Topic: Dr Xia Beijing - Surgeon Peng Aimin - External Tibias - November 2013 to 2014 (Read 43443 times)

Medium Drink Of Water · « **Reply #31 on:** April 15, 2014, 10:35:07 PM »

Nobody is winning, everyone is losing.

Orlando · « **Reply #32 on:** April 15, 2014, 10:45:16 PM »

The Syrian Civil War remains unresolved and won't be over for many months if not years. The Assad regime is still in control and people are dying there. It's a total mess and God Bless them that some miracle will happen.

For LL it means Dr Salameh can't do surgery there for 10k Euros. Don't think it matters now that we know that there are other Doctors who do external for the same price range.

Thegosis · « **Reply #33 on:** April 16, 2014, 04:45:28 AM »

I've arrived back in Beijing and I'm at the Guangji hospital. During my absence the leaves have returned to the trees. Our other foreign patients are getting about with walking frames and Dr Zhao has pushed the bumps out of my upper shins and retightened the frame attachments. That was a torture and right after I was too afraid to roll over or bend my right knee. Then I met a sixteen year old boy from Ningxia province who can't walk and whose grandmother is thin lady pretty obviously from a peasant/farmer background and who is the carer for him because his parents split up and went away to do their own things.

Thus I wrote a memo to myself to man the f**k up and not display my daily own adversities as anything that should be thought of as big.

Yesterday I've stopped lengthening and in this morning had an xray to determine the extent of what that has been. This afternoon the doc will schedule me for the blessed date when these contraptions come of my legs.

My walking frame did not make it with me all the way. It missed the flight and will be available for pickup from the airport tomorrow.

An interesting development is that they have even more foreign patients, at least two, who are at a better provisioned hospital where it costs more to stay. Maybe I won't even get to meet them, but the two other patients here did.

It's a great time of year here and good to have left the onset of Autumn where I was.

Years ago when the protests in Syria turned into a war I thought it wouldn't be long till another dictator fell and that would be a good expression of people power. But neither has that happened nor has it looked likely to come to a voluntary end while year bleeds over to year. Now I just want someone, anyone, to roll over the other side decisively and have an end to it all.

Thegosis · « **Reply #34 on:** April 16, 2014, 11:06:13 AM »

To Medium and any others who have been to Dr Xia's Institute in Beijing, there is a man I refer to as Mr Jing who does the driving when a patient has to leave the hospital. As you can imagine, I've spent a lot of time with him on the way to medical attention outside the hospital. He formerly worked at the hospital but now he is retired and the nurses and maids all know him very well because of a long time that they previously spent working with him.

I expected Mr Jing to be at the airport to pick me up yesterday but it transpires he is in Szechuan so I didn't get to give him the gift I had for him. He has a spry and upbeat nature and he also sneaks a cigarette now and then.

I just wanted to ask if any of y'all remember him or have any nice stories about him. I hope that he's feeling a boost out of his spring holiday and I hope that I get to see him again before I leave.

Medium Drink Of Water · « **Reply #35 on:** April 16, 2014, 06:07:40 PM »

There's a chapter in Fear and Lengthening about going shopping with him:

http://www.limblengtheningforum.com/index.php?topic=84.msg6906#msg6906

I remember keeping a blanket with the Air China logo on it from my flight to Beijing the whole time I was there for my nail removal. When we went back to the airport I held up the blanket as a way of communicating to him which terminal we should go to for my return flight to America.

Thegosis · « **Reply #36 on:** April 17, 2014, 01:21:20 PM »

Limb lengthening patients here travel in wheelchairs which hold the legs straight out ahead. Today I changed to a more normal sort of wheelchair where the feet rest on horizontal paddles with the lower leg vertical. I was inspired to go twice there and back to the Tesco supermarket which is half a kilometer away.

Two months ago when I left for home every patient was from Szechuan province, and now everyone is from Ningxia. Those regions are quite far from here which underlines the national reputation for expertise that this place has in lower limb deformity correction.

There is a significant expansion here which has not been comprehended by me before today. When I left in February they were close to making a elevator operational to get to the first floor. Today I travelled in that lift for the first time and up there I discovered new ward and rooms practically ready for occupation above the length of both wards here and the offices linking the two. Now this is not to say that lower limb deformity correction will double here, as I suspect they will be used for the other operations of the venue which include treating conditions unrelated to lower limb surgery.

I've now being formally directed by the doc to quit lengthening, having passed the limit of 8cm which was originally agreed to. Mission Accomplished

He can have his Sidchrome spanner back. Next I await to be told of the scheduled date for the removal of these frames which I expect to be 14-21 days from now. And the x-ray confirmed my extended legs are of precisely equal lengths, which is another relief.

