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[earti193]

MOTIVATION

- A mission and a purpose. I need to achieve a goal.
- It has interfered with and stopped me living my life.
- I’m bottle necked.
- Fitness isn’t working. No matter how fit I get I still feel the same.

PHYSICAL STATS

Basics: 35, Male, European
5k pace: 24 minutes
Squat: 97kg
Bench: 91kg
Starting Height: 172cm

Proportions:

Femur: 43.6cm
Tibia: 37.5cm
Ratio: 86%

Standard Deviations:
Femur: 173 x 0.29 = 50cm
Tibia: 50.17 x 0.8 = 41.4cm

In summary my femurs are naturally on the short side. My femurs can go up to 50cm and I’ll be within 1 SD of the mean. This means up to 7cm of growth on the femurs should be aesthetically fine from a proportionality perspective.

BUDGET

DM me for my budget spreadsheet. All in cost including procedure, accommodation in London, tests, pre-op prep, post-op rehab, gym memberships, supplements, drugs, therapy, nail removal and loss of income will be between £110,000 - £150,000 over the course of 18 months. Variation depends on Accommodation crisis in London and reserves to fund unanticipated complications.

Something you might not expect is that you to pay for everything on top of the surgery. For example, you will be asked to buy the disinfectant scrub which will be used to wash your body before the surgery. Yes, really. You are expected to source most things yourself. I spent weeks tracking down all the supplements, bandages, waterproof plasters, glues, scrubs and everything else to be used in the process.       

Pre-Op Tests:

Dr Guichet is extremely precise and data driven in his approach. I don’t think other surgeons expect the same level of testing. I am super sensitive to complication risk and appreciate the scientific approach.

X-Ray and 3D Scan: £450
Isometric Test x 2: £300
DEXA: £350
ECG: £50
Blood Test: £1,415
Dental: £150
Psychiatrist: £450
Pre-op Training PT: £3,000

NUTRITION, SUPPLEMENTATION AND PRESCRIPTION PLAN

Whey Protein (protein)
Multivitamin (zinc, selenium, Bs, omega 3, etc)
Melatonin 10mg (sleep)

Paracetamol (Pain killer): 2 pills in case of pain. 2x3 per day maximum
Vitamin C 1000 mg: 1 pill/day at breakfast
Vitamin D3 injectable, 300000 UI: 1 unit to swallow per month (pre- and post-op)
Calcium 1000 mg: 2 pills per day: 1 morning, 1 at 10pm
Multivitamins: 1 daily dose, in morning and 1 daily dose at noon
Xarelto 10mg: 1 per day, to take according to recommendations of Dr Guichet
Acetylsalicilate of Lysine 1000mg: 1 in the morning and evening to begin from the 10th post-operative day only.

Ferrous sulfate 80mg: 1 in the morning for 60 days
Folic acid 5mg: 1 in the morning, 1 at noon x 60 days

Hyaluronic Acid 20 mg/ml: 6 units of 2ml

Nutrition

Dr Guichet’s recommendation is that I consume 4500-5000 calories a day. This will be difficult. My normal range is 1,800 - 2,000 and that's when I'm exercising vigorously every day. I don’t usually eat until about 12pm most days and even that is a light snack/protein shake. All this will have to change. 

EQUIPMENT

Medical compression stocks Class 2 (stay-up with toe)
Medical Compression Stockings Class 2 *below the knee with toe: 2 pairs
Crutches
Foldable Walker (with two levels)
Yoga Mat
Stretching Belts

TRAINING SCHEDULE

Pre-operation:

Total time: 1 - 2 hours per day (including stretching, weights and cardio).

8am: Yoga (Hatha / Yin) - flexibility focus.
6pm: Resistance/weights (by muscle group, legs, chest, arms/shoulders, back) or cardio (run, boxing or cycling)

Post-operation:

Total time / day: 6-7 hours (including walking, biking, stretching).

8am - 10am. Physio and Rehab.
12pm - 1pm. Walk.
2-4pm. Workout including 10 exercises of 50 reps x 10 sets (this will likely take longer than 2 hours and need to be spread across the day)
5pm - 6pm. Bike.
6-630pm. Stretching.

