Limb Lengthening Forum
Limb Lengthening Surgery => Limb Lengthening Patients Experiences => Topic started by: Worzezterlire on June 12, 2021, 02:30:43 PM
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On a lot of narcotics now, but just hit the 24 hour mark. As says in my signature, I am going from 5’9 on the dot (he measured 5’8 and 7/8ths) to a microfraction over 6’ (would be about 6’1/40th of an inch, lol). Morning height would go from nearly 5’10 to nearly 6’1, and socially I would tell people I am 6’1.
Dr Debiparshad’s team is really hands on (Teresa and Ronnie, his miscellaneous and medical coordinators respectively) gave their phone numbers to me and expect me to text them 24/7 as needed, so far they have been truly amazing. Dr Debiparshad himself did the surgery and was very thorough in the pre-work. The only thing he is concern of this point is that I have below average flexibility in my hamstrings, but above average flexibility elsewhere. He thinks as long as I take it seriously in rehab that I should have zero issue getting the full 8cm. I walk many miles a day normally and he said I might be able to get back to that state by December even with precise, and walking a mile a day much earlier, maybe October.
I got to meet a few of his patients, one was a nice young lady that had just finished 8cm of Stryde on her femurs. I was motivated when I saw her — she was starting much shorter than me, and 8cm in the femurs alone looks EXTREMELY natural in person, way more than in pictures. In fact it looked especially good on her, since big thighs look amazing on women IMO. On someone likely a foot taller starting like myself, it will also look great. I have slightly long Tibias to start as well, I think like a .82 ratio. I also met another cool guy who was doing quadrilateral two weeks apart with Debiparshad, and he was off pain meds almost immediately after breaking his tibias. I nodded at another guy who was leaving as I was arriving, I didn’t want to embarrass him by calling him out in the hallway, but I couldn’t even tell what segment he had done, he looked really natural. I won’t reveal any more about these people or others I will meet in the coming days since I’m sure they want anonymity, but it was really inspiring to see their amazing progress. Debiparshad’s patients looked just as good as Dr Paley’s, and from talking to Dr Debiparshad he seems to really have a good relationship with Paley as well as mutual respect.
Overall my pain levels briefly reached an 8/10 a few hours after surgery, but with the strongest narcotic I’m currently relaxed at around 3/10 pain, maybe 2/10. The only time it reached a 9 was when they wanted me to stand up maybe 3 hours after surgery with weight offloading (since it’s not Stryde and they only were able to get the 10.7 nails in my legs — I have a big frame in terms of shoulders and rib cage, but my bone density is very average in my legs and arms.). Essentially I can offload 50lbs per foot but Dr D said this should be more than enough for me. I weigh a bit over 160 now and I’ll go down to 145 by late summer due to the energy costs of lengthening anyways. Offloading 50% of weight should apparently be easy, and my goal is to use crutches within a month.
Anyways I am very optimistic right now, and impressed with Dr D’s team so far. I have a strong sense I’ll be back to normal by the end of the calendar year, only a few months later than if I had done Stryde. Besides, Dr D made it very clear to me that Stryde is 18 months out — he’s very close to nuvasive, just like Paley, and thinks a full redesign is in order. The idea that one wouldn’t go through this surgery twice is probably true, after breaking once I am not sure I’ll want to do tibias again in 2 years with Stryde for only 1-2 inches. But I’m keeping my chin up!
I like a lot of privacy but decided to do a journal because
1. Not many journals for modern precise 2.2 since the Stryde recall
2. I’m starting at an average height, at least 3 inches taller than most of Dr D’s patients (though not the tallest either, he’s done someone 5’11 before)
3. Not many journals for Debiparshad here, whose credentials are extremely good and seems to be a bit overlooked by the forum
I probably won’t post any x days or anything super personal, but I plan to post a blurred before and after picture of me wearing jeans (30 inseam before, 32 inseam after) sometime this fall. Will answer any questions here about precise and my journey.
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On a lot of narcotics now, but just hit the 24 hour mark. As says in my signature, I am going from 5’9 on the dot (he measured 5’8 and 7/8ths) to a microfraction over 6’ (would be about 6’1/40th of an inch, lol). Morning height would go from nearly 5’10 to nearly 6’1, and socially I would tell people I am 6’1.
Dr Debiparshad’s team is really hands on (Teresa and Ronnie, his miscellaneous and medical coordinators respectively) gave their phone numbers to me and expect me to text them 24/7 as needed, so far they have been truly amazing. Dr Debiparshad himself did the surgery and was very thorough in the pre-work. The only thing he is concern of this point is that I have below average flexibility in my hamstrings, but above average flexibility elsewhere. He thinks as long as I take it seriously in rehab that I should have zero issue getting the full 8cm. I walk many miles a day normally and he said I might be able to get back to that state by December even with precise, and walking a mile a day much earlier, maybe October.
I got to meet a few of his patients, one was a nice young lady that had just finished 8cm of Stryde on her femurs. I was motivated when I saw her — she was starting much shorter than me, and 8cm in the femurs alone looks EXTREMELY natural in person, way more than in pictures. In fact it looked especially good on her, since big thighs look amazing on women IMO. On someone likely a foot taller starting like myself, it will also look great. I have slightly long Tibias to start as well, I think like a .82 ratio. I also met another cool guy who was doing quadrilateral two weeks apart with Debiparshad, and he was off pain meds almost immediately after breaking his tibias. I nodded at another guy who was leaving as I was arriving, I didn’t want to embarrass him by calling him out in the hallway, but I couldn’t even tell what segment he had done, he looked really natural. I won’t reveal any more about these people or others I will meet in the coming days since I’m sure they want anonymity, but it was really inspiring to see their amazing progress. Debiparshad’s patients looked just as good as Dr Paley’s, and from talking to Dr Debiparshad he seems to really have a good relationship with Paley as well as mutual respect.
Overall my pain levels briefly reached an 8/10 a few hours after surgery, but with the strongest narcotic I’m currently relaxed at around 3/10 pain, maybe 2/10. The only time it reached a 9 was when they wanted me to stand up maybe 3 hours after surgery with weight offloading (since it’s not Stryde and they only were able to get the 10.7 nails in my legs — I have a big frame in terms of shoulders and rib cage, but my bone density is very average in my legs and arms.). Essentially I can offload 50lbs per foot but Dr D said this should be more than enough for me. I weigh a bit over 160 now and I’ll go down to 145 by late summer due to the energy costs of lengthening anyways. Offloading 50% of weight should apparently be easy, and my goal is to use crutches within a month.
Anyways I am very optimistic right now, and impressed with Dr D’s team so far. I have a strong sense I’ll be back to normal by the end of the calendar year, only a few months later than if I had done Stryde. Besides, Dr D made it very clear to me that Stryde is 18 months out — he’s very close to nuvasive, just like Paley, and thinks a full redesign is in order. The idea that one wouldn’t go through this surgery twice is probably true, after breaking once I am not sure I’ll want to do tibias again in 2 years with Stryde for only 1-2 inches. But I’m keeping my chin up!
I like a lot of privacy but decided to do a journal because
1. Not many journals for modern precise 2.2 since the Stryde recall
2. I’m starting at an average height, at least 3 inches taller than most of Dr D’s patients (though not the tallest either, he’s done someone 5’11 before)
3. Not many journals for Debiparshad here, whose credentials are extremely good and seems to be a bit overlooked by the forum
I probably won’t post any x days or anything super personal, but I plan to post a blurred before and after picture of me wearing jeans (30 inseam before, 32 inseam after) sometime this fall. Will answer any questions here about precise and my journey.
Great to hear everything’s good. May I ask what made you want to do the procedure? E.g for me my family is all short and my friends are all over 6 foot etc. Also, is there anything u regret not doing before the procedure to better prepare yourself? (It may be too early to say lol)
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Great to hear everything’s good. May I ask what made you want to do the procedure? E.g for me my family is all short and my friends are all over 6 foot etc. Also, is there anything u regret not doing before the procedure to better prepare yourself? (It may be too early to say lol)
A big part of it is confidence issues. I’m very confident in my intelligence, my charisma, my physical appearance and my career. But I always felt like a little guy, since tons of ex girlfriends and ex friends would pick on my height a lot. Since the procedure is fairly safe and I’m in great shape going into it, I am going into this very optimistic about my future height and not at all upset about my old height. I think a positive outlook will help me through it.
I wish I stretched a bit more before this, but I did stretch my hamstrings a lot and despite that my hams were the only thing that were tight when I was evaluated. So I’m not sure what else should have been done on my end. But I’ll be stretching 3 hours a day once I’m discharged and able to, so I think I can rectify it. Dr D said only two people he has ever treated didn’t reach at least 7.5cm, and it was due to them not being serious about stretching. He is confident that at my age (early 20s) that nothing should hold me back as long as I’m serious about rehab.
Edit: it’s worth noting he did do an IT Band release on me, but did not feel it necessary to do a hamstring release. I am tight, but not to the point a release was necessary. I had no issue with the IT band release since it grows back anyways. It only added $3000 to my total cost, and he gave me a couple thousand dollar discount (maybe it was 5000?) for doing precise this summer.
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A big part of it is confidence issues. I’m very confident in my intelligence, my charisma, my physical appearance and my career. But I always felt like a little guy, since tons of ex girlfriends and ex friends would pick on my height a lot. Since the procedure is fairly safe and I’m in great shape going into it, I am going into this very optimistic about my future height and not at all upset about my old height. I think a positive outlook will help me through it.
I wish I stretched a bit more before this, but I did stretch my hamstrings a lot and despite that my hams were the only thing that were tight when I was evaluated. So I’m not sure what else should have been done on my end. But I’ll be stretching 3 hours a day once I’m discharged and able to, so I think I can rectify it. Dr D said only two people he has ever treated didn’t reach at least 7.5cm, and it was due to them not being serious about stretching. He is confident that at my age (early 20s) that nothing should hold me back as long as I’m serious about rehab.
Edit: it’s worth noting he did do an IT Band release on me, but did not feel it necessary to do a hamstring release. I am tight, but not to the point a release was necessary. I had no issue with the IT band release since it grows back anyways. It only added $3000 to my total cost, and he gave me a couple thousand dollar discount (maybe it was 5000?) for doing precise this summer.
Damn you’re young bro I wish I had the money so I could do it rn. Any advice on how to make money quickly? I’m starting university this year
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Best of luck mate!
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That’s awesome man! Hopefully I will be getting mine done under the same doc and I’m the same starting height! Best of luck!
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Damn you’re young bro I wish I had the money so I could do it rn. Any advice on how to make money quickly? I’m starting university this year
Without revealing too much, I got into a high paying tech job I was promoted twice during, so I’m clearing a very high paycheck for my age. I worked banking level of hours (100hrs a week) for my first three years out of college to make that amount and got promoted much faster than my peers. I advise you to save up maybe 30k and take a loan out for the rest with a long repayment time. Don’t do this until you have a stable career though. I had the cash to pay off hand but took 65k of loans anyways because then I can feel safer holding my own cash on the side.
That’s awesome man! Hopefully I will be getting mine done under the same doc and I’m the same starting height! Best of luck!
Best of luck to you too! Dr D’s team has really impressed me so far.
Thanks!
Best of luck mate!
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Congrats Hobbitman! I was going to take the plunge before stryde was recalled and am still mulling over precice and whether I can make it work with everything. I’ll be following your progress for sure - very curious about precice and how it will be for me if I pull the trigger in the near future. Stay strong 💪
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Congrats Hobbitman! I was going to take the plunge before stryde was recalled and am still mulling over precice and whether I can make it work with everything. I’ll be following your progress for sure - very curious about precice and how it will be for me if I pull the trigger in the near future. Stay strong 💪
Glad to hear I can be helpful! I’ve seen a lot of people held up by the recall of Stryde and hence I wanted to document my journey to let people decide if it’s worth it for them. I’ll be working from home for the next 3-4 months so I should be good, it’ll be interesting to see how stressful work and consolidation are. Nice profile pic btw, big fan of Star Trek TOS
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Things have become a lot less painful two days in. I’ll be discharged from the hospital shortly. I’m able to stand with a walker and go to the bathroom on my own. I’ll begin lengthening in a few days, pain is down to a 2 out of 10 already, even after getting up and down and walking. I feel a lot more optimistic about the following few months now.
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Things have become a lot less painful two days in. I’ll be discharged from the hospital shortly. I’m able to stand with a walker and go to the bathroom on my own. I’ll begin lengthening in a few days, pain is down to a 2 out of 10 already, even after getting up and down and walking. I feel a lot more optimistic about the following few months now.
Glad to hear it HobbitMan! This is great info and much appreciate you sharing your journey! 💪
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Things have become a lot less painful two days in. I’ll be discharged from the hospital shortly. I’m able to stand with a walker and go to the bathroom on my own. I’ll begin lengthening in a few days, pain is down to a 2 out of 10 already, even after getting up and down and walking. I feel a lot more optimistic about the following few months now.
Awesome to hear bro!
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The start of distraction and the road to 6’0, that great hobbitman!
