Yellowspike - Dr. Guichet, Internal Femurs, Late 2014

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Quote from: axelf on June 07, 2016, 06:04:15 PMHey Yellowspike,

good to see you're still posting! Although you want to avoid that forum for "us" it's extremely helpful to have someone stay around, at least occasionally.

And of course i have a question for you:
Did you have any longterm side effect from medication or the trauma of surgery? something like the loss of sexual function or libido for example?

No. My libido is the same as it was before. The only person I know who has said that (off the top of my head) is DIFM, and I think he's currently just depressed with his current state. But I think he's still not even a year in after his surgery - he still has a ton of recovering to do. It's still early days for him (at least, when we talk about REAL recovery. Not ridiculously and almost unbelievably fast recoveries like ShyShy).


Quote from: goldenegg on June 07, 2016, 06:55:51 PMglad to hear you're doing well yellow!  If you can live a happy life without having to go through another LL on your tibias then that's great.  you've already accomplished so much.

completely agree on what you've said about recovery. the whole journey takes way longer than just a few months and most people underestimate how long it really takes (myself included).

If it's not too much trouble, could you elaborate on needing a bone graft?  Is it because the bone on your left leg is not fully fused all around or is it fused and the consolidation/density of the new bone isn't good enough?  Would really appreciate it just so I know what to look out for in my own xrays...

Yeah. I definitely don't regret this, but still feel bamboozled by certain diaries. True recovery takes much longer, especially if you have responsibilities and can't focus on stretching and exercising 24/7/365.

I don't know exactly. I think my left leg didn't fuse entirely all around. But I feel like I wasn't taking enough calcium and such. My left leg has actually been feeling stronger since Dr. R told me this in early March, so maybe it's improved a bit. I used to have pain in that leg but really don't anymore. I have to get new x-rays and see. Glad I stopped at 7cm now.

Quote from: The View on June 07, 2016, 09:06:16 PMHi Yellowspike

Thank you very much for your diary. I am a similar starting height to you and am very excited about potentially being 5ft8(I've always wanted to be atleast 5ft7). Your diary has really given me a better idea of what to expect, Thank you.

Perfectionism is a serious a problems and is something I have suffered from.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Be-Imperfectionist-Self-Acceptance-Perfectionism/dp/0996435409/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1465333232&sr=1-1&keywords=how+to+be+an+imperfectionist

This book helped me a lot with understanding perfectionism and the potential issues that arise due to it. One thing it mentioned is sort of "number perfectionism" where people get obsessed with being a certain height or weight and how to deal with this.

Check it out

2 years of not getting back to normal doesn't sound great.

I am getting it in London like you, any London related advise for me?

You have the exactly same starting height as me. I would do 7cm, if you can. Don't go over 7cm. That's just asking for trouble (I know that now).

London advice? Ugh...just be sure you have your finances in order. London is ultra, ultra expensive. You will be relying on uber a lot too, mostly likely (since you'll likely live fairly far from where daily PT takes place). That's about it.


Quote from: Blackhawk on June 08, 2016, 12:59:00 AMI was fortunate to have been able to meet Yellowspike a couple months ago.  I can tell you that his walking looked perfectly normal.  His proportions were definitely in a normal range. 

YS, I am glad that you are getting close to accepting your current height.  But if not I'll be ready to do LL with you next year bro

Thanks bud. You've become a legit good friend of mine. I'm currently undecided about tibias. I have to see how things are in about a year's time. I feel much better now than I did last year, and feel like I'm going to keep getting better. I still might wanna do tibs someday. Another inch would get me to a really great height, and would improve my proportions (which look fine to me now - I only feel like I have long femurs when I stare at myself nked in a full length mirror, and who really does that anyway? lol no girls have commented on it, even seeing me nked). But tibias scare me, and now with my left leg possibly needing a bone graft, I have some concerns about tibia consolidation (though Dr. R said femurs are not really an indication of how tibias will go, especially because ratcheting rods are rougher on recovery than Precice).

