Wannabegiants tibial lengthening in Moscow, Dr. Bagirov

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Chris, we look alike in some ways, though I am older at 32 (but I show very young like 25 , hope that's a good thing :p ). I'm Turkish, too. From the city of Izmir originally. And about to become a US citizen after a year, living in NY as you are a US citizen, too, if I'm not wrong. I like the entertaining way of yours telling things in your diary It's fun to read. Wish you a sound recovery.

@Wannabegiants: Sorry about the clutter

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Quote from: almost_tom_cruise on March 12, 2014, 10:10:39 PMDear Wannabegiants,

I've been reading your diary.

I wouldn't like you to feel bad for what you've done. There is no point after something is decidedly done, allowing the past to yank at your pants. There is a new wannabegiants now.

I stand 168 cm. I'm considering Dr. Bagirov, too, due to my financial powers . I realize his last name is Turkish if you don't count in the last Russian/Bulgarian suffix -ov.

I was wondering, Could you confirm if he can speak Turkey's Turkish? (Since you had mentioned they hang a bit low on the English side).

I am really curios to follow your diary, I've already added a shortcut to my destop . Your diary is very important to me to make my final decision with the doctor. Hope all is going well with you. Hope to hear from you soon with the updates.

Hello guys sorry for my inactivity, ive been tired because of lack of sleep my last nights, i will post some updates today to let everyone know how it is going. So far everything has been pretty managable.

Dr. Bagirov, im almost certain that he is Azeri (from Azerbadjan) same with his assistant, Dr. Fahkri. They both have very limited English, but speak perfect Russian and i assume the native language of their home country. Im not sure if people from Azerbadjan are turkic or iranian but if his name is Turkish i guess that is your answer. But i dont know if all turkic people from different countries  speak the same language, i wouls assume their would be some differences but im not sure.

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Quote from: RGKEY on March 12, 2014, 03:33:55 AMhello giant!! well done, the most painful part is over, there will be many more types of pain but if you want 4cms, it shouldn't be that crazy difficult!! keep calm and take it day by day my friend)) I really wouldnt recommend you to go back home but hey thats your choice))) I hope you dont find your self flying back and fort because of complications, like broken pins, infections etc. Just make sure the screws are tight all the time and the rods have space enough for 4cms!!! Im curious to see how things work with this type of Ilizarov frame)) Make sure to walk a lot! stretch and use your foot holders at all times if you are not standing!! this is very important! You must keep your feet at 90degress and your knee completely straight. If you wanna finish fast you should walk minimum 5 hours a day, eat meets, carbs, and vegetables, extra proteing powder, calcium with vitamin D of course)) but you must walk a lot!! Your most important PT should be stretching your calf muscles while your knees are straight and walking. You dont really need anything else.

If 4cms makes you feel like the man then 4 centimeters it is!!!! the most important thing is that you feel good! that is the whole reason of this op right?)))

oh, avoid coffee and sugar, this also slows the bone heeling process.

Yes, with 4 cms i will be minimum 178 cm which i know will be enough for me to not feel short, which is exactly what i want. I realize the "worst" part is over but now i have to deal with the fact that this is going to take a loong while until i can live like a regular person again..

Im not keeping my legs 100% straight, but almost (would be impossible to sleep otherwise. I stretch them instead some times during the day, both the knees and the calves.

I also dont use a footholder, but i have a box at the end of my bed that is kept in place by a metal bar attached to the bed. This box keeps my feet 90 degrees for the most part, and i stretch my calves as well.

i eat some protein supplements, not a lot though, do you think the regular protein powder you but from gym stores would be beneficial?

I also take vitamin D, Zink, and calcium supplements, along with some special "bone regen" tablets that i bought from the clinic before i left, not sure what substances there are in it because it reads in russian, but the Doctors said i should eat them every day.

For regular food, i eat a lot of canned tuna and chicken breast for protein as well as other foods with the standard carbs and fat and protein, i avoid soda drinks for the most part and sweets. i dont drink milk because i heard it is acidic and makes you lose more calcium than you gain, not sure what tot hink about that though..

I dont think i have to worry about broken pins or complications other than infections, this ilizarov frame is slightly different, and they use very strong pins that might bend for a maximum of a 3 mm loss in height gain. They guaranteed me that they wouldnt break and it seems like they are correct so far.

I have medicine (antibotics and ointments) for infections if i happen to get one.

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Quote from: Smallguy on March 09, 2014, 12:15:44 AMAren't you staying there for lengthening like other patients? Or you are going to lengthen at home?

Anyway, you should offer to teach Anna some English or ask to learn some Russian *wink* *wink* maybe something might happen.

Yes, it's the hardest part of your life. But once you get through with this, you won't regret it. It's a drag that we have to go through this for something that other people have naturally. However, once you are done, the paradigm shift will be incredible. You will be 5'10 but have the experience of life of someone who was 5'8.

She is very nice indeed, I did teach her some english in fact. But i wouldnt go further because i dont want to become attached to anyone here, i just want to get this surgery done and then pretend like i never had surgery and just got taller 

I know i wont regret it, there was no way i would live my life not being able to be the person i should have been. that keeps me going. I realize that we who go through this will have a mental toughness that most other people especially those who are taller cannot match. I will use this to my advantage as my life goes on after this.

Btw, it seems most patients who go to Dr. Bagirov decide to lengthen at home, During my 2 weeks at the hospital (i decided to fly home a little earlier than i first expected because everything seemed to be in control and i got homesick) i saw patients come and go, i didnt see anybody who was there before me and was still there when i left.

