Hi, I have decided to post my experience, doing LON Femurs with Dr. Buldu in Turkey, simply because people geniuenly want to know, and I don't like withholding helpful information.
About me at the time of the surgery (numbers will deviate by an insignificant amount to stay anonymous):
- late twenties
- sub 160 cm
- exactly 86 cm sitting height
- exactly 164 cm wingspan
- athletic built
Reasons- It looks cool, and it's exciting
- It looks more beautiful
- It's possible, and having only one life, one should go for it
- I'm short objectively speaking
- Chairs are a bit too long and too high, chairs remind me the most of my height
- Children pointed out that I'm short, so I guess I'm too far off the scale
- I have everything else going for me, so height is my only bottleneck that separated me from personal greatness
I chose the doctor because of the price and convenience, and because testimonials existed. I made my judgement based on the x-ray not based on how the patients feel about it.
I submitted my form through the website and was later messaged back by Murat. Texting with him is going very smooth and it's easy to understand.
At the airport you get collected and taken to the hotel, have a talk with the doc in his office 200m away from the hotel. I didn't really have any questions.
You stay at the hotel for 1 night and cannot eat or drink 10h before the surgery starts.
At the hospitalAt the hospital you fill out paperwork, do a blood test, have a pre-surgery talk, x-ray, and then you wait in your room few hours before it starts.
Was surprised how curvy my femurs looked from the side at the top, I was sure the surgery will get cancelled when they see it. Turns out later I got the nail through the knee instead - without knowing. More about that later.
Getting general anesthetic was exciting, was positively excited the whole time up to that point.
When I woke up I was shivering as hell. The surgery room is so cold. I woke up in the surgery room, then transported back to my hospital room. I was heated up with extra bed sheets and a heater that blew warm/hot air. Took me like 1h to calm down before not needing it anymore.
My knees hurt the most, I didn't understand why though. It felt as if my knees had been smashed days ago, and I was recovering from it. It was a dull kind of pain, but intense enough so that I had to concentrate hard to not focus on it. I tried breathing consciously and doing all kind of mental thinking to lessen the pain. I only slept for a few minutes before waking up every now and then. I wasn't allowed to drink water 1h or 2h after the surgery, was really thirsty though.
Nurses couldn't speak english. In order to use wifi and google translator they had to get an especially appointed person who was authorized to log in for me with my mobile phone. Wifi runs out every 24h, so I needed to do it every day. Later I downloaded an offline translator to communicate with the nurses.
Moving was difficult, even lifting the upper body, because of the frame nails at the hips.
Sleeping was difficult because of the constant prayers in Istanbul, hospital lights and noises.
Next day the doctor came to check/inform me that all went well. It was then when I got to know that I got the nails through the knees. Before the surgery I always knew that I would be fine as long as I don't get the nail through the knee, so it was a shock for me to find out about it. But I quickly accepted it, because it wasn't possible to put the nail through my curved bone through the hips anyway. The doctor made me walk with the walker. I did pretty well. Whenever my legs were to weak for anything I could just lift my whole body with my arms. That was one advantage I had.
Funny thing, I was so stupid, not realizing why I could drink non-stop without having to pee. I thought my body was really deprived from water, so I drank like 3 liters a day, and flooded the bag that held the urine somehow. A male nurse came wiping the floor there because of it. That was when I realized I had a catheter.
Day 3I told the nurses to remove the catheter because I had to take a soon. I was worried about how it would go. I knew it would be difficult due to constipation when the time would come . They wanted to follow me to the toilet but I insisted on going alone with the walker.
During all days they didn't give me a tooth brush to brush my teeth, I asked like once at the beginning, but there was a communication barrier so I didn't bother any further. Luckily I expected nothing less and had my own cosmetic bag with me, with all dental care items. Once a day an interpreter came to ask if everything was alright. Found out that I was actually supposed to get a tooth brush.
Back to the hotelOn day 5 the bandages were changed before going back to the hotel. There I spent the remaning 12 days or so before flying back home for lengthening. At the hotel I spent 300 Euros for the remaining days for food. I didn't use the TV because I don't have a netflix account. I thought they would provide me with an account... At least I had my notebook with me.
