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[BilateralDamage]

I don't want to reveal my choice until I pay for the surgery, but I'm for sure having the surgery done May 2014.  I'm excited to post a detailed diary, maybe a video log similar to leechletll.

Always smart to take it a step at a time!  Could you tell me more about this nail that your doctor is using?  What's the weight-bearing, etc.?

[ChrisIsaak]

Fitbone has a larger diameter than the first Precice, therefore it has less risk of bending or breaking. However, just like the first Precice, it isn't weightbearing. You either have to lengthen one leg at a time, or stay on a wheelchair during the lengthening phase. It usually takes an additional month after beginning consolidation for the patient to start walking. Fitbone's advantage to the Betzbone or to Albizzia equivalents, I believe, is that it is a controlled rate mechanism rather than a ratcheting, mechanical "clicking" system in which you have to bend your legs to a certain angle to lengthen the bone. Similar to the Precice, Fitbone is activated by a remote control. I believe this means less damage to the nerves and soft tissue, and faster consolidation of the bone bridge. I don't care about weightbearing as long as you ensure to undergo a good physiotherapy following the operation. Precice is a magnetic system; whereas Fitnone is an electrical system, but they both have remote controls.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=I6qFbZfFW1Q
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xkAa7-eG-KU

[Keep Growing]

Hi Chris,

Is there any accomodation provided in the package? and is there any workout sessions included?

I assume that after the lengthening phase you will be able to move yourself with crunches, is that correct?
I'm thinking that in the event on slow bone regeneration you will want to be able to move around.

Do you know if the Fitbone device modifies the curve of the femur bone? I don't know if this is a good or a bad thing, maybe someone can let us know.

And finally, does anyone know if you can end up with knee problems from Fitbone. I know that when using an internal device on tibias you can have knee issues and I'm looking to compare with Precice and Jamalnail.

Best of luck,

[ChrisIsaak]

Hi Keep Growing,

Accomodation isn't included in the package, but nevertheless I did some research for international patients in the future. There's Mim Hotel right next to the hospital, and if you make a special deal with them for staying 3 months, the rate is €60 per night. They have special rooms for disabled people such as LL patients. Renting a nearby residence/apartment suite for 3 months would be a lot cheaper though. Mim is a 4 star hotel, there might be cheaper options. I'm thinking about setting up a rehab center-ish patient home in Istanbul for international patients in the future, but obviously I have to recover first. (P.S: I haven't talked about this with the doctor. We have no agreements whatsoever, I'm just a regular patient. I wish we had an agreement though, I'd gladly advertise the Fitbone or the doctor to pay less.. Lol.) I'll be staying at home, which is an hour away from the hospital in heavy Istanbul traffic. Not bad.

Workout sessions will be adjusted depending on the lengthening phase. There will be rehab every single weekday with the physio, who will be coming home to help me out. He will also assign therapy movements that I have to do on my own every day. The PT will be heavier after we pass 5 centimeters.

Your assumption is correct, I will hopefully be able to walk with crutches after the lengthening (plus some additional time for consolidation OR immediately after lengthening if my doctor does another surgery to insert the titanium sheets for support.. so there are two possible scenarios.)

What do you mean with "modifying the curve of the femur bone"? If I got it right, I believe you must be asking about the MAD (Mechanical Axis Deviation)? Those are calculated weeks before the surgery on your X-ray, and sent to the doctor as a report.

I'm having my femurs lengthened, so I don't know if knee problems are relevant. We'll see. It won't be a breeze, but I hope and pray there won't be any complications we can't deal with. A friend of mine had a leg discrepancy problem and got his femur lengthened (only one leg) with the Fitbone with Professor Baumgart in Germany. He's fine now.

Cheers,
ChrisIsaak

[Keep Growing]

Hi,

The reason I asked about walking while lengthening is because I'm looking to return home and lengthen while performing my desk job. Off course I'll take care to go to a physio after finishing my day in the office.
I'm not sure what MAD is but have a look at the attached photo. You'll see that the femur is slightly bent. If you cut it and insert a nail it will somehow straighten and I'm not sure if this is ok on long term.
As far as the knee issues, well, the Fitbone is inserted thoughu the lower side of the bone so I'm thinking it may have some effect on the knee...or not ? as compared to Bliskunov nail which enters through the upper side. I'm really afraid of knee pain.

