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[chsn]

Here is a link to a Guichet video clip on youtube...The doctor has his own channel on there, just found it when i searched for limb lengthening on youtube. Enjoy!   

[Alu]

Great find. I hope Dr. G makes more videos like this and keeps track of how they are doing throughout.

Seems remarkable to be...albeit this is also where some skepticism comes into my mind. Regardless, thanks for the find.

[Quincy]

I asked Guichet to dispel the concerns about athletic recovery by posting videos of patients 6 months+ post-surgery performing athletic maneuvers like box jumps, full-speed sprints, and squats, and he bristled at the suggestion.  The gist of his response was, "Either take my word for it or don't — it's your decision."  He said if I came in for a consultation all of my questions would be answered.  But I don't think it unreasonable to want some visual proof that my goal is possible before spending $1,000+ to fly out to Milan.  I'm not even asking him to do me an individual favor -- posting these videos on his site would surely help his business and save him countless hours of time responding to inquiries since recovery is the #1 concern people have about getting this surgery.

I spoke to Guichet on FaceTime and he seems to be very kind and professional, and I don't have any reason to doubt his honesty.  But the total lack of visual proof that full (or even near-full) recoveries are possible gives me pause.  It seems this would be an obvious thing an LL doctor would want to have on his website.

[goldenegg]

this video is similar with my experience last year. I was walking and biking same day as the surgery, and did stairs the 2nd day after surgery. 

I asked Guichet to dispel the concerns about athletic recovery by posting videos of patients 6 months+ post-surgery performing athletic maneuvers like box jumps, full-speed sprints, and squats, and he bristled at the suggestion.  The gist of his response was, "Either take my word for it or don't — it's your decision."  He said if I came in for a consultation all of my questions would be answered.  But I don't think it unreasonable to want some visual proof that my goal is possible before spending $1,000+ to fly out to Milan.  I'm not even asking him to do me an individual favor -- posting these videos on his site would surely help his business and save him countless hours of time responding to inquiries since recovery is the #1 concern people have about getting this surgery.

you kind of are asking a favor.  dr. G gets like hundreds of emails a week and there are plenty of people willing to pay his prices and meet his pre-op physical requirements to do LL with him.  he has so much demand that he doesn't have to do anything for you...

But the total lack of visual proof that full (or even near-full) recoveries are possible gives me pause.  It seems this would be an obvious thing an LL doctor would want to have on his website.

It should give you pause.  plenty of prior LL patients have said it before me, but no doctor can guarantee a full athletic recovery from LL.  if athleticism is the most important thing to you then don't do LL.  if you're willing to sacrifice some athleticism for height then do it.  sorry, but you can't have your cake and eat it too.

[tallerz]

What I think most people overlook when talking about recovery is their personal starting point. Personally, I lift weights regularly, train muay thai and Brazilian jiu jitsu, as well as play sports with my friends regularly. However even considering all this I do not believe I am at 100% of my athletic capabilities.

Now let's say for arguments sake I am at 70% of my potential athletic capabilities, if I do the surgery and get myself to 90% of post op athletic potential I would most likely be at an equal (or greater) level of athleticism as I was pre op.

Let me know what you guys think about this theory.

[Peaceout]

What I think most people overlook when talking about recovery is their personal starting point. Personally, I lift weights regularly, train muay thai and Brazilian jiu jitsu, as well as play sports with my friends regularly. However even considering all this I do not believe I am at 100% of my athletic capabilities.

Now let's say for arguments sake I am at 70% of my potential athletic capabilities, if I do the surgery and get myself to 90% of post op athletic potential I would most likely be at an equal (or greater) level of athleticism as I was pre op.

Let me know what you guys think about this theory.

Ah im tired of saying this.
You will NEVER have your pre op athletism level.Just forget about it.You will have to sacrifice some of your athletic capabilities for extra inches.
LL is a tradeoff.Understand it please!

[tallerz]

Ah im tired of saying this.
You will NEVER have your pre op athletism level.Just forget about it.You will have to sacrifice some of your athletic capabilities for extra inches.
LL is a tradeoff.Understand it please!

I think you need to reread what I said. I'll phrase it this way, what if an individual who was extremely unfit went through LL and then became fit post LL. Surely their fitness/athletic level would be greater then before LL. I agree that Pre LL 100% is most likely greater than Post LL 100% But most people are not at 100% of their potential.

Make more sense that way?

[Peaceout]

I think you need to reread what I said. I'll phrase it this way, what if an individual who was extremely unfit went through LL and then became fit post LL. Surely their fitness/athletic level would be greater then before LL. I agree that Pre LL 100% is most likely greater than Post LL 100% But most people are not at 100% of their potential.

