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[An_Apple_A_Day]

Try to eat garlic. It starts to fight infections within seconds.
Coconut oil also helps a lot.

Did I miss it? You do have regular physical therapy for at least 2 hours right?

Since you have monorails on you can't stand up and fight ballerina. It'll take you more than a year to be able to walk close to normal if you do 7cm on tibias without any standing.

The device on monorails for lengthening easily malfunctions so you have to pay attention when turning them. It's common to change the lengthening device on them both 2 and 3 times.

The femur bones consolidates very fast so you have to turn them 2mm/day up until 3-4cm but your doctor should decide this together with you.

Be very careful how you sit down regarding your thighs. If you put too much force at one point your femur will snap and heal misaligned. I've seen this before.

Are you going to have 4 intramedullary nails put in after your done lengthening or plates on femurs?
If they put nails inside your femurs your knees will most likely be permanently damaged.
The plate is better but not weight bearing and leaves ugly UGLY scars.

How does your daily food chedule look like? What and how often do you eat?

~Do you eat whole cloves of garlic?  Does supplementation help?

[Russianblues]

Heaps of info on garlic and its antibacterial/antiviral effects on the net.

Allicin supplementation proves superior to eating raw garlic in all cases it seems. Even in studies reffering to garlic they aren't even using the garlic we would talk about:

"However, most of the research on garlic as an antibiotic has involved fresh garlic extracts or powdered garlic products rather than fresh garlic in whole food form. "

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=60


Honestly science has come so far there are nearly always better alternatives to natural remedies and such. I really wouldn't fk around especially if you actually end up having malaria.

[An_Apple_A_Day]

Heaps of info on garlic and its antibacterial/antiviral effects on the net.

Allicin supplementation proves superior to eating raw garlic in all cases it seems. Even in studies reffering to garlic they aren't even using the garlic we would talk about:

"However, most of the research on garlic as an antibiotic has involved fresh garlic extracts or powdered garlic products rather than fresh garlic in whole food form. "

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=60


Honestly science has come so far there are nearly always better alternatives to natural remedies and such. I really wouldn't f around especially if you actually end up having malaria.

I am aware that garlic will do little to help combat a parasitic blood infection such as malaria, however I can say eating right does absolutely have a positive effect on the immune system, having not been ill myself in a long time since eating right and exercising.

One thing I have come across time again however is that supplementation is almost always inferior to actually eating whole foods.  Hence my question.  Also in regards to information on the net, there is 10 times the amount of misinformation as there is information.  So I figure if people here are in the know I should ask.

Thanks for your thoughts Russianblue, do you recommend/use any brands of Allicin supplement?

[Russianblues]

I am aware that garlic will do little to help combat a parasitic blood infection such as malariaI never said that. Actually if you have nothing else garlic will be effective at "atleast effective the outcome of malaria". http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/1653553.stm, however I can say eating right does absolutely have a positive effect on the immune system, having not been ill myself in a long time since eating right and exercising.

One thing I have come across time again however is that supplementation is almost always inferior to actually eating whole foods. I guess I should have phrased that better. I meant it in the sense that legitimate antivirals/antibiotics will outperform herbal remedies such as garlic. I am totally with you that eating a balanced diet is better than say eating a multivitamin.  Hence my question.  Also in regards to information on the net, there is 10 times the amount of misinformation as there is information.Yea I agree. But, honestly if you stick with reliable sources that reference their work with scientific studies/articles then I think you can be pretty confident in what you read.   So I figure if people here are in the know I should ask.

Thanks for your thoughts Russianblue, do you recommend/use any brands of Allicin supplement?No sorry I have no idea. I'm taking nothing and I had no vaccinations. I have seen one mosquito since I got here and I squashed it asap. We have the anti mosquito things plugged in to the walls plus its getting colder and colder so I am not worried. If I was going to take preventative measures against malaria I wouldn't even use Allicin though. I'd go to my GP in Aus and tell him and get the hook up with some premium specialized anti malarial tabs.

[alps]

Hey Disobedient,
Take it easy with the procedure. Don't push yourself too hard.
5'3" - 5'4" is a very good height for women.

Please put up as many pics as you can

[Arche]

Not to be rude, but I think Darwin called this "natural selection."