OPERATION

Constraints:

Low risk of complications.
Maintain normal proportions.
Regain athleticism.
Get back to walking as soon as possible.
London based.

Resulting in:

Surgeon: Dr Guichet. He is extremely experienced (300+ surgeries), designed the now ubiquitous G-Nail and is very focused on speed of recovery. Some of his patients have had downright bewildering results (5cm in as little as 5 weeks). We’ll see if I’m so lucky. He is also based in London. He also has an intensive data-driven approach to the procedure and is focused on optimisation.
Length. I should remain proportional up to 7cm. This will mean I am between 179-180cm or 5’10.5 - 5’11cm. The same height as people like Johnny Depp, Daniel Craig, Ewan McGregor, River Phoenix, Brad Pitt.  In the company of such icons I don’t think the incremental gains of more height are worth the risks. Put another way, if I can’t get through life at this height the problem is with me, not my stature.
Nail. G-Nail. As a weight bearing nail, it enables all round faster recovery, limited/no risk of infection. More expensive and the stressful click exercise, but this is worth it in order to fit within my goals (lower recovery time and as ‘normal’ a life as possible during the process).

EXPECTED TIMELINE

-60 days - Start preparation
-45 days - Start specialised pre-training
+0 days (June 2024) - Operation
+7 days (June 2024) - Distraction phase and PT begins
+30 days (20 July 2024) - Leave serviced apartment, return to home and work remotely while doing PT
+60 days (August 2024) - Consolidation phase begins
+60-90 days (September 2024) - Go back to full time work with less frequent PT
+120 days (October 2024) - Walk is mostly back to normal
+150 days (November 2024) - Consolidation phase ends
+ 360 days (June 2025) - Rods removal. If I can do this a month or two earlier, I will. I’d like to be ‘new’ for summer 2025.
+ 390 days (July 2025) - Gradually resume intense activities (running, kick boxing)

ENTERTAINMENT

Kindle
iPad for movies, TV, general browsing

MOTIVATION

I've spoken to a number of former patients to understand their motivations. I also asked this question of the PT/yoga instructor and psychiatrist that I work with in preop training. Some interesting feedback:

People do it for two reasons: (1) to be perceived differently and (2) to feel differently/true to themselves. In the latter it’s looking in the mirror and being able to say ‘this is the person I should be’. Others are afraid of social judgment. In this respect the quality of satisfaction will be directly linked to that motivation. If you do it to look better in your own eyes, it’s likely the process itself will make some changes. The capacity to endure a difficult challenge and the performance of which is incredible to an extent - convincing it to grow beyond the stage of growth. This is a boost to self confidence and self esteem. To feel at ease at the beach, in bed, without shoes. This is a huge improvement to quality of life.

If you are more concerned with how other people look at you, the quality of improvement will be connected with how these relationships have changed. The quality of information will be more unpredictable. People may subconsciously detect a difference but it's impossible to know how they'll treat you.

In the wide majority of cases people report an improvement in the quality of life. Impossible to say if people look at differently because they are taller or because they themselves are different. Is it the centimetres or the change in attitude that comes with the physical change? We will never know.

Some people get into a sort of a paradox. They want people to notice they are taller, but they are also keen on keeping a secret so don’t notice too much. This can result in uncomfortable choices about changing jobs and moving areas. You are replacing one sense of uncomfortable with another sense of uncomfortable.

 MINDSET, PAIN AND RISK

I want to share a conversation I had with a psychiatrist who has met and treated hundreds of CCL patients over the years that I found very balanced and helpful. Paraphrasing:

"I want to say a word about 'narratives'. A narrative is a story we tell ourselves that explains a behaviour. Here's an example: I am doing this because I think it's a a masculine act and a man will do what's necessary to get what he wants no matter how painful and no matter what anyone says or does to resist us. Doing this as an act of "defiance" designed to make me feel powerful or brave.

Bringing this back to reality: 5-10% of people stop the procedure almost immediately because the pain is unbearable, excruciating. A very small minority (1-2%) report no pain at all. Lucky them. 90-95% describe it as moderate to severe, where severe is 'tolerable but very exhausting' - pain that you can stomach, just.

