Topic: Afonso - Precice II Internal Femurs - Dr. Mahboubian - Sept 2014 (Read 35872 times)

afonso · « **Reply #31 on:** December 19, 2014, 09:02:55 PM »

Just came back from Dr M. confirmed at 8cm both legs. Everything looks good 5 more weeks and I should be able to walk.

paco1 · « **Reply #32 on:** December 19, 2014, 09:22:21 PM »

congratulatons with your goal.
8 cm is a lot, but in femurs looks like better than tibias.
good luck in your journey.
cheers paco.

Taller · « **Reply #33 on:** December 19, 2014, 10:58:06 PM »

Congratulations on achieving such an amazing goal, and becoming a stronger person in the process!

How do you feel that 8CM of lengthening has affected your body proportions? How long do your femurs look in relation to your torso and tibiae? How long do your legs now look compared to your arms, torso, and the rest of your upper body?

What pant inseam did you usually wear before and after the lengthening process?

It would be quite helpful to see se pictures of proportion if it's now too much trouble or inconvinient for you.

Uppland · « **Reply #34 on:** December 20, 2014, 02:28:46 AM »

Good job man you really did it, I hope you enjoy your new height -8CM is a lot it could easily be the difference between normal/tall or short/average.

Look it's the difference between the guy on the right and the guy on the left -if not even more.

You should tower over people your old height now.

programdude · « **Reply #35 on:** December 20, 2014, 02:59:30 AM »

You will tower over people. You are officially at the best part, where each day is better than the last and you get to stand tall!

Taller · « **Reply #36 on:** December 20, 2014, 03:40:57 AM »

Quote from: Uppland on December 20, 2014, 02:28:46 AM

It's funny that the shortest guy (the one most to the right) in this picture appears to be the one with the longest arms, and the tallest guy appears to have the shortest arms of everyone in the image.

Plzen · « **Reply #37 on:** December 20, 2014, 05:21:35 AM »

congratulation Afonso. You should be proud of yourself for sticking to your goal (despite a lot of discomfort) and adding the maximum 8cm to your height.
Your sleep should get better with every passing day.
Do you walk using walker or crutches? How is your walking?

goodlucktomylegs · « **Reply #38 on:** December 20, 2014, 07:30:01 AM »

Congratulation,My friend
Keep up date your valuable diary

afonso · « **Reply #39 on:** December 20, 2014, 02:36:51 PM »

HI Paco1, thanks for the well wishes and I agree that femurs look better especially in my case where I
had short femurs to start off

Hi Taller, thanks from what I can see I’m happy with my proportions but at the moment I’m still suffering with bend knees so can’t really get the full perspective. I was a 30 inseam will have to get back to you when I can measure. Once my bent knee goes away I’ll take pictures.

Uppland, thanks for the visual encouragement it is a significant difference.
Programdude, thanks I don’t have to tell you after the ordeal of LL things getting better are very welcomed.

Plzen, thank you I’m still using just the walker but my legs are weak at the moment will be making walking more of a priority as part of recovery. Sleep is getting better but still not optimal, I waking up frequently at night but can go back to sleep. Still need to nap during the day to get necessary sleep.

Goodlucktomylegs, thanks will do my best to keep this updated.

Uppland · « **Reply #40 on:** December 20, 2014, 03:21:23 PM »

Quote from: Taller on December 20, 2014, 03:40:57 AM

It's funny that the shortest guy (the one most to the right) in this picture appears to be the one with the longest arms, and the tallest guy appears to have the shortest arms of everyone in the image.

When you're tall and in thick shoes your arms tend to sometimes look relatively short compared to the rest of your body.

All these guys are 189-190CM:

afonso · « **Reply #41 on:** December 29, 2014, 07:47:14 PM »

Week 14 (Dec 22-28)
Post Op: 101 days
Goal achieved: 8 cm
Consolidation days: 13

On Monday 12/15 I completed my lengthening goal of 8cm and since then have been consolidating. The highlights so far I’ve finally returned to a relatively normal sleeping pattern and started driving. I still wake up through out the night but that is happening fewer times and I can usually go right back to sleep. For example last night I slept 8 hours wokeup 3 time during the night. That for me is a successful night of sleep. Being able to drive gives me the freedom to do many things and you can’t imagine what escaping your 4 walls does to moral.

