TrailBlazer LON Tibia - Dr. Muharrem Inan

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What thinks Dr Inan about knee pain with LON? Did he the surgery of another way that doesnt cause knee pain?

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I asked him about that but I cannot remember what he said. He said that LON was much easier on the patient but was a much more difficult surgery. He said he would do external only but it would take a long time and would be tough on the patient. I really had a hard time deciding but ultimately thought it was better to take the knee pain risk and get back to life quicker. It seemed to do 7 cm you would need about 14 months in the fixator and that just was too long. I also thought the risk of the bone breaking kind of freaked me out if it wasn't consolidated enough. But that is just my thought process, I think it is just about what the person feels is best for them. Life is all about tradeoffs and LL is a perfect example of this.

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I tried walking today and it was very challenging. I got lightheaded quickly and had to sit down before I even got to the door. My left leg is much stronger than my right leg. It was good to get up but it was very painful. My legs are still very swollen and I am still receiving pain medication so I cannot feel them yet. I feel the monorail is pretty solid but I didn't put nearly my full weight on it so I don't know yet. I will be doing leg exercises and hopefully sitting up throughout the day.

I used to be a pretty good cross country and track runner and this feels like competition again, which I like. I remember having practices that were like hell and this may be quite similar. As a runner your competition was many times yourself. I wasn't just trying to beat the guy next to me I was trying to beat what I ran before. So tomorrow I will try to get to the door and back and improve from yesterday. That is how i look at it anyways, if that makes sense haha. My goal someday is to run a 5K at a new height and I do think it is possible with work. The start of the journey is definitely tough. I have to stay positive all the time.

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Do you know if the monorail with LON is full weight bearing? I know that monorail only isnt. But dont know with LON. Good job man. These days are the worst days. Stay strong

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I think you can weight bear with crutches or a walker. My doctor says I can do that.

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My first .25 mm!! The doctor came in and explained the lengthening process, which obviously was simple. I have to lengthen 4 times a day at 6 hour intervals and turn 1 mm a day for the first few cms.  I was really happy to start lengthening today so that I can hopefully begin to see why I did this haha. I still experience swelling in my ankle and knee but it is manageable. The worse has been sleeping for me, I don't have pain but it is kind of hot in the hospital, I love to sleep in really cold temperatures. There has been no real pain because of the medication but I feel really bad tightness in my lower legs about halfway through the night and especially in the morning. I think it will be important for me to sleep with the braces that keep your feet at 90 degrees. The journey so far has been manageable and I will be ready to move into my apartment, I will be leaving the hospital tomorrow sometime.

I feel the monorail fixator is solid and have walked with a walker with it. Sometimes I get shooting pain but I have never felt that it was unstable, I will make sure to constantly monitor the stability of it. There are only two annoyances with it that I do not believe will affect the result. The monorail is on the inside of both legs, this doesn't go through nearly as much muscle is what the doctor said which is advantageous. However, he said that it is easy to clank them together when walking. I have done this already and it is kind of a weird feeling. The other thing is the monorail extends to just below my ankle. This is annoying because I don't know if I will be able to wear shoes with the fixator. I will try to post a picture of it later to show you guys.  Those two things are inconvenient but I think they will be okay. I plan to wear the fixator for 100 days and whatever I get for length from it I will be happy with, as long as there are no complications of course. 

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I hope the LON extending to below the ankle does not interfere with stretching.

is it designed that way to lock the ankle?

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Sorry if I wrote that wrong. It is not the LON that extends below the ankle it is the monorail fixator. I don't think it will interfere with stretching. I will let everyone know if it does. My ankles are so swollen I cannot tell right now.

 I am not sure why it extends below. Maybe for more support? The fixator is about the same length as my knee height so it is kind of long.

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Hey Trailblazer, I know that you said you wouldn't take pictures of your body, but I was wondering if you could take pictures of your monorails zoomed in, in a way that no one would know who you were? Thanks man, and I'll be following your diary closely!

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Yeah I can do that. They are basically the exact same thing as what BodyBuilder had on the old forum. Same placement and everything. Bodybuilder said they were not weight bearable after 5 cm but Dr. Inan says they are maybe it is because of the internal rod. I will definitely be cautious.

It is not that big of deal, I will take some pictures and show people who are interested. I probably will just take them down after I am complete with the journey. Once I get wifi in my apartment I will upload some. My phone is dead right now so I don't have a camera or the motivation to do it right now haha. Glad you are interested in my diary, it gives me something to do to write it.