Cheers,

[ChrisIsaak]

I'm currently in talks with Mim Hotel. Might actually stay there for at least a month since they have rooms for disabled people. It might be more convenient than staying at home for a while.

[ChrisIsaak]

Checking in to the hospital today (Sunday) for blood tests.

Surgery on the following day (Monday).

In performance arts, when we want to wish good luck to someone, we say "Break a leg!"

I guess the phrase suits the situation just fine.

[ChrisIsaak]

Surgery tomorrow morning at 8 AM.

 

 

[BullSurfer]

I've been pondering about femur lengthening since i'm doing the tibia now. I know LON would make LLer impossible to sleep since the frames are high, unless you have thick buttocks. However I don't see much hindrances from Monorail. Can anybody give me some input on femur by way of Monorail?

I did talk with my doctor regarding internal nail, but all he could say was the price will be high. I'm looking forward to my recovery at home then restrategize.

[Muse]

All the best dude, you're growing taller and there's plenty of football to watch while you're recovering. 

[ChrisIsaak]

Thanks boss!   

I plan on watching Short & Male to motivate myself to push on if I happen to feel a lot of pain, LOL. Just kidding. That documentary actually drains all my energy.

I have a ton of television shows that I could start watching though. Breaking Bad, Prison Break, the second season of Game of Thrones and onward.. I've been saving them all for the surgery.

[Adriano]

I've been pondering about femur lengthening since i'm doing the tibia now. I know LON would make LLer impossible to sleep since the frames are high, unless you have thick buttocks. However I don't see much hindrances from Monorail. Can anybody give me some input on femur by way of Monorail?

I did talk with my doctor regarding internal nail, but all he could say was the price will be high. I'm looking forward to my recovery at home then restrategize.

how much?
who is ur Dr?

[olivetree]

I have a ton of television shows that I could start watching though. Breaking Bad...

I've been saving Breaking Bad too!! Lol such a bad ass, great show. Especially to distract yourself.

[handy]

Something about this makes no sense to me. You are going to end up paying close to or over $80,000 to have surgery and accommodation with the Fitbone in Turkey which does not allow any weight bearing at all, when you could have paid $10,000 less and had surgery and accommodation with Precice 2 in the U.S. or Korea or the Guichet Nail with Dr. Guichet in Italy,France? Why?

You said in your original post that a major reason for doing it this way is you get to lengthen at home. Now you just said on old forum  that you want to stay in a hotel for 60 euros a night so you can be away from your family. Huh??

I could've stayed at home, but I want to be away from my family while doing this

[Adriano]

 ah aha aha ahaaah ah 

Good pick up Handy !!

[handy]

Thanks.

Here are ChrisIsaak-Upinthesky quotes from old forum .

The total cost of lengthening with Fitbone is around €50,000-55,000 in Turkey, excluding accomodation prices.

The price of the hotel was €90 per night, but I negotiated and brought it down to €60 since I'll be staying there for at least a month.

Reason: Logistically easy. I'll lengthen at home.

I could've stayed at home, but I want to be away from my family while doing this

Something else I picked up on. When ChrisIsaak-Upinthesky mentioned that he was considering external femur lengthening to save money he was talking about the same doctor who is going to do his surgery with Fitbone. Check out this quote.

A less expensive option here would be the intramedullary LON, which would be around €20,000-25,000 excluding accomodation. The cheapest option is external lengthening with the classical Ilizarov frames, which is somewhere around €15,000.

Everyone should look at the 5th post on the first page of this thread from me. Seriously ChrisIsaak-Upinthesky, where the hell is your brain? You chose a doctor in Turkey who also offers external femur lengthening to save patients money over two great doctors you personally consulted with in Dr. Paley and Dr. Guichet.  How unbelievably stupid and dangerous!!

[ChrisIsaak]

handy,

What you are doing right now is unbelievably inconsiderate and stupid. I just checked in to the hospital and will be having surgery this morning. I have no obligation to keep a diary, yet I logged in to upload some hospital photos now and reading what you wrote frustrated me. I am in a first class hospital, undergoing surgery with a great doctor. I am Turkish. "Lengthening at home" means lengthening in the same country. Yes, I meant to stay at home, but then we changed our mind after a lengthy discussion with my family. They are quite sad at my decision to undergo LL and I don't want to be at home with them where they'll be sad. Plus the hotel has a room for disabled people and is right next to the hospital, so we finally decided that it would be more convenient. I have people who care about me here, my family, friends, girlfriend - what could be more convenient?