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One warning to Precise 2.2 patients — beyond stretching, PLEASE work your triceps a lot for a few months before lengthening if you choose not to wait for Stryde! It’s the one muscle group I’ve worked to exhaustion getting up and down and hopping around on the walker. If you can get some grip, forearm, and shoulder strength early on you will have a much easier time.
And thanks guys! So concludes day 3 after surgery :)
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You always seem to be in a great mentally when you post here. That will help a lot on this journey. Good luck and first part almost over.
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You always seem to be in a great mentally when you post here. That will help a lot on this journey. Good luck and first part almost over.
Thanks dude! I’m super optimistic for the future when I am 6’0 and so I’m always able to balance the pain with a huge level of excitement for the future. 183cm night height is tall everywhere except the Netherlands where it is average, and here in the US it is actually pretty tall. I am hoping to move the Europe one day for my job once I am taller and being 183 will help me not feel super short there I think.
Today I am in a decent bit of pain, but I can transfer to the wheelchair and walker without too much difficulty. At this point the experience is identical to what a Stryde patient would go through, at the 2 week mark is the point at which it diverges, because that’s when they can fully weight bear. I won’t be weight bearing at any point until consolidation. I was very proud to have dressed myself today, shorts and a shirt. It took 10 minutes but it finally worked. I recommend bringing basketball or other loose shorts for the first few weeks. Putting on pants is a lot harder.
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Wanted to give another piece of knowledge to those undergoing surgery soon. I read some reports that it is very painful to sit still in a chair for hours after surgery. So far this has not been true for me, I’ve been in my wheelchair working on my laptop for the past 4 hours and I feel fine. I start lengthening tomorrow so maybe that will change, but as of now I actually think sitting feels better than laying down.
My PTA was very nice, so far the exercises are easy but I’ve also been really independent so far (I’ve been dressing myself without help and have transferred to the bed to wheelchair like 10 times today). Technically I don’t believe the PT people are technically part of Dr D’s office but the ones he sends to you are extremely nice and understanding. Want to also emphasize again how amazingly responsive Dr D’s assistants are! Teresa and Ronnie truly are there for you 24/7 and answered my questions at weird hours. So far I am very pleased to have gone with Dr Debiparshad.
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Wanted to give another piece of knowledge to those undergoing surgery soon. I read some reports that it is very painful to sit still in a chair for hours after surgery. So far this has not been true for me, I’ve been in my wheelchair working on my laptop for the past 4 hours and I feel fine. I start lengthening tomorrow so maybe that will change, but as of now I actually think sitting feels better than laying down.
My PTA was very nice, so far the exercises are easy but I’ve also been really independent so far (I’ve been dressing myself without help and have transferred to the bed to wheelchair like 10 times today). Technically I don’t believe the PT people are technically part of Dr D’s office but the ones he sends to you are extremely nice and understanding. Want to also emphasize again how amazingly responsive Dr D’s assistants are! Teresa and Ronnie truly are there for you 24/7 and answered my questions at weird hours. So far I am very pleased to have gone with Dr Debiparshad.
Nice update, Brodie! Keep up the positivity and let the lengthening begin! 👍💪
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Nice update, Brodie! Keep up the positivity and let the lengthening begin! 👍💪
One step ahead of you man! Just lengthened the first 0.33mm in each leg a few minutes ago. Honestly, I felt nothing during or afterwards. I cleared a space in my hotel specifically for lengthening, and I made sure to keep my two legs far apart while lengthening. Each leg takes a minute each, so at three sessions a day that comes to 6 minutes of lengthening per day. You will get a lot of warnings not to be near metal when lengthening. Believe me, this is a strong af magnet. Before I even turned it on it had attached itself to my wheelchair and it took some effort to get it off. Definitely keep your phones/laptops/wallets far far far away when doing this.
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Will post less until I start reaching milestones. I finished the rest of the first millimeter today. Lengthening itself does not hurt at all (in fact I could barely tell during) but afterwards it slowly gets more and more sore in the areas lengthened. It feels just like growing pains!
2mm so far (1mm from initial osteotomy and 1mm today) and 78mm to go.
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Excited for your journey! Best of luck. Are you doing this alone or do you have a support system?
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Excited for your journey! Best of luck. Are you doing this alone or do you have a support system?
Thanks!
I’m doing the first two weeks alone. After that I’m staying with family but they are not fully aware of what procedure I’ve had done.
I’ve been extremely independent the first week on my own — dressing myself, taking pills, lengthening, going to the bathroom, etc. I started with very strong legs and fairly strong arms so I can do transfers etc without help. I still wish I had come into this even stronger.
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2mm down and about to do today’s first third. If I can wake up. I think beyond the narcotics, the lengthening is making my body spend a lot of energy. I’m sleeping over 16 hours a day.
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2mm down and about to do today’s first third. If I can wake up. I think beyond the narcotics, the lengthening is making my body spend a lot of energy. I’m sleeping over 16 hours a day.
Congrats! Make sure you're eating plenty. Protein in all forms will do your muscles and bone good. Good luck man
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Congrats! Make sure you're eating plenty. Protein in all forms will do your muscles and bone good. Good luck man
Thanks :). I have to admit I love your profile picture so much, it makes me laugh to think that Shrek is cheering me on hahahaha
Eating is so hard… I think the pain and opioids are causing me to be almost never hungry. The only protein I can get down easily is protein shakes I’m ordering from local restaurants. I try to eat some solid chicken or fish and I get exhausted even while chewing. I’ll make an effort today to eat a solid meal.
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Eating is so hard… I think the pain and opioids are causing me to be almost never hungry. The only protein I can get down easily is protein shakes I’m ordering from local restaurants. I try to eat some solid chicken or fish and I get exhausted even while chewing. I’ll make an effort today to eat a solid meal.
I had trouble with food too, even at almost 4 weeks post-op. The typical protein shakes were too thick for me and I managed to find clear protein drinks on Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07B9DYMTX). I think they only have it in two flavors - peach and tropical punch. Tastes like flavored water and each bottle has like 20g of protein. These days Vegas is too hot, so I freeze them and drink them like slushies. Another alternative if you get sick of protein shakes :)
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I had trouble with food too, even at almost 4 weeks post-op. The typical protein shakes were too thick for me and I managed to find clear protein drinks on Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07B9DYMTX). I think they only have it in two flavors - peach and tropical punch. Tastes like flavored water and each bottle has like 20g of protein. These days Vegas is too hot, so I freeze them and drink them like slushies. Another alternative if you get sick of protein shakes :)
Thank you so much 156, I ordered some of these to arrive to my home when I fly back, I might even order a small number for now in the meantime :)
I’ve been consistently lengthening and honestly there is no pain I get from during. Afterwards I feel a little tightness. But the big thing is that I just feel exhausted afterwards. I’ve calculated it. It’s 7:15pm (19:15 military time) in Las Vegas and I’ve slept 14 of those 19 hours so far today.
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Sleeping as much as I have been is apparently NOT normal. Ronnie suggested I cap my sleep at around 10 hours a day because that means I spend more time stretching and awake moving. I’ve been stretching more and my PTA has said I’ve been doing really amazing. I can use a wheelchair like a pro, I can do transfers easily, I can do 10 kicks per leg, and I can sleep with my hamstrings flat. I have a feeling that I’m doing a bit above average in recovery. But I’m also on the max amount of painkillers right now to do it. I saw people in Dr D’s office who were entirely off painkillers after the first week. I can’t imagine going off them anytime soon. I’m in agony for the brief hour or two where the 12-hourly and 6-hourly and 8-hourly Valium are all wearing off at the same time.
70% of the day I am at pain level 1.
20% of the day I am at pain levels 2-4.
10% of the day I am at pain level 6+. If I do a bad transfer and my knee spins and I almost fall (happened once) I briefly reached a pain level of 9.
My level of optimism is still a 10 though. It’s never been painful enough for long enough that I’ve ever seriously regretted anything.
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I like your mindset about this surgery, it’s a long process and you will get through it!
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Is it easy for you to use the walker? I'm more or less your size, and I'm terrified about bending the nail because not shifting weight properly
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I like your mindset about this surgery, it’s a long process and you will get through it!
Thanks :) last night was rough though. Like 6-7 pain all night. I just hit 4mm (5mm overall) last night and then slowly my legs got worse and worse. Even this morning they’re not the best even after morphine and the Percocet. Ronnie says I can take a tiny bit of acetaminophen with it so let’s see how that goes. I hope it’s just that I need to ice them more.
Is it easy for you to use the walker? I'm more or less your size, and I'm terrified about bending the nail because not shifting weight properly
Define easy :D my surgery was one week ago. For PT in my hotel room I had to show that I could walk around on it with semi-normal steps, ten overall. In the hospital I had to walk 40 feet down the hallway for them to consider me “fully ready”. Despite that I don’t use the walker as much right now because I’m truly an expert at the wheelchair. I plan when I go back home in a week to use the walker 50-100 steps a day. I can give you a better idea then I think.
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Update on the walker. I actually have been so sore for 24 hours that I got up and saw a paper Dr D gave me that said “motion is lotion”. So I decided to get up on my walker and walk around. I took 100 steps total, a bunch of small laps in my hotel room. It felt AMAZING. I can almost take normal steps while offloading enough weight! So yes, the walker is easy to use ONCE it is correctly set up for your height. My PTA was 5’7.5 so she set it up so that she was comfortable in it. It works for me because my arms are insanely long despite the lower setting. Standing up straight feels super comfortable and I would do it 24/7 if not for how tiring it can be.
So the walker has suddenly become super useful to use. I may try to avoid my wheelchair for a few days entirely to see how my pain goes away! The more you move the more the pain goes away. I’m almost on the verge of tears because I was on max painkiller and then threw some extra Tylenol on top and it wasn’t enough. Now I feel just slightly sore but it’s a comfy sore.
So I recommend the walker at the one week point. Don’t just sit in bed all day.
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Update on the walker. I actually have been so sore for 24 hours that I got up and saw a paper Dr D gave me that said “motion is lotion”. So I decided to get up on my walker and walk around. I took 100 steps total, a bunch of small laps in my hotel room. It felt AMAZING. I can almost take normal steps while offloading enough weight! So yes, the walker is easy to use ONCE it is correctly set up for your height. My PTA was 5’7.5 so she set it up so that she was comfortable in it. It works for me because my arms are insanely long despite the lower setting. Standing up straight feels super comfortable and I would do it 24/7 if not for how tiring it can be.
So the walker has suddenly become super useful to use. I may try to avoid my wheelchair for a few days entirely to see how my pain goes away! The more you move the more the pain goes away. I’m almost on the verge of tears because I was on max painkiller and then threw some extra Tylenol on top and it wasn’t enough. Now I feel just slightly sore but it’s a comfy sore.
So I recommend the walker at the one week point. Don’t just sit in bed all day.
Thanks for the advice man. In Greece, you can use a gravity treadmill that allows you to walk a bit everyday. Of course, the more you walk at home with the walker, the better. I'm just reaaally worried about bending the nail because of not using it properly. I even took the one of my grandmother and started practising and weighing myself lol.
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Thanks for the advice man. In Greece, you can use a gravity treadmill that allows you to walk a bit everyday. Of course, the more you walk at home with the walker, the better. I'm just reaaally worried about bending the nail because of not using it properly. I even took the one of my grandmother and started practising and weighing myself lol.
I’m with you with regard to worried about bending the nail. I’ve been put under the impression it’s hard to do while the nail is barely extended e.g. 6mm like mine is now. I’ll be in PT next week and I asked them specifically to use some scales to see how well I weight bear correctly.
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I’m with you with regard to worried about bending the nail. I’ve been put under the impression it’s hard to do while the nail is barely extended e.g. 6mm like mine is now. I’ll be in PT next week and I asked them specifically to use some scales to see how well I weight bear correctly.
I have done the test, being right now 74 kg. Standing with the walker I'm at 20 kg, and just doing transfers from chair to bed or WC I'm like 10 kg only. Besides, regarding transfers, I think that the weight is put on the calves if you keep a "seated" position, so it seems all is quite safe.
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I have done the test, being right now 74 kg. Standing with the walker I'm at 20 kg, and just doing transfers from chair to bed or WC I'm like 10 kg only. Besides, regarding transfers, I think that the weight is put on the calves if you keep a "seated" position, so it seems all is quite safe.
Yeah I’ve noticed the “seated” position seems to be the one that PT really wanted me to aim for in transfers, and it feels really safe. Standing up completely straight with 50+% weight on the walker also feels really safe and natural. I think as long as I don’t get cky about it I should stay within the safe range the whole time.
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Update on the walker. I actually have been so sore for 24 hours that I got up and saw a paper Dr D gave me that said “motion is lotion”. So I decided to get up on my walker and walk around. I took 100 steps total, a bunch of small laps in my hotel room. It felt AMAZING. I can almost take normal steps while offloading enough weight! So yes, the walker is easy to use ONCE it is correctly set up for your height. My PTA was 5’7.5 so she set it up so that she was comfortable in it. It works for me because my arms are insanely long despite the lower setting. Standing up straight feels super comfortable and I would do it 24/7 if not for how tiring it can be.