It seems safe to be honest because Dr. Bagirov has done a lot of surgeries and people are still comfortable with going home to do this. Another patient i met there who spoke Russian and English (he was almost done with lengthening and returned to the clinic for some corrections), told me that he had done his research, and that all of Bagirovs patients got what they wanted in the end, and recovered. Some took longer than others because of complications (mostly caused by the patients disregard to follow the doctors instructions), but in the end all cases where successes according to him.

Of course i dont know how he got his information but it seems mostly reliable.

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Quote from: ChrisIsaak on March 12, 2014, 10:48:34 PMI went to Istanbul because I'm Turkish.. It's basically where I live anyway 
That "Bekiroglu" explanation for mind blowing. Thanks for the linguistics lesson!
And thanks for supporting my decision.. It's ironic that we're so terrible with social and human rights, yet so advanced in the medical sector (on par with the US and arguably better than Europe)

@Wannabegiant:

Sorry for crowding up your diary man. Cheers.

No worries mate, thank you for helping with the linguistics info! You are correct, i didnt ask but im almost certain that Dr Bagirov and his assistant Dr. Fakhri are from Azerbaijan.

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Update:

Okay im copy pasting this from my PM:s with Jerry. I was to tired when i got home to update my diary but since i was asked in PMs from people who where considering surgery with Dr. Bagirov soon, i answered as fast as i could there.

Since i got home i can tell you this:

Overall i must say it is a great clinic, the nurses are friendly and social, the food is decent (seems healthy but doesnt taste that good), the doctors are professional and seem very kind and caring as well.

The only negative would be the fact that very few of them knows english, but i solved that by using the voice translator application on my phone. You need Wifi for it to work, but the wifi at the hospital is really good actually, i never had any problems with internet connection etc.

They sell the medicine you need to lenghten at home quite cheap, and also they borrow you the walker. The rooms are quite small but i never had an issue with that, who needs a big room when you can hardly move right? :p

I definitely recommend it, although i am still far from done.

First days after surgery you will be on a lot of pain killers (they keep injecting it into the spine) after 2 or 3 days they remove it and start using needles in the thighs for painkillers if you need it. Pain while walking will be a combination of a constant pain of about 3 or 4, and if you misstep a bit or move to fast or put to much weight onto one leg it will be a sharp pain following that of about 8 or 9, but it goes away quite fast if you regain balance, it makes you a bit scared while walking though.

While laying down, it can sometimes be very unnoticable, barely any pain, although sometimes you can start to feel great discomfort in your muscles and overall soreness around the bone break sites.

This gets gradually better, but then it starts getting harder as well when you start to lengthen, however the first cm should be pretty easy relatively speaking. Remember with painkillers it would very easy i think but i tried to use as little as possible because it slows down bone fusion.


it has now been over a week since i got home from the clinic and i have made a lot of progress.
I have lengthened slightly over 1 cm and so far have very little pain, almost unnoticable, only slightly when im moving and trying to stand up from my bed it hurts a little, my knees sometimes feel i little stiff when i have layed still for a long time but i have no problems with moving my knees or straightening them competely.

only big problem is that i am pretty tired because i simply am unable to sleep during the nights, i maybe get 2-3 hours of sleep then i wake up because of sensations and tension in my lower legs, usually walking a lot after that makes it stop but it is hard to go back to sleep and im constantly tired because of this.


Also, i havent talked with Dr. Bagirov since i came home, i have only talked with one of his assistants who have conveyed questions and answers between us. So it works fine, however Bagirov did send me an email asking how i was doing etc, and i answered him and told him the only problem i have was sleepless nights, but i didnt get any answer.

His assistant Fakhri and Anya are much easier to reach than Bagirov, and they do a good job giving information.

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my only recommendation is please use the foot holder! stay strong))

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Quote from: RGKEY on March 20, 2014, 07:32:21 PMmy only recommendation is please use the foot holder! stay strong))

I didnt get any footholder from the clinic, i guess i need to buy it online, so far im using a box at the end of my bed which keeps my feet in 90 degrees. But i dont think i will have problem with ballerina at 4 cms of lengthening. Im stretching and walking too!

Btw, I have read your diary RGKEY, can you elaborate on how you manage to walk "6 hours a day"?  It seems so excessive and i dont understand how one could even mentally do something like that.

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Quote from: Wannabegiant on March 20, 2014, 08:15:15 PMI didnt get any footholder from the clinic, i guess i need to buy it online, so far im using a box at the end of my bed which keeps my feet in 90 degrees. But i dont think i will have problem with ballerina at 4 cms of lengthening. Im stretching and walking too!

Btw, I have read your diary RGKEY, can you elaborate on how you manage to walk "6 hours a day"?  It seems so excessive and i dont understand how one could even mentally do something like that.

no man no need to buy them online I think you can make them your self. I made this vid for you. You need foot holders man!! this is for sure. I know of one person who didnt use them, and he had to stop at 4cms, with a massive ballerina!!! doctor told me he was walking like a spider!! please i dont want that person to be yoU!!!

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Quote from: RGKEY on March 21, 2014, 10:47:13 AMno man no need to buy them online I think you can make them your self. I made this vid for you. You need foot holders man!! this is for sure. I know of one person who didnt use them, and he had to stop at 4cms, with a massive ballerina!!! doctor told me he was walking like a spider!! please i dont want that person to be yoU!!!



Thank you mate for the great video! i will try to make something similar. I notice that you seem to have put an item (a book maybe) between your feet and the footholder, i assume that is to gain added pressure on the upper part of the foot so the achilles is stretched more.

One thing i dont really see clearly in this vid is how you attached the ropes to your ilizarov, did you tie them to the upper rings?