Make more sense that way?

I understood what you said dont worry.You are trying to point that you can reach your unfit pre of yourself(or even better)with workout after LL is done.Its not like that.What i am trying to say is if you are even the laziest and most unfit person in the world it doesnt matter.You can still make explosive-fast rushes if you want with your unfit-lazy body right?(Think about some emergency situations-adrenaline rushes like runing away from someone or something similar)
You wont have that explosiveness after surgery even with a great shape.I mean check out the diarys.People say even joging is very tiring and they have to stop early.
In the end it doesnt matter if you are %40-50-60.. before surgery.There are something that you wont be able to get back like explosiveness,long distance runs without geting tired quickly, etc..
Im not saying you cant improve yourself after surgery day by day.Yes you can.But we all should be realistic here..

[chineseguy]

imposibble to be the same, acept it, 

[toafrica]

I understood what you said dont worry.You are trying to point that you can reach your unfit pre of yourself(or even better)with workout after LL is done.Its not like that.What i am trying to say is if you are even the laziest and most unfit person in the world it doesnt matter.You can still make explosive-fast rushes if you want with your unfit-lazy body right?(Think about some emergency situations-adrenaline rushes like runing away from someone or something similar)
You wont have that explosiveness after surgery even with a great shape.I mean check out the diarys.People say even joging is very tiring and they have to stop early.
In the end it doesnt matter if you are %40-50-60.. before surgery.There are something that you wont be able to get back like explosiveness,long distance runs without geting tired quickly, etc..
Im not saying you cant improve yourself after surgery day by day.Yes you can.But we all should be realistic here..

This. Please people, understand it. You will NEVER get your pre op condition, regardless oh how unfit or super athlete you were. You are altering your biomechanics, it's not about fitness. Understand that you'll trade fitness for height, some people will get back to 90%, but some others won't get better than 50%... And I'm currently doing LL (6.5 cm now)

[tallerz]

I understood what you said dont worry.You are trying to point that you can reach your unfit pre of yourself(or even better)with workout after LL is done.Its not like that.What i am trying to say is if you are even the laziest and most unfit person in the world it doesnt matter.You can still make explosive-fast rushes if you want with your unfit-lazy body right?(Think about some emergency situations-adrenaline rushes like runing away from someone or something similar)
You wont have that explosiveness after surgery even with a great shape.I mean check out the diarys.People say even joging is very tiring and they have to stop early.
In the end it doesnt matter if you are %40-50-60.. before surgery.There are something that you wont be able to get back like explosiveness,long distance runs without geting tired quickly, etc..
Im not saying you cant improve yourself after surgery day by day.Yes you can.But we all should be realistic here..

You say that people claim jogging to be very tiring, but if your cardio and muscular endurance are trained to a high enough degree you can jog equally as long or longer than pre op.

Now while I can't speak from experience as I have not had the surgery, however anything I have heard from doctors or read online doesn't lead me to believe that you cannot regain your post op explosiveness with proper training.

Muscles can be trained to become stronger and to react faster (explosiveness?). Even if a muscle is weakened from the surgery you can still train it to make it stronger and more explosive (as long as you are not too old) and there is no cap on how well trained your muscles can become (again as long as you are not too old). I do not see any reason, given this information, not to believe that it is possible to regain muscular strength and explosiveness.

Now altering body mechanics that is a whole other subject which to be honest I do not really know how I feel on it yet. It will definitely have an effect but how detrimental if at all that effect may be is what I question. Think about individuals who naturally have disproportionately long femurs (or tibia)? If their biomechanics allow them to successfully play sports, run, jump, squat, etc. then it should just come down to teaching yourself how to do everything all over again with the extra length to the femurs (or tibia). Again I have not done enough research to where I feel confident to truly argue on the effect from the change in biomechanics but assuming stretching allows for recovery in range of motion then currently this is the line of thinking that makes sense to me.

Apologies if any of this comes off as hostile, I in no way intend to come off as hostile. Just looking for both positive and negative feedback on this theory.

[Quincy]

you kind of are asking a favor.  dr. G gets like hundreds of emails a week and there are plenty of people willing to pay his prices and meet his pre-op physical requirements to do LL with him.  he has so much demand that he doesn't have to do anything for you...

