Update:
Some general information about the whole LL experience:
Pain Level
So far very little pain, occasionally i feel a slight pincing pain in the incision areas and around the knees, as well as the front of the upper shins.
Mostly its just discomfort though, and knee stiffness after laying still for to long, or having them bent (when sitting) for extended periods of time. This goes away pretty fast after walking for a bit.
I guess it might get worse soon though as im working on my third cm..
Subsidence Loss
And im no so worried about the subsidence loss any longer, i read some studies about it and apparantly the average loss is around 0.6 mm, which is minimal. Those studies claiming losses of 1 cm and more had measurement errors that the authors admitted. And that doctor Franz who is posting here is probably referring to those studies when he claims 0.5 -1.0 cm loss is common, since he has only done 2 cosmetic surgeries so far himself.
Also Dr. Bagirov said that he recommended i turn a few extra mm to be safe but i should not lose anything as long as we remove the frames once the bone is solid enough.
Weightbearing
I have walked since the second day after my surgery, It was painful then but they gave me painkillers. However I stopped using painkillers completely after about 5 days post surgery, and after about 10 days post surgery walking was relatively pain free for me. And now i dont feel any pain pretty much while walking (of course i cannot walk without the walker/crutches yet but it feels like i might be able to soon)
I have minimal pain and can walk a lot without problems, I could walk a lot more than i do (and i would say the ammount i do walk is still quite a lot) but i dont feel like pushing my limits and prefer to take it nice and easy. No signs of infection either so far.
Id say i walk in total maybe for about 1-2 hours a day combining all the time im standing and moving (ie away from the bed), although i gradually increase the ammount. I intend to walk a lot more during consolidation phase though for sure. But 6-8 hours a day sounds like overkill for me personally.
Frames
Bagirovs frames are smaller and allow full range of motion, they dont feel that heavy.
Both of the half rings are technically under the knee, but the upper half ring crosses over part of the knee, meaning that one of the pins of the upper half ring goes through the top of the fibula here to keep it in place i assume.
The half ring on the top has 4 semi thick pins going into the leg, and the lower half ring has one single large and thick pin going into the leg. The ankle full ring has 6 small and thin pins. So that means 11 pins per leg.
its hard to explain how the pins are placed but i have no ankle problems and its easy to move my feet. Also while knees get a little stiff (which is normal for all kinds of LL) i have full range of motion for my knees, they can extend and bend fully with these frames.
Caretaker
I think it would be very difficult to take care of yourself in this condition at least for the first 2 weeks after operation, after that it gets better and more movement is gained. at this point you wont be able to walk up and down stairs, i had to sit on the stairs and lift myself up with my arms going backwards, one step at a time, and then when i reach the second floor, my family helped me get back to my feet.
I guess it is possible after that but will be hard to make food for yourself when you have to stand with the walker holding it with at least one hand and then cooking with the other hand, not sure how that would work, i guess fast food is an alternative but then again you are supposed to eat healthy for best results, im fortunate my mother makes excellent tasty and healthy food for me every day.
Preventing Infection
You dont need to change the pin site dressing as long as it is dry and you dont see any signs of infection, there will be dry blood so it might look nasty but it doesnt neccessarily mean there is a problem.
If you DO get an infection you need to change the dressing of course and you get to buy medicine for it from the clinic, ointments to use at the infected area.
You are not supposed to wash your legs for the whole duration of the surgery. You can scrub them i guess with a towel (avoid water to get into the pin sites though.
When washing you put on some plastic bags around the frames and legs and tie it up over the knees so no water gets through, then sit down on a stool/bench or something and wash the upper body and mid section. then make sure you are dry before removing the plastic bags.
Exercises
Other than walking, The clinic recommended a few types of stretches and exercises, stretching the calves by pulling the top of the feet backwards towards you. You can either lay down while doing this or walk towards some stairs or a doorstep, and put your toes/front part of the feet on top of them and press down with your body weight to stretch the calves. When doing the regular version when laying down using rubber bands can be a good option. The other exercise was for the thighs, laying down on your back and trying to raise the legs one at a time while keeping them straight.
Also while the Doctor mentions that keeping the knees straightened at all times while laying down, if you have trouble with this you can compensate by stretching the knees, by putting some weight on top of the knees while the feet are elevated on top of something.
Medicine
You get the option to buy the required medicine for the lengthening phase by the clinic, relatively cheap, or you can buy it yourself. However i bought it from the clinic. And the daily pills i take is 2 pills in the morning for thinning out the blood and prevent trombosis, and one blood thinning pill at the evening. Also supplements include a bone regen pill, and Vitamin B. Other than that i take my own Calcium and Vitamin D supplements, as well as zink and Vitamin C.