The problem is that in terms of reaction to pain, we are going against nature. Pain exists for a reason. It tells us that what we are doing is bad for us. You put a hand on a flame and remove it because it hurts. This is healthy. It helps us survive.

What we are doing here is to go against this general law and convincing ourselves this pain we are feeling is not damaging us and is taking us closer to our goal. This is not easy as it goes against our most ancient instinct to avoid pain. It will take not just determination: determination can make pain grow stronger. It starts to be a challenge between you and the pain and the more the pain becomes the enemy the more you get focused on the pain. So determination is helpful but the more you use it the worse the pain will be. You need to relax into it. Someone you can have a dialogue with and negotiate with. You must learn a different way of dealing with the pain. Find a different way to push through and achieve your goal.

You shouldn't be alone with the pain. You will have help from the surgeon's team, the surgeon and other patients. But most the time you will be alone with your pain. This will take you to some dark places.

Some examples of things that have endangered people. 

One response to pain is to stop and procrastinate. So you stop clicking, say. You tell yourself you'll do it tomorrow. You begin accumulating undone clicks. But every day takes you one step closer to the bone being completely reformed. So clicks become harder and harder as the bone is reforming. It does not get easier. It gets harder. Every day you lose and miss is a risk that you will fall short of your goals. In order for you to achieve your goal do all clicks that are requested exactly as requested.

Here is another response. Some patients know they have to do the click. But they start to prioritise. In their mind they say clicks are the growth and stretching is secondary. This is extremely dangerous. Athletes that build a massive amount of muscle mass that don't build flexibility of tendons and ligaments are subject to serious injury because the body has grown but not harmoniously. Same thing here. You are creating new muscle fibre, space, bone. You must bring the rest of your body with you.

Here is another response. Pain killers. Pain killers will interfere with the speed, length and depth that the body reforms. Pain killers could slow or accelerate your bone growth. It will put you at risk of not  growing or fractures, suppress your appetite and smother your motivation. Do not take more pain killers than prescribed.

So what can you do? You might be surprised to know that the simplest thing is 'talk to the doctor'. If the pain killers are not as effective as you hoped he/she may be able to explore other pain killers if the current ones don't work. The doctor knows how your body will react. The doctor has your data and knows your body than you do. Do not self diagnose. He is the only one that can do it for you. He might be able to show you different ways of clicking if you are having problems. But you have to speak to the doctor. If you don't speak to the doctor he cannot help you. He is an expert in his field but unfortunately not a mind reader. So the question is why don't people speak to the doctor?

This is where psychology comes into place. the reason why they don't do the simplest thing at hand is the same reason why people take the surgery. Because you want to look better. You want to appear more masculine or dominant or powerful. To tell the doctor 'I can't do it' will compromise your self image. So many patients refrain from speaking to the doctor because they are worried they will appear not brave enough or not strong enough or not man enough. The brutal truth is you need to put the ego aside for the surgery. Put the ego in the freezer and take it out after the whole process is over. Put the ego in a cryogenic freezer and unfreeze it when you are done. You don't need ego. You need transparency and honesty and compliance and cooperation. To speak plainly and transparently to the doctor about what is happening. Otherwise you are compromising your goal or worse putting your health permanently at risk.

Now I'm going to talk about the 1% that feel no pain. Or say it's a lot less pain than you were expecting and you say "oh that's manageable". Some patients start over-clicking. They say "oh I can click 15 instead of 10". Speak to the doctor first. The doctor will know if your body can take those extra clicks. If you do it anyway, fracture is waiting for you around the corner. The lucky 1% become the unlucky 1%.

This surgery is like one of those fairy tales. There is only one safe path through the woods. Every time you deviate from the path there is a wolf or bear waiting to fk you. Do whatever the doctor tells you. If you can't do what he tells you then come forward and speak out. Be transparent. Ask for support. Do not deviate from the path. "Do it yourself" doesn't work, rebellion doesn't work, secrecy doesn't work. When it's over you can have your secrets and ego back. But not before.   