Flexibility/Mobility: My legs are very weak walking on a walker is still a very slow and slightly painful process. Even a couple 100 feet is a challenge. I’m still suffering from bent knees although this is getting better each day. I’m thinking once I can straighten my legs completely I should be able to walk much better. The good news is that through stretching, cycling, and walking I’ve seen significant improvements I’m hoping in the next couple of weeks to be able to straighten them completely. To help accomplish this on Jan 2, 2015 I’m restarting physical therapy 3x a week as an outpatient and have maintained my stretching regiment.

Pain: Shortly after stopping detractions that constant dull pain also stopped. Now I only get pain during and after exercising. I still take pain medication but at this point I’m down to ½ Norco pill daily and only have 3 pills left. Once they’re gone I’m off pain medication.

Overall Mood: Happy that I’m in the consolidation phase and seeing continuous improvements to my recovery.

Bone Growth and Consolidation: Will see Dr. M again on January 23 won’t know my bone growth progress till then. The hopes are that by then I will have enough of a bone bridge to fully weight bear and walk.

TomD · « **Reply #42 on:** December 29, 2014, 08:50:55 PM »

Hey Alfonso my fellow fossil !

I have been holding off on this thread until consolidating before I jumped in to be your cheerleader.

I hope to walk in your footsteps (pun intended) but I am poor $:-\$ so I am most likely going to Spain to do my internals using Fitbone.

Reading your journal has given hopes to us old guys . It has certainly inspired me.
How is Hollywood? Havent been to LA for many years now. I am hanging out in Tampa.

Going the full 8cm takes guts. I know I will aim for it as well. Are you planning to do the tibs as well?

afonso · « **Reply #43 on:** December 30, 2014, 05:13:18 AM »

Quote from: TomD on December 29, 2014, 08:50:55 PM

Hey Alfonso my fellow fossil !

I have been holding off on this thread until consolidating before I jumped in to be your cheerleader.

I hope to walk in your footsteps (pun intended) but I am poor $:-\$ so I am most likely going to Spain to do my internals using Fitbone.

Reading your journal has given hopes to us old guys . It has certainly inspired me.
How is Hollywood? Havent been to LA for many years now. I am hanging out in Tampa.

Going the full 8cm takes guts. I know I will aim for it as well. Are you planning to do the tibs as well?

Thank you for the kind words and greetings fellow relic. I'm happy I could be of inspiration. Given all the research, preparation, time, effort, pain, and cost doing anything less than the max 8cm wasn't an option. Although no lie it was a harder road than I thought. As for Tibs lets see but I think I will be happy with 175cm.

Spain, not a bad place to be- is that with Dr Monegal in Barcelona? To be honest haven't seen much of LA I'm from the NYC area only here for the procedure. Will be here till end of February hoping to get better acquainted once I can walk. In the mean while if there is anything I can answer to help your journey don't hesitate.

Plzen · « **Reply #44 on:** December 30, 2014, 11:38:59 AM »

Good to hear that you are continuing to improve Afonso. I am glad you can drive, that must be a good feeling. Continue to focus on stretching and PT.
Have you considered walking in a swimming pool. I know some pools (YMCA) are handicapped accessible. I think it is called wheelchair lift, which helps you get in and out of the pool.

afonso · « **Reply #45 on:** December 31, 2014, 05:52:09 PM »

Quote from: Plzen on December 30, 2014, 11:38:59 AM

Good to hear that you are continuing to improve Afonso. I am glad you can drive, that must be a good feeling. Continue to focus on stretching and PT.
Have you considered walking in a swimming pool. I know some pools (YMCA) are handicapped accessible. I think it is called wheelchair lift, which helps you get in and out of the pool.

Driving, it's like being a teenager again that sense of freedom after being stuck in a condo for 3 months. It really helps with this process if you learn to celebrate the milestones. I use the pool at my local gym that's one of the reasons I wanted to start driving that and outpatient PT (my insurance covers PT as an out patient).

