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[orangina33]

Good luck with your journey. I am planning to do surgery on my tibia as well with dr.Kulesh sometimes next year. Eager to see you recovering fully. Best of luck and please keep up the diary. 

[doomsday]

Hey man!

How is going lengthening ? Any complications  or maybe everything is going smooth? Keep up!

[Morgenst.]

Looking at your frames are there two breaks in the bone or is the bottom wire just there for stability?

[badwolf]

does dr. solomin have a 6cm limit, it is implied in his FAQ.

what is your ratio anyway, i take it if you go above 5cm your tibia becomes longer than your femur?

No, he doesn't have a 6cm limit, but he seems to generally discourage lengthening past 6cm.

To be honest, I did not measure my tibia to femur ratio prior to surgery, mostly because my tibias are quite short in comparison to my femurs to start with and I've been wearing 8cm lifts for about close to a decade without any problems. I know some people may consider this careless, but at the end of the day, proportions are not so important to me as height gained.

[badwolf]

Hello badwolf , good luck with your journey. I'm also from Asia, my starting height was 164 and have been lengthening for two months now , I have reached 4.8 cm my target is 8cm. No problems so far only very little ballerina.

That's awesome! How much have you lengthened now? I've been really wary of ballerina foot, as, having worn lifts for over 10 years, I know that my Achilles tendon isn't as flexible as most people. I've been stretching 3 hours daily and been walking about an hour a day as well and so far have been able to avoid it.

[badwolf]

Good luck with your journey. I am planning to do surgery on my tibia as well with dr.Kulesh sometimes next year. Eager to see you recovering fully. Best of luck and please keep up the diary.

Thanks for the well wishes:) Are you planning on undergoing surgery directly with Dr. Kulesh or Dr. Solomin as well? Matters around when next year, but maybe I'll still be around!

[badwolf]

Hey man!

How is going lengthening ? Any complications  or maybe everything is going smooth? Keep up!

Hey! Sorry for the lack of update. I've been juggling full-time work, stretching, and walking everyday and it's been keeping me pretty busy. No complications so far except slight misalignment of my right tibia which Dr. Kulesh and Dr. Solomin have assured me can be corrected post lengthening. I'll upload my x-rays soon. I'm at 3cm at that moment and stretching a lot to avoid ballerina foot.

[badwolf]

Looking at your frames are there two breaks in the bone or is the bottom wire just there for stability?

No, there's only one break in each bone. The bottom wires, along with all the other wires and rods are there for support.

[NB]

Good luck, badwolf.

Try do everything against the ballerina. It is worse than any pain.

[Morgenst.]

Does Dr Kulesh reccommend a certain amount of walking to fight ballerina? I've read of people walking 10 minutes to 30 minutes a day, is that enough

[orangina33]

I am planning to do with Dr.Kulesh, have been chatting with him through emails during summer. The reason why I chose him is because I can speak Russian fluently and he seems the best as far regarding the correspondence and Russian patients' reviews. I've been reading patient's experiences in Russian and in English and it seems there is always little complications. Eager to see your recovery and there is another patient he is also undergoing lengthening right now, he was operated by Dr. Kulesh.  I thought to do my tibias with Dr.Paley since i live permanently in Canada, it wouldn't be too far for me but it will cost me an arm and leg. I am debating... your diary pushes me to do it in Russia ;-). Recover fully and recover well! 

[orangina33]

Thanks for the well wishes:) Are you planning on undergoing surgery directly with Dr. Kulesh or Dr. Solomin as well? Matters around when next year, but maybe I'll still be around!

Sorry I am not familiar with forum and replied to you without quoting

[Alittletooshort]

Hey Badwolf,
How is it going? Could you give us a brief update about your lengthening?
I´m pretty interested in Dr. Solomin since I only want 4cm´s and he has pretty decent credentials.
Greetings

[badwolf]

Hey Badwolf,
How is it going? Could you give us a brief update about your lengthening?
I´m pretty interested in Dr. Solomin since I only want 4cm´s and he has pretty decent credentials.
Greetings

Hi,

I'm doing well so far. I've lengthened 5.7cm on paper. (Actual lengthened amount is probably a few millimeters less due to pin bending, etc.) I stretch 2~2.5 hours everyday and walk for 30 min to an 1 hour using a walker. I have 30 minute physiotherapy sessions pretty much every other day. I'd like to do more, but work keeps me busy for most of the day.

While I am experiencing more and more stiffness since going past 4.5cm, after a stretch session I can still stand with my legs straight and my feet at 90 degrees.

My bone formation has been somewhat slow and this is my main concern right now. I haven't had an x-ray in close to a month, so hopefully things have improved since.

Currently, I'm aiming for 8~9cm depending on how things go in the next couple of month.

At this point and stage, I have no regrets at having chosen to have surgery here in St. Petersburg.