So the walker has suddenly become super useful to use. I may try to avoid my wheelchair for a few days entirely to see how my pain goes away! The more you move the more the pain goes away. I’m almost on the verge of tears because I was on max painkiller and then threw some extra Tylenol on top and it wasn’t enough. Now I feel just slightly sore but it’s a comfy sore.
So I recommend the walker at the one week point. Don’t just sit in bed all day.
Hey HobbitMan - Great insight. The extra challenge of Precice vs. Stryde seems daunting to me, but you are certainly hitting that extra challenge head on and crushing it! In talking with the professionals, my impression has been that the major differences between Precice and Stryde are often downplayed. So, I very much appreciate your diary and all the updates to help me further assess what the reality is most likely going to be like if I take the plunge with Precice rather than wait it out for Stryde’s return. Can’t wait to hear about your journey home and hope your progress continues. From my vantage point, you’re kicking ass. Stay strong 💪
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One thing I saw a lot on Precice journals a few years ago was that people had a lot of success walking in the pool, where they could weight bear. Getting in and out the pool isn’t easy though, and of course your incisions need to be healed to the point where they can be soaked in water.
I think you are very brave for going forward with Precice. It’s already hard enough with a weight bearing nail so I can’t imagine how much tougher it is without having full mobility. I suppose people have been lengthening with Precice for many years before Stryde went on the market and many managed to get the full 8cm and recover. Now that you’ve started the process, all you can do is to keep pushing and finish it! Best of luck throughout your distraction phase and beyond.
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One thing I saw a lot on Precice journals a few years ago was that people had a lot of success walking in the pool, where they could weight bear. Getting in and out the pool isn’t easy though, and of course your incisions need to be healed to the point where they can be soaked in water.
I think you are very brave for going forward with Precice. It’s already hard enough with a weight bearing nail so I can’t imagine how much tougher it is without having full mobility. I suppose people have been lengthening with Precice for many years before Stryde went on the market and many managed to get the full 8cm and recover. Now that you’ve started the process, all you can do is to keep pushing and finish it! Best of luck throughout your distraction phase and beyond.
Hey bro how’s your walking gait now that you’re 6 months post op
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Hey HobbitMan - Great insight. The extra challenge of Precice vs. Stryde seems daunting to me, but you are certainly hitting that extra challenge head on and crushing it! In talking with the professionals, my impression has been that the major differences between Precice and Stryde are often downplayed. So, I very much appreciate your diary and all the updates to help me further assess what the reality is most likely going to be like if I take the plunge with Precice rather than wait it out for Stryde’s return. Can’t wait to hear about your journey home and hope your progress continues. From my vantage point, you’re kicking ass. Stay strong 💪
Thank you so much! Honestly I suspect some doctors might start downplaying Precise now that they have no other option. Even when I visited Paley, right before the recall, he said “well you might have to do precise instead is Stryde. The only difference is you can’t walk”. Which I would consider being both honest and downplaying it big time! Hahaha
The fact that I truly can’t walk for another 3 months cannot he downplayed. If I were on Stryde I would be walking (limping) now. I can say one thing — I was told precise CAN be less painful of an experience overall than Stryde, since I’m not weight bearing the whole time. Also the fact I’m never really walking while lengthening or consolidating probably lowers the chance I fall and create a catastrophic injury or complication.
I can’t admit I prefer this to Stryde. This was my last chance for a long time to get this done, due to work and how my life has come together lately. I had a small mental breakdown for a week when Stryde was recalled right when I was pulling cash together for it — I thought that I wouldn’t be able to do this surgery for half a decade. When I heard precise was back, I jumped at the chance knowing full well how much less fun it would be. I don’t regret Precise. I would take Stryde in a heartbeat though.
One thing I saw a lot on Precice journals a few years ago was that people had a lot of success walking in the pool, where they could weight bear. Getting in and out the pool isn’t easy though, and of course your incisions need to be healed to the point where they can be soaked in water.
I think you are very brave for going forward with Precice. It’s already hard enough with a weight bearing nail so I can’t imagine how much tougher it is without having full mobility. I suppose people have been lengthening with Precice for many years before Stryde went on the market and many managed to get the full 8cm and recover. Now that you’ve started the process, all you can do is to keep pushing and finish it! Best of luck throughout your distraction phase and beyond.
Thank you so much, especially from another Dr D patient who went the full 8cm! I read your journal end to end and I appreciated your insight on the journey. I think I will go to an indoor pool where people don’t know me this summer and do walking laps sometime in July and August.
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I walk 100 steps a day right now. They want me to get to 500+ next week when I return home. This is all on the walker.
Notes:
1. Standing on one foot with no other support for one second will HURT but it doesn’t mean it will bend or break the nail from one incidence. I have the second largest nails in me, 10.7mm because despite being very tall for this I have small leg bone mass (despite normal arm size and a 7” wrist and above average shoulders… weird genetics). These support 50lbs per leg. Yet I weigh 160lbs and they let me for short periods of times stand straight up with no walker. This means 80lbs per leg. The nail won’t break from this if the weight is even and it’s not for too long. especially while the nail is not very extended yet. The more you extend the nail, the weaker it gets! Putting exactly 51lbs of weight on a leg won’t suddenly make your leg snap in half. I would have snapped my leg within moments of getting home otherwise. Even transfers from bed to walker or wheelchair would be impossible. You’re fragile but not like a porcelain plate. This just isn’t Stryde though where you can walk and carry heavy things under your own power without any worries. You’re on a walker (eventually crutches if wanted) but as long as you’re using the walker and not doing something really stupid or awkward, you are ok at all times.
2. Someone asked me in DMs about using bike pedals attached to a wheelchair for Physical Therapy. Be careful with this but you’ll end up doing this in PT anyways. Once you have surgery and done a few weeks of PT ask your own PT about what they recommend personally. If you use Dr D your PT will be Mike Russell and I won’t be around long enough to get his opinion. I’ll ask him on Thursday though and if I get a good sense from him, I’ll post it here. Also, him and his PTAs are all really good!
3. Walk more, not less. Walking really makes your legs feel better. Also I’m supposed to spend more waking hours in a chair especially when working. No working from bed even if it’s comfy
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I walk 100 steps a day right now. They want me to get to 500+ next week when I return home. This is all on the walker.
Notes:
1. Standing on one foot with no other support for one second will HURT but it doesn’t mean it will bend or break the nail from one incidence. I have the second largest nails in me, 10.7mm because despite being very tall for this I have small leg bone mass (despite normal arm size and a 7” wrist and above average shoulders… weird genetics). These support 50lbs per leg. Yet I weigh 160lbs and they let me for short periods of times stand straight up with no walker. This means 80lbs per leg. The nail won’t break from this if the weight is even and it’s not for too long. especially while the nail is not very extended yet. The more you extend the nail, the weaker it gets! Putting exactly 51lbs of weight on a leg won’t suddenly make your leg snap in half. I would have snapped my leg within moments of getting home otherwise. Even transfers from bed to walker or wheelchair would be impossible. You’re fragile but not like a porcelain plate. This just isn’t Stryde though where you can walk and carry heavy things under your own power without any worries. You’re on a walker (eventually crutches if wanted) but as long as you’re using the walker and not doing something really stupid or awkward, you are ok at all times.
2. Someone asked me in DMs about using bike pedals attached to a wheelchair for Physical Therapy. Be careful with this but you’ll end up doing this in PT anyways. Once you have surgery and done a few weeks of PT ask your own PT about what they recommend personally. If you use Dr D your PT will be Mike Russell and I won’t be around long enough to get his opinion. I’ll ask him on Thursday though and if I get a good sense from him, I’ll post it here. Also, him and his PTAs are all really good!
3. Walk more, not less. Walking really makes your legs feel better. Also I’m supposed to spend more waking hours in a chair especially when working. No working from bed even if it’s comfy
Wow, that's interesting. I thought that, with your size, you would be getting the big nail
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Wow, that's interesting. I thought that, with your size, you would be getting the big nail
Me too. My PT was beyond surprised too. My surgeon said from one angle it looked like 12.5 fit, from another it looked like it wouldn’t. He said he would TRY to get 12.5mm in there but I woke up and he said that 12.5mm would have been just a millimeter or two too large and would have been dangerous.
I think frame is part of it, I have a medium frame overall (good shoulders, big torso, normal wrists) but small in others (small leg bones for my height). So don’t assume just because you’re big that you’ll get the biggest nails.
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I wish you all the best towards your lengthening journey, HobbitMan :)
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I wish you all the best towards your lengthening journey, HobbitMan :)
Thanks, and to you as well!
Also I may probably get more sparse with my journal going forward now that my life is starting to return to a new normal. Will give major updates.
Edit: I’m also fully productive at work, less than 2 weeks after surgery. Pain and painkillers are not affecting my productivity.
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Thanks :) last night was rough though. Like 6-7 pain all night. I just hit 4mm (5mm overall) last night and then slowly my legs got worse and worse. Even this morning they’re not the best even after morphine and the Percocet. Ronnie says I can take a tiny bit of acetaminophen with it so let’s see how that goes. I hope it’s just that I need to ice them more.
Define easy :D my surgery was one week ago. For PT in my hotel room I had to show that I could walk around on it with semi-normal steps, ten overall. In the hospital I had to walk 40 feet down the hallway for them to consider me “fully ready”. Despite that I don’t use the walker as much right now because I’m truly an expert at the wheelchair. I plan when I go back home in a week to use the walker 50-100 steps a day. I can give you a better idea then I think.
remember to stretch like crazy. I forgot to stretch on the first 2 month and half and focused on walking too much, that mistake should never happen to any LL patients.
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Went in for my 13 day follow up. X rays look perfect so far, no concerns from the doctor. Bone healing is average is which considered great — unlikely chance of early or late consolidation. Stadiometer measured me at 176.5cm. I’ve only lengthened 1cm as of this morning.
remember to stretch like crazy. I forgot to stretch on the first 2 month and half and focused on walking too much, that mistake should never happen to any LL patients.
I’ve been very good with stretching! The only ones I’m bad at are the ones where I have to be on my stomach — my legs twist a lot and I need help.
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12mm. I feel slightly taller standing up in familiar settings already. My legs don’t look any longer yet. It’s all very subtle though. I took my first shower today. It was very hard to do standing up in a walker. Slowing down on the diary because flying home was very difficult. Sitting for 8 hours from Uber to airport to plane seat to long flight to Uber home… so much strain on my pelvis. Not looking forward to flying two more times to see the doctor but it’s survivable, just unpleasant to fly this way. I have 4 weeks before I have to worry about that though.
I suspect I’ll notice a lot more changes after the 30mm mark.
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Hey HobbitMan - Sounds like the trip home wasn’t horrible, but not fun either. Hopefully, you at least got to board the plane first based on the ole legs there! 😂. I’m sure it is good to be back in a familiar environment. When you have time for the next update, I’d be interested in knowing more (if you’re willing to share of course) about your pain levels and how much you’re using wheelchair vs. walker. Also, how do you manage stairs? I have stairs to deal with in any post-surgical environment and am paranoid about bending the nails by just navigating the stairs when I have to. Thanks for the update. Stay strong brutha 💪
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Hey HobbitMan - Sounds like the trip home wasn’t horrible, but not fun either. Hopefully, you at least got to board the plane first based on the ole legs there! 😂. I’m sure it is good to be back in a familiar environment. When you have time for the next update, I’d be interested in knowing more (if you’re willing to share of course) about your pain levels and how much you’re using wheelchair vs. walker. Also, how do you manage stairs? I have stairs to deal with in any post-surgical environment and am paranoid about bending the nails by just navigating the stairs when I have to. Thanks for the update. Stay strong brutha 💪
Thanks! If you have stairs and own a house (or staying with family) you can rent a chair lift like I did. 3 months was only $1500 total including installation and eventually the removal. I might extend it to 5-6 months eventually as needed.
Pain levels are never super high. After lengthening I am tight, the more I walk the better I feel. I’m still utilizing the painkillers but in a week or two I would hope to be off them mostly.
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Thanks! If you have stairs and own a house (or staying with family) you can rent a chair lift like I did. 3 months was only $1500 total including installation and eventually the removal. I might extend it to 5-6 months eventually as needed.
Pain levels are never super high. After lengthening I am tight, the more I walk the better I feel. I’m still utilizing the painkillers but in a week or two I would hope to be off them mostly.
Well done bro, you’re doing well. Hang in there!
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Hi HobbitMan, I hope you're doing well. Since you're still on painkillers I wanted to ask if you think they would be a problem for a person who has GERD or similar stomach problems.
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Well done bro, you’re doing well. Hang in there!
Thanks!
Hi HobbitMan, I hope you're doing well. Since you're still on painkillers I wanted to ask if you think they would be a problem for a person who has GERD or similar stomach problems.
That’s actually an interesting question I wish I could answer better than I’m about to. It depends — have you ever been on opioids before? Some patients get really nauseous on the Percocet so it could be at odds with your condition. You’re also going to be on Valium likely as well as morphine (though this becomes more optional over time).