If I do tibs, you'll be the first to know and we'll def do this together. It'll be like the crippled leading the crippled 

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Yellow how it going?  hows the healing process?  Hows life?  Sent you a pm :p hope your doing well mate

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Quote from: asfastaslight on June 21, 2016, 01:31:33 AMYellow how it going?  hows the healing process?  Hows life?  Sent you a pm :p hope your doing well mate

I am doing quite well my friend. Aside from the pain caused by the left screw (which I'm just suk up for now, since I've been dealing with it for a year and a half now), I'm fine. I might need a bone graft in my left leg, but that remains to be seen.

This surgery is worth it - but it takes time to really enjoy your results. You will be walking terribly for a while and have side effects/pain for quite a while after the surgery. But if you're patient, and can just grin and bear it - it is worth it in the end. It just takes a lot of time. Much more than you are lead to believe. Many of the older diaries out there downplay this big time.

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Hi Yellowspike

How bad would you say the pain is? does it effect what you can and can't do? Is the bone graft to do with poor consolidation?

Also I am looking for a place in London with a couple of my friends, would you say I should try and avoid houses with stairs or do you think I could use stairs?

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also how possible do you think it would be to drive? maybe not straight away, but how about like a month into consolidation?

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Quote from: The View on June 22, 2016, 07:30:31 PMHi Yellowspike

How bad would you say the pain is? does it effect what you can and can't do? Is the bone graft to do with poor consolidation?

Also I am looking for a place in London with a couple of my friends, would you say I should try and avoid houses with stairs or do you think I could use stairs?

If you're asking about the left screw pain, its not that bad...just very very annoying. It tends to flare up if I sleep on my left side a lot (although lately that hasn't really happened), if I do certain movements, certain sex positions...it's just really annoying at this point. As for the bone graft, yeah, it has to do with my less than perfect consolidation on my left leg. It's weird...I feel like the left leg has been the bane of many LL'ers' existences based on past diaries. There's a chance I might not need it. Going for more x-rays within the next two weeks to see what's up. If I do need a bone graft, I'll likely wait until around September or so to do it. I was told I'd only be in the hospital one night, and that my insurance should cover it, so hopefully it's not too big a deal.

It's just luck of the draw. Dr. G said he had a 17 year old girl do LL, and she had slow consolidation (which you wouldn't think she would, since she was so young). LL in many ways = Pandora's Box.

Quote from: The View on June 22, 2016, 08:49:57 PMalso how possible do you think it would be to drive? maybe not straight away, but how about like a month into consolidation?

Yeah I think if you have a strong rod like the Gnail, driving one month post-clicking should be possible. I remember doing it two months post clicking. I probably could've done it earlier, but can't remember if I actually did.

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Thanks Yellowspike

How did you find stairs during lengthening? You think I could manage them e.g. raising and lowering myself just using my arms, like dips?

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Quote from: The View on June 23, 2016, 02:43:08 PMThanks Yellowspike

How did you find stairs during lengthening? You think I could manage them e.g. raising and lowering myself just using my arms, like dips?

I'm not sure how stairs would have work with a non-weight bearing rod...but with the Gnail, I was totally fine doing stairs with crutches. Obviously you have to go slowly and be super careful, but I had no problems with stairs throughout the lengthening process.

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Quote from: YellowSpike on June 23, 2016, 02:48:34 PMI'm not sure how stairs would have work with a non-weight bearing rod...but with the Gnail, I was totally fine doing stairs with crutches. Obviously you have to go slowly and be super careful, but I had no problems with stairs throughout the lengthening process.

Gnail is the best for stairs. I'm not sure about Precise and I know Fitbone and Betzbone are very bad. The nails of many patients got broken. Some of them told the truth in their diaries and some of them didn't. I like Paley more but I think Gnail is better than Precise.

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Me and my friends have the betzbone and none of us has any problems climbing stairs from the beginning. It's just that we shouldn't take more than 1 stair going down while being in consolidation (that's what Betz said). But otherwise we'll be totally fine.