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[paddy10tellys]

OK - everyone's interested in pain, obvs...

Re; CLL (1) I could cope with the pain? (2) is it worth it?

So, I had a L5/S1 central disc prolapse with bilateral sciatica continuously for 9/12. The nerve pain was considerable = burning/aching/constant both legs/restlessness++ I coped with that. I had an acl repair/menisectomy as a day case & coped with that pain for 3/12. I had a complicated bilateral herniorrhaphy (re-do) & coped with that pain for 12/12.

Just how much pain are we talking about with a LL job? Any thoughts/advice/tips?

[DoingItForMe]

Everyone has different pain levels. Mostly teenagers are the ones with little pain, because they are still made of rubber. At your age, your pain will probably be equal or greater than mine. The best I can describe the pain is that it feels like someone took a metal bat and hit your legs repeatedly. That's what it felt like day-to-day even with the pain meds. Once the pain meds wear off, and they wear off sooner than you're allowed to take more, then it feels like you had a large open wound on your leg and someone took two hands and started ripping your leg apart.

That's what it felt like the first two weeks of lengthening. The 5-day hospital stint is bearable, because they give you powerful pain meds. After that, they get stingy on the pain meds. For the rest of your lengthening period, the pain levels vary depending on your ability to adapt to the lengthening.

I personally don't think it's worth it. If you had a lot of money lying around and it isn't going to go anywhere anyways, then it's probably on par.

And it also depends on how much you dislike your height. Is it a "that'll be nice to have" type of feeling? If so, it's not worth it. Is it a "I hate being stuck in this body shape and I get depressed thinking about it" type of feeling? If so, then it's probably on par.

The reason why I say it's "on par" is because you're trading off a lot for it.

[ub40]

Are you not 100% yet doingitforme?

[paddy10tellys]

Thx, DoingItForMe, your words convey much psychic & physical distress. Point taken about tradeoffs.  I'm sorry. Your procedure was mid 2015? How are you now? All of my surgeries were within the last 12 years but time causes me to unremember my worst pain moments relatively quickly despite much unabashed postop acopia ... I'm not sure if that is a good or bad thing when it comes to making the right choices.

[DoingItForMe]

Are you not 100% yet doingitforme?

Not even close. Can't run. Can't squat. Legs still in pain from just sitting. Legs in pain from just waking up and moving them around. 8 months post-op and it's still like this. I think I'm more like 60-70% recovered.

[DoingItForMe]

Thx, DoingItForMe, your words convey much psychic & physical distress. Point taken about tradeoffs.  I'm sorry. Your procedure was mid 2015? How are you now? All of my surgeries were within the last 12 years but time causes me to unremember my worst pain moments relatively quickly despite much unabashed postop acopia ... I'm not sure if that is a good or bad thing when it comes to making the right choices.

My experience diary goes into a lot of detail about the whole process if you're curious about what happens to you and how I'm doing now. I had my surgery 8 months ago.

[crimsontide]

how is it walking downstairs? im just now walking downstairs

[OregonMade]

Damn that is very daunting to here Doingitforme.  What method did you use? I did LON.  I am hoping that once I remove the frames the pain of the frames will atleast go away. 

Not even close. Can't run. Can't squat. Legs still in pain from just sitting. Legs in pain from just waking up and moving them around. 8 months post-op and it's still like this. I think I'm more like 60-70% recovered.

[DoingItForMe]

how is it walking downstairs? im just now walking downstairs

I can walk up and down stairs pretty well. Not 100% like I used to. I used to be able to take 2-3 steps per leg and "run" up and down stairs. Now I have to "walk" up and down the stairs and my legs feel weak doing it.

Damn that is very daunting to here Doingitforme.  What method did you use? I did LON.  I am hoping that once I remove the frames the pain of the frames will atleast go away. 

Internal femurs with Precice 2.1. Most of the pain is from tightness on my tendons. I probably lengthened too much for my body.