Thegosis · « **Reply #37 on:** April 18, 2014, 05:28:34 AM »

Here is a depiction of the gap in the frame resulting from lengthening with one of the common model Nokia phones shown for scale. This was taken only a couple of days before stopping.

Thegosis · « **Reply #38 on:** April 30, 2014, 04:27:59 AM »

Its been two weeks since I stopped lengthening which gives a further week to the time that these leg frames come off. Then I will be taken to the other hospital I have heard to be about 40 minutes away. There's no internet for patients there.

This morning I took such a long time to go from my bed to the bathroom and the lesson is that inactivity is not so good for healing as it has brought upon weakening at the very top of the shin just below the knees. It was the feeling of being the most crippled since the nine prelengthening days prior to my first operation. I am back to grabbing at these frames to move my legs from step to step which is another way of saying that my legs feel too heavy to lift with their own power. I've addressed this setback by purloining a roller chair with a higher seat.

Extra height is more difficult to manage.

RGKEY · « **Reply #39 on:** April 30, 2014, 04:38:44 AM »

just hang in there warrior))!!

Thegosis · « **Reply #40 on:** May 09, 2014, 03:39:14 AM »

I will get to see this other hospital which is an hour's drive away about Beijing. I will leave the Fengtai site on Tuesday or Wednesday and be there only 3 or 4 days. The American patient who has been there recently gave a bad report of it: that he resorted to buying his own meals, that he woke up screaming from the wearing off of his anaesthesia, and that the living conditions were cramped and stuffy. It also has no internet service.

I'm told that I will be given an epidural. Whether that's anaesthesia or analgesia, it means blocking the transmission of signals through nerve fibers in or near the spinal cord.

It's now more than 20 days post lengthening and therefore time to strip these leg cages away and give the legs a chance at a greater range of motion. It been the experience of feeling both of my legs pierced by arrows which has been done in a controlled, surgical way.

Medium Drink Of Water · « **Reply #41 on:** May 09, 2014, 04:12:32 AM »

Congratulations on being so close to finishing your journey.

This other hospital, do you know what its purpose is? Is there overflow from Guang Ji?

Thegosis · « **Reply #42 on:** May 23, 2014, 02:01:34 PM »

The Guangji Hospital will not exist much longer as a venue for limb lengthening and correction. It is all going to be done at the new centre somewhere in a medical city that is a place I have never been to. My surgery to remove the leg cages was a little over a week ago at a public hospital that is associated with Qinghua University. Casts have been made of my legs and I now have custom fitted moulds which, though added weight, aid the stability of the knees. 5 June I will leave for home with a new wheelchair and whatever other aids (crutches, walking stalks, walking frame) that will suit me.

Blackhawk · « **Reply #43 on:** May 23, 2014, 02:33:25 PM »

Congrats Thegosis!

When did you have the initial surgery? How much did you gain? Is the new facility close to Beijing?

Thegosis · « **Reply #44 on:** June 20, 2014, 01:40:20 PM »

My original planned departure of 5 June had to be put off for treatment of infection and removal of one of the fixing screws below the right knee. Now that has all been dealt with and the screw replaced in surgery on Wednesday at an upmarket hospital on the other side of Beijing. I don't know the name. Tonight is my last sleep at the Guangji Hospital in Fengtai District of Beijing very close now to 7 months since I first arrive here. I depart the country in the early hours of 22 June with an intramedullary rod in either tibia.

It will be a while till I stand and walk because practising either has been forbidden as a strategy of the infection treatment. I may be the last foreign patient ever to be accommodated at the Guangji Hospital for this cosmetic procedure because my two remaining buddies left me yesterday and the day before.

I won't see this place again even if I am coming back in more than a year for the same surgeons to remove what they put in.

Converse · « **Reply #45 on:** July 04, 2014, 12:47:29 AM »

Hi Thegosis,

How are you doing now? Any updates regarding walking fitness and regaining range of motion in your knees?

LittleLiam · « **Reply #46 on:** July 04, 2014, 10:45:26 AM »

Hey Thegosis,

I'll be arriving into Beijing on 24 August from OZ for my OP :-)

Wonder which hospital as the invite letter say Guang Ji.

BTW well done hero!

Thegosis · « **Reply #47 on:** August 19, 2014, 01:45:34 PM »

I still get about with crutches. I've been reconnecting with job agencies and employers I worked for previously and been climbing some ladders to clear things off the roof of my house. I walk half normal pace and balance on either foot only awkwardly. I can squat down all the way to the ground with heels touching the floor and do six or ten of those in a row.