How do you fare with tylenol? Percocet is half Tylenol and half Oxy, essentially. I was given IV Tylenol at the hospital and it seemed to work. Whenever I don’t feel like a full Percocet, I take a rapid release Tylenol instead, since I’m allowed to take a certain amount in addition to Oxy a day. If you can handle Tylenol, it’s not as good as morphine+Oxy but it can make things manageable.
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Thanks!
That’s actually an interesting question I wish I could answer better than I’m about to. It depends — have you ever been on opioids before? Some patients get really nauseous on the Percocet so it could be at odds with your condition. You’re also going to be on Valium likely as well as morphine (though this becomes more optional over time).
How do you fare with tylenol? Percocet is half Tylenol and half Oxy, essentially. I was given IV Tylenol at the hospital and it seemed to work. Whenever I don’t feel like a full Percocet, I take a rapid release Tylenol instead, since I’m allowed to take a certain amount in addition to Oxy a day. If you can handle Tylenol, it’s not as good as morphine+Oxy but it can make things manageable.
I haven't been on opioids before and do fairly badly with any kind of painkillers. The last time I had a tooth extracted, the doctor gave me some painkillers which ended up in me having dysentery lmao. I also consulted with my doctor and he told me if my stomach condition doesn't improve before a CLL surgery I could end up with ulcers or a hole in the stomach. Pretty stressed about it. I have very high pain tolerance but not really sure if I would be able to survive CLL with painkillers.
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I haven't been on opioids before and do fairly badly with any kind of painkillers. The last time I had a tooth extracted, the doctor gave me some painkillers which ended up in me having dysentery lmao. I also consulted with my doctor and he told me if my stomach condition doesn't improve before a CLL surgery I could end up with ulcers or a hole in the stomach. Pretty stressed about it. I have very high pain tolerance but not really sure if I would be able to survive CLL with painkillers.
Idk if there's a correlation, but I used to have GERD issues years ago and this surgery was the first time I took any opioids. I had nausea for a while - first from the anesthesia, later on (about 2-3 weeks after going home) possibly from the Oxy. Dr. D's team was gonna prescribe nausea medications, but I tried ginger tea cuz I don't want to add to the already many medications I'm taking. Idk if it was placebo effect or what, but the nausea eventually went away on its own.
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Idk if there's a correlation, but I used to have GERD issues years ago and this surgery was the first time I took any opioids. I had nausea for a while - first from the anesthesia, later on (about 2-3 weeks after going home) possibly from the Oxy. Dr. D's team was gonna prescribe nausea medications, but I tried ginger tea cuz I don't want to add to the already many medications I'm taking. Idk if it was placebo effect or what, but the nausea eventually went away on its own.
Were your GERD issues resolved before the operation? GERD can be treated mostly and people make 80-90% recovery from what I've heard.
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Were your GERD issues resolved before the operation? GERD can be treated mostly and people make 80-90% recovery from what I've heard.
Yes, haven't had any reflux issues or gastric problems for about 2 years now. Occasionally if I feel like a heartburn might be coming, I would quickly take the gel (idk if it's gel? it's like a thicker consistency) form of an antacid. Where I'm from, I take Gaviscon. I haven't had any reflux since I moved to the US 2 years ago so I never checked if they have something similar here.
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Hey HobbitMan! Don’t have anything to add about the GERD convo 🥴, but thought I’d ask: How goes the lengthening?? You crushing it even more now that you’re back home? Any words of wisdom for wannabes like me and others about the first few weeks? Starting to get tighter? Bored with the process? Other? Hope you’re well. Stay strong 💪
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Hey HobbitMan! Don’t have anything to add about the GERD convo 🥴, but thought I’d ask: How goes the lengthening?? You crushing it even more now that you’re back home? Any words of wisdom for wannabes like me and others about the first few weeks? Starting to get tighter? Bored with the process? Other? Hope you’re well. Stay strong 💪
Sure! Yeah I tried to stay clear of the GERD conversation since I know little about it, thanks 156 for giving more information on that! After all the main reason I’m doing the diary is to help people decide if they want to wait or do precise now :)
Definitely already getting a bit tired of it all, and I’m less than a quarter through it. But feeling taller day by day is motivating enough to keep at it. To emphasize, it’s not pain or tightness that’s making me fatigued, I guess I wasn’t mentally ready for sitting in bed or in a chair all day. Now that reality has set in, I do feel a bit uneasy. But I definitely do not regret the surgery so far.
Tightness has not been an issue at all, but it usually isn’t for most people until 2inches (5cm). Dr D predicted I might experience tightness around 1.5inch or so because of my hamstrings, but I’m only at 17mm as of tonight. I might start getting tight around 3.5 to 4cm if I’m not on top of stretching. Dr D usually has patients put on knee immoblizers around the 1.5 to 2 inch mark to sleep — he wants me to start them this week.
Worst case if my hamstrings prevent me from 8cm, I can always heal and rebreak in 6 months. I’d hate to do that, but the fact I can definitely get to 8cm no matter what is reassuring. He doesn’t think I’ll likely have to go that route though.
Big thing I can recommend to you is to build some upper body strength and stretch your hamstrings an hour a day NOW.
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25% done with lengthening tonight! I hit 19mm out of 79mm, reminder that I got 1mm for free from the surgery itself. So I’m officially 177cm at night and over 5’10 in the morning and throughout the day. I’ll be 5’10 at night in another week. It’s a big milestone for me.
My bandages from the operation are coming off and my scars are much smaller than I thought they would be. Even the IT band ones are almost invisible. I heal from scarring almost famously well, I told my surgeon that but he still warned me that legs don’t heal the same as elsewhere. Regardless my Wolverine healing factor is clearly in play since the only cuts that are noticeable are the IT band ones. I showed them to a friend and he said they looked like a minor scrape. I’m very happy with Dr Debiparshad’s work so far.
I started wearing knee immobilizers at night to keep my legs straight which will help with hamstrings down the line. It is not super comfortable but it’s manageable.
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Hello,how is the pain overall ? How do you move in your everyday life,like to get to your physiotherapist or going to work,or even inside your house,as precise is not weightbearing ? Can you have some good quality sleep overall ? And how you better now than after the surgery ? Thx
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Hello,how is the pain overall ? How do you move in your everyday life,like to get to your physiotherapist or going to work,or even inside your house,as precise is not weightbearing ? Can you have some good quality sleep overall ? And how you better now than after the surgery ? Thx
Pain is only present after lengthening and after waking up in the morning. Right now and most of the time there is 0/10 pain, using the 0 to 10 painscale (0 being no pain, 3 being annoyance of pain, 5+ being distracting in daily life and 8+ being unbearable)
Morning: 2-3/10 max
First lengthening: 1/10
Second lengthening: 3/10
Third lengthening: up to 5/10
Rest of the time: 0/10 (about 22 hours a day is like this)
I work from home, I try to sit in a chair with my laptop as my surgeon wants me to but sometimes I cheat and lay in bed. I program all day but also have a lot of meetings. The thing I hate most is when I have to get up to do small things like go to the bathroom. It’s a short distance but getting up is annoying and so if I get up I mind it less for big things, like going all the way to my car, driving, and getting out and doing something like PT, etc. I just hate the transfers even if they’re not painful! My legs itch a bit for the first minute after transferring as I use my legs, this disappears quickly though. It feels like when you’re running and you get itchy in the legs because blood is flowing to them, but not quite as bad.
Definitely a lot better than after surgery. One leg is weaker than the other but both are still a lot stronger than during the first week. Sleep actually has gotten worse. The week after surgery I was sleeping 16 hours a night but I sleep 8-10 hours now. Usually I am tired before my final lengthening so I set an alarm for 3 hours and sleep 3 hours, wake up, do the final lengthening, stay up for a while as I wait for the pain to go away, and sleep some more. I do get 8-10 high quality hours but never consecutively. Probably need to start lengthening at earlier times of day and it would fix this.
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25% done with lengthening tonight! I hit 19mm out of 79mm, reminder that I got 1mm for free from the surgery itself. So I’m officially 177cm at night and over 5’10 in the morning and throughout the day. I’ll be 5’10 at night in another week. It’s a big milestone for me.
My bandages from the operation are coming off and my scars are much smaller than I thought they would be. Even the IT band ones are almost invisible. I heal from scarring almost famously well, I told my surgeon that but he still warned me that legs don’t heal the same as elsewhere. Regardless my Wolverine healing factor is clearly in play since the only cuts that are noticeable are the IT band ones. I showed them to a friend and he said they looked like a minor scrape. I’m very happy with Dr Debiparshad’s work so far.
I started wearing knee immobilizers at night to keep my legs straight which will help with hamstrings down the line. It is not super comfortable but it’s manageable.
Congrats on almost 2cm!! This is the first journal I'm keeping track of and I wish you all the best HobbitMan.
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Congrats on almost 2cm!! This is the first journal I'm keeping track of and I wish you all the best HobbitMan.
Thanks! I’m actually past 2cm this morning. Really starting to hate night lengthening. Morning and mid day are totally fine but at night is almost torture. I might ask my doctor for a brief slowdown to .66mm a day if this doesn’t change.
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Thanks! I’m actually past 2cm this morning. Really starting to hate night lengthening. Morning and mid day are totally fine but at night is almost torture. I might ask my doctor for a brief slowdown to .66mm a day if this doesn’t change.
That’s weird, it shouldn’t be bad at all in the beginning. Are you stretching? I was doing 1.25mm a day mostly until like 2cm and it wasn’t really bad even at night. If you stretch with bands before you turn and after it helps a ton, also using a muscle simulator from Amazon I bought one for 30$, it has pads and sends little shocks it helps with muscle tension
At 4cm-5cm mark it gets bad at night but before then it shouldn’t be,
Try doing .75mm for 1-2 days and then go back to 1mm
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That’s weird, it shouldn’t be bad at all in the beginning. Are you stretching? I was doing 1.25mm a day until 2cm and it wasn’t really bad at all. If you stretch before you turn and after it helps a ton, also using a muscle simulator from Amazon I bought one for 30$, it has pads and sends little shocks it helps with muscle tension
Well it’s only the nighttime one. Were you doing .25mm intervals? I never hurt until the ERC starts going above .28mm for the session and then it gets bad. I do .33 for all sessions except the night one which is .34. I have a feeling if it were 4 sessions or .25 I wouldn’t hurt at all. I think that .33/.34 is just too much at once for me. I know it’s small but it’s almost as soon as the ERC goes past .28 my legs get very weak.
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Thanks! I’m actually past 2cm this morning. Really starting to hate night lengthening. Morning and mid day are totally fine but at night is almost torture. I might ask my doctor for a brief slowdown to .66mm a day if this doesn’t change.
Night lengthening sucks no matter what. For LON users, we become extremely fatigued and our muscles are extremely tight in the morning. If you have the time, I'd definitely recommend slowing down. I lengthened more at noon so I could skip the night-time lengthening.
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Well it’s only the nighttime one. Were you doing .25mm intervals? I never hurt until the ERC starts going above .28mm for the session and then it gets bad. I do .33 for all sessions except the night one which is .34. I have a feeling if it were 4 sessions or .25 I wouldn’t hurt at all. I think that .33/.34 is just too much at once for me. I know it’s small but it’s almost as soon as the ERC goes past .28 my legs get very weak.
Yeah all my turns were .25, but I would have two turns at night when I was doing 1.25mm, and it didn’t really feel bad or anything,
Taking a break helps a lot, slow down to .75 or .66 for like 2 days and then go back to 1mm
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Yeah all my turns were .25, but I would have two turns at night when I was doing 1.25mm, and it didn’t really feel bad or anything,
Taking a break helps a lot, slow down to .75 or .66 for like 2 days and then go back to 1mm
I think I’ll wait until my next X Ray to see how my bone is doing before I slow down, just to make sure I’m not healing too fast to take a break. I think my doctor will be open to the idea of me slowing down if needed though, I know he lets other patients do it as long as there are no bone worries.
Night lengthening sucks no matter what. For LON users, we become extremely fatigued and our muscles are extremely tight in the morning. If you have the time, I'd definitely recommend slowing down. I lengthened more at noon so I could skip the night-time lengthening.
That’s pretty smart, I do my final lengthening around midnight which is a huge mistake. I will try to do my three lengthenings closer together towards the middle of the day, and my night one no later than 9pm. Maybe even earlier.
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Interesting update! Did all three lengthenings today with no pain. My secret was to put my legs into my knee immobilizers for an hour after each. When I took them out, my hamstrings must have caught up to everything else, and the pain is nonexistent. I don’t feel any pain while I’m in the immobilizers either. Even the night one was painless. As long as this keeps up I don’t think I’ll have to slow down. My weaker leg seems to have also gotten better from this method.
I’m glad Dr D told me to get knee immobilizers early. They’re not fun but they definitely work. I’d almost recommend them to people regardless if they have tight hamstrings, Dr D usually tells people to get them at the 5-6cm mark but I started wearing them at 2cm.