Hope that helps!
I may take awhile to reply, but feel free to ask any specific questions you might have.

[badwolf]

Does Dr Kulesh reccommend a certain amount of walking to fight ballerina? I've read of people walking 10 minutes to 30 minutes a day, is that enough

He recommends stretching more than walking. And he recommends doing it as much as you can.

Personally, I recommending doing at least 30 minutes walking and 2~3 hours of stretching a day. To be honest, if it were possible, I'd spend the whole day stretching and walking just to get the optimal results.

[badwolf]

I am planning to do with Dr.Kulesh, have been chatting with him through emails during summer. The reason why I chose him is because I can speak Russian fluently and he seems the best as far regarding the correspondence and Russian patients' reviews. I've been reading patient's experiences in Russian and in English and it seems there is always little complications. Eager to see your recovery and there is another patient he is also undergoing lengthening right now, he was operated by Dr. Kulesh.  I thought to do my tibias with Dr.Paley since i live permanently in Canada, it wouldn't be too far for me but it will cost me an arm and leg. I am debating... your diary pushes me to do it in Russia ;-). Recover fully and recover well!

I'm glad my experience can be a help to you! There is a Russian patient (who I never got to meet) from Moscow that had surgery and and went home to lengthen. Maybe you are talking about him.

I've been fortunate in that at 5.7cm I've yet to have any complications. Fingers crossed!

[Alittletooshort]

I'm glad to hear that you are doing fine! Could you make a list of the spendings you had so far?
Keep us updated

[Bry]

Heya Badwolf!

I hope you are having a smooth trip.

I'm planning to do the surgery with Dr. Solomin too, but doing LON so I can consolidate at home in Brazil after 3 to 4 months.
I was thinking about the expenses and how much I would need exactly.
Last time I made the calculations, I think I had to take 500000 Russian rubles with me, which would be around 7000 american dollars, or 30000 brazilian reais.

Do you think that would be enough for the other hospital they do the surgery in?
There are 2 right? I was planning on going to the cheaper one.

Thanks!

[orangina33]

I'm glad my experience can be a help to you! There is a Russian patient (who I never got to meet) from Moscow that had surgery and and went home to lengthen. Maybe you are talking about him.

I've been fortunate in that at 5.7cm I've yet to have any complications. Fingers crossed!

Yeah I think so, he did go back home to lengthen, it seems painful and complicated :S. I wonder if I can go back to Canada to lengthen but at the same time it is such a long journey and extra money but I really really don't want to stay in Russia argh

[Medium Drink Of Water]

Yeah I think so, he did go back home to lengthen, it seems painful and complicated :S. I wonder if I can go back to Canada to lengthen but at the same time it is such a long journey and extra money but I really really don't want to stay in Russia argh

I recommend against that.  Throughout my lengthening phase, the doctors kept an eye on me and corrected misalignments while they were still minor.  If you lengthen at home and then come back at the end, you could end up with a serious misalignment needing to be fixed with drastic measures.

Misalignments happen with external frames.  The resistance of the muscles is just too powerful for the devices to handle.

[orangina33]

I am sure you are right, I also think that I must to plan in a way so I stay in St-Petersburg, I wonder how long it takes in total to be recovered and be allowed to come back home? From other patients' it seems it takes on average 6 months. And also do you know by any chance whether your tibia size increases in width due to surgery? Thanks so much.

I recommend against that.  Throughout my lengthening phase, the doctors kept an eye on me and corrected misalignments while they were still minor.  If you lengthen at home and then come back at the end, you could end up with a serious misalignment needing to be fixed with drastic measures.

Misalignments happen with external frames.  The resistance of the muscles is just too powerful for the devices to handle.

[Vendetta113]

Hmm, it seems that badwolf was online yesterday (Feb.1, 2016).

I've been closely following this diary. Hopefully badwolf gives us some update. I'm curious how much has he lengthened so far.

[orangina33]

Any updates will be so appreciated as I am sure i am not alone anxious about your results, hope all is well!

[tikal]

my it is fake profile

[Alittletooshort]

Hey Badwold,
Could you please update your diary? I´m really thinking about 3-4cm´s with Dr. Solomin so your diary is my main source of information.
Greetings

[badwolf]

Hi,

Apologies for the lack of updates. So far I have lengthened 6.5cm. Due to slow bone regeneration, I have stopped lengthening for the time being and am undergoing ultrasound therapy and may ultimately undergo a bone graft. The cause of my slow regeneration is, most likely, my genetics as I am eating and sleeping well, taking a large array of supplement, and am performing small amounts of weight bearing daily. (Not as much weight bearing as I would like, due to the fact that I broke one of my half-pins in December because of too much walking and had to undergo and pay for an additional operation to fix it.)