[Medium Drink Of Water]

In what bizarro universe could that comment NOT be construed as rude?

[Roger Murdock]

Probably in the place where it's just considered mean and cruel.

[Arche]

Hey I said it, and I really meant it. I cannot believe someone, after COUNTLESS OBJECTIVE FORMS OF EVIDENCE, would go for double lengthening!!!!!

First of all, she is using monorails, which are less supportive than ilizarov frames which means you can't walk. (Although it may be more comfortable).

Also she is using EXTERNALS ON HER FEMURS??? How many times did Crazy+6 (on the old forum) WARN people AGAINST the use of external frames on the femurs. The man might be crippled for the rest of his life! I think this was an extremely brave decision on part of this woman, but I think she should have done her femurs OR tibias, and then did the other after she recovered or got her intramedullary nail removed. I think that whoever is moderating this forum, warn others from doing this surgery.

To the woman who is doing this surgery, I apologize if my last comment offended you. I am just bewildered that you have decided to do this to yourself. I am not a bad person, and I do not mean to do harm to any one person, however, I think knowledge is the most important "tool" that can be utilized when going into this procedure. I wish you the very best, and please prove me wrong and recover fully. I am absolutely rooting for you, but you really stacked the cards against yourself. Once again, I hope you continue with your diary and update it with pictures.

[Blackhawk]

Arche,

I don't think people should do LL on two segments at the same time either.  It is risky.  But it's been done and you shouldn't be rude and criticize her for doing it.

I hope she continues her diary and I hope the best for her.  But I wouldn't want to continue writing a diary if I had to read the bullsh!t you're posting.

[Goodnews]

There are numerous success stories of people doing both at once, it's just requires excellent care. I believe you'll do just fine, but I suggest an around the clock person to stay with you and take care of issues.

Take care, you're going to look beautiful after you get through this, and we're all with you.  I would only do 5cm in each section and stop. Make sure you follow your Doctors advice on how much to lengthen each section per day.

[LiveLife]

To the woman who is doing this surgery, I apologize if my last comment offended you. I am just bewildered that you have decided to do this to yourself. I am not a bad person, and I do not mean to do harm to any one person, however, I think knowledge is the most important "tool" that can be utilized when going into this procedure. I wish you the very best, and please prove me wrong and recover fully. I am absolutely rooting for you, but you really stacked the cards against yourself. Once again, I hope you continue with your diary and update it with pictures.

To the person who made the above comments, you are a real dbag.  I apologize if my comment offended you.  I am just bewildered that you have decided to berate someone in a vulnerable position (ie. many broken bones, foreign country) who came here to willingly/openly share her story and in return to receive emotional/practicable support for the challenging journey that she has already embarked on.  You say you are not a bad person, and that you do not mean to do harm, however....blah blah blah....  (Arche, please be kind.)


Dear Disobedient,
Please try not to be discouraged.  There are people here who are eager to hear your story and will do our best to offer support (and I think Arche will too henceforth).  We are wishing the best for you!!!

I hope your fever/possible malaria is being resolved.  Please keep us updated.

Livelife

[Disobedient]

Good Evening everyone ...

So today I received my blood test result and it stated that I'm not infected with malaria
but it shows that my hemoglobin levels was low "9" although I had blood test two weeks before the surgery and it was 12 !!!!
Anyway,the fever disappeared and I'm feeling much better today...

Thank you all for your support, I do really appreciate it..


An_Apple_A_Day

Yes I'm so brave..

Can you even weight-bear with both femur and tibia in a fixator?

my  dr. is not recommend that in the distraction period, but after the distraction I think I could do it.
and thanks for your wishes

LiveLife

Yes, I'm so independent 

Thanks for your support, and I'll keep you update 


orlandoflorida

I mentioned in the beginning of this post that I'm brave so ... So I can't say to you anything but I'm so brave 
thanks


Goodnews

Hello Goodnews,

right now I'm feeling well, and actually  I do have PT who is coming everyday for about an hour and I have caretaker  as well ,who is coming everyday "from 9to9",however I cant afford 24 hours caretaker..

Also, since I don't have fever right now so I don't think I have bone infection, but I'll go on your advise and I'll take the medicine for preventing malaria ..

You mentioned that your read some stories of people doing both and they succeed , do you have any link?? I really need to read such a thing ..