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Thanks for the update HobbitMan! Very interesting about the knee immobilizer and def something I’m planning on early rather than later. You sound like you’re still doing well - good job. Happy you got over 2 cm so far already; that must feel pretty damn awesome! Stay strong brutha 💪
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Interesting update! Did all three lengthenings today with no pain. My secret was to put my legs into my knee immobilizers for an hour after each. When I took them out, my hamstrings must have caught up to everything else, and the pain is nonexistent. I don’t feel any pain while I’m in the immobilizers either. Even the night one was painless. As long as this keeps up I don’t think I’ll have to slow down. My weaker leg seems to have also gotten better from this method.
I’m glad Dr D told me to get knee immobilizers early. They’re not fun but they definitely work. I’d almost recommend them to people regardless if they have tight hamstrings, Dr D usually tells people to get them at the 5-6cm mark but I started wearing them at 2cm.
Didn't read about knee immobilizers anywhere. I'll put this in the check list.
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Yeah knee immobilizers are really underrated and nobody here talks about them. I always wear them loose so my knees are not totally straight but they force me to keep them within 160-180 degrees bend for the time I’m wearing them, which stretches the hamstrings. This is important at night because it’s a free light 8 hour hamstring/quad/glute stretch if you use them. It’s easy to revert to bending knees because it feels slightly better, but laying flat is really beneficial.
I also am back to a regular 2 hour a day stretching and PT schedule. It’s really necessary and I feel great coming back from my noon sessions. I’m driving myself now and it feels really nice to get stretched for an hour. My range of motion is currently virtually identical to before surgery at this point which bodes really well. First inch down and no issues at all yet. The next inch will be fairly easy too. After 2inches this diary will get a lot more interesting.
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@Hobbitman: I slowed down my lengthening at around 4 CM to 0.75 a day, literally all my lengthening pain (which was present with every night distraction) disappeared.
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@Hobbitman: I slowed down my lengthening at around 4 CM to 0.75 a day, literally all my lengthening pain (which was present with every night distraction) disappeared.
I’ll see if that’s an option once I get further! Right now the knee immobilizers and the return to physical therapy have fixed the issue and the only time I feel super tight is when I wake up. When I wake up I quickly cram a morphine, an Oxy, and a Valium and then sit in bed for 30 minutes listening to music to wait for the pain to pass. Then for the rest of the day I feel great, even after lengthening. Sometimes in the evening I can get tight if I lay around too much. But generally the return to PT as well as the knee immoblizers have been a panacea
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I’ll see if that’s an option once I get further! Right now the knee immobilizers and the return to physical therapy have fixed the issue and the only time I feel super tight is when I wake up. When I wake up I quickly cram a morphine, an Oxy, and a Valium and then sit in bed for 30 minutes listening to music to wait for the pain to pass. Then for the rest of the day I feel great, even after lengthening. Sometimes in the evening I can get tight if I lay around too much. But generally the return to PT as well as the knee immoblizers have been a panacea
Hey HobbitMan - congrats on 2cm+ so far!! I'm also lengthening with Precice and one thing that helped with the tightness when I was doing 1mm everyday was soaking in the tub with really hot water for like an hour every morning. I'd take an Oxy, get in the water, and then sit there, and also do some stretches like bending my knees to get stretch the quads, straightening my legs and pushing them against the tub to stretch hamstrings, etc. I found it really helpful - something else to consider as you push through!
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I might try that! I’m worried about getting in and out of the tub but maybe I can attempt it verrrry slowly tomorrow.
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Hey HobbitMan - congrats on 2cm+ so far!! I'm also lengthening with Precice and one thing that helped with the tightness when I was doing 1mm everyday was soaking in the tub with really hot water for like an hour every morning. I'd take an Oxy, get in the water, and then sit there, and also do some stretches like bending my knees to get stretch the quads, straightening my legs and pushing them against the tub to stretch hamstrings, etc. I found it really helpful - something else to consider as you push through!
Very early on I was using hot water with a handheld sprayer in shower. It is a magic eraser for muscle pain, as long as there is no swelling hot water relieves the pain right away and relieves tightness
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Very early on I was using hot water with a handheld sprayer in shower. It is a magic eraser for muscle pain, as long as there is no swelling hot water relieves the pain right away and relieves tightness
Took your advice, and it works so god damn well! After 10 minutes of hot water all pain was gone. It really is magical. Thanks for sharing this advice man!
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I measured over 5’10” at night on the wall today! And I measured nearly 179cm when I woke up! My morning height was always just over 176cm and I’m less than 3cm in so it’s also as though I’m currently gaining more than the ERC says I am. I wonder if it’s because laying all the time has been better for my spine…
Either way, I’m officially over 5’10 now. It feels great and contrary to what others have said, 1 inch difference is very visible. You do feel taller and the people I’m around right now look shorter than before. I have a feeling that once I reach 8cm my height neurosis will be completely gone.
Im upping my stretching to 2 hours a day to improve my range of motion which is still identical to before surgery. Im spending 1 hour just on hamstrings. This doesn’t include my 5 hours a week of physical therapy. The more I stretch the less I notice any muscle issues.
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Did some follow up X Rays at nearly 30mm. They’re being sent over to the surgeon as I type but the technician was a real bro and explained to me what he saw from it (he must have seen 1000 intermedullary nails before, never cosmetic though). Healthy bone bridge that’s faint and even, the rods are completely straight still. Dr Debiparshad was not lying when he said he couldn’t fit the biggest rod in there. The bottom of the femur is a lot narrower than the top and the 10.7mm rod fits like a glove inside it.
I’m doing well and so far no issues at all. Still lengthening 1mm a day with less pain than a week or two ago. Life carries on and I’m slowly chugging towards the finish line. Will have to fly to see Dr D in a bit fewer than 2 weeks.
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3.4cm and getting taller. By the middle of next week I’ll be halfway lengthened. I have to spend 2 hours a day stretching hamstrings at this point to prevent them from going haywire, but it’s working. Still have same ROM as before surgery. Been taking hot water baths to relieve pain at night and will start visiting my local pool to do chest-high water walking laps.
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Awesome man,i was really going to just wait for stryde to come back,but the more i read precise journals the more i'm inclined to just go for it,hopefully it will be available in 6 months in Europe
Could you give me any advice to prepare myself ? I'm trying to drop some weight,to be around 65/68kgs and i stretch daily,all body with focus on thigh muscles,and adapting my diet,with vitamin supplements,calcium and vitamin D,i'm also doing cardio,mostly cycling 3 times a week to not hurt my legs too much instead of running,and i do weight lifting,only upper body 3 times a week,i'm not sure i can do much more,i'm planning to get my surgery done at the end of 2021 hopefully
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In terms of stretching, focus entirely on your quads and hamstrings and secondarily hip area. Anything else has a lot less relevance for femur lengthening. Quads and hamstrings are basically the limiters here. Losing weight is fine but you will lose a lot of weight from the lengthening process. Nearly 10kg by the end.
Beyond that there’s not much to prepare other than making sure you can survive your apartment/house without using stairs and on a combination of a walker and wheelchair.
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Thank you for the updates. It's great to read that everything is going well.
What do you think caused your height neurosis? I'm also 5'9
and feel short most of the time. Virtually everyone I grew up with grew past me. A few inches will make the world of difference.
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I think my hamstrings have gotten BETTER in the last few days than they were a week or two ago. Some people are very light on physical therapy. IT IS YOUR FRIEND. Do NOT UNDERESTIMATE IT. YOU CANNOT DO THIS WITHOUT A MINIMUM 5 hours a week of PT and 5 hours of stretching outside of PT. And I’m planning to start going to the pool daily to walk for an hour or two as well.
Thank you for the updates. It's great to read that everything is going well.
What do you think caused your height neurosis? I'm also 5'9
and feel short most of the time. Virtually everyone I grew up with grew past me. A few inches will make the world of difference.
5’9” isn’t short but it also isn’t tall. I started wearing lifts and started receiving better treatment from all people. People took me more seriously. That was at 5’11”. I couldn’t go without my lifts, and so eventually I decided I wanted to actually be 6’. There’s a chance I will be nearly 6’1” if I can handle my scoliosis better over the next year. I probably can regain another cm. Regardless I’ll be between 6’ and 6’1 most of the day. This is sufficient for me to get the “better treatment” of being tall, to avoid lifts forever, and fit into longer pants.
There’s also endless trauma from abusive girlfriends, friends, family members, which may in each instance have been teasing but combined added up into a lifelong insecurity. I’m rich enough to fix it and not think about it ever again, so I chose to take that route.
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Congrats, HobbitMan on all the progress; I appreciate all the progress notes and tips in your journal, which has been very helpful. I hope to follow in you’re (taller) footsteps and maybe take the plunge with precice 2.2 in the future since stryde def ain’t gonna be back for awhile. Keep up the good work and stay strong! 💪
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Almost 5’11 nice getting closer to that 6’0 mark congrats.
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Thank you for sharing. I too have had a similar experience with lifts. I found myself becoming a prisoner to them. I don't feel comfortable walking bare feet with the exception of a handful of people.
Eventually I cut toxic friends from my life, anyone who excessively mentioned my height was gone.
Best of luck.
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Hey Hobbitman,
Hope you are doing well. Congratz on your progress so far. The information you share here is very invaluable. I have also decided to proceed with Precise 2 and my initial consultation is scheduled with Dr.Paley on August 3rd and 4th. I am planning to start my journey by November of this year. I will be following your diary very closely.
I have waited for 7 years to save up the money and it's very unfortunate that the STRYDE is out of the market now so I decided to proceed with Precise 2.
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Almost 5’11 nice getting closer to that 6’0 mark congrats.
Thanks! ;D I already feel much taller!
Congrats, HobbitMan on all the progress; I appreciate all the progress notes and tips in your journal, which has been very helpful. I hope to follow in you’re (taller) footsteps and maybe take the plunge with precice 2.2 in the future since stryde def ain’t gonna be back for awhile. Keep up the good work and stay strong! 💪
Best of luck and glad this is helping! I really wouldn’t count on Stryde returning in a reasonable time frame. Precise 2.2 isn’t fun but it’s not hell on earth like some make it out to be.
Thank you for sharing. I too have had a similar experience with lifts. I found myself becoming a prisoner to them. I don't feel comfortable walking bare feet with the exception of a handful of people.
Eventually I cut toxic friends from my life, anyone who excessively mentioned my height was gone.
Best of luck.
I’m sorry you also suffered this. Yeah, lifts are addictive and crippling. I wish I had never used them but they were an invaluable test run for lengthening.
Hey Hobbitman,
Hope you are doing well. Congratz on your progress so far. The information you share here is very invaluable. I have also decided to proceed with Precise 2 and my initial consultation is scheduled with Dr.Paley on August 3rd and 4th. I am planning to start my journey by November of this year. I will be following your diary very closely.
I have waited for 7 years to save up the money and it's very unfortunate that the STRYDE is out of the market now so I decided to proceed with Precise 2.
I also consulted with Paley and the only reasons I didn’t go with him were cost and the fact he requires you to stay in West Palm Beach for entire duration of lengthening. If those are not an issue he’s extremely good. You will be very impressed with his facility, he really has wonderful staff too. I assume you’ve talked to Sylwia? I believe she is his main concierge for scheduling. She gave me a tour and she and the other staff members I talked to were fantastic. Again, down to cost and location.
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Hobbitman, are you going to get a second surgery after your done recovering from your first?
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Hobbitman, are you going to get a second surgery after your done recovering from your first?
This is a great question. I originally had a goal of 188cm back when I was naive. I will not ever entertain the idea of another 5cm on my tibias though.
I don’t know, there’s a chance I would consider 3cm tibias in the future if I reach 8cm successfully now and want another boost and to fix biomechanics. I’m at almost 4cm right now and the journey hasn’t been horrible so far. 3cm tibias would probably be a big waste of money unless I get another promotion and have money to spare.
I’m open to the idea. But I already feel tallish at +4cm and at +8cm I doubt I will ever want to go under the knife again. I’ll have a 184ish day height. That’s above average everywhere except the Netherlands and I don’t think I’ll ever live there anyways. And if I did I wouldn’t be short there. Anywhere else I go I’ll be firmly above average to tall. An extra 3cm would be a waste of a good 80+k USD.
Long answer but there’s no short answer. If in a year I have the money and the desire I will consider it. I don’t suspect I will do it though.
Ideally I want to get to 8cm, buy new clothes, and call it a day.
EDIT: for fun I measured myself out of bed this morning. I was a few millimeters shy of 5’11”. I was a hair under 180cm. This lines up the fact I’m almost at 4cm now. My final morning height will probably be a bit over 184, if not 184.5.
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Yes, Sylwia is the one. I relocated to WPB already a couple of weeks ago only for this purpose. Fortunately, I am still able to work remotely. However, once my journey starts I am planning to take 4 months off from my work and find a new job once my lengthening phase is over. That's my plan for now. Let's see how it goes when the time comes.
