is a big one for me as I am alone in my apartment doing this.

As for sleep, I am in the same boat. I literally get about 3 to 4 hours of sleep on a good night, and waking up is a bummer because you feel your wiry legs, tight and sore as you move them around. I can not sleep on my side yet, so repositioning is a no go. The one thing I am trying today, is to force myself to stay awake during the daytime, to maximize my night time sleepiness, we will see how that works out.

Why are your stats almost identical to InFullStryde?
Even your height is. Very odd...

Hi BoneStretching
Congrats on your journey to being taller!  Yeah, what you have been experiencing is so common for every ller.  5cm is always the milestone. haha  The last inch is a tougher one.  There is no easy way to pass it through.  Stretching as much as you can and reducing lengthening rate will be only important factors to finish this journey.  So you can reduce the lengthening rate for a couple of days or even longer, if you feel really tight or painful.  Nerve pain in shin or knee is worse than tightness in muscle.  However, there is nothing much you can do about it.  Just stretch and slow down the rate.  You just have to tough it out. 

I also couldn't have a good sleep during lengthening.  Everyday I slept 2-4 hr at night and took a nap of 1-2 h.  I am actually not a good sleeper even before cll, so sleeping was a nightmare at that time.  But time just goes by everyday.  You will get there, bro!  Keep up the good work!   

I agree with ghostfish on that one! Nerve/soft tissue pain in the shin and nerves hits a lot lol, that's the only pain that has made me yell during this LL journey and I'm very pain tolerant

check your messages .
and did you pick Dr M  cuz you live in LA?

Thank you All,

I appreciate your feed back and encouragement here. I spent the whole night trying to figure out a way to sleep on my side. I failed, but A for effort I guess.
It is good to know this is common and I am not alone on this one. I will continue to stretch consistently, and go on my walks to keep myself limber as possible.
Yesterday I was able to manage a millimeter, and will go for .66 today.

BoneStretching + Movie - at what distraction (how many cm) did you find your sleep was seriously impacted? Do you think if you stayed "ahead of the pain" by pre-emptively taking painkillers such as Norco, it would help a bit with sleeping through the night?

Thank you both and the other CLLers as well for sharing your journey throughout, it's super helpful!!

Frankly, my sleep has been affected since day 1. The pain is tough for me most in the AM when my legs are tight, and I have to get moving around, however while in bed, what gets me is the sleep position. For some reason, my brain can not click into sleep mode when sleeping on my back. I dream of the day I can comfortably sleep on my side again  lol