Tibia Lengthening (Precice 2.2) with Dr Assayag

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Tibia Scars of Limb Lengthening Surgery

YouTube Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQghIhnCkrQ

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Appreciate the updates!

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Great insights and quality as usual

Height Journey is one of the best things to happen to the community honestly

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Unrelated to below, I know for internal femurs, especially between 3cm-6cm most of us had knee pain (related to tight quads + the leg being straight in some sleeping positions) in Athens. The nurses would tell us to put the pillow under the lower legs during sleep to raise the legs for better circulation. But during the knee pain period for internal femurs, most of us found that putting the pillow under the lower legs causes more knee pain/more leg straightening-- as opposed to putting the pillow under the knee directly to cause some knee bend which relieved the pain (assuming a lying on back position). And so there is some tension between doing what the nurses are telling us to do (which may not consider all the variables/may not consider what the patient is feeling) versus following how our bodies feel. I point this out just to frame what I'll say below

What do you feel are the most difficult parts of internal tibias for precise?

From talking to some precise tibia patients in Athens, basically there are various points where the doctor's protocol says one thing and patients will tell me they will do something a bit different in practice/say that the doctor can't feel what they feel. A bit of tension between what decision to make in those situations.

I am under the impression that for precise tibias (probably just internal tibias in general):

1. It seems like the first 4-5 weeks there is considerable pain from the surgical wounds for precise tibias that caused some in Athens to not stretch for a the first few weeks except during PT (because the pain would end up coming from wound pain instead of from muscle stretching pain). I am not sure whether it is better to avoid stretching during that period or to stretch through that wound pain? There seems to be some tension where patients would be like "sure the doctor told me to stretch but I know my body and I know the pain when I stretch is from the wounds, not the muscle stretching" -> and so I am noticing that for the first few weeks some precise tibia patients are not stretching much while their lower legs are recovering from the surgical wounds. And I would not be not sure which advice to follow

- It seems like there can be some pain in the achilles tendon. I wonder if ice packing it down for a few hours helps or just makes the problem worse?

- Two people in Athens stopped at around 4cm for precise tibias because it got very tight. I am under the impression that after the wound pain ends, the pain was much less but calves just got very tight after not much lengthening. There is also someone here who did 5cm and has considerable ballerina foot

- The discomfort of the hard/bulky braces/splints has caused some patients in Athens to look for smaller more comfortable ones. I'm not sure what to make of this, there are some smaller more comfortable ones on amazon close to 5 stars- I'm assuming the doctor would object but a patient who sought a smaller more comfortable one told me something along the lines of "if the braces/splint they give us are too uncomfortable/bulky then they won't get as much wearing in practice"

What are your thoughts? I did femurs but have not done tibias. In situations where the doctor's protocol says one thing but the body/other patients tell me one thing like for the above questions, I'd be a bit confused/unsure which to follow sometimes

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Good luck on your journey. Thanks for posting the picture. It's obvious you're having surgery. Unfortunately, fake logs are more prominent in this forum. I love honest diaries like you and we learn a lot from you. Please keep updating

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Quote from: SpeedDialer on January 27, 2023, 07:45:54 PMUnrelated to below, I know for internal femurs, especially between 3cm-6cm most of us had knee pain (related to tight quads + the leg being straight in some sleeping positions) in Athens. The nurses would tell us to put the pillow under the lower legs during sleep to raise the legs for better circulation. But during the knee pain period for internal femurs, most of us found that putting the pillow under the lower legs causes more knee pain/more leg straightening-- as opposed to putting the pillow under the knee directly to cause some knee bend which relieved the pain (assuming a lying on back position). And so there is some tension between doing what the nurses are telling us to do (which may not consider all the variables/may not consider what the patient is feeling) versus following how our bodies feel. I point this out just to frame what I'll say below

What do you feel are the most difficult parts of internal tibias for precise?

From talking to some precise tibia patients in Athens, basically there are various points where the doctor's protocol says one thing and patients will tell me they will do something a bit different in practice/say that the doctor can't feel what they feel. A bit of tension between what decision to make in those situations.

I am under the impression that for precise tibias (probably just internal tibias in general):

1. It seems like the first 4-5 weeks there is considerable pain from the surgical wounds for precise tibias that caused some in Athens to not stretch for a the first few weeks except during PT (because the pain would end up coming from wound pain instead of from muscle stretching pain). I am not sure whether it is better to avoid stretching during that period or to stretch through that wound pain? There seems to be some tension where patients would be like "sure the doctor told me to stretch but I know my body and I know the pain when I stretch is from the wounds, not the muscle stretching" -> and so I am noticing that for the first few weeks some precise tibia patients are not stretching much while their lower legs are recovering from the surgical wounds. And I would not be not sure which advice to follow

- It seems like there can be some pain in the achilles tendon. I wonder if ice packing it down for a few hours helps or just makes the problem worse?

- Two people in Athens stopped at around 4cm for precise tibias because it got very tight. I am under the impression that after the wound pain ends, the pain was much less but calves just got very tight after not much lengthening. There is also someone here who did 5cm and has considerable ballerina foot

- The discomfort of the hard/bulky braces/splints has caused some patients in Athens to look for smaller more comfortable ones. I'm not sure what to make of this, there are some smaller more comfortable ones on amazon close to 5 stars- I'm assuming the doctor would object but a patient who sought a smaller more comfortable one told me something along the lines of "if the braces/splint they give us are too uncomfortable/bulky then they won't get as much wearing in practice"

What are your thoughts? I did femurs but have not done tibias. In situations where the doctor's protocol says one thing but the body/other patients tell me one thing like for the above questions, I'd be a bit confused/unsure which to follow sometimes

I would not worry about the pain, I did both, tibia + femur, at the same time, and I felt that pain levels were very similar. Femurs might have been a tad more painful tbh.

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Height Journey - Tibia X-rays 4.4 Months In Consolidation - January 30, 2023

https://youtu.be/YdTjz0oRCe4

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Quote from: Height Journey on February 01, 2023, 12:06:19 AMHeight Journey - Tibia X-rays 4.4 Months In Consolidation - January 30, 2023

https://youtu.be/YdTjz0oRCe4
I hope your left tibia begins to improve more quickly. Slow consolidation must be a frustration. Hang in there. I think lots of blood flow can help with consolidation. Perhaps swim one hour per day using kick board and flippers focusing on primarily using your feet to move thru the water. Idea being get lots of blood flowing through your calves every day. Or even every other day. Obviously Dr. A would know better than me re exercise and blood flow. Good luck. Thank you for your diary and videos.

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How common is the slow bone healing issue?

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Thanks for your supportive comments. I would press a like (thumb up) button, but that feature is not available on this forum.

About my left tibia, the callus is there and it's pretty sturdy. The callus is also calcifying, though lagging compared to my right tibia. I can walk independently pretty well, though I shouldn't walk any faster than a normal pace. The tibias are slower with consolidation than femurs, so it's nothing new. I am in the process of shrinking my left tibia 2mm so it matches my right tibia length. Also a smaller gap allows better bone formation. I just have to continue eating well and take the nutritional supplements, and exercise well. My daily caloric intake was down a little throughout this cold and tiring winter, so that may be contributing to a slower bone formation. I'm better rested now so I'll be eating and exercising more.