Hey Everyone,
First of all, sorry for the delayed update to my diary, I planned to do an update a lot sooner but when I got home I just reallllly didn't feel like thinking or talking about everything, was so exhausted etc. but I think it's important to do an update for people who are considering surgery with Dr. Solomin / Kulesh.
First of all, I can definitely say after everything I am so glad I chose to do the procedure with Dr. Solomin and Kulesh, in thinking about the entire experience I really feel they are some of the top doctors in the world when it comes to LL and I have no regrets about choosing them as my doctors. I will try to summarize everything below:
I completed lengthening 5 cm and spent about 3 days in the "corrections" phase, where Dr. Kulesh and his team spent hours meticulously calculating adjustments to my frames to make sure my legs were perfectly straight. I was really impressed by their perfectionism when it came to this, over this period I had about 12 X-rays and recalculations using special software to make sure that everything was perfect. I'm not sure if all doctors are so meticulous about this as when reading other people's diaries I don't remember reading so much about corrections. One of my bones had become very misaligned during lengthening and that leg hurt quite a lot to correct. Dr. Kulesh explained that when doing the correction period over only a few days it hurts more, you could choose to do it slowly over a week or 2 and would probably experience no pain, or he said they could even do the corrections in 1 days but the pain would be severe.
July 13 - I had my frames removed and nail insertion surgery at the municipal hospital. Everything went well. I was expecting more pain than the initial surgery to attach the framed because Dr. Kulesh said inserting the nails is harder on the body but I didn't find the pain to be worse. I had an epidural anesthesia in my back, it was uncomfortable so I actually asked to have it removed the day after surgery and managed with mild painkillers alone.
July 16 - Feeling pretty good, scheduled to fly home today (12 hours to New York) Dr. Abdulah accompanied me there, this is where problems arose. I originally came to Russia with a 30 day tourist visa, but I paid for a visa extension through Medem Clinic (in fact this is really the only reason I chose to have my first surgery at Medem which cost a lot more because they offered visa extension) The visa extension cost about $1000 and supposed to be valid until July 19th. I found it odd that I never got a new visa in my passport or any official documentation to prove that my visa had been extended, I asked Dr. Kulesh about this at least 4-5 times and he said not to worry about it, I had been registered with immigration and they would have a record of my new visa. Of course, when I went to check in for my flight, they checked my documents and said there was no way I would be getting on the flight because I do no have a valid visa and am technically in the country as an illegal immigrant. At this point I was pretty upset. It was a long ordeal but eventually I managed to get an emergency transit visa in order to leave the country (only granted because I was "injured") if I had been in perfect health the gate agent said I likely would have spent about a week in Russian court and paid a lot of fines. I missed my flight, had to purchase a new flight for 12 hours later. Although this was a difficult situation, Dr. Kulesh paid for my new flight and any of the expenses I had due to the visa problem, which was really great and really made me feel like he is a genuinely good person (I don't know whose "fault" it was, maybe Medem or the Russian immigration system but I don't think it was Dr. Kulesh's fault) He also came and waited with me at the airport until my flight so from 8pm until 4am the next day to make sure i got on the flight okay, I told him he really didn't have to and I would be okay because they had really great staff at the airport helping me but he insisted on waiting which was very kind, I don't think a lot of doctors would have done this.
Rapey Doctor - All of the doctors that I met during my time in Russia were great and very professional except for Dr. Abdulah. While we were in the airport he kept touching me, it made me uncomfortable. When I missed the flight he insisted that we go stay at a hotel near the airport (as in we both stay in the same room) until my new flight. I got such a bad feeling about him that I refused and said I would wait at the airport. There was no way I wanted to be alone in a hotel room with him. Later, when we were alone in an elevator at the airport, he tried to kiss me on the mouth "to say goodbye to me" (this isn't a custom in any country I've heard of especially Russia). I had given him my phone number because we had to separate at the the airport while he sorted out my emergency visa and later he sent me so many inappropriate text messages, kissing faces, basically saying creepy inappropriate things. Anyways if you are a girl and have surgery with Dr. Solomin I would avoid Dr. Abdulah.
Plane Trip Home - Everything went smoothly flying home, the airline helped me get to my seat and through the airport etc. Even though it was only 4 days after the surgery I felt fine, I didn't take any painkillers on the plane, took blood thinners to avoid DVT. Got home and basically slept for a week I was so exhausted. I didn't sleep very much at all during the entire time I was in Russia and especially during the last week so I was really so tired when I got home.
July 24 - After resting for a week and eating a lot I felt like I had my strength back so I started gradually standing / doing some walking with a walker. When I first started walking my walking was terrible, I was just so weak and wobbly, I had about 1cm of ballerina foot so of course because I couldn't place my foot flat on the ground walking and even standing were difficult.
I felt stronger everyday, pushed myself to walk more and after about 3 weeks things improved dramatically. My ballerina foot is pretty much gone, my calf muscles are still tight but I can stand and walk almost normally now (although my walking is slow and careful). I tried physiotherapy but frankly didn't find it to be very helpful, the only thing that really helped me stretch out my muscles and get back to walking was actually walking, even though it was so hard at first. Dr. Kulesh had suggested that I have Achilles Tendon Lengthening to improve my ballerina foot but I didn't want to, and in my case I'm glad I didn't because I was able to resolve the ballerina foot pretty quickly (I'm sure everyone is different though).
August 15 (about 1 month post nailing surgery) - Went for a short walk maybe 1/2 mile without a walker or crutches. My walking is still slow / muscles still tight but in general feeling pretty optimistic about recovery, when I first got home I didn't feel that I would progress to walking unaided so quickly (Dr. Kulesh didn't really give me an estimate and I didn't ask him because of course it is different in every case - for example before I decided on Dr. Solomin / Kulesh one doctor I talked to estimated 3 weeks post surgery, another 4 months, obviously a vast difference. I kept 4 months in my head as a "worst case scenario" . I also had X-Rays and an exam with an orthopedic surgeon here to confirm that everything is going well with my healing. Dr. Kulesh follows up with me as well by e-mail. I haven't got my full range of motion back in my feet yet (doriflexion in particular) but it's improving every day.
Scars - I was initially really concerned about how scarred my legs would be after the two surgeries but I'm pleasantly surprised that the scars are very minimal. Based on pictures of other peoples scars that I have seen I think Dr Solomin / Kulesh take great care to minimize the appearance of scars (maybe because i am a girl lol). I thought I would probably want to have laser scar removal surgery after the procedure but now I think that after a couple months the scars will be so faded I won't even need it.
One last thought - 5 cm / 2 inches, really does feel like a lot now that I'm standing. I really notice the difference in height so I'm really happy about that. Although it was a great challenge and very painful at times, I don't have any regrets about doing the procedure, sometimes I feel down still about not yet being as mobile as before but most of the time I'm just so happy to be have achieved my new height, it is the greatest feeling in the world to have accomplished this and be able to put it behind me after thinking about it for years!!
Hopefully I have remembered and summarized everything okay!