Reread my post.  The fact that Guichet gets so many emails is a major reason WHY he should post these videos.  No doubt a great many of the emails he receives (probably most) have to do with recovery, so these videos would answer those questions ahead of time.  If he took the time to shoot the videos of patients the day of surgery and 3 months post-surgery, it doesn't seem unreasonable to expect videos of patients further along down the path of recovery (6 months, 1 year, etc.)  In fact, it seems logical that he would want to post them.  So no, again, I'm not asking for a personal favor to me.  I'm giving voice to a sentiment that has been around on these forums for years.

plenty of prior LL patients have said it before me, but no doctor can guarantee a full athletic recovery from LL.

Again, I'm not asking for a guarantee.  However, I would like to see evidence that it is POSSIBLE.

[Thatdude950]

I think you need to reread what I said. I'll phrase it this way, what if an individual who was extremely unfit went through LL and then became fit post LL. Surely their fitness/athletic level would be greater then before LL. I agree that Pre LL 100% is most likely greater than Post LL 100% But most people are not at 100% of their potential.

Make more sense that way?

I understand you, but you're wrong.

Let's say I *can* deadlift 500 pounds, and have the *potential* for 700. LL doesn't then just limit me to a 600 pound deadlift which I could theoretically reach with hard training. It takes me all the way back down to having the potential to do about 300 pounds, but more than likely around 200 or less.

This isn't a case of taking 1 step back and then still having the potential to take able 2 steps forward again with hard training, but with slightly lessened potential. This is significant weakening yourself for life.

[tallerz]

I understand you, but you're wrong.

Let's say I *can* deadlift 500 pounds, and have the *potential* for 700. LL doesn't then just limit me to a 600 pound deadlift which I could theoretically reach with hard training. It takes me all the way back down to having the potential to do about 300 pounds, but more than likely around 200 or less.

This isn't a case of taking 1 step back and then still having the potential to take able 2 steps forward again with hard training, but with slightly lessened potential. This is significant weakening yourself for life.

What evidence do you have to support this claim? If this is true then it would seem that a lot of doctors are being extremely deceitful in their claims.

[crimsontide]

forget about  getting back to  pre op levels

its not biomechanics either

i had short tibiae, so My proportions are different, but normal. I could be explosive with my biomechanics, but the soft tissue damage is too much

soft tissue stretching is what hurts you, and there's no avoiding it

unless they start making bionic man  legs soon,  and youre willing to get your lower legs removed, forget about pre op ability

[tallerz]

forget about  getting back to  pre op levels

its not biomechanics either

i had short tibiae, so My proportions are different, but normal. I could be explosive with my biomechanics, but the soft tissue damage is too much

soft tissue stretching is what hurts you, and there's no avoiding it

unless they start making bionic man  legs soon,  and youre willing to get your lower legs removed, forget about pre op ability

How long ago was your procedure?

[crimsontide]

2 years

[Thatdude950]

What evidence do you have to support this claim? If this is true then it would seem that a lot of doctors are being extremely deceitful in their claims.

What evidence do you have that what you're talking about is possible other than words? There's hundreds of diaries here and not one (or, at most one dubious) video example of decent post LL strength. No squats or deadlifts above baby weights.

[stillyoung]

The commentary in this post is killing me.

As far as recovery goes, you get out what you put in. Consider a person who does LL then doesn't stretch or do physio and uses LL as an excuse not to train hard post-LL. That person will never reach their pre-LL ability.

I do tend to agree with the comment made that even Pre-LL, your body is only conditioned to some percentage of its physical potential. Post-LL, that potential may decrease in certain aspects of physical ability, stay the same, and go up in others (endurance, flexibility, agility, speed, strength, power, etc.).

For myself, I can say this: I'm every bit as flexible as I was pre-LL. Granted, I have to work harder to maintain that flexibility these days (which may be partially attributed to ageing). In terms of endurance, I can actually run longer distances than I ever could pre-LL. Leg strength is the same as it was pre-LL. I'm definitely slower at sprinting than I used to be, but it would be wrong to say LL is the sole reason for that - ageing, different bio mechanics, not having sprinted in nearly a decade, etc. Agility is a bit reduced. Power is roughly the same.

In sum, I'm in better shape now at 30 and post-LL than I was as a 22 year old college sprinter...and I've trained every single day since LL to get here.

[tallerz]

The commentary in this post is killing me.

As far as recovery goes, you get out what you put in. Consider a person who does LL then doesn't stretch or do physio and uses LL as an excuse not to train hard post-LL. That person will never reach their pre-LL ability.

I do tend to agree with the comment made that even Pre-LL, your body is only conditioned to some percentage of its physical potential. Post-LL, that potential may decrease in certain aspects of physical ability, stay the same, and go up in others (endurance, flexibility, agility, speed, strength, power, etc.).