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Yes, Sylwia is the one. I relocated to WPB already a couple of weeks ago only for this purpose. Fortunately, I am still able to work remotely. However, once my journey starts I am planning to take 4 months off from my work and find a new job once my lengthening phase is over. That's my plan for now. Let's see how it goes when the time comes.
I think taking 4 months off is a good idea. I’m stuck working now but I probably should have used time away from work to just focus on lengthening. It’s very possible to work while lengthening but it won’t be your best work. Oh well only 4.2cm left to go and hence less than 6 weeks of work I have to do while lengthening :)
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Hey HobbitMan! How goes it? You crack 5’11” yet? Just curious how the sense of time is when you’re actually lengthening and rehabbing. Thoughts on that? I’m trying to prepare for the whole thing and I’m sure it seems entirely slow when you’re actually the one doing it. Also how are you getting around with the walker? Can you get around ok? Drive and get yourself to and from PT? With work I’ve always thought it’d be something to distract me from rather than just the grind of recovery (pun intended), but am definitely not planning on absolutely having to work all the time as if it were normal. Would you do even more rehab if you weren’t working? Just curious. Hope you’re still crushing it 💪👍
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Hey HobbitMan! How goes it? You crack 5’11” yet? Just curious how the sense of time is when you’re actually lengthening and rehabbing. Thoughts on that? I’m trying to prepare for the whole thing and I’m sure it seems entirely slow when you’re actually the one doing it. Also how are you getting around with the walker? Can you get around ok? Drive and get yourself to and from PT? With work I’ve always thought it’d be something to distract me from rather than just the grind of recovery (pun intended), but am definitely not planning on absolutely having to work all the time as if it were normal. Would you do even more rehab if you weren’t working? Just curious. Hope you’re still crushing it 💪👍
Hey! I do crack 5’11 morning height (I am 43mm into lengthening and had a morning height a bit over 176 — so now it’s 180.5cm morning) and I’m nearly 5’11 day height, over 179cm. By end of week I’ll be a consistent, weak 5’11.
Time moves fairly quickly. I’m more than halfway done and surgery feels like it was weeks ago, not more than a month ago. Next 5 weeks should go by even quicker.
I’d definitely do more rehab if I weren’t working but instead I might work part time for a little while starting in a week or two and try that out. I can move very easily in the walker and driving is easy in short distances. Not a fan of filling up my car with gas though. Not nearly as easy.
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I can move very easily in the walker
Hey HobbitMan! Amazing diary and it's great to see you're almost at the end! How do you move the walker around while partially weight bearing? Aren't worried about risk of nail breakage?
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Hey HobbitMan! Checking in on ya Brodie…how goes the climb? Everything still going relatively smooth? By my math you should now be just over 5 cm now (assuming no temporary setbacks), which seems to be the point at which the climb gets a lot steeper and noticeably harder for lots of folks. Noticing any differences as you get closer to the summit? Hope you’re doing well; stay strong 💪
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Hey guys! I actually did have an injury that required me to slow down, fortunately I already had an appointment in person with Dr D a few days later. Would rather not disclose much but I will say that Dr D did a great job taking care of it as soon as was physically possible. I’m back to lengthening again and am nearly at 5cm. I missed about 4 days last week of lengthening.
Will probably post some more about what happened at a later time once I have X Rays, see Dr D again, etc. it was nothing caused by him or the surgery, just a freak accident. But all better again now!
As for differences, I definitely feel about 6’ now. Not that I am, I’m only 5’11 and change, but I’m taller than many people who say they’re 6’ all of a sudden. I find that very amusing.
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Congrats, the progress sounds great.
Good to also know about the knee immobilizer tip. How are you getting around, driving cars, etc? I was under the impression that you're married to your walker / crutches while on precice 2.2, and I feel that the anxiety that I might break the rod with a slip (e.g. in shower) has been somewhat of a deterrent for me to undergo the surgery.
Can you talk about how you do general day to day things (e.g. shower, bathroom, etc)
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Good to hear from you HobbitMan but sorry to hear about the setback, which doesn’t sound major. I’m sure you’ll be back to crushing it again soon! Stay strong and my best getting through this bump in the road 💪💪
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Hi HobbitMan ~ congratulations on your LL journey so far! I am about a month behind you. I did Precice with Dr. Mahboubian early July and have been following your diary which is great. My main concern of course is not bending or breaking a nail as I am up on the walker almost all the time. No wheelchair except for long trips. AimHigh's story of nail brackage was scary but lucky for him he had reached 8cm when it happened. Any walker or getting around tips in general? Oh and thank you, I'd never thought of knee immobilizers until you wrote about them. Do you just put them on at night? I can't seem to keep my knees straight at all.
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Congrats, the progress sounds great.
Good to also know about the knee immobilizer tip. How are you getting around, driving cars, etc? I was under the impression that you're married to your walker / crutches while on precice 2.2, and I feel that the anxiety that I might break the rod with a slip (e.g. in shower) has been somewhat of a deterrent for me to undergo the surgery.
Can you talk about how you do general day to day things (e.g. shower, bathroom, etc)
Showers are definitely scary. Either get a shower chair (for disabled people), or opt for irregular baths instead. As long as you can get in and out of a bath tub, it’s the better option. Honestly you will just be showering and bathing less if you want to stay safe. You will definitely be married to your walker and wheelchair. After my incident I recommend only a wheelchair outside the house.
Good to hear from you HobbitMan but sorry to hear about the setback, which doesn’t sound major. I’m sure you’ll be back to crushing it again soon! Stay strong and my best getting through this bump in the road 💪💪
Thanks man! Already did almost 1cm since my accident. I’m well over 5’11 now and have over an inch to go. I should end up a very strong 6’ or a weak 6’1. I’m starting to already have lose my height neurosis now that I’m well past the 180cm mark, but I do plan to go all the way.
Hi HobbitMan ~ congratulations on your LL journey so far! I am about a month behind you. I did Precice with Dr. Mahboubian early July and have been following your diary which is great. My main concern of course is not bending or breaking a nail as I am up on the walker almost all the time. No wheelchair except for long trips. AimHigh's story of nail brackage was scary but lucky for him he had reached 8cm when it happened. Any walker or getting around tips in general? Oh and thank you, I'd never thought of knee immobilizers until you wrote about them. Do you just put them on at night? I can't seem to keep my knees straight at all.
Knee immobilizers at night only! And they don’t need to keep the legs completely locked… you should just feel some tension from keeping the legs straight. The immobilizers shouldn’t be super tight or they cut off circulation, which is (obviously) very bad. You should easily fit a finger or two between the straps and your legs. They don’t have to be perfectly straight (which isn’t a good idea except for stretching exercises anyways), but you should feel a very mild hamstring pull from the constant straight position.
As mentioned with the walker, I STRONGLY recommend only using walker indoors. Anything more than bathroom visits or getting around on the ground floor (or whatever floor you’re on primarily),, use a wheelchair!
Does it suck? Yeah. Hurting yourself sucks a lot more though since in the best case it causes a setback, worst case it causes permanent disability. In my accident I avoided the latter but for a little while I had what I feared would be lifelong knee pain. 2 weeks later and I’m nearly back to “normal”.
Seriously, always underestimate your progress and abilities. Never try to do anything fancy.
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Thank you for the tips! And best of luck
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Thank you for the tips! And best of luck
Thanks! Best of luck on your journeys as well! If you have any other questions please feel free to ask them here, I keep this diary primarily for those weighing their options between precise 2.2 and Stryde’s return. To you and everyone else, this journal is for information primarily, so please ask questions if you have any!
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What a journey, your almost at the finish line. At this point, do you notice your proportions still in place? Even without clothes.
Would you be keen to the idea of posting a proportion picture?
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What a journey, your almost at the finish line. At this point, do you notice your proportions still in place? Even without clothes.
Would you be keen to the idea of posting a proportion picture?
I’d think about a picture before/after, the only time my femurs look longer is if I’m sitting down and you see me from the side. They still don’t look super long with clothes on, very normal. My proportions I believe still look absolutely normal and unless you knew what to look for and what I looked like before, you wouldn’t spot it. I think any more than 8cm and it would throw proportions off. At 5cm the difference is only visible to me.
I was wearing 30 inseam pants before, despite growing 2 inches I think 32 pants are still slightly long. I’ll probably end up comfortable in 32-33 inseam jeans at somewhere between 6’ and 6’1, which is a very very normal set of proportions IMO. The long femurs don’t look weird and I started with longish tibias. The only thing is that I need bigger shorts now, I still fit 75+% of pants I had. Clothes will not be an issue after. I did mock-ups like crazy beforehand and I always looked best at 8cm lengthened in clothes. I even asked very close friends and they all agreed that +8cm was perfect proportion wise, way better than my normal height or +13cm. At 5cm I think my femurs look natural length compared to my tibias, again, except in shorts which barely fit me before and now expose half of my thighs. Easily solved by longer inseam shorts. My legs looked a bit stubby in jeans, which tend to hang low on me due to how thin my waist is. So far my legs don’t look as long in the mirror as a 5cm mock-up would, somehow. They look much more natural than my mock-ups which I really appreciate.
I’ll consider adding very thin 1in insoles into my shoes still instead of the 2.5 inch ones I did before. Just to balance out the tibias, get that free extra inch and claim 6’2”, and because I have flat feet. 1 inch insole is very minor compared to 2+ inches, and the minor boost is all I need. Definitely not going to ever do a tibia surgery. I’ve finally decided 100% that I don’t want or need it.
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Very reassuring that mock-ups look less natural. I also made a lot of them in Microsoft paint and 8cm always looks extreme for femur but 5cm looked most natural.
Would your opinion be that you look better nkkd now then before?
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Hey HobbitMan! Great advice about always underestimating your progress and abilities during the recovery. Also, your words of advice about the shower chair solidified what I already had mostly decided - just get one and use it. Glad you’re back on the mend. Appreciate all the journaling. I’m hopeful that I can get one or two more dominos to fall my way at work so I can follow your lead. We’ll see. A few questions for ya: How are you doing with stairs? Is it getting more problematic when doing limited weight bearing as you lengthen? It seems like in the beginning the chances of bending the nail is a lot less even if you weight bear more than you should because the nail has not expanded, but the more length you get the more careful you need to be. Do you agree? Seems to make sense mechanically, but from a human behavior angle it must be hard to be more careful as you reach the destination. I could totally see myself or most wanting to do more and more as time goes by and in hopes of progressing so the process can be completed as soon as possible. Any thoughts on that? How’s the flexibility? You were pretty flexible before you began, but I am wondering how things are now even with all the stretching and rehab you’re doing. Any insight on tips to max good consolidation other than standing and limited weight bearing as much as practicable along the way? It seems to me that doing both as much as can be safely done is key. Have you found a good PT back home? And are they more helpful than harmful given their relative inexperience with your CLL rehab? Or do you think you are accomplishing most of your progress just on your own doing self PT? I’m sure it is probably not an either or situation. Any pool or acquatic therapy yet? For Precice, that seems like a very good option. Sorry to pepper ya with questions. Obviously, answer if and/or what you want. Hope you’re doing well and stay strong! 💪. You’re like almost there and sounds like already in the 6ft club! Congrats! 😆
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Hey buddy, sorry to hear about the accident and glad to know that you came out of it with Dr. D's help. Hang in there bud, almost there. Onwards and upwards.
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Hey guys, haven’t forgotten about you all or the diary but don’t have the time today to answer all these questions right now. Plan to this weekend though!
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How yu doing bruv
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Been very busy and I want to answer those questions, just been keeping myself busy in the home stretch, so to speak. I’m at about 6.5cm now and it’s getting a bit tight, but manageable. I may be slowing down based upon upcoming XRays, as long as early consolidation is not an issue.
But otherwise doing well! Range of motion still similar to when I was at 1.5cm, which is a bit amazing. I measure over 182 during the day now.
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Hey HobbitMan - good to hear from you; focus on finishing this up Brodie that’s what’s most important! And you’ve got enough homework already with your lengthening and normal life 😆…Almost there!! Sounds like things are going well/better after the hiccup, which is good to hear. Especially the ROM - that’s fantastic. Stay strong 💪💪
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Awesome journey so far brother! Thanks for sharing your tips and journey.
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Congrats. Are you able to walk unassisted or do you still need a walker.
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Thanks everyone!
Slowing down the journal only because nothing changes day to day now. I’m nearly 7cm in and things are still going fine. Had some issues with knee extension but blasting hamstring exercises to the point my legs fell asleep actually fixed it and i get a straight knee extension again. I’m over 6’ most of the day now and I feel very tall. I’m going to max out the nail because things are going fine.
Biggest surprise is that my femurs look more normal than my original mock-ups. Only sitting down sideways in front of a mirror do they look long at all. With pants on in particular I look much better proportioned than before. I had a very good wingspan and frame going into this so I look really normal at 6 feet tall now. I think anyone who starts at 5’8” or over simply shouldn’t worry about proportions. The change in size is so comparatively small that unless you have major scoliosis and a very short torso you will look normal after. My silhouette is very model like now, in the sense that I have pleasingly but not freakishly long legs. However the change is very subtle.