Remember, this is meant to be a challenge but it's not meant to be torture. You are entitled to respect and support. But nobody can read your mind so you must be vocal about what is happening. Do not ignore pain that feels particular or unusual - something may be seriously at risk. Everyone in the process wants you to be successful and safe. You must be transparent with them to succeed. It's about overcoming the challenge. The way you do it is really irrelevant. It is the outcome that is important.  Once it's over, all that is going to matter is the result. Keep your eyes on the prize.

Some other challenges. If you are socially driven, you may feel lonely and like your whole life is passing you by. People going on dates, on holidays, this and that. You're stuck in your apartment clicking in pain. Pain alone is difficult. So lean on people. Friends, family, anyone that is close. If you don't then you need to somehow seek that help elsewhere. Other patients that are doing this. Anyone you can trust. If you try do all this alone you will fail. Remember - the ego, the lone wolf, the "John Wayne walks into town" guy will only lead you to failure.

You can't expect everything to come back for you immediately. Always check with the doctor before you try a new activity to make sure it's safe. The true normality, the "I'm back" moment is not until the nails are removed. The nails will always remind you. Flying? Cabin pressure will cause them to expand and remind you of its presence. Once they are out, you will be you again, but taller. This will be between 1.5 - 2 years for 8cm of growth on the femur (though everyone is of course different).

Most the mythology with how high risk it is comes with external fixators. For weight bearing nails, it is still invasive surgery. You are messing with your bones. But it's no more risky than many other kinds of cosmetic surgery that is out there. It is not a miracle in terms of likelihood of success. It is a miracle in the sense that it defies the laws of nature and anything that goes against the natural trajectory of biology can be described as a miracle. But it's not as unlikely as the resurrection of Lazarus or turning water into wine."

[quest2341]

Thank you for the great writeup and best of luck!

[earti193]

Post-surgery update

The surgery

I arrived at the hospital early, they got me changed into a hospital gown/underpants before Dr Guichet and the anaesthetist met me in my room.

The nurses took some pre-op measurements like height and weight and then I was wheeled into the OR. The anaesthetist gave me a spinal injection, a heavy dose of morphine and before I knew it I was out. I’ve never had surgery before so didn’t really know what to expect. Weird feeling - the anaesthetic is cold and you feel the chill of it as it moves through your blood.

I woke up at the end of the surgery in the OR, the first thing I remember is asking the anaesthetist if the surgery was over. I then get wheeled into my recovery room. Dr Guichet explains that the surgery was a success, demonstrates that the nail is working and shows me some basic stretches. He then explains that I shouldn’t take any pain killers because I’ve already had morphine and more will make me nauseous and interfere with the healing.

This is where things take a very, very dark turn.

Initial recovery

In the hospital room, I slowly start to become aware of a dull ache throughout the lower half of my body. Dr Guichet returns before long and suggests we try take me for a walk on the crutches and see if I can get up the hospital stairs. By the time we get to the staircase I am drenched in cold sweat and white as a ghost. I put one forward on a step (I think) before my vision starts to go and I nearly collapse, saved by one of the nurses who catches me before I fall. They put me in a wheelchair and take me back to the recovery room.

From here, I start to go through what can only be described as a waking nightmare of pain. The dull ache turns into a ferocious, searing agony throughout most my body. I am literally screaming in pain, can’t think, my vision is all black and filled with stars. I can see even the nurses are quite stressed out at this point. They keep saying I need pain killers, which I initially resisted on Dr Guichet’s advice. The pain overwhelms me and I take everything I can get my hands on - morphine, oxy, tramadol, anything. None of it works. Once the pain has set in, you are essentially f*cked. You can’t get rid of it. So for the next 24-36 hours I am in bed screaming in agony, in a pain I can’t even describe. I was at the edge of sanity by the end of it. I will never forget that experience for as a long as I live. Completely traumatising.

If you’ve spent any time reading other people’s experiences/diaries, you will think this seems pretty unusual. So what happened?

Dr Guichet mentioned my bones are exceptionally hard. They required additional reeming (trauma) to build space for the nails. During the process, apparently they ran into some ‘black stuff’ which was scorched marrow from reeming the bones out. All in all this would have battered my legs something fierce and probably caused a lot of after pain.
I did not take pain killers immediately post-op. DO NOT MAKE THIS MISTAKE. Yes, pain killers act against the muscle healing and suppress appetite. That is a tiny price to pay against the pain you’ll feel otherwise.
Attempting to walk/climb stairs too early. I am sure this is meant to give you a psychological boost, but I nearly blacked out and could have been seriously hurt. 

