Yellowspike - Dr. Guichet, Internal Femurs, Late 2014

Edit Post

I figure since I'm on here, may as well update (even though I'm really not happy because I know I have another f*cking LL in my future)...but ANYWAY...

I feel pretty good! In the past six or so weeks (yes, that recent...far from ShyShy and his super fast recovery, but be warned that HE IS NOT THE NORM, especially if you have other responsibilities to juggle!!! can't stress that enough), I'm now going up and down stairs without holding onto the railing, and my speed of walking is basically normal. Hip swaying is 97% gone, and I only have it a bit still because of the left screw in my left hip is protruding a bit too much. This will go away when the rods or taken out, or I might have Dr. G just fix it (thinking of leaving the rods in longer to be extra safe after what happened to PD). That's really the only pain I have left...my left hip (but it's only when I do certain movements, and doesn't impede my day to day life).

I've been doing weight training, and my legs are starting to look nice and meaty again, and I'm actually in better shape (upper body wise) than I've ever been. I can jog in place and jog a bit, but it still looks a bit funny due to remaining quad/hip flexor tightness (both of which have improved greatly, but still there to a degree).

I know there's always talk of "100% recovery"...I'm not an athlete and was never a huge runner...I like weight training, and I do my cardio by rowing, elliptical, or stairmaster (all of which are easy as pie now). So I guess I think I'll make a "100% recovery," but I'm not an athlete like Sweden is. But I honestly think once the rods come out, I'll feel just like I did before LL.

Too bad I gotta do it again.

Quote from: theuprising on October 15, 2015, 07:40:34 PMHey Yellowspike at what point did you change your mind from only doing 1 LL which you were adamant about the early part of your recovery to determined to go through LL again. What experience changed your mind?

Because I'm still short. I know so many guys who just barely edge me out (5'9-5'10" range)...I want to be legit average. At that point, I think my height neurosis will be gone. I will not stop until I get to average. I've had the short label my entire life, and do not want it anymore. 5'8" is still short, no matter how anyone tries to sugarcoat it.


Quote from: microman on October 16, 2015, 04:28:18 AMdo you know the bone length of your tibia and femur, i want to know what ratio you have for proportions reasons.

My pre-LL tibia/femur ratio was 79%. My proportions look totally fine now...and I actually don't think they'd be that horrendous with 2cm added to femurs...but that's no entirely ideal. I think to think it over and talk to Dr. G and Dr. M.

Edit Post

hey yellowspike,

glad to hear your recovery is going well.  I can't wait until my walking and swaying is close to normal again.  I just started to walk again and I literally look like a zombie haha

just want to let you know that I understand where you're coming from too.  even after lengthening ~8cms with dr. G, I'm still considered short and think about doing my tibias sometimes.  but the thought of going through a second LL just really, really sucks 

Edit Post

Haha you make it sound like you're being forced to have another LL as in someone has a gun to your head. First world problems 

Edit Post

Quote from: goldenegg on November 16, 2015, 09:10:41 PMhey yellowspike,

glad to hear your recovery is going well.  I can't wait until my walking and swaying is close to normal again.  I just started to walk again and I literally look like a zombie haha

just want to let you know that I understand where you're coming from too.  even after lengthening ~8cms with dr. G, I'm still considered short and think about doing my tibias sometimes.  but the thought of going through a second LL just really, really sucks

Congrats on getting 8cm! How do your proportions look? Maybe you could send me a picture of your proportions? I wish I could have gone to 8cm, but my left leg was just done at around 7cm. The pain got really bad, consolidation in my left leg wasn't great, and I think the soft tissue (at that time) had reached its limit. Given how long recovery takes (especially the funny walking that results from doing femurs), I'm actually kinda glad I stopped when I did in some ways. 

This is why I'm so conflicted on what to do next. If I had gone to 8cm (Dr. G's average seems to be 7cm, so I got the average gain), my proportions would I think be similar to what they are now. So in my mind, it's like, why not just do another 2cm (1cm I might have gotten the first time, but didn't, so would another cm really kill me proportion-wise?). I just don't know what to do.

I'm really upset about this. I really, really need more height to be happy...but I really truly do not want to go through the nightmare of lengthening tibias (which take millions of years to heal). So even though tibias would be better proportion-wise, I'd only do an inch and a half tops (more like 1-1.25 inches) to keep recovery under a century at least.

