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[BilateralDamage]

Hope you like the title 

I've decided to make this diary to glean information from others as I go through my journey, and hopefully help guide you to one day starting your very own diary! This is an area for me to deposit my thoughts and see myself progress, and I completely encourage you to do the same if you haven't already.  Who cares if you don't have a doctor or date planned yet or even any money, your story of why you're doing LL is important too.  We all want to hear what each other has to say.

Who are you?

I'm BilateralDamage, but call me BD.  I'm from the US, 21 years old, weighing 140 lbs and my height is 167 cm.  I have a wingspan of 176 cm, a sitting height of 86 cm and a very athletic fit body (but I haven't tried doing any backflips yet- looking at you Sweden  ).  I used to think I was doomed to be a short man for the rest of my longevity on this earth and fell into a heavy depression.  I've had people call me names without provoking them, my so-called "friends" make me feel less of a human being because of my height, people not take me seriously in business, social, fitness, family life, and eventually outcasted from social circles because of my attitude in life after my depression.  But would you know it, as soon as I found out that LL existed, I had a slight skip in my step the very next day.  I'm becoming friendlier and happier and a lot more people started accepting me into their social circles.

I remember seeing the movie Gattaca and hearing rumors that the lengthening Jude Law's character did in the movie was actually physically possible, but only for very short amounts, and I never bothered to read up on LL after that point.  I also thought something like that looked disturbing and never imagined myself even considering it.  My girlfriend stumbled across the documentary Apotheosis had with 20/20 and she showed it to me in a joking manner, not realizing how seriously I would take it.  Thanks for something Apo/SysOp!

Who is my doctor?

I haven't fully decided that yet.  I am very strongly leaning towards Doctor Birkholtz (South African doctor who I have not seen any diaries for yet!)  I discuss why in the video I'm embedding below.  I'm not that great of a podcaster/speaker yet (I think this video is boring) but I promise to get to leechlet's level soon.   Just need more practice, it feels weird talking to myself.  I also have a great camera and will take some neat footage wherever I end up doing LL.

If you don't care to watch the video, I'll break down why I'm leaning towards Dr. Birkholtz into 3 bullet points.

• Pricing
• Honesty and Character
• Knowledge

The three things that really separate most surgeries, huh?

Dr. Birkholtz offers PRECICE lengthening at a cheaper rate than most doctors I've seen.  Most of the prices I've witnessed so far are considerably higher than his 54,000 USD cost for surgery, hospital stay, accommodation for 4 weeks, physio, food, etc.  On top of pricing, as I go into in the video, Dr. Birkholtz is an incredibly upfront and honest man and he has my full confidence that I'd be in good hands.  You don't have to look far to see this, in his thread on this forums, he posted even discouraging some people from doing CLL.  It's not a safe procedure and any doctor encouraging it is most likely a greedy hack.  In regards to knowledge, the man teaches doctors from around the world at a prestigious hospital in South Africa on LL.  If you just take a glance at http://www.limblengtheningforum.com/index.php?topic=137.0 where he answers many of our questions, you can tell he really knows what he's talking about.

He is not my final choice, and I still want as much input as possible from everyone to help me ultimately decide who I want to do my internal femoral lengthening with.  I chose the PRECICE because it seems to have faired better than other nails, I can afford to be in a wheelchair for extended periods of time, I'm not interested in bending or breaking my nail, and I'm also not interested in paying upwards of 80K-100K out of my pocket for this surgery.



When will I do the surgery?

May 2014, no matter what.  I'm graduating and finishing my studies completely in May 2014, and will be heading straight into surgery to get this over with.  I wanted to do this over my current winter break between last semester and next semester, but unfortunately, 1 1/2 months wasn't enough time!

What are you doing to prepare for your surgery?

I admit, I need to do more research in this department.  My honest opinion is that pre-OP doesn't matter much to the overall success of the surgery but I'm still going to do my research.  I'm going to pick and choose through each diary what seems to work and what doesn't, and then collect it all in an excel spreadsheet in this next week so I have the entire next 5 months to adhere to some regimen.

How much will you lengthen?

Max, 6.5 cm.  I don't plan on exceeding this point, for healing, safety, and time purposes.  I may do a second surgery on my tibiae for 6 cm of lengthening later down the road.

Second surgery?