Outside of the pain, my vitals were all good, no major fevers, bloody pressure OK except when I was in screaming fits (which was most the time) and therefore very high. Sometimes I stopped breathing and a bunch of alarms would go off but that’s because I was screaming so much I couldn’t get air in at times.

The hospital nurses were completely amazing. Stayed with me the whole time while I was there, looked after me in every way they could. I’m forever grateful.

Urinating was very difficult. Couldn’t move of course given the pain but did manage to pee into bottles and narrowly avoided a catheter.

I was discharged after 1 night in hospital. It was somewhat terrifying to leave after all this as I didn’t know how long the pain would last and was worried I would have another night like that without morphine or anything on hand. Luckily, this was the high water mark of pain and once I was wheeled out of hospital I could go home.

I didn’t receive any anticoagulant injections or anything other than anti-nausea pills post op.

I managed to eat some yoghurt before I left, but my appetite was zero given the amount of pain I was in and pain killers I ultimately took.

For the next 3 days after I got home (so 4 days post op), I was in severe pain most the time. Usually between 7-8, sometimes rising to 8.5-9 (as in just short of screaming, but unable to speak and trouble breathing due to pain). I’ve learned the body can only take so much before it basically melts down. There were multiple days where the pain would continue to build so much that I would simply break down in tears, unable to take it. For example we got given the wrong address for an x-ray on the third post op day, had to get a wheelchair down the street to the right address, then all the foisting and ripping of legs as I was moved between chairs, stairs, slabs for the x-ray, clicking constantly by accident, pain rising to 9/10, by the time I was wheeled out the x-ray shop I was completely broken in the taxi.

If you are considering this surgery, in the name of all that is holy think very hard about it before  you commit. You might get lucky, or you might be like me. If you end up with a painful process it will test you in ways that I would not have thought possible. The pain nearly drove me insane.

It is no joke. Really, you need to think very hard about this. Feel free to DM me if you want more details about this.

Sleep

Sleep in the first 5 days was impossible. I don’t think I got a minute of sleep for 3 days straight, which is where things start getting weird. You forget where you are sometimes, can’t keep track of what’s going on around you. I was lucky to have support around me 24/7 during this time. I didn’t sleep until I combined 5-HTP, melatonin and Xanax on the 5th day post op.

Dr  Guichet will insist that pain or not, you must be doing 500+ exercises a day with 2 hours of biking and an hour of walking +4000 calories of food. I was so delirious with pain and fatigue it sort of just washed over me. I did everything I could, made it to the gym most days or had the trainer come to me. Eating was very difficult as my stomach was filled with adrenaline and knots from the stress and pain of it all. I was also severely constipated for the first 3 days - make sure you take laxatives if you’re using painkillers as a stomach ache on top of all this pain is the last thing you need.

Clicking

As anyone who has done G-Nail will tell you, this is quite a stressful part of the procedure. I started clicking 21 times a day by day 4 or 5 (three sessions of 7 clicks / leg). So far I would say this has been relatively complication free, always able to do the required amount in less than 10 minutes / side, averaging around 5 minutes / side. I’ve heard this will get a lot more difficult so let’s see what happens here.

Next steps

I’ve started taking Paracetamol and Codeine every 6 hours and combined with sleeping pills this has made me feel human again with pain hovering between 3-5 most the time. Except for my left hip, which remains like shattered glass and full exercises excruciating on that side.
Today (8th day after surgery) Consultation with Dr Giuchet.
Friday (10th day after surgery) I'll do second post-op X-ray



Upcoming challenges

IT Bands are getting quite stretched already. I’ve grown 1.82cm already on the 8th post-op day (you get 1cm from the break during the surgery). Dr Guichet doesn’t believe in doing IT band release as it compromises your athletic ability and hip stabilisation. Will ask him today what he suggests is best to stretch them.

[quest2341]

Were you prescribed Xanax by Dr Guichet? Isn't it practically unavailable in the UK? Was it given as a sleep aid?