My father died on Saturday in Arizona USA while I'm in Australia. I renewed my US passport because I wanted to go across to see him but now, well, there's my uncle who came down with a heart attack in the last two weeks.

I met my father the first time when I was 19 in 1990 and the last time in 2004. I heard his voice for the final time when I called him from my own rehabilitation hospital bed the week before last. Losing a parent. Empty feeling. Everyone will go through this eventually. Even the Prophet of Islam had to deal with being an orphan at the age of six. He died with all those friends and supporters and a few enemies too.

Taller · « **Reply #48 on:** August 19, 2014, 02:32:24 PM »

I am saddened to hear about your loss, Thegosis. These times are never easy, and I admire your strength to talk about it. My sincere condolences to you an all others who will miss him.

ShortyMcShort · « **Reply #49 on:** August 19, 2014, 03:52:33 PM »

You never officially stated how many cms you gained, I think you said over 8cms. So how many cms did you actually gain? Im assuming 8cm?

Do you have any knee pain or discomfort atm?

Blackhawk · « **Reply #50 on:** August 19, 2014, 08:25:47 PM »

Sorry for your loss Thegosis. My dad just spent about a month in the hospital and finally went home last week. I thought he wasn't going to make it.

Classical · « **Reply #51 on:** August 20, 2014, 10:50:23 PM »

My deepest condolence to you! Your dad is going to a much better place...

Sweden · « **Reply #52 on:** August 21, 2014, 12:27:01 AM »

Mohammed also married a 9 year old little girl and raped her so that doesn't mean anything. It's all a fairy tale.

Sorry for your loss and be thankful that you managed so well during this process.
It took me 6 months just to squat.

Polycrates. · « **Reply #53 on:** August 21, 2014, 01:19:24 AM »

Careful, Sweden... don't want to become the next target for ISIS.

Sweden · « **Reply #54 on:** August 21, 2014, 01:39:46 AM »

Quote from: Polycrates. on August 21, 2014, 01:19:24 AM

Careful, Sweden... don't want to become the next target for ISIS.

It's 2 late for that. They are already here in Sweden.

Thegosis · « **Reply #55 on:** December 30, 2014, 10:48:19 AM »

8cm. Knees still getting stronger. Getting past the bump on my R shin that had brought out a noticeable limp. Running at about 7km/hr on the treadmill. Now beyond any doctors restrictions on work.

Thegosis · « **Reply #56 on:** January 12, 2015, 05:26:33 AM »

http://picpaste.com/dyxrays29dec14-page-3-M8rqxsgO.jpg
]http://picpaste.com/Screenshot__6_-d4B5f271.jpg[url]
http://picpaste.com/dyxrays29dec14-page-4__1_-j9lBqGyJ.jpg[/url]

The first and third of these are my right leg xrayed on 29 December last year
The other is the same but from 18 October. Two months+ earlier.

Please give me your remarks and observations about shape, healing, progress etc

Medium Drink Of Water · « **Reply #57 on:** January 15, 2015, 10:52:40 PM »

Looking good. The fibula looks bent inward in one of them, but I doubt that matters and maybe it'll even go away with more consolidation.

ItsMyLife · « **Reply #58 on:** January 15, 2015, 11:00:11 PM »

according to dr bagirov, doesnt matter..
as long as the top and bottom of fibula are fixated....
cos fibula is not that important bone..
only serves some ankle functions.

Thegosis · « **Reply #59 on:** January 15, 2015, 11:02:13 PM »

Actually the screenshot is the other (ie. left) leg from October 18 of 2014

Thegosis · « **Reply #60 on:** January 23, 2015, 10:56:57 PM »

The report for the December 29 Xrays is a big double thumbs up:

"Comparison with examination obtained in October demonstrates an ongoing healing of the fibular osteotomies, the density of the left tibial cortex has continued to improve. There are no features of loosening. Similar improvement is present on the right, the fibular osteotomy has continued to increase. There is no evidence of loosening.

Comment: Satisfactory alignment, no evidence of loosening, progressive improvement in cortical density."

As this is all so encouraging and I've been able to hit 9km/h for short spurts on the treadmill my current thinking is to go for PRECICE2 femurs with Dr Suhas Shah in Mumbai without hesitation. Soon .. like as soon as I can get a visa.

Taller · « **Reply #61 on:** January 24, 2015, 12:31:11 AM »

Congratulations on your progress, Thegosis! I am very happy for you! Also, I can't wait to here about your femur lengthening joinery!

Limb Lengthening Forum

Author Topic: Dr Xia Beijing - Surgeon Peng Aimin - External Tibias - November 2013 to 2014 (Read 43443 times)

Orlando