The pain was very insignificant at that point. It was a waiting game. Sleeping on the back was difficult. The hotel and city area was noisy with all the traffic, and the room could never be completely darkened during night. There was just a curtain inside at the windows. Never was a back sleeper, and lying on the belly was slightly painful for sleeping. I managed a few times to sleep on my belly.
During the entire time with the frames on, I woke up 2-3 times a day to go to the toilet. My bladder felt weak whenever I got up and I needed to hurry to make it in time. This was resolved once the frames came off at the end of the process.
PhysiotherapyThe most painful part of the physiotherapy was knee bending for ROM. My ROM was around 90° during the whole period. My legs were never similar in terms of healing/pain after the surgery.
My left knee hurt less during knee bending, and was stronger for standing on one leg. I tried doing this a few times after surgery until me knee suddenly overextended. Don't try or bother standing on a leg or walking without crutches even if you can. Use crutches until 1 month after the frame removal. The physiotherapist encouraged me to walk without crutches, but my left knee started to overextend everytime I tried putting full weight on it. I then stopped walking without crutches. I don't get why they want you to try doing it, if such things as overextension can occur...
MedicationThere were three medications to relief pain. One of them is banned in some other countries. I was terrified taking it ever again after I found out about it. It has a rare but dangerous side effect...
70% of the time during the whole lenghtening period (between beginning and end) I didn't take any meds, or anything to ensure my blood wouldn't clot. From my point of view I was able to get in enough physical exercise to ensure my blood curculated well like that of a normal person.
I was objectively speaking more active than the average person who sits in the car, sits at work and at home most of the days...
LengtheningI did lengthen 1mm per day. I started lengthening after the 5th day after coming back to the hotel.
I rotated the screw by 120° three times a day, and wrote down the time after I was done. The allen key is 6-sided, so you can do precise six 60° degree turns.
My consolidation was fast. My bones were about >95% consolidated 6 months after the surgery.
https://i.imgur.com/RQFiuLS.pngThe doc encouraged my to try lengthening a bit more than 1mm a day whenever I showed him the x-ray.
In hindsight I should have slowed down a bit. Recovery is difficult because I pushed my limit, the lengthening speed, and because I was very short to begin with, and I don't think I would have pre-consolidated if I slowed down. Turning the screws was difficult sometimes, but I suspected the screw itself to be the issue instead of it being signs of pre-consolidation.
RecoveryIt's been a bit more than year. I can run, and almost sprint. I don't push it 100% though. I honestly don't walk often, I rather do exercises throughout the whole day. After a warm up I can do anything. On some days I don't need a warm up to do anything. On other days I need to stay vigilant for a whole week to get back to the point that feels like full recovery. When I stop pushing it for a few days I lose a bit of progress. My main issue is that progress doesn't stay too long if I don't constantly exercise. Other than that I am what you would call 90% recovered.
ScarsI have treated the scars only to a certain degree. One cosmetic surgery and only one laser treatment so far. Other than that I use kinesiology tape that I keep on the scars for days over and over and an ointment. Will do more laser treatments soon.
BUT the main visual downside is something unexpected. What's bothering me the most visually is a muscle bulging where the bone was broken. It sticks out like a round cap.
https://i.imgur.com/uquns2m.pngEven a comsetic surgery couldn't fix it SO FAR. That doctor who tried fixing it said he couldn't promise. He stitched the fascia, but he must have done a bad job since it didn't hold. The good thing with soft tissue and skin is that you have multiple tries and options to fix it, so I'm not worried.
ConclusionI would have done few things differently:
- lengthening 0.3mm less and not push the exponential difficulty curve
- not lengthening over 1mm on a single day
- If there is no other option I would again go to the same doctor since the overall outcome is within my expectations. But I am disappointed about that bulging muscle.
- The recovery is most difficult because it requires discipline while one can easily become comfortable with the status quo
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Topic: LON Femur 3 inches, 2020 Summer with Dr. Buldu - Summary (Read 1680 times)