You mentioned you could have got hurt trying to do stairs after surgery... weren't there helpers around you to prevent you from falling?

You earlier said you had to buy some stuff like disinfectant scrub yourself. Couldn't have compromised the safety of the surgery? Paying for it is one thing, but being responsible for bringing to the hospital might be risky because if you forget, then would it risk sterility of the surgery?

Waiting for your next updates! Good luck 

[choin]

Can you share your pre-op x-rays?

I believe your femur is very short compared to your tibia.

I think the measured length may vary depending on how the bone length is measured.

And I wish you success in achieving your goals.

[musicloverincal]

How are you doing now that you have started lengthening? Feel free to share it..the good and the bad even the little things that come about on this new journey for you.

[earti193]

Were you prescribed Xanax by Dr Guichet? Isn't it practically unavailable in the UK? Was it given as a sleep aid?

You mentioned you could have got hurt trying to do stairs after surgery... weren't there helpers around you to prevent you from falling?

You earlier said you had to buy some stuff like disinfectant scrub yourself. Couldn't have compromised the safety of the surgery? Paying for it is one thing, but being responsible for bringing to the hospital might be risky because if you forget, then would it risk sterility of the surgery?

Waiting for your next updates! Good luck 

Hi,

Sorry for the delayed response. The process has been a living hell and I've been extremely unlucky in many respects. Coming back to you on your questions.

Yes, Dr Guichet prescribed my Xanax. I only used it a couple of times because the pain would always wake me up quickly regardless of what I took, which just meant I was very groggy and in pain. Better to just be in pain.

There were no helpers on the stairs initially after the surgery. Just Dr Guichet and my girlfriend. My girlfriend luckily caught me when I passed out.

Re disinfectant scrub, yes, I completely agree. I find it bizarre in the extreme that I was being relied on to scrub my own body before surgery.

[earti193]

Can you share your pre-op x-rays?

I believe your femur is very short compared to your tibia.

I think the measured length may vary depending on how the bone length is measured.

And I wish you success in achieving your goals.

Working on tracking down my pre-op x-rays and will post. In a huge amount of pain and so hard for me to sit for more than a few minutes. Once I can operate a PC better I will find them for you.

[earti193]

How are you doing now that you have started lengthening? Feel free to share it..the good and the bad even the little things that come about on this new journey for you.

Post Operative Day 28

Total height achieved as of today is 4.39cm.

I have been extremely unfortunate and may need to stop lengthening shortly. Details below.

For starters, pain has never (ever) dropped below about a 6.5. Average is about 7-7.5. At night I am screaming in pain. Pain killers have not worked. I never sleep, and it has been over a month. Dr Guichet, the psychiatrist I'm now seeing and all of his team agree this is extremely unusual. I just seem to have an inordinate amount of pain beyond all reason. I am completely broken as a human being, unable to sleep, constantly sick from stress and acid in my stomach. This is not common at all, but unfortunately I'm the 1% of the 1% that just suffers like all hell. I've had several breakdowns and seeing a psychiatrist for help, although there isn't much the can do.

From the end of the second week I entered the inflammatory phase. Things seriously deteriorated from here. Every ligament, nerve and muscle in my legs refuses to grow. Everything is on fire, being pulled apart with no relief at all. I do exercises for 7-8 hours a day and it achieves absolutely nothing. The pain doesn't change and I gain zero flexibility. I am going backwards rather than forwards. In the second week, I could stand on my feat with my walker for support. Now I can't stand at all, can't get out of chairs, can't weight bear, nothing. I am basically a human vegetable.

Yesterday I had a consultation with Dr Guichet and he is now concerned too, so we are lowering clicking to 7 per day rather than 15. This is almost a standstill to allow my soft tissue to catch up. He is also concerned that my bones aren't healing, which is a major issue but we won't know for sure until my scans on Thursday. Dr Guichet said we need to focus all our energy on saving my ability to walk now and that I'm at a serious risk of permanent damage. I feel quite sharp nerve pain and one of my legs is going numb now. I suspect there is a genuine risk I'll be crippled permanently if I'm not very careful.