I want to be an of average height male in the U.S. so I'm planning on lengthening my tibiae after my femurs heal up.  But who knows, maybe at that point I'll be so satisfied with my height that I won't need to do a second surgery.  That's years down the road!

Closing remarks?

Stay fresh.

[KiloKAHN]

Hi BD,

Appreciate the thread along with your post, both the typed info and your video. It's valuable to read and hear your thoughts a few months before the procedure. Will be interesting to see how you develop as your surgery starts following through to your bone consolidation and road to recovery afterward. Your statements of how being short has affected your life brought me back to my own experiences, and it made me realize even further how many of us here can relate to each other and can therefore support each other as we go on this lengthening journey.

Have to say I'm also excited to see who you ultimately choose to do your surgery with, especially if you end up choosing Dr. Birkholtz. I messaged Dameon and gave him Dr. Birkholtz's information that was posted on the site later - I found him by typing into Google "leg lengthening Africa" - and was a bit disappointed in the initial reaction toward his addition to the doctor directory on the site because of his practice location. As we saw on the forums, Dr. Birkholtz appears to be an ethical and knowledgeable doctor and I hope it shows when you're under his care, should you decide on him. There's an article online showing that he performed the first ever lengthening in Africa, so he's a pioneer.

I'll be doing the opposite of you, with external tibias first and then internal femurs. My visa is in the middle of being processed right now and I'm already getting butterflies in my stomach just from the nerves. Will be lengthening the end of this month or beginning of February if all goes according to plan.

Looking forward to your updates.

[Smallguy]

Awesome. The first video diary I'm watching. You can turn this into a real video documentary later on (just an idea).

Your experience will influence which doctor I choose later in 2014 for femur also.

What made you decide to do femur first over tibia? Tibia has cheaper options and there are more variety of doctors for tibias

[BilateralDamage]

Thanks guys.  And thank you Kilokhan for finding us Dr. Birkholtz' existence!  I don't think I would have ever bothered to search up "african limb lengthening" tbh.

Why I'm doing femurs first and not tibias are broken down into two points:

• healing time
• proportions

Femurs tend to heal faster than tibias, and while I'll be confined to a wheelchair for probably about 3 months, I should be able to have my tibias lengthened within a year after my surgery.  I don't think it would be as possible for me to lengthen my tibias 6 cm within a year and be fit enough to jump straight into my femoral lengthening.
In terms of proportions, as a matter of personal preference, I'd prefer to have unnaturally longer femurs than unnaturally longer tibiae for the period between my two surgeries.  My femurs are already longer than my tibiae, yes, but they're in a 1.11:1 ratio and having the femurs lengthened 6.5 cm would put them in a 1.286:1 ratio.  Conversely, if I were to lengthen my tibiae, I would notice them to be longer than my femurs and have a much more unnatural ratio.  Also, in my opinion, longer skinny tibiae are not too aesthetically pleasing, but obviously this view changes from person to person.
 
My lengths currently (rough estimates using a tape measure)
Femurs: 40.9375 cm
Tibiae: 36.875 cm

X-ray of my legs pre-surgery:

[LLL]

Exciting start of a diary, in so many ways! Looking forward to it, good luck!

Just curious, what's the height of your girlfriend?

[OldieButGoldie]

I loved your video (=speech)!!!
It is not boring at all.
And you spoke very well and impressively, you and Leechlet are on the same level there...

I'm always so amazed when I listen to you guys who are like 21 ore 22 years old and I almost cannot believe it. I feel like I was such a child at that age and you guys definitely seem to be more grown up than me!!!
And here I am , turning 46 in march... Crazy...
Somehow I think I will never ever grow up, no matter which age.
Sometimes I think this is good and sometimes I think it is sad...

Anyway, good luck with your journey, impressive start!

[Claude]

I totally agree with OBG, you seem so mature.
Im older than you but i dont seem to grow in all sens ah ah -)
Very interesting diary  .

[BilateralDamage]

old forum PartyLeaks,

Cheers!  I responded to your PM about this a few weeks ago.  Did you see that message?  For some reason, it won't show up in my Sent Box...
My girlfriend is around 5'1" - 5'2" (155 cm) and I think our heights mesh perfectly together.  I'd still prefer to be taller because I want her to be able to wear heels without me feeling short.