Thanks a lot for  your support

Sweden


Hi Sweden

I read your post in old forum  about the garlic and I tried some garlic with chicken soup, however after I read Russianblues's post I think I'll just take Allicin supplementation

You do have regular physical therapy for at least 2 hours right?

No, for one hour.. and he is concentrate in making mr do bending exercises more than any thing else right now,,

But how could I know if the device malfunctioned? I'm trying to pay attention in any change as much as I can, However I'm still don't know how could I determine whether the device is malfunctioned or not !

My doctor told me to do just one turn and he'll do x-ray after a week to check the bone again, but I'm doing 2 turns and I'll see after a week what will happen ..

about the intramedullary nails and the plates, I don't think I got it ! what should I do  intramedullary nails AFTER I done lengthening!!   my surgeon never mention such a thing before !

I think my eating habit is quite healthy

I drink 1-2 glass of skim milk daily, and 1-1.5 L of water

Morning ( I choose one of these )

* Muesli Cereal with milk
*whole grain toast with peanut butter/ cheese/ egg
* Few pcs of Digestive biscuit with milk

Lunch

*  salad Chef "similar to subway but with more healthy options like soup and salad"
*subway
and once a week I tried one of Indian dishes

Dinner "this is fixed  "

* yogurt with cucumber sometimes with soup

snack  (one of these)

*apple
*banana
*Digestive biscuits

 
However, when I had the fever I didn't eat any things except one biscuit before the medicine, and even today when I ate slice of toast I felt so sick  ... but I'll try from tmw to return to my old regime although I think it will take me few days to do this ...

short_and_depressed

hey you

hummm well I guess 5'5 is excellent..
about the pic I wanted to upload my x-ray but I don't have scanner and I tried to capture pic for my feet to show Sweden that I still don't suffer from ballerina, however the Q is low since I took it "my maid did that actually" with my laptop's cam




Blackhawk

yeah don't worry I'll keep continue my my diary

 

[Sweden]

Thank you for continuing your diary. Everyone that does something someone else doesn't understand will get shots thrown at. Don't mind those people.

I'm not supporting the choice you made but it's all up to you - and maybe your doctor.

The picture quality looks better now but that picture doesn't show us anything. Ask your maid to take 30-40 pictures of your legs at different angles and then you can choose the best looking ones. That's how you take pictures.
I think I have 2.000 pictures from my trip in India. You will want to have pictures of things you did in your life for later.

You have to find out if your getting a nail inside your bones after your finished lengthening. You will be permanently hurt if you need to wear the monorails for 10-12 months and not exercising as you should(but can't bc of monorails).
Ask you doctor how he(she?) will approach this.
It sounds as if you have no clue of what you're doing or understand the seriousness in this procedure.
You shouldn't have any ballerina for now but it'll strike you really bad later around ~5cm which is where I wish you'd stop lengthening.

I'm telling you this bc I don't want to see you get any life long conditions and feel miserable about yourself.

Your doctor should be able to tell you how the lengthening device acts when it malfunctions. EVERY monorail at Dr Sarin malfunctioned so stay alert.


Advice on the road: lengthen your femurs faster than your tibias. Try to move around for several hours and stretch as much as you can. Sleep with straight legs - NO PILLOW UNDER YOUR KNEES even if it's more comfortable. They will get stuck in that position.
Reach for your toes. Try to eat more and drink at least 2l of water/day. Don't sit on the edge of the bed with your thighs or else your femurs will bend badly.

Take care and don't forget the pictures.

[KiloKAHN]

... NO PILLOW UNDER YOUR KNEES even if it's more comfortable. They will get stuck in that position.

I wonder how many patients follow this advice compared to the ones that ignore it or are never even given that information. It's almost crazy how something as simple as pillow positioning can affect the outcome of the recovery process.


Dr. Parihar mentioned this exact problem. I think this information will be relevant to you Disobedient since you are doing both tibial and femur lengthening, even though you're using monorails instead of the classic frames.