If you believe everything you read on internet forums, then you're an idiot. External femur lengthening with monorails is done safely around the world, but it has some disadvantages. My final opinion on this matter changed a lot recently. Some other kid here is doing external monorail lengthening right now. He's fine. I will meet him sometime when he visits for a check-up.

I don't wish to argue with you further. Please leave my diary. And learn some manners and respect before posing as a CIA agent, bringing my posts here for inspection.

[ChrisIsaak]

[ChrisIsaak]

Let me add that it is me who has consulted with all of these doctors, and me who made a final decision based on these consultations.

There are details that I know about doctors and nails that I would rather keep to myself. There have been some problems with the first Precice. The second Precice is new - I hope it turns out to be great, but I don't want to be a guinea pig. I personally spoke with a Fitbone patient who lengthened one of his legs (to correct a leg length discrepancy) in Germany with Prof. Baumgart before deciding that it was okay to pick Fitbone.

Guichet was awesome, but he told me that I needed more flexibility before surgery. He told me that I would need to build at least 30% more leg muscle mass, and suggested that I workout with Serge Coneza at Marseille. At my current state, I would not be able to lengthen more than 3 cm, he said.

Then I went back to Paley and asked about all that. He basically said, quote, "Not to sound unprofessional but this is nonsense. I can safely lengthen you between 6-8 cm's."

You need to understand that medicine is not an entirely positive science and doctors have different opinions, and different methods. Ask any doctor and they will confirm.

You say "Two great doctors", indeed they are, and guess what? They don't agree with each other.

I only met one femur external monorail lengthening patient so far. He had to stop somewhere between 2-3 cm's and head back to the United States. He underwent LL with another Turkish doctor, whom I didn't trust and feel comfortable with. However, considering that it was his third LL surgery, and second femur lengthening, I'm not actually surprised that he faced complications.

[Muse]

I agree with ChrisIsaak request that handy should not post in this diary thread anymore, before this becomes an ongoing issue. 

Frankly nobody should have to deal with rude comments like  "where the hell is your brain" when doing/recovering from LL.

Some of handy's comments crossed the line, he's been informed/warned about this. 
 
If you disagree about something, there are better ways to express that opinion than being rude about it.

http://www.limblengtheningforum.com/index.php?topic=79.0

 

 

[BilateralDamage]

Chris, sorry you had to deal with that, and I think your response is incredibly mature.  handy is an immature douche who loves to stir up controversy, and I pray that he doesn't post in my diary one day.

Keep posting pictures and I'm sending good vibes your way for your surgery!! 

[ChrisIsaak]

Thanks buddy 

@ Dameon: Thanks a lot to you as well.

One hour left for surgery, wish me luck. Will try to update as soon as possible when I get out of the operating room.

[inquisitivemind]

I hope everything goes extremely well. Good luck!!!

[Blackhawk]

Good luck!!!

[ChrisIsaak]

Thank you for the wishes, friends!

Just got out of surgery & I'm back at the patient room. I have absolutely no pain whatsoever since the anaesthesia's effect hasn't worn out. The epidural is still connected to me. I don't feel my legs and feet at all though. I'm trying to move my toes but I can't - it's annoying 

I'm literally bed-ridden at the moment. I have my parents with me, but I'd rather be alone, not kidding. They keep getting phone calls which keeps annoying me, lol. I actually love my country. Even distant relatives keep calling and wish for a good recovery. I'm very grateful, but at the same time I'm a "no drama" person, so I'm laugling like "C'mon, it's a cosmetic surgery!" I'd rather be left alone with a KFC bucket and some beer at the moment.

[ChrisIsaak]

- The surgery took approximately 4 hours.

- You can't hear or feel anything during the surgery. You're out. The last thing I remember is being taken to the operating room.

- I don't feel dizzy or nauseated at all. I feel 100% normal and energetic, I just don't feel my legs and feet.

- The assistant doctor visited my room after surgery and asked me if I had any pain. I said none. He told me to drink some water and said that tonight (the first night) would be the most difficult, especially once the anesthesia effect wears off. But I still have the epidural connected, so the pain will be manageable. If I feel nauseated or feel pain, I can call the nurses by pressing a red button next to my bed.