OBG,

Thank you! That means a lot coming from you, your writing style sounds very experienced and mature to me.  Btw, that video you posted in your diary today was badass.

Claude,

Thanks. 


-----------

I'm going to be posting an entry soon on advice Birkholtz has given me in regards to where I should cut my femurs (metaphyseal vs. diaphyseal regions) and where the nail should be inserted from (antegrade vs. retrograde).

[ChrisIsaak]

Hi BD,

I plan on traveling to South Africa for holiday and to visit a friend there this "summer". (Summer for us, but winter for South Africans, lol). I guess Dr. Birkholtz is in Pretoria? Because that's probably where I'll visit. I'll make sure to pay you a visit as well if you choose to undergo LL there.

[The View]

Hi BD how long a minimum time gap are you planning to leave in between your twos surgeries, if you were to get two? Why do you believe pre-op preparation is not that important ? I am 19 now but I will also be getting my surgeries when I graduate and turn 22 and have the same starting height as you.

[LLL]

BD, haha, sorry, I completely forgot about that message.. Yes, I received it

[OverrideYouGenetics]

good luck. I will be watching this diary as I am planning on doing LL with precice in future too.

It doesnt really matter if its precice 1 or 2 as I dont think i'll go over 6.5 cm in femur

[BilateralDamage]

Chris,

That would be awesome to see you.  And you'll be towering over me then.

View,

A minimum time gap (recommended by 3 separate doctors) was 1 year.  It's pretty amazing to me to imagine I can have the whole process of two different surgeries and lengthenings done within 2 years!
I haven't seen enough results from people who have done excessive amounts of stretching and leg muscle building to see its value IMO.  I'd love to be proven wrong with studies etc. so that way I know what to do beforehand.  But otherwise, to me it seems like the only doctor to take pre-op seriously is Dr. Guichet.  Regardless, I've already started stretching and doing squats at the gym now.  It's better to be safe than sorry!


--------

I made a couple of videos today, one at the gym and one with me talking about how Dr. Birkholtz wants to insert the PRECICE nail and why he wants to insert it this way.  The gym video is of me leg pressing and was made to show how much I can leg press pre-surgery (also it's shot on my iPhone, promise future vids will be high quality on my DSLR camera).  Having before and afters with video proof should be a great way to track progress!

[Smallguy]

I made a couple of videos today, one at the gym and one with me talking about how Dr. Birkholtz wants to insert the PRECICE nail and why he wants to insert it this way.  The gym video is of me leg pressing and was made to show how much I can leg press pre-surgery (also it's shot on my iPhone, promise future vids will be high quality on my DSLR camera).  Having before and afters with video proof should be a great way to track progress!

Thanks for sharing the video.

I'm impressed by the detail examination that your doc gone through with you... unlike my Indian who only gave me a 2 seconds examination and then surgery date. That makes me wonder how much time did he put into my life-changing surgery.

And btw, you definitely needs to focus on the stretching, like touching your finger with your toes, buttock stretch and quadriceps stretch. I heard countless cases of duck leg with femur lengthening and ballerina with tibiae. Keep updating!

[The View]

Hi Big D

Just to clarify is it one year between the surgeries or stopping lengthening that the 3 doctors recommended ?

[BilateralDamage]

Thanks for sharing the video.

I'm impressed by the detail examination that your doc gone through with you... unlike my Indian who only gave me a 2 seconds examination and then surgery date. That makes me wonder how much time did he put into my life-changing surgery.

And btw, you definitely needs to focus on the stretching, like touching your finger with your toes, buttock stretch and quadriceps stretch. I heard countless cases of duck leg with femur lengthening and ballerina with tibiae. Keep updating!

I don't think I could ever go to India for LL for reasons like this... it's just too much of a risk to put your lives in the hands of someone who might not truly care about anything besides money!

Hi Big D

Just to clarify is it one year between the surgeries or stopping lengthening that the 3 doctors recommended ?

1 year between the surgeries.  The 3 doctors expected my bones to be fully consolidated by this point, and able to handle the second procedure as well as removal of the PRECICE nail.

[Arche]

Hey BD, I was wondering if you would be kind enough to post pictures of CLL patients who have had surgery with Dr. B? He mentioned hat he used truelok external frames for LON.

Thanks!