Ajax2thousand20 · « **Reply #46 on:** January 02, 2015, 07:02:14 AM »

Quote from: Uppland on December 20, 2014, 03:21:23 PM

When you're tall and in thick shoes your arms tend to sometimes look relatively short compared to the rest of your body.

All these guys are 189-190CM:

Idris Elba and Nicholas Hoult according to celeb heights are 6'2.75".(which is exactly 190cms)
Charlie Hunnam is 6'0". But they both look like they have longer legs than most men their height. I could expect to look like that if I make it to 6'3" on my Tibs.

afonso · « **Reply #47 on:** January 04, 2015, 06:34:28 PM »

Week 15 (Dec 29 – Jan 4)
Post Op: 108 days
Goal achieved: 8 cm
Consolidation days: 20

Since last week the changes have been negligible. Continuous improvement yes but nothing earth shattering to report. The only real news is that sleep no longer is a problem.

Flexibility/Mobility: My legs are getting stronger and I see them getting thicker but over all still weak. It’s hard to stand still unassisted for more than 1 minute. Walking on a walker is still slow and slightly painful. Bent knees still persists but getting much better. After my 1st post LL PT session on Friday they were very close to being straight. I’m hoping by end of next week this will no longer be a problem.

Pain: Same as last week only during exercise/stretch or bad movement. This week I took my last Norco pill but that isn’t a problem I was only taking ½ pill per day and not every day.

Overall Mood: Happy that I’m seeing improvements but anxious to have I and the wheelchair go our separate ways.

Bone Growth and Consolidation: No update until I see Dr. M on 1/23

Plzen · « **Reply #48 on:** January 04, 2015, 08:08:52 PM »

Hey Afonso,
Slow improvement is still good news. Keep up with your PT and swimming. Hopefully, you can get rid of your wheelchair soon.
As I understand you are still using walker. When do you think, you will start using crutches?

afonso · « **Reply #49 on:** January 05, 2015, 01:37:02 AM »

Quote from: Plzen on January 04, 2015, 08:08:52 PM

Hey Afonso,
Slow improvement is still good news. Keep up with your PT and swimming. Hopefully, you can get rid of your wheelchair soon.
As I understand you are still using walker. When do you think, you will start using crutches?

Plzen, from your mouth to the Universe can't wait to shed my wheels !!! This coming week I'm going to ask my PT to help me transition to crutches. I've been hesitant to do so because of the constant drilling by Dr. M on weight limit. When I started my LL I weighed approx 165 so it was a real concern. After all a bent nail would be a 20K mistake all on me. The walker gives you more stability so he wanted me to exclusively use that vs crutches. Now that I weigh about 150 and I'm going into my 4th week of consolidation I think I can start using crutches.

afonso · « **Reply #50 on:** January 11, 2015, 10:59:56 PM »

Week 16 (Jan 5 – Jan 11)
Post Op: 115 days
Goal achieved: 8 cm
Consolidation days: 27

Continuous improvement but I still have the bent knee problem. Getting my legs straight is my most pressing mission. I declare war on my bent knees!! Sorry as an American had to pander to the dramatic you know us - it’s not serious until we declare war

Flexibility/Mobility: Walking with a walker is getting better but still slower than I want. I’m getting impatient I’m almost at the 4 week mark and feel by this point walker walking should be effortless - That isn’t the case. I think bent knees is the main culprit holding me back. All my PT sessions and stretching exercises are now geared to project straight knees. My stretches are now happening ever 2 hours.

Pain: Same as last week only during exercise/stretch or bad movement. No pain killers taken this week did miss that a little but nothing serious. I was only taking ½ pill at night after all the stretching and exercises were done for the day. They did help me relax but there are better and healthier ways to do that. Hot bathes have become the replacement - they are great.

Overall Mood: Not happy until legs are pin straight!!

Bone Growth and Consolidation: No update until I see Dr. M on 1/23

Uppland · « **Reply #51 on:** January 12, 2015, 01:14:35 AM »

Good luck mate, wish you a speedyy recovery

afonso · « **Reply #52 on:** January 28, 2015, 01:20:38 AM »

Week 17 & 18 (Jan 12 - 25)
Post Op: 129 days
Goal achieved: 8 cm
Consolidation days: 41

Sorry for the delay in reporting my progress. Going forward my reports will be more infrequent probably biweekly instead of weekly. Not that I don’t want to keep you updated it’s just that not enough happens weekly.