- However, hospital dinner just arrived, and I found out that I can't force myself into a sitting position. If I do, I feel like vomiting and very dizzy. So I had to lie down on my back again. I can only eat in a "horizontal" position. In other words.. Mother's feeding me again after so many years. Hehe.

[krin0610]

- The surgery took approximately 4 hours.

- You can't hear or feel anything during the surgery. You're out. The last thing I remember is being taken to the operating room.

- I don't feel dizzy or nauseated at all. I feel 100% normal and energetic, I just don't feel my legs and feet.

- The assistant doctor visited my room after surgery and asked me if I had any pain. I said none. He told me to drink some water and said that tonight (the first night) would be the most difficult, especially once the anesthesia effect wears off. But I still have the epidural connected, so the pain will be manageable. If I feel nauseated or feel pain, I can call the nurses by pressing a red button next to my bed.

- However, hospital dinner just arrived, and I found out that I can't force myself into a sitting position. If I do, I feel like vomiting and very dizzy. So I had to lie down on my back again. I can only eat in a "horizontal" position. In other words.. Mother's feeding me again after so many years. Hehe.

Congrats buddy!!!

You will be fine and fingers crossed everything will go smoothly.


Tx

[KiloKAHN]

Wish you well on the big journey ahead of you. Keep us posted

[ChrisIsaak]

Thank you for the good wishes, guys! I'll keep you updated all the time.

It's been very easy so far, it's almost surprising. The epidural is still tied to my arm though, which is why I don't feel any pain whatsoever. The catheter is a bit disturbing, but that's about it. It won't be difficult to sleep since I forced myself to get used to sleeping on my back before surgery. Pre-surgery I conditioned myself for LL circumstances.

We'll see what happens when the painkiller tube is removed from my arm. I'm curious about what sort of pain it will be. My back itches quite a lot, which is another minor disturbance. The anesthesia effect has worn off partially, I can move my toes and feel my legs. I don't feel like my bones are broken at all. It just feels somewhat rigid. It's like a "stretching" feeling

The PT will begin when I leave the hospital. I expected to stay for a week at least, but the doctor told me today that I could leave earlier if I was feeling good. He will decide depending on my condition.

I haven't done any weight bearing or transfers yet. I feel like I could easily make transfers to the wheelchair at the moment, if only the catheter had been removed. I haven't tried bending my legs but I feel like I could. However, I don't want to "experiment" with things until Dr. Inan arrives in the morning.

Listening to music helps pass the time. The only doctor in the room at the moment is "Dr. Dre - Beats". You may shoot me after this joke.

[ChrisIsaak]

The dinner yesterday was;
- Cream of mushroom soup
- Meatballs and brown rice
- Chocolate mousse

And the breakfast this morning was the typical Meditterranean breakfast. Cucumber, tomatoes, black olives, feta cheese, yellow cheese (beyaz peynir & kasar peyniri) and honey.

I couldn't sleep a lot yesterday night, as I claimed I would, but I don't feel tired either. It's probably because I drifted off for brief periods of sleep, which were interrupted almost every hour by the nurses or maids coming in to change bed sheets, change the wraps on my legs, put plastic bags filled with ice on my knees, and administer new painkillers to my vein when requested. I actually have a button in my bed, when I press it, the machine sends a painkilling solution from the tube connected to my vein (overdose isn't possible, the machine is preset to administer a certain maximum dose). Istanbul Cerrahi is really a first class hospital. The caretaking here is amazing. I have five nurses taking care of me at different hours.

The assistant doctor came in half an hour ago and checked my legs. I can raise them and bend my knees. Homework number one - I should do these every hour as an exercise. However, just as I predicted before surgery, I have a "good leg" and a "bad leg". My left leg is perfect -literally without any pain- and exercising it is a walk in the park. On the other hand, my right leg (which had worse flexibility and a bit less muscle mass before surgery) hurts like hell. It's okay when I keep it straight, but my knee hurts when I try to bend it. I can bend my knee, it just takes tremendous effort. I can raise both legs easily though.

[BilateralDamage]

I'm glad they're treating you well Chris, that place sounds like a grade A hospital.  I could go for some of that gourmet food you're having.

Do you think the correlation between your right leg's flexibility and mass and increased pain is significant?  I'm always curious how important pre-OP muscle training is.