[BilateralDamage]

I haven't any pictures of Dr. B's patients but I'll reach out to him to see if he can share any.  I found an interesting vlog by somebody who had bowleg reconstruction surgery using ex-fixers.  Search "Franz Birkholtz" on YouTube.

[Smallguy]

I haven't any pictures of Dr. B's patients but I'll reach out to him to see if he can share any.  I found an interesting vlog by somebody who had bowleg reconstruction surgery using ex-fixers.  Search "Franz Birkholtz" on YouTube.

Nice. Dr. Birkholtz is an angel. That's why he will be my 2nd option for femur LL later this year! Thanks for the video!

[theuprising]

Hey BD I read that doctor birkholtz had a height limit of 165cm. Did he mention to you if this was
set in stone. For example would he operate on someone who was 171cm.

[mediocre]

Yeah. Want to know that too, if there's limit

[BilateralDamage]

To my knowledge, he has said that he has a 5' 5" cut-off point, but this was when he was strictly against cosmetic leg lengthening.  I'm 5' 5.75" and he's still accepting me for surgery, so my suggestion is just to send him an email and see what he says.  I think he's warming up more to CLL, so there shouldn't be many worries unless you're like 5' 10".

[mediocre]

I kind of thought that would be the case. Thanks.

[Cooper]

Hey bd,
Just received email from dr. Frank office. He is very reasonable compare to any doctor for precise. I am also planning on May. I am thinking among  dr.lee , dr. Jamal or dr.frank b.
 
Please let me know if you make up your mind. I am from US and have own business. We share similar stories but I am much older.

Best!

[BilateralDamage]

Hey bd,
Just received email from dr. Frank office. He is very reasonable compare to any doctor for precise. I am also planning on May. I am thinking among  dr.lee , dr. Jamal or dr.frank b.
 
Please let me know if you make up your mind. I am from US and have own business. We share similar stories but I am much older.

Best!

PM sent

[Orlando]

How much is Dr  Birkholtz  price?

[Cooper]

$52k including accommodation for post op 75 days. Complications treatment is extra. This is the best price on planet earth for precise.

The big question is who wants to the first one to take a plunge? Any warriors )

[mediocre]

Bilateral D is doing it in May although the doctor is not confirmed yet. Probably with Dr Frank.

$52k including accommodation for post op 75 days. Complications treatment is extra. This is the best price on planet earth for precise.

The big question is who wants to the first one to take a plunge? Any warriors )

[Arche]

$52k including accommodation for post op 75 days. Complications treatment is extra. This is the best price on planet earth for precise.

The big question is who wants to the first one to take a plunge? Any warriors )

That seems like an excellent price. I wonder how much LON or LATN would cost? Perhaps 35-40K with similar accommodations?

[Cooper]

After deep research on the net I found Dr. Travis J. Kemp MD (Ortho) who practices in Boise, Idahao was trained under Dr. Franz Birkholtz.

Dr. Franz is definitely leading doctors in external, what you guys think?  Check out Dr. Kemp bio:  http://kempmd.squarespace.com/dr-kemp/

[mediocre]

I've been doing my own research and this guy, Dr Franz is solid (I've never heard of him prior to Big D's post). His specialty is not only limb lengthening but also limb reconstruction which is a real tough subspecialty.

His hospital, Netcare Unitas, which is the largest private hospital in South Africa, has awards of excellence because of his work in external fixation and limb reconstruction.

Also, South African medical schools, their graduates, and their specialists are very much recognized in the Western World.

As for safety, the media portrays a high crime/murder rate in South Africa especially sensationalized after the Pistorius (Blade Runner) tragedy. But this has to be absorbed in a context. Brazil has high crime rate, Syria has civil war. Will I go to Brazil for tourism? Yes. But never to Syria. As a backpacker, I have to know what places that are off limits for me in another country (and sometimes, these places are off limits to the locals too). I have met Americans in backpacking trail who say they are more likely to be killed in their neighborhood than in the country we're traveling.

____
Wherever you choose Big D, I will be following your diary very keenly, and will wish you all the best!

After deep research on the net I found Dr. Travis J. Kemp MD (Ortho) who practices in Boise, Idahao was trained under Dr. Franz Birkholtz.

Dr. Franz is definitely leading doctors in external, what you guys think?  Check out Dr. Kemp bio:  http://kempmd.squarespace.com/dr-kemp/