This is devastating news. To go through so much pain, such expense and risk everything only to gain a measly 4.5cm. I would never have done this for such a small height gain. Anyway, I just need to recover the use of my legs now. If I survive this, I'll consider a second procedure next year to get the last 2.5cm.

All in all I could not have been more unlucky. This is a nightmare I can't wake up from. I have not heard of anyone having the difficulties I've had. I don't recognise myself at all, essentially an infant now that can't move, clean myself or eat without help. Total catastrophe. Dr Guichet has said we will give it 1-2 more weeks to se if my soft tissue releases. If it doesn't we will pull the plug on the whole procedure and just go into crisis management mode to save my legs.

[ebook12345]

28 days and almost 5 cm?

If you lengthen your legs by 2 mm a day, it must have consequences.
I lengthen 0.5mm a day, which is 4 times slower.

[Body Builder]

With so fast rate of lengthening there is no wonder why you face so much problems. You should lengthen no more than 1mm per day.
But for another time, Guichet is butchering his patients. I can't believe  how this doctor, after so many years operating, still doesn't follow even basic rules of safety.
And I also wonder why people prefer this doctor to do LL and give so much money to someone who defies all the rules and have crippled so many patients.

For now, stop lengthening for 1-2 days for your soft tissues to chill a little and then lengthen at max 1mm per day. Not more!
You don't have any problem, anyone with 2mm lengthening rate would have been in such a bad situation. Thats why all sensible doctors suggest up to 1mm lengthening per day. But this doctor is for sure not a sensible one.

[wes07]

Do you know why known surgeons like Paley and Rozbruch recommend or say good things about Dr. Guichet?

[Body Builder]

Ι don't know if this is true. If it is then it must have something to do with promoting each other or something like that. But Guichet is a terrible doctor and seems to not even care about his patients as they treat them like guinea pigs by asking them to do heavy workout programs (that don't help at all), to lengthen at twice the normal rate, doesn't do itb release etc. All these with one of the most expensive price worldwide for LL amd with a cr*p obsolete mechanical nail.

But worthy of their miserable outcomes are also the LLers who still go there although the many horror stories we had from him.

[quest2341]

Ι don't know if this is true. If it is then it must have something to do with promoting each other or something like that. But Guichet is a terrible doctor and seems to not even care about his patients as they treat them like guinea pigs by asking them to do heavy workout programs (that don't help at all), to lengthen at twice the normal rate, doesn't do itb release etc. All these with one of the most expensive price worldwide for LL amd with a cr*p obsolete mechanical nail.

But worthy of their miserable outcomes are also the LLers who still go there although the many horror stories we had from him.

Chill out man. He and the doctor have identified the risks and are already trying to prevent any damage.

And Dr G doesn't do 2mm a day, he lengthens 1cm on the day of the surgery and a little more than 1mm per day in the early stages of lengthening. This is why his patients get the initial 4-5 cm quite fast. After that the speed of lengthening goes down.

Let us not jump into conclusions and wait for OP to get an assessment done.

[Saviour69]

Hey friend, how is it going? Any update?

[Alcibiades]

Praying for you, brother.

[earti193]

Chill out man. He and the doctor have identified the risks and are already trying to prevent any damage.

And Dr G doesn't do 2mm a day, he lengthens 1cm on the day of the surgery and a little more than 1mm per day in the early stages of lengthening. This is why his patients get the initial 4-5 cm quite fast. After that the speed of lengthening goes down.

Let us not jump into conclusions and wait for OP to get an assessment done.

This is correct, there is 1cm gained from the break and you are lengthening at about 1.4mm per day for the first couple weeks before slowing down. The first 4cm is therefore really fast but overall the lengthening process is not too different to other specialists.

[earti193]

Post Operative Day 34

Sorry for the delay, the website was down for me and kept saying my account was suspended.

I had my Cone Beam, DEXA, X-Ray and blood tests done on Thursday and had a lengthy consultation with Dr Guichet. The tests all confirmed I have slow healing, which is rare and is causing most of the issues.