"Proper limb positioning taught early on minimizes the chances of contractures developing later. The commonest cause of a flexion deformity is the tendency to keep a pillow lengthwise under a tibial frame. This causes flexion at the knee. This should be prevented by repeatedly correcting the tendency and keeping an pillow only under the distal most ring in the frame thus allowing the knee to remain fully extended at all times. The other point to be remembered is the necessity of passive dorsiflexion splints for the ankle. This can be easily done by using a strap or bandage around the plantar aspect to the forefoot which is attached to the frame and keeps the foot in a neutral position. In patients undergoing significant tibial lengthening, this splint is required all through the day, and especially in the night. To prevent hip flexion contractures, especially in patients with a femoral frame, the patient has to be taught to lie prone for a few hours a day, and to extend the hip by taking the leg off the edge of the bed."

http://www.limblengtheningforum.com/index.php?topic=22.0

[Shorty]

it was nice to meet you 

YOU are very strong and brave. I hope I will be like you after doing this surgery and I do it as u did for both tibia & femur but not exceed 5cm each.

wish all the best

[An_Apple_A_Day]

I wonder how many patients follow this advice compared to the ones that ignore it or are never even given that information. It's almost crazy how something as simple as pillow positioning can affect the outcome of the recovery process.


Dr. Parihar mentioned this exact problem. I think this information will be relevant to you Disobedient since you are doing both tibial and femur lengthening, even though you're using monorails instead of the classic frames.

"Proper limb positioning taught early on minimizes the chances of contractures developing later. The commonest cause of a flexion deformity is the tendency to keep a pillow lengthwise under a tibial frame. This causes flexion at the knee. This should be prevented by repeatedly correcting the tendency and keeping an pillow only under the distal most ring in the frame thus allowing the knee to remain fully extended at all times. The other point to be remembered is the necessity of passive dorsiflexion splints for the ankle. This can be easily done by using a strap or bandage around the plantar aspect to the forefoot which is attached to the frame and keeps the foot in a neutral position. In patients undergoing significant tibial lengthening, this splint is required all through the day, and especially in the night. To prevent hip flexion contractures, especially in patients with a femoral frame, the patient has to be taught to lie prone for a few hours a day, and to extend the hip by taking the leg off the edge of the bed."

http://www.limblengtheningforum.com/index.php?topic=22.0

This guy seems super switched on.  Was it you who was planning on going to him for LL?  I remember a memeber early in this forums days discussing him.

EDIT: I see it was.  I wonder if he would do external only?  One of my biggest concerns with LL is the tendon damage to the knee when inserting and removing the nail for LON or LATN.

[KiloKAHN]

This guy seems super switched on.  Was it you who was planning on going to him for LL?  I remember a memeber early in this forums days discussing him.

EDIT: I see it was.  I wonder if he would do external only?  One of my biggest concerns with LL is the tendon damage to the knee when inserting and removing the nail for LON or LATN.

He does external only also. He's actually one of the people I may lengthen with this December. I haven't fully decided yet.

I'm unable to do external only simply due to the amount of time I'd have to be off work. Children have it easier when it comes to external only methods since they'll only need to be in frames about a month per centimeter lengthened, whereas for adults it's two months or more per centimeter. Psychologically I don't think I'd be able to deal with being in frames that long.

Disobedient, I hope you're not planning to do external only. Especially with both segments being lengthened, that's going to be much tougher than you've thought possible.

[jerry]

hey everyone, I'm new to the forum, come in to say I'm supporting Disobedient recovery from the surgery.   

I plan to do LL in February/March and will have a diary on here when that happens.

[aceofspades1]

Jerry, where are you planning on doing it. I am doing mine in late December but still unsure about the doctor. 

[Disobedient]

Good Evening:)

there is no much to say, expect that I'm still doing 2 turns for my femur and 1 for my tibia which mean I'm suppose to gain 1.5 which make it in total 3 cm .. However what I learned recently that you really can't measure your gain by the number of turns ... so after 3 or 5 days I'll have x-ray and I'll see exactly how much did I length so far...

and I'm still have no appetite for eating, there is a part of me happy because I'll definitely shed sm kg ,but it's not healthy ,I know..

Yesterday was depawali day.. there  were too much firework and noises outside, I wanted to see them but I was afraid to be beaten by mosquito.. so I just stayed at my room "before getting sick I used to sit on balcony a lot to get vit D and to look out over the crowded street..


what else? humm yeah I met  "shorty" 2days ago, and it seems that he made his mind to do the same surgery with the same dr although I told him to go and meet other drs.... hope everything will go well with him..