F*ck this sh*t man

Edit Post

so you plan to re-break it for 2cm?

or do tibs for 4.5cm?

i am at 7cm now and may go to 7.5cm, so we are in the same situation, what to do i don't know, seems a lot fo people do 8cm as maximum safety limit but i just don't know.

will be 172 at 7.5cm, but i don't mind wearing some mild lifts.

goldenegg what are your stats, new height etc.

Edit Post

Quote from: microman on November 17, 2015, 03:24:01 PMso you plan to re-break it for 2cm?

or do tibs for 4.5cm?

i am at 7cm now and may go to 7.5cm, so we are in the same situation, what to do i don't know, seems a lot fo people do 8cm as maximum safety limit but i just don't know.

will be 172 at 7.5cm, but i don't mind wearing some mild lifts.

goldenegg what are your stats, new height etc.

I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm terrified doing 2cm more will destroy my proportions, yet I wonder how things would've been if I got 8cm in one go (and then wonder if another cm on top of that would really make it that much worse).

If your doctor thinks you can safely get 8cm, good luck. I was told to stop at 7cm. I didn't want to, but it was in line with my initial goal. This takes a very long time to recover from. If your consolidation is solid (at this point), and your flexibility still has some wiggle room, then go for it! Although you're doing tibias...they are going to take a LONG time to heal, man. I know a good amount of people have done 8cm (and even more, with Dr. Guichet) in femurs in one go...but recovery takes a long time (even worse with tibias). I'm mostly happy I stopped when I did for that reason alone.

I just don't know what to do. My God, I don't want to do tibias...but I feel like I'm backed into a corner and have no choice. I need to be at least 5'9" flat footed (at night), I just don't know how the f*ck to get there.

Edit Post

yes i know the whole process will take 1 year for me as it's tibias.

you want 2.5cm to 5 9? tibias is the only way to go, wouldn't the whole process take just 4.5 months maximum? pretty sure 5cm takes about 7 months with tibias.

ye back then when you stopped at 7cm, i wouldn't do more than 8cm, as i know that is recomended maximum, never exceed that as height is not more important than health.

with that being said you need to respect the biomechancs or your body and go for tibias, no way 9.5cm on femurs would be appropiate for a guy who was 5 5 to do.

how long did it take to walk normal for 7cm with you on femurs?

Edit Post

Quote from: microman on November 17, 2015, 03:53:17 PMyes i know the whole process will take 1 year for me as it's tibias.

you want 2.5cm to 5 9? tibias is the only way to go, wouldn't the whole process take just 4.5 months maximum? pretty sure 5cm takes about 7 months with tibias.

ye back then when you stopped at 7cm, i wouldn't do more than 8cm, as i know that is recomended maximum, never exceed that as height is not more important than health.

with that being said you need to respect the biomechancs or your body and go for tibias, no way 9.5cm on femurs would be appropiate for a guy who was 5 5 to do.

how long did it take to walk normal for 7cm with you on femurs?

It took me a very long time to walk normally. Like 8 months post-op. I had hip swaying that last a long time (still do, thanks to one of the screws on my left hip). But it's almost gone now, and I'm no longer embarrassed by it. But I walked much sooner unaided (maybe 4 months post-op?).

Dr. Guichet has had many patients that started shorter than me (I was 166) who did more than 10cm on femurs, and apparently they have no problems and look relatively ok. Sometimes I think about doing 1.5cm more and then just call it a day...which I know doesn't make a lot of sense...just me bargaining with myself I guess.

But yeah...I know...now I'm stuck. Gotta break my tibias...

Edit Post

I don't think Yellowspike should do another surgery but I can see where he is coming from.

It's frustrating being just a few cm's below average, so close and yet so far. What a happy world it would be if we were all the same size.

Edit Post

Quote from: Uppland on November 17, 2015, 04:37:07 PMI don't think Yellowspike should do another surgery but I can see where he is coming from.

It's frustrating being just a few cm's below average, so close and yet so far. What a happy world it would be if we were all the same size.

As much as I question if I should do so...I'll post a picture on here that shows my current proportions, and with an inch or so added to femurs and an inch added to tibias. I actually don't think the femurs look that terrible, but of course, tibias look better. I just feel like you guys are gonna rip me to shreds lol

Another LL is definitely in my future, whether I accept bad proportions or suck it up and do tibias. I'm too close to average to stop now.

And I agree with you. The world (in many ways, but not all, of course) would be a much happier place if men were all the same size. It would completely eliminate that factor from dating, and there'd be no height discrimination otherwise.

But this is life, and life's a bitch.