Dr G went through scenario planning with me. It breaks down as follows:

1. We will only click 7 times per day (down from 21) - so only 0.47mm per day. This will put less pressure on my soft tissue. This is causing major issues as my legs are buckled in a 'Z' shape right now and I can't put any weight on them. This means I can't stand or do anything for myself. Dr G thinks with a slower lengthening rate and lighter exercise regime the soft tissue should release within 2-3 weeks. If it doesn't, he said this would be clinically inexplicable although they would try work out why. If there is no release despite all these measures then we'll probably have to stop lengthening as my body will have more or less rejected it.

2. Reduced exercise regime. I'm not longer doing maximal knee extensions, hamstring exercises, and all other exercises are dialled down to fewer reps and never forced. This is designed to give the soft tissue more rest. I've also been assigned a physio for deep tissue massage every 1-2 weeks.

3. Dr G has prescribed Hyalurofin to boost healing and Artifen for joints. The latest scans show a very small amount of healing has started, which is encouraging, although I can't feel any difference in terms of quality of life (pain, flexibility, etc).

4. If we see improvements in my soft tissue and healing in the next 2-3 weeks, Dr G thinks we may still get to 6cm by around 17 August. 7cm will take until early/mid September. Unfortunately, I can't detect any difference whatsoever in my height because I am (temporarily, I hope) crippled, so I don't feel taller and in fact probably present as shorter than I was before surgery because of the distortion in my legs. If I am able to stand straight at 6cm, I will seriously consider stopping. But I need to 'feel' what 6cm looks like, to stand next to people, to be outside, etc before I can decide. Right now the focus is just on getting my legs to work again, but just thinking ahead about the decision process assuming I do make it to 6cm. 6cm will mean I am comfortably 5'10, which I feel is a good average height.

So in short, all depends on my soft tissue releasing in the next 2-3 weeks and some measurable healing. The healing does seem to have started after a week of reduced clicks, but the soft tissue is completely f*cked, can't stand, and remain in lots of pain. Sleep continues to be impossible because my legs are forced into a really unnatural and painful position all the time - there is no position that exists which is not painful. The cycle seems to be 1-2 days without sleep, then exhausting will eventually take over and I might pass out for a couple hours during the day on the second or third day. Rinse repeat.

Clicking

The reduced clicking has really helped mentally - clicking 2 or 3 times in a session is a lot less intimidating. My delayed healing also means there is basically nothing inhibiting the nail, so I can click within 5 seconds on both sides with zero pain. Probably the only thing I haven't had major problems with - although it's actually a consequence of a complication (no healing!).

Independence

I continue to rely 100% on outside help. If I try stand to go to the bathroom from the sofa I am drenched in sweat, panting and exhausted by the time I make it to the toilet. This is because my arms and shoulders carry my entire body weight. I was a strong, fit person before this surgery that spent a lot of time working on upper body strength before the surgery but this doesn't really prepare you for carrying your whole body weight across distances. I can't safely go outside, or anywhere really without help other than the toilet. I can't cook or prepare food because I always need my hands to hold myself up.

I just moved out of my temporary accommodation in central London, back to my apartment in East London. Really happy to be back in my home and a familiar environment. It's only a one bedroom and relatively small though, so I need to figure out how to manage care when they can't stay over. There's a couch but it's not that comfortable for sleeping.

Next steps

I will carry on with light exercise from home and hope like hell that my soft tissue starts to release. I'm still on a lot of pain killers and probably quite addicted at this point so would like to get to a place where pain is not totally distracting and I can think about / do other things, like read or watch a movie.
 

[Saviour69]

Hey friend, how is it going so far?

[Azerty12]

Hello friend, I will do the surgery in a few months if everything is good. What is a normal speed for someone without problems ? I know that it will change during the lengthening. But i know when someone do the surgery the Doctor give a paper with everything that you need to do. For example: first day one cm, during 2weeks 1,4mm per day….
Have a good day and stay strong 💪🏻💪🏻

[quest2341]

I used to be in touch with OP outside of the forum as well, but he appears to have not been online for a few weeks now.

I am a bit concerned for him. I hope everything is alright and that he will give us some good news soon.

[dingdongditch]

Hey man, thanks for sharing your story. How is your progress now?
Also, what led you to considering Guichet as your surgeon, especially after the case of Elaine Foo? (If you're not familiar with her diary you can find it on the forum.)

Best of luck with the process! I'm sure you will power through!