[hyong]

I can walk up and down stairs pretty well. Not 100% like I used to. I used to be able to take 2-3 steps per leg and "run" up and down stairs. Now I have to "walk" up and down the stairs and my legs feel weak doing it.Internal femurs with Precice 2.1. Most of the pain is from tightness on my tendons. I probably lengthened too much for my body.

From your diary , It seems that you are really flexible to begin with! .Have you observed any person with average or below average flexibility doing LL? , what are ur impressions of them?

[DoingItForMe]

From your diary , It seems that you are really flexible to begin with! .Have you observed any person with average or below average flexibility doing LL? , what are ur impressions of them?

I was very flexible. Even after my surgery I was able to put both my feet behind my head. But while I gained most of flexibility back, some tendons, mostly the ones connecting my legs to my crotch, do not like being stretched. When I squat down, it also feels painful, because my legs are really tight and everything feels stretched. The problem is that most patients leave after they're done lengthening. So I never see what their flexibility is like after lengthening. But from what I'm experiencing, it appears that my legs want to return back to the length that it was before. As I move around, I loosen up my muscles. But when I sleep, I think my flesh tries to shrink back. So I wake up every morning feeling like my legs are tight and have to stretch them before they stop feeling tight.

[ub40]

I can walk up and down stairs pretty well. Not 100% like I used to. I used to be able to take 2-3 steps per leg and "run" up and down stairs. Now I have to "walk" up and down the stairs and my legs feel weak doing it.Internal femurs with Precice 2.1. Most of the pain is from tightness on my tendons. I probably lengthened too much for my body.

Have you considered tendon lengthening? Dr Catagni offers it

[aplane]

I was very flexible. Even after my surgery I was able to put both my feet behind my head. But while I gained most of flexibility back, some tendons, mostly the ones connecting my legs to my crotch, do not like being stretched. When I squat down, it also feels painful, because my legs are really tight and everything feels stretched. The problem is that most patients leave after they're done lengthening. So I never see what their flexibility is like after lengthening. But from what I'm experiencing, it appears that my legs want to return back to the length that it was before. As I move around, I loosen up my muscles. But when I sleep, I think my flesh tries to shrink back. So I wake up every morning feeling like my legs are tight and have to stretch them before they stop feeling tight.

Thank you for all of this information. I'm 29, 5'7.5" and my wing span is 5'10". I'm thin, but I can't touch my toes when I bend over. Considering all that you've said, I should be working on flexibility and maybe straightening my spine to see if I get any height gains that way. I haven't grown in height since I was 14...wish I had done more height exercises when I was younger!

[IwannaBeTaller]

I was very flexible. Even after my surgery I was able to put both my feet behind my head. But while I gained most of flexibility back, some tendons, mostly the ones connecting my legs to my crotch, do not like being stretched. When I squat down, it also feels painful, because my legs are really tight and everything feels stretched. The problem is that most patients leave after they're done lengthening. So I never see what their flexibility is like after lengthening. But from what I'm experiencing, it appears that my legs want to return back to the length that it was before. As I move around, I loosen up my muscles. But when I sleep, I think my flesh tries to shrink back. So I wake up every morning feeling like my legs are tight and have to stretch them before they stop feeling tight.

The story of your recovery doesn't sound good at all, to be honest. Are you in contact with Paley or any other doctor regarding your recovery, and what do they say about your situation? Are they worried, are they optimistic or pessimistic about your final state of recovery?

And how do you feel about it? You said you don't think it's worth it, so do you completely regret your surgery, or do you think your situation might be alright, in the end?

Sorry for all these questions. Height is on my mind constantly for the last weeks, I vary from being very down to being completely ecstatic dreaming about being my desired height. I've reached a stage where I'm fine that I won't be tall, but I wanna be in the average range at least. "Just 176 and I'll be fine, just as tall as Tom Hardy and it'll be alright" is what I think constantly.