Couple of important things I want to update you on. First off my bent legs are finally getting straight. Currently my left and right legs are respectively 10 and 5 degrees away from being straight. Neither Dr M nor my PT considers the bend to be critical. Once I start fully weight bearing the remaining bend will quickly go away. As for weight bearing I can fully weight bear on my right leg starting Feb 6 and my left 2 weeks after that. My right leg already has a clear bone bridge but Dr M wants me to wait another 2 weeks to ensure its strong enough.

Flexibility/Mobility: Still using a walker instead of crutches. Dr M is very risk adverse and wants me to wait until I have one good leg before using crutches. I’m ok with this logic Feb 6 will come quick enough and the last thing I want now is a bent or broken rod. Walking with a walker is relatively effortless at this point. I feel my legs getting stronger every day.

Pain: Only during exercise/stretch or bad movement but less than prior. The days of pain killers or the need of them are long past.

Overall Mood: Cabin fever getting impatient want to walk and get out of the house.

Bone Growth and Consolidation: right leg full weight bearing 2/6 (definitely) and left by 2/17 (hopefully). Next Dr M visit 2/17

afonso · « **Reply #53 on:** January 28, 2015, 01:45:48 AM »

4 months Post OP Left Leg - 39 days of consolidation

4 months Post OP Right Leg - 39 days of consolidation

Left Leg right after lengthening 8CM

Left Leg couple of days ago at 10 degrees from Straight

Taller · « **Reply #54 on:** January 28, 2015, 03:09:49 AM »

Congratulations on your amazing progress! It looks like you've got a bone bridge on both femurs!

Would it be too much trouble/safe for you to post a body shot (with walker, of course) so that we can be see how the lengthening looks relative to the body? You can and should edit out or cut your face out of the picture, along with any potentially identifying tattoos/marks.

It would be greatly appreciated.

And, again, congratulations!

Uppland · « **Reply #55 on:** January 28, 2015, 08:41:19 AM »

Looks good from what I can see

afonso · « **Reply #56 on:** February 10, 2015, 01:57:08 AM »

Week 19 & 20 (Jan 26 – Feb 8 )
Post Op: 143 days
Goal achieved: 8 cm
Consolidation days: 55

Here we are 2 weeks later and some good changes. The biggest is that I can fully weight bear on my right leg and hopefully my left leg will be Feb 17 the next time I see Dr M. Having one good leg means I’ve started using crutches which makes the world of difference to navigate society. Going to restaurants, cafes, etc… is not enjoyable in a wheelchair or walker. I’m ready to walk my legs are getting stronger and relatively straight. My left leg is still slightly bent but that will be fixed with walking.

Overall Mood: Cabin fever getting impatient want to walk and get out of the house more.

Bone Growth and Consolidation: Next Dr M visit 2/17 come on left leg daddy needs to walk.

afonso · « **Reply #57 on:** February 10, 2015, 02:22:02 AM »

Some of you expressed interest in seeing before and after pictures of my femurs

Image of full body before LL

Full leg after LL

Full Leg sitting after LL

Full body after LL

Blackhawk · « **Reply #58 on:** February 10, 2015, 02:33:13 AM »

Thanks for posting the pics! I don't think anyone would suspect you underwent this surgery. Except maybe the people that knew you before.

afonso · « **Reply #59 on:** February 10, 2015, 02:51:31 AM »

Hi Blackhawk, thanks that's what I'm hoping for - don't want to be obvious.

theuprising · « **Reply #60 on:** February 10, 2015, 03:18:22 AM »

Hi Alfonso what is your wingspan?

Uppland · « **Reply #61 on:** February 10, 2015, 11:11:17 AM »

Good pictures man, I honestly can't see a huge difference between your first and last pics. Your femurs seemed to be kind of short pre-op so probably a good choise to do them instead of your tibia bones.

Good luck with your recovery mate

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Author Topic: Afonso - Precice II Internal Femurs - Dr. Mahboubian - Sept 2014 (Read 35872 times)