For myself, I can say this: I'm every bit as flexible as I was pre-LL. Granted, I have to work harder to maintain that flexibility these days (which may be partially attributed to ageing). In terms of endurance, I can actually run longer distances than I ever could pre-LL. Leg strength is the same as it was pre-LL. I'm definitely slower at sprinting than I used to be, but it would be wrong to say LL is the sole reason for that - ageing, different bio mechanics, not having sprinted in nearly a decade, etc. Agility is a bit reduced. Power is roughly the same.

In sum, I'm in better shape now at 30 and post-LL than I was as a 22 year old college sprinter...and I've trained every single day since LL to get here.

BOOM!

I rest my case.

[Thatdude950]

BOOM!

I rest my case.

Words on a screen from someone with four posts is enough to convince you?

[blahblah]

Let me help clarify some stuff here...... if you are on here looking for LL.... chances are you are not a real athlete... those guys are training their asses off and too busy trying to get to the top of their sport to have anytime to BS around with this site. Like every diary on here you will NOT get to world class level or "athlete" level or whatever the fk you think you are before LL. No one here has and no one will be the exception, because of what you are doing to your muscles and tendons. So stop fooling yourselves and let this nonsense(thread) die!

[stillyoung]

Words on a screen from someone with four posts is enough to convince you?

You're right...my 16 page diary and 190 posts from the other site count for nothing.

[CCMidwest]

The commentary in this post is killing me.

As far as recovery goes, you get out what you put in. Consider a person who does LL then doesn't stretch or do physio and uses LL as an excuse not to train hard post-LL. That person will never reach their pre-LL ability.

I do tend to agree with the comment made that even Pre-LL, your body is only conditioned to some percentage of its physical potential. Post-LL, that potential may decrease in certain aspects of physical ability, stay the same, and go up in others (endurance, flexibility, agility, speed, strength, power, etc.).

For myself, I can say this: I'm every bit as flexible as I was pre-LL. Granted, I have to work harder to maintain that flexibility these days (which may be partially attributed to ageing). In terms of endurance, I can actually run longer distances than I ever could pre-LL. Leg strength is the same as it was pre-LL. I'm definitely slower at sprinting than I used to be, but it would be wrong to say LL is the sole reason for that - ageing, different bio mechanics, not having sprinted in nearly a decade, etc. Agility is a bit reduced. Power is roughly the same.

In sum, I'm in better shape now at 30 and post-LL than I was as a 22 year old college sprinter...and I've trained every single day since LL to get here.

Stillyoung,

Here is my definition of "recovered", perhaps you could tell me if you can do all these things?

Basically anything a normal, healthy person could do on a daily basis: (I do all these things now)

Walk
Jog
Run 5k
Ride a bike
Hike/Hunt/Fish (moderate difficulty)
Sex
Skydive
Weight lift upper body
Weight lift lower body (barbell squat? Leg press? deadlifts?)
Horseback riding
Jeeping (takes a lot of leg work)
Swim

Things I do now that I figure I would have to give up:

Mountain climbing
Half-marathons
Heavy squats (personal best is 300lbs)
Heavy deadlifts (personal best is 305lbs)

Thoughts?

[CCMidwest]

Anyone know how tall Dr. G is? His patient in this video doesn't appear to be that much shorter?

[Quincy]

Stillyoung,

Here is my definition of "recovered", perhaps you could tell me if you can do all these things?

Basically anything a normal, healthy person could do on a daily basis: (I do all these things now)

Walk
Jog
Run 5k
Ride a bike
Hike/Hunt/Fish (moderate difficulty)
Sex
Skydive
Weight lift upper body
Weight lift lower body (barbell squat? Leg press? deadlifts?)
Horseback riding
Jeeping (takes a lot of leg work)
Swim

Things I do now that I figure I would have to give up:

Mountain climbing
Half-marathons
Heavy squats (personal best is 300lbs)
Heavy deadlifts (personal best is 305lbs)

Thoughts?

Great question.

[Knik]

Anyone know how tall Dr. G is? His patient in this video doesn't appear to be that much shorter?

he could be under 5'10 or 6'1 but dont care


So bike is good for recovery ? Maybe i'll buy a house bike we can find for 100 €

[stillyoung]

Hey CCMidwest, did my best to answer your questions

Walk - of course
Jog - yep, every day
Run 5k - I run 3 miles a day, roughly 7:30/mi pace.
Ride a bike - yes
Hike/Hunt/Fish - yes/no/no (I've never attempted the second two)
Sex - yes
Skydive - you couldn't pay me to jump out of a plane
Weight lift upper body - yep
Weight lift lower body - yes to squat, leg press, and deadlifts.
Horseback riding - probably?
Jeeping - i have no idea what this is