X Rays are perfect, I started with a vitamin d surplus going into this so I actually haven’t been taking supplements in fear of too much bone growth. The second I’m finished lengthening I’ll be taking the megadose vitamin d pills twice a week to speed it up. I’ve stopped losing weight by eating much more and have been static at about 160lbs. My BMI has dropped about 2-3 points though because of height gain and weight loss. I’m lower end of normal BMI now.
So far I do recommend this surgery to anyone in good mental and physical health who has the requisite income, a support system, and will be happy with their height after one surgery only. Anyone who thinks they’ll do two surgeries is delusional, unless they’re very very short, like 5’5” and under in the west, beforehand. Then you might have the resolve to do this twice. For me, I see this as a good use of COVID work from home time, but since that won’t happen again, I won’t be doing this surgery again.
I’ve picked up some hobbies again since lengthening and have become a lot better at them. I do my hobbies in bed about 8 hours a day. I took some time off work starting this week until consolidation to focus on the hardest and final centimeter.
Also I tell people around me I am 6’1” and they either believe me or say I might be even taller. It’s easy to get away with inflating your height when you’re already in the somewhat tall category. Lots of 5’11” people I tower over who are already claiming 6’1”.
Congrats. Are you able to walk unassisted or do you still need a walker.
Still on a walker. Not fully lengthened yet so I have to wait for that to end and then whatever time it takes for consolidation
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4 pages of journal and no walking vids or photos bro? Thats like having a burger with nothing on it..lol.. JK.. In all seriousness though, any photos or vids? theirs ways to block out your face, etc.
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Wow at over 6 feet now that is major!! Thank you for documenting your journey with Precise. So you are not taking any vitamin D supplements during lengthening at all? Doesn't a fast bone growth rate mean that you are very healthy? I am mainly asking because it sounds like Precise patients in particular seem to have a higher daily lengthening rate compared to other methods from what I have read online. Like more days of lengthening in excess of 1mm which I believe is not safe depending on how many days and weeks and has more overall long term negative effects like nerve damage and mobility issues. Anyway, it must feel great to have come so far in your journey and you did it with Precise too! The best is yet to come my friend.
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4 pages of journal and no walking vids or photos bro? Thats like having a burger with nothing on it..lol.. JK.. In all seriousness though, any photos or vids? theirs ways to block out your face, etc.
Well I’m still lengthening and also prefaced this journal saying it’s unlikely I would post many or any before-afters. I’ll probably be gone from the forum once I’m consolidated and walking again (since I won’t have another surgery ever and because lots of… strange people here). I will probably do a before-after picture once I’m consolidated though. Right now it makes my legs look long because they’ve atrophied so much. But proportionally its actually very normal, 48% inseam ratio now. I fit into 32 jeans at 6’0 so I’d call that fairly normal proportions
Wow at over 6 feet now that is major!! Thank you for documenting your journey with Precise. So you are not taking any vitamin D supplements during lengthening at all? Doesn't a fast bone growth rate mean that you are very healthy? I am mainly asking because it sounds like Precise patients in particular seem to have a higher daily lengthening rate compared to other methods from what I have read online. Like more days of lengthening in excess of 1mm which I believe is not safe depending on how many days and weeks and has more overall long term negative effects like nerve damage and mobility issues. Anyway, it must feel great to have come so far in your journey and you did it with Precise too! The best is yet to come my friend.
Yeah I had a huge vitamin D surplus before surgery, so I’ve been skipping some doses of the pills. I don’t recommend it to the average person though. I’ve always healed very quickly from injuries etc. right now my bone growth without it is very solid but that’s also because my naturally very high Vitamin D levels which I doubt most people here would have.
Precise patients have the same lengthening schedule as Stryde, you might be thinking of LON or something. Precise and Stryde both go at 1mm or less a day. I do 1mm a day most days but once a week I skip a session, so I’m doing 6.66mm a week.
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By the way, as I’m days from hitting 8cm, if I disappear for a while it’s not because I had some sort of catastrophic breakdown or injury, I’m just happy with my new height and not neurotic enough to visit this forum anymore. I suspect most stories that fizzle like this one might are like that. As I reach past 6 feet tall I simply just have no neurosis and even feel super tall, and while I like helping give advice to people here, there are a lot of neurotic people on this forum and it’s not mentally good for me to be around the negativity now that I have such a positive life ahead of me. That being said there are some great people on this forum I hope I’ve helped with their prospective or ongoing journeys, many of whom are regulars in this diary thread. Thanks for checking in and I’m glad this has been helpful so far!
I will still set calendar reminder each month to post here but I don’t browse as often now that I’ve reached my height and I’m happy and healthy. I am definitely so far a very successful patient. Dr D says so, the PTs all say so, and my appearance says so. If there’s a complication I won’t hide it and will 100% post it here, but I’m kind of getting to the point where if one would have arisen I’d have it already. I don’t have duckass, bad knee extension, or nerve issues… only occasional knee pain here and there but it’s a 1 out of 10 on the pain scale and should go away even before consolidation.
I will still post a before and after heavily blurred once I can stand and walk on my own a bit more and the atrophy has reversed a bit. But if I disappear it’s because things were a success. I’ll be back here again if there was a failure, I feel the ethical need to do so if there are issues. But silence will only mean one thing, that I’m healthy and happy. Or dead, but not from this ;D
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Thanks for all the sharing, HobbitMan! It should go without saying that you don’t owe anyone anything here and I for one can appreciate that it could be very taxing to try and answer all possible questions; or just deal with a barrage of strange and personal requests. I hope to follow your success, but not as high since you got me from the jump by several centimeters. Imagining the burden of no longer thinking about height neurosis must be exhilarating and I very much look forward to experiencing that same freedom in the future. I wish you a happy, successful and taller life. Thanks again and good luck moving forward. 💪 - Cheers
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Thank you for making a diary here and sharing your experience with LL. Glad to hear your LL has been cured with this surgery and hope all the best did you in the future
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Good to hear that you're happy with your height
Thanks for sharing and best of luck with recovery!
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Thanks for the good luck everyone! I’ll still be around intermittently but there probably be a day where the journal abruptly ends. Not today at least :)
For those I helped I would love to answer more questions over the coming week and I think I left some unanswered, feel free to dump any questions in here again and I’ll try to get to the ones that mean most to everyone.
To answer one of them, I’m still completely reliant on the walker, but my fingers are crossed I’ll have a quick consolidation and be taking first steps in October. Less than a week away from the final day of lengthening! Things are tighter now but it’s never much worse than it was at say, 4cm. I wouldn’t go past 8cm even if I could but I’m sure my body could handle it with extensive PT.
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Hey HobbitMan - Good to hear you’re basically at the tail end of lengthening. I did have a few questions, but of course answer only if you want to. So, here goes:
1. With Precice 2.2, it seems to me that it is a balance between doing as much weight bearing within the nail’s limit to help with bone regenerate formation and yet not doing too much weight bearing for fear that the nail will bend or, god forbid, break. Is that correct? And, are you encouraged to do your rehab that way by pushing the weight bearing so as to promote good bone formation and hopefully expedite the consolidation phase?
2. How hard are stairs? I have a recovery environment where I plan on doing most of the lengthening after surgery but it has stairs. I can limit some of it, but there is just no avoiding it altogether. What has your experience been with stair environments and how scary is it in terms of f’ing up the nails? My worst fear is that even though I think I am limiting weight bearing it would only take a misstep and I’d bend the nail.
3. How effective has outside PT with someone who may not be specifically trained for LL been vs. doing rigorous rehab on your own? [Not suggesting anyone could just skip out on the outside PT, but curious about the relative returns from someone like you has in terms of how effective outside PT has been vs. your own rigorous rehab]
4. What is the one thing you know now that you have been through the journey that you most under appreciated or didn’t realize would be as challenging during CLL?
Again, thanks for all the sharing along the way, which has been helpful and much appreciated and good luck with getting the last bit out of that nail! 💪😁
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I saw your post and wasn’t going to log on tonight to answer until tomorrow… until I saw your question about stairs. I feel I am about to save you a lot of pain and misery by answering that question and I feel ethically required to give you the best advice possible as soon as possible.
1. My PT sessions and rehab didn’t feature that much weight bearing. By putting 150-160lbs down directly (75-80 per per nail… I NEVER took a single step and won’t for a while, without offloading at least half my weight, because that’s a one step trip to a broken nail) that might have helped bone generation, but vitamin D high doses and protein will do a bigger job of it. It’s actually better to take a lot of vitamin D and eat chicken breasts without getting up from bed, than to eat crap and weight bear a lot, for good bone formation. I recommend being safe and relying more on vitamin D and nutrition as a baseline. My bone growth is very average which is exactly what someone should want — no risk of mal-Union or early consolidation. PT was and should be for your exercises and stretches sitting down or laying down or on a stationary bike that promote muscle laxity. The hamstrings and quads and to a lesser extent the sciatic nerves are the biggest obstacles for a healthy young male much more than bone growth. Bone growth won’t be an issue for the average young healthy male. For women it can be a bigger concern.
2. DO NOT USE STAIRS
Any surgeon will cringe if you even mention stairs. You cannot traverse them without putting almost all weight on one leg. Even if you’re a skinny 17 BMI short guy which I assume you aren’t at 171cm, it is still dangerous on the nail. In particular your leg muscles will be SO TIGHT that you have ZERO coordination. For the love of god don’t use even one stair until you can walk easily after consolidation, that could be 8 months. It is not worth the risk. I strongly suggest you look into stair lift machines, like the ones old people have. compared to cost of surgery or revision if you bend a nail, it’s cheap. Please get a stair lift. If you can’t, then you must find some way to avoid stairs. You will have a revision surgery if you incorporate stairs, 100%. I had one and it was a nightmare.
3. A great PT will be confused about the intricacies of CLL but many have been trained on internal and external fixators and broken femur cases. Youd be surprised how quickly they will adapt to what you need if you are vocal and your surgeon gives them the right info. My PT had never seen a case like mine but he was within a week doing a great job on my specifics, doing Range of Motion measurements weekly, etc.
4. Honestly, it’s a few things. The first is just how little I bathe now. Showers standing up are always a dance with chance, they’re very dangerous and I rarely do them. Baths are better but not everyone has the luxury of a bath tub. They’re also hard as hell to get in and out of. So I probably wash myself only once or twice a week.
You wake up every morning very sore but this disappears as you get up and move and/or take pain killers. I actually recommend taking a good dose of painkillers since they will allow you to get rid of the pain that would keep you from stretching as rigorously as you need to. Downside is that they’re often opiates which are addictive and slightly mind altering which might affect your job or general sense of being.
I probably only go outside a few hours a month so this is the first summer I haven’t had a tan.
Peeing at night is extremely annoying so I recommend portable urinals. They last 2 weeks each before they start smelling horrific, as long as you wash them out each morning. Keep one near your bed.
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Thanks HobbitMan! Stairs are def out based on your advice and I’ll definitely figure a way around that and not even chance it. Appreciate the response. Good luck with everything moving forward! 👍
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Thanks HobbitMan! Stairs are def out based on your advice and I’ll definitely figure a way around that and not even chance it. Appreciate the response. Good luck with everything moving forward! 👍
I’m glad you asked the question because I was planning on using stairs too until I was told after surgery that it was completely out of the picture, so I had only one week to figure out a solution once I left Las Vegas.
Thanks for the best wishes! Only a few more days and I’ll be finally done with the hardest step of the journey.
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I’m going to stop at about 79.5mm (actually a bit more) because the last few lengthening sessions as I reach the end of the rod are causing my knee to crack very loudly every .1mm. This has only been the case for about the last 2mm. Makes me wonder why all of a sudden my knees are so loud. Nothing hurts, it’s just a very loud crack, like speaking volume in terms of decibels. It’s just crepitus and there’s no concern but reading some articles about knee crepitus leading to arthritis, if I can avoid arthritis by leaving about 1/64th of an inch on the table, that’s a win for me.
Apparently I should have felt it the whole journey but it’s only started now, and is common. I don’t enjoy it and I don’t care about 1/64th of an inch. Im well over 6’ all day now and I’m looking forward to consolidation starting today. Will give an update once I’m consolidated and put some first steps without a walker on the floor. Should be 4-8 weeks, I hope for 4 weeks since my bone was starting to fill in fast just a week ago.
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Congrats, HobbitMan! Here’s to a quick and uneventful consolidation! 👍💪
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Congrats, HobbitMan! Here’s to a quick and uneventful consolidation! 👍💪
Thanks man! I’m glad that you and a few other people (about half dozen of whom DM’d me instead over more personal questions) have gotten valuable information out of this diary. Good luck with your surgery coming up! I can say that going to the end is worth it as long as you aren’t having major problems. By going to the end I mean at least 7.5cm, just because I stopped at 7.95cm doesn’t mean IMO I stopped “early”. Might even max out the nails tomorrow since my knee popping has stopped with a day of rest. Should only be a single more session anyways. The one regret after talking to other patients is that they wished they had gone to 8cm, especially the ones who stopped at 5-7cm. You feel basically normal again after just a day or two of not lengthening, so the pain is temporary.