Other possible causes could be:
Lengthening too fast. (For the first 3cm, I was lengthening 1mm a day.)
Taking NSAIDs, which some say can inhibit bone growth. (I took 90mg of Acroxia a day for the first 4.5cm. Now I take nothing.)
Not enough weight bearing. (As mentioned above.)

There are other possible causes, but these are the probable few I can think of right now.
That being said, my bone IS slowly regenerating. My last X-ray shows there is noticeable cloud formation (more so on my right leg, than left), but being that it's been 5 month since my initial surgery, things are progressing slower than I would like -- especially since I would like to lengthen another centimeter.

On the bright side, I've had plenty of time to stretch and so I have neither ballerina foot nor knee bending.
Also, I've been working, studying, and taking violin lessons, so I feel like my time here so far has been well spent. (Although lacking on the social side.)

I've had quite a few requests to quote my total financial costs so far, which I will try to do in the near future. It's just quite a hassle, as I haven't been keeping an active log of all my expenses.

[Alittletooshort]

Hi,

Apologies for the lack of updates. So far I have lengthened 6.5cm. Due to slow bone regeneration, I have stopped lengthening for the time being and am undergoing ultrasound therapy and may ultimately undergo a bone graft. The cause of my slow regeneration is, most likely, my genetics as I am eating and sleeping well, taking a large array of supplement, and am performing small amounts of weight bearing daily. (Not as much weight bearing as I would like, due to the fact that I broke one of my half-pins in December because of too much walking and had to undergo and pay for an additional operation to fix it.)

Other possible causes could be:
Lengthening too fast. (For the first 3cm, I was lengthening 1mm a day.)
Taking NSAIDs, which some say can inhibit bone growth. (I took 90mg of Acroxia a day for the first 4.5cm. Now I take nothing.)
Not enough weight bearing. (As mentioned above.)

There are other possible causes, but these are the probable few I can think of right now.
That being said, my bone IS slowly regenerating. My last X-ray shows there is noticeable cloud formation (more so on my right leg, than left), but being that it's been 5 month since my initial surgery, things are progressing slower than I would like -- especially since I would like to lengthen another centimeter.

On the bright side, I've had plenty of time to stretch and so I have neither ballerina foot nor knee bending.
Also, I've been working, studying, and taking violin lessons, so I feel like my time here so far has been well spent. (Although lacking on the social side.)

I've had quite a few requests to quote my total financial costs so far, which I will try to do in the near future. It's just quite a hassle, as I haven't been keeping an active log of all my expenses.

I'm sorry to hear that man Could you give us a little update about your current situation, how would you rate the treatment you have received so far?

[Chris]

Thanks for sharing your experience with us, badwolf 
I'm also considering Dr. Solomin / Dr. Kulesh to do 6cm on my tibias using external fixators (maybe LON), so I'm very much interested in your diary.

The fixators you have don't appear to be that big compared to the others I've seen. Do you think one could lead a somewhat normal life wearing these things (e.g. going to university)?
Is it possible to hide them from the gazes of other people when you wear pants with wider legs?
Do you think it was worth the money to have your surgery done in MEDEM instead of Saint Elisabeth?
Sadly, I don't speak any Russian. How hard had communication (talking to the nurses ect.) been while you were in St. Eli?
And I would love to know your total expenses too (whenever you find the time) 

[thebesticanbe]

Hi.this is the first time ever i post on this forum.
dr solomin is the most affordable doctor.
i intent to do my surgery with him and this is the only diary of him.i am dying to know what happened for the last 5 months now...
badwold please let us know you are ok and tell us what has happened.....please..

[TnaTna]

Had someone got news about badwolf ? That's frightening he didn't give news for 8 months. He posted a response on another topic 1 month ago though.

[badwolf]

Hi,

Just wanted to update people on my situation.
I have removed both frames, inserted nails, and am currently walking with crutches, occasionally using a single crutch.
The reason why I haven’t started walking full unsupported yet is because my regeneration in my left leg was not very good – in fact I had a bone transplant just to speed up the process.
Although there were some moments I was worried about, other than my slow regenerations, I am mostly happy with my results.

For those who are considering Saint Petersburg, I would recommend it if you are tight for money and cannot afford the more expensive alternatives (such as Paley).
That being said, I did have quite a few problems with Dr. Solomin. If Dr. Kulesh was not available, I believe my experience would have been very different, perhaps along with the results.
In fact, if you are not considering any form of nailing and just plain up externals, I might even say that it would be best to contact Dr. Kulesh directly and undergo surgery with him.
That being said, Dr. Solomin’s experience with the whole process is extensive (albeit somewhat unorthodox at times), and, when it comes to nailing or bone graphs, I believe he does produce good results. All in all, though, you definitely want Dr. Kulesh to be involved.

Anyway, I’m moving on from this entire process, and only occasionally check this website. That being said, I’ll try to answer questions if anyone has any.