They do not notice your longer femurs? You were 1.72m so your femurs was more or less 46cm. You did 8cm so now you have 54cm. That equals the femurs of someone that is 2.01m but you are 1.8m. That is more than a 20 cm difference.

I'm 1.66 and I intend to lengthen only 5cm. Even so I will be 1.71 with the femurs of someone that is 1.84. That is a 13cm more. I might just do 4.5 cm and then use 2cm insoles. Average in my country is only 1.74  Walking immediately after lengthening phase!

More important than how soon you start walking is how does it feel. The ultimate goal in the ling term is to do everythinf without even remembering that leg lenghtening was made.