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I agree that there are a lot of neurotic people here. Did the people you encountered at Limbplastix seem pretty level-headed?
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I have a question regarding inseam . Every time I try to measure it I get different results. Do you think it’s better just to wait for standing x ray from doctor than to worry so much about my inseam length.
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I agree that there are a lot of neurotic people here. Did the people you encountered at Limbplastix seem pretty level-headed?
Of course there will be neurotic people here and there. Sh*t, even I think I’m a little on the crazy side for doing this, hahaha!!!
But seriously, let me tell you, my surgery was a year ago and everything is fine. Went the full 8cm. You don’t have to be neurotic or crazy. As a matter of fact, there are many very logical, and smart people who do this. You just have to have a realistic plan and stick to it.
Plus, I want you to think about this.....how many neurotic people do you know that have $100,000 laying around?? You have to have at least some kind of smarts to put that together, right?
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I agree that there are a lot of neurotic people here. Did the people you encountered at Limbplastix seem pretty level-headed?
Honestly most of them just seemed really nervous. Most of them were men, racially very diverse, but mostly American nationality. I only met about 10 people in total, I think they were all very nice people. Definitely the type of people who were successful and pleasant people who just had an insecurity they could afford to fix.
Of course there will be neurotic people here and there. Sh*t, even I think I’m a little on the crazy side for doing this, hahaha!!!
But seriously, let me tell you, my surgery was a year ago and everything is fine. Went the full 8cm. You don’t have to be neurotic or crazy. As a matter of fact, there are many very logical, and smart people who do this. You just have to have a realistic plan and stick to it.
Plus, I want you to think about this.....how many neurotic people do you know that have $100,000 laying around?? You have to have at least some kind of smarts to put that together, right?
Yeah, I agree with this. The venn diagram between people I met there and the neurotic people on this forum was very thin if not two separate circles.
I have a question regarding inseam . Every time I try to measure it I get different results. Do you think it’s better just to wait for standing x ray from doctor than to worry so much about my inseam length.
My surgeon didn’t really care about proportions other than making sure the femurs were over the 0.8:1.0 tibia:femur ratio before lengthening them, and looking for leg length discrepancies. He didn’t mention inseam once. It’s really up to you to care about proportions. I measured my own inseam 20 times and got 5 different measurements between 79 and 84cm. I wore 30 pants with some break around 5’9”, I wear 33 with some break now, 32 no break. Realistically unless you look like you have very long legs before surgery, you will not look abnormal afterwards. I definitely don’t at 49% inseam ratio. As long as you aren’t at a very high ratio before surgery you probably will actually look better afterwards.
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Honestly most of them just seemed really nervous. Most of them were men, racially very diverse, but mostly American nationality. I only met about 10 people in total, I think they were all very nice people. Definitely the type of people who were successful and pleasant people who just had an insecurity they could afford to fix.
Yeah, I agree with this. The venn diagram between people I met there and the neurotic people on this forum was very thin if not two separate circles.
My surgeon didn’t really care about proportions other than making sure the femurs were over the 0.8:1.0 tibia:femur ratio before lengthening them, and looking for leg length discrepancies. He didn’t mention inseam once. It’s really up to you to care about proportions. I measured my own inseam 20 times and got 5 different measurements between 79 and 84cm. I wore 30 pants with some break around 5’9”, I wear 33 with some break now, 32 no break. Realistically unless you look like you have very long legs before surgery, you will not look abnormal afterwards. I definitely don’t at 49% inseam ratio. As long as you aren’t at a very high ratio before surgery you probably will actually look better afterwards.
Honestly speaking, the inseam/proportions issue is nothing to worry about. Trust me, you won’t look disproportional after all is said and done. Actually, you’ll love the “model” look you’ll have wearing a suit or pants. No more short and stalky!!
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Honestly speaking, the inseam/proportions issue is nothing to worry about. Trust me, you won’t look disproportional after all is said and done. Actually, you’ll love the “model” look you’ll have wearing a suit or pants. No more short and stalky!!
I appreciate your take as someone who’s a year ahead of me, I actually have been coming to the same conclusion lately. At first I hated how long my femurs looked sitting down, but standing up it looks really majestic. I greatly prefer how I look now, and if I wanted to wear lifts still I could because my knee height isn’t very high (but not comically low).
Anyways with inseam I completely agree. I don’t think it’s someone anyone who doesn’t have a very tiny torso (usually caused by extreme scoliosis, which you should resolve before this anyways, it gives you height back on its own) should think about up to about 10cm. Freaking out about proportions is a waste of time for 95% of people IMO.
So far I’m two days into consolidation and my legs feel so much less sore than they have for the past 3 months.
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I appreciate your take as someone who’s a year ahead of me, I actually have been coming to the same conclusion lately. At first I hated how long my femurs looked sitting down, but standing up it looks really majestic. I greatly prefer how I look now, and if I wanted to wear lifts still I could because my knee height isn’t very high (but not comically low).
Anyways with inseam I completely agree. I don’t think it’s someone anyone who doesn’t have a very tiny torso (usually caused by extreme scoliosis, which you should resolve before this anyways, it gives you height back on its own) should think about up to about 10cm. Freaking out about proportions is a waste of time for 95% of people IMO.
So far I’m two days into consolidation and my legs feel so much less sore than they have for the past 3 months.
Be patient During consolidation. Sometimes you’ll feel aches here and there that will make you think it’s never going to go away. A year out from surgery you’ll feel like the whole journey wasn’t that bad because it will be a distant memory. It was hard for me to think that from time to time while distracting and some of the consolidation period because the opiates just made me feel so icky and depressed.
As far as long femurs, even sitting down it will be completely ok. My girl actually compliments me on my legs (she doesn’t know about the CLL).
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Thanks for all the information!!!
What do you feel are the most dangerous situations at home when you have precise 2.2? What would you recommend in those cases?
I'm trying to figure out when the best bet is to maybe the bed / just lie down until a caretaker can come the next day
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Thanks for all the information!!!
What do you feel are the most dangerous situations at home when you have precise 2.2? What would you recommend in those cases?
I'm trying to figure out when the best bet is to maybe the bed / just lie down until a caretaker can come the next day
1. NEVER use any stairs. Don’t even slide down them or lean on the rails. Not worth it.
2. Remove rugs wherever possible before surgery if it’s in the line of your normal movement area. You can trip easily on them.
3. If you have a step-down front door or have step downs anywhere in your house, you should get a ramp and only traverse it via wheelchair.
4. Do not walk around at night without a light on, you need to be always aware of your surroundings.
5. If you get a steamy bathroom from a hot shower, don’t traverse it until it’s no longer slippery.
6. Use the wheelchair primarily outside of the house.
EDIT: also it’s best to get a portable urinal sort of thing to pee into at night. Maybe also go to bed with a water bottle you can use in the morning to take pills with. You’re going to be your least oriented late at night or in the morning between pain pills, so it’s best to not leave the bed until the painkillers have kicked in and you’re fully awake. Probably 80% of my near-accidents happened at night or early morning.
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Very cool comparison of the ven diagram. Without revealing their info have you ran into any interesting cases? My best guess is that most patients are younger twenties to thirties in high paying fields like software engineering and ib. Any actors? Models? I saw a post before about a popular YouTuber doing it.
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Very cool comparison of the ven diagram. Without revealing their info have you ran into any interesting cases? My best guess is that most patients are younger twenties to thirties in high paying fields like software engineering and ib. Any actors? Models? I saw a post before about a popular YouTuber doing it.
I believe Justin Bieber is reported as getting CLL.
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Honestly most of them just seemed really nervous. Most of them were men, racially very diverse, but mostly American nationality. I only met about 10 people in total, I think they were all very nice people. Definitely the type of people who were successful and pleasant people who just had an insecurity they could afford to fix.
Yeah, I agree with this. The venn diagram between people I met there and the neurotic people on this forum was very thin if not two separate circles.
My surgeon didn’t really care about proportions other than making sure the femurs were over the 0.8:1.0 tibia:femur ratio before lengthening them, and looking for leg length discrepancies. He didn’t mention inseam once. It’s really up to you to care about proportions. I measured my own inseam 20 times and got 5 different measurements between 79 and 84cm. I wore 30 pants with some break around 5’9”, I wear 33 with some break now, 32 no break. Realistically unless you look like you have very long legs before surgery, you will not look abnormal afterwards. I definitely don’t at 49% inseam ratio. As long as you aren’t at a very high ratio before surgery you probably will actually look better afterwards.
Ok I’ll just go with my pant inseam length, thanks for your input much appreciated Hobbitman!
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@HobbitMan, how much did the whole surgery cost in USD? Was it 70k?
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Hey HobbitMan! Amazing diary, and I wish you a speedy consolidation! How do you manage to constantly offload weight on the walker? Aren't there moments of full loading on the nails when you move the walker forward with each step?
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@HobbitMan, how much did the whole surgery cost in USD? Was it 70k?
I forget the exact figure not including airfare and hotel time, probably around that amount though. Dr D had a summer discount of $5000 off for Precise 2.2 since so many people were waiting for Stryde and he wanted some people to consider Precise, which I took advantage of. In the long run it was absolutely the right choice. Precise 2.2 isn’t fun but it’s manageable if you’ve got a busy schedule and are working from home or taking time off for hobbies.
Hey HobbitMan! Amazing diary, and I wish you a speedy consolidation! How do you manage to constantly offload weight on the walker? Aren't there moments of full loading on the nails when you move the walker forward with each step?
Very good question, I asked Dr D this every single time I visited after surgery, since I got more reliant on having to stand still on two feet to do things like get dressed or even to move the walker at angles (picking it up, moving it, and then shifting my feet). He said even with my weight bearing limit of 50lbs per leg, standing on my own two feet for short periods many times a day was fine. Doing it for hours straight or taking steps without the walker would lead to issues though. If you are lucky and have thick enough bones for 75lbs per leg this is even less of an issue.
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Thanks! This has been one of my biggest concerns with ambulating with the Precice. That's great to know.
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Thanks! This has been one of my biggest concerns with ambulating with the Precice. That's great to know.
Worth noting a few things:
1. Your legs from the hips down are about 1/6th of your weight. At 160lbs I was only putting about 135lbs total on my legs, and per leg that’s about 65lbs. Weight below the femur is not weight that is being put down on the femur itself.
2. precise 2,2 is a lot stronger than its specs say it is. You can easily put 80lbs per leg for short periods of time even at full extension and be fine. It’s twisting and turning and stepping motions as well as major impacts that cause deformities usually, most of the time by putting all your weight on one leg suddenly, such as when walking or jumping. Precise 2.2 and Stryde have different weight limits but the construction and way this weight is considered is very different between the two. If Stryde had only the same weight bearing as Precise, then Stryde would actually be less safe than precise for static two leg weight bearing. Dr D and his PT Mike both explained that to me a few times. In a way Stryde is actually more “on the mark” about how much weight it supports… a few pounds over and it’s dangerous.
3. The nails get much weaker as they extend. At 0mm extended they are probably more like 100lbs per leg and fully extended much closer to the states 50/75lbs per leg. You need to be extra careful once you go past 7cm and spend less time standing and as much time as possible laying or sitting until consolidation. I for one only use the walker to go to the bathroom, otherwise it’s wheelchair everywhere. Much safer during consolidation.
Some people start using crutches instead of the walker but IMO tight muscles make your coordination terrible so the walker is much better, much safer. Only issue is that I’m so tall now that the walker on the tallest setting is still a bit short for me, but it’s still usable.
The only thing I don’t like right now is how dark my scars are, even if they’re small. I know they’ll go away in time but they are very dark and by the time they heal they’ll have to be opened up again to remove the rods. Starting to use a scar removal cream to see if it can at least get rid of the IT band release scars so I can wear shorts in public in the next few months.
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The point about extended nails being able to bear less weight than unextended ones is very insightful. You already got past the toughest part of Precise. I am excited for your recovery!
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Thanks for these insights, Hobbitman! I'd consulted with Paley / Robbins a few weeks ago. I weigh very close to what you do (160lbs) and my bones can also only fit the 10.7mm nail. I'd asked the same question to Robbins about standing on the nails, and he unequivocally said I can't even stand at that weight with the 10.7mm nail, even for a few minutes. So it's a bit conflicting to hear this, but also good to know that you've actually been able to stand.
I also had another question. Have you ever thought/worried about the possibility of fracture post nail removal? The recent occurrence with DreamerLL has me worried. I'm sorry for asking such a morbid question, but just wanted to get more thoughts on this.
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Would you ever consider doing precise 2.2 on the other segment in India? I wonder because it seems like a cheaper option with the same nail
I wish maybe the mods could collect all the advice on how to manage being in a wheelchair the whole time during LL
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Hey man, would love to hear an update....how are you? How is life? I hope everything is good! How is your flexibility and tightness? Athleticism? Are you able jog/run? Is there any lingering pain?....Hoping to hear from you soon! Have a great day!