Sweden

I'll ask the doctor about the nail thingie although I'm sure that he is not determine to do such a thing... he explained to me the whole procedure that he'll do and never mention that.. but what if he said I don't need to do it? what should I reply!
I'll work in your advices,  but about siting in the edge of bed my PT told me to do this as an exercise, he explained that it could help me in bending my knee , so I'm sitting in this position for 30min to 1h daily...

this position








shorty

thanks, and good luck in your surgery.. 

Kilokahn


well I did it.. 

jerry

thanks for your support jerry, and good luck in your LL surgery



 

[Sweden]

Is it okey if I post your pictures on old forum  and ask for more unbiased advice?

[Disobedient]

Is it okey if I post your pictures on old forum  and ask for more unbiased advice?

yes sure ..

I have a question too, from day1 after surgery and I can't bend my knee, and "still", do you guys went through same problem ?

[Sweden]

Put your heels on a pillow and try to straightening your legs. I'm not sure you should put any weight on your knees bc of the monorail which is very unstable.

Your knees are bent in the pictures so no problems there.

[Disobedient]

Put your heels on a pillow and try to straightening your legs. I'm not sure you should put any weight on your knees bc of the monorail which is very unstable.

ok I'll do that  , one of my routine exercise is to press my knee down I think this will do the same job as putting weight in my knee.

Your knees are bent in the pictures so no problems there.

not for 90 deg not even close to that, and when  I bend it I feel so much pain, what make me worry that I suffer from this bending issue from day1.. and from what I read ppl start to have this problem some months after the surgery that's why I asked..

[Mac]

I hope you make it through this ok.

[KiloKAHN]

If your doctor isn't planning to put in intramedullary nails later, I really think you should stop the femur lengthening.

Would it be possible to let your femurs consolidate and take the fixators off afterward while continuing with your femur lengthening? It's going to be difficult just lengthening one segment with the monorails, lengthening two by purely external methods is not only going to take a toll on you physically, but mentally as well, Disobedient.

[Shorty]

I just copied below from Dr. Dror Paley website !!


Can I have lengthening of the femur and tibia together at the same time to save time and expense?

Although femur and tibia lengthening can be done at the same time we do not insert the femur and tibia rods in at the same time
due to the theoretical risk of fat embolism from reaming the medullary canal of more than two bones at a time. To insert 4 rods
at the same surgery would increase the chance of fat embolism.

We have considered how this could be done safely. It would require reaming with a special reamer aspiration system that sucks
out the marrow while reaming. This is called RIA (reamer-irrigation-aspiration). To date we have not done this in anyone at one
surgery. We have performed rod insertion of the femurs followed by a few weeks later the same procedure to the tibias so that
the lengthening time could overlap. The rehabilitation is much more difficult of course since we are lengthening the muscles on
both sides of the knee joints.

The main benefits are decreasing time to go through the procedures twice as well as decreasing costs by incurring only one
hospital admission and one anesthesia cost. At present we are not offering this alternative but it may become a reality in the
future.

As I understand it can be done but with external more safe than internal . isn't?


http://www.limblengtheningdoc.org/cosmetic_stature_lengthening_FAQ.html

[KiloKAHN]

If your doctor isn't planning to put in intramedullary nails later, I really think you should stop the femur lengthening.

Would it be possible to let your femurs consolidate and take the fixators off afterward while continuing with your femur lengthening? It's going to be difficult just lengthening one segment with the monorails, lengthening two by purely external methods is not only going to take a toll on you physically, but mentally as well, Disobedient.

Just saw my typo, I meant continuing your tibia lengthening.

[GetTallOrGoGay]

we do not insert the femur and tibia rods in at the same time
due to the theoretical risk of fat embolism from reaming the medullary canal of more than two bones at a time

So if reaming the canal creates the risk of fat embolism I'm assuming it has something to do with the debris floating around in the canal, and since the debris is never removed...is there forever a risk of fat embolism?

[Russianblues]

Hey Dis

Would love to get an update from you.


My situation is much improved  . Tomorrow I begin sitting and standing again. If you told me two days ago the probability that I can stand in two days I would have given an unequivocal 0% chance. Always important to remember that we have good days and bad days, and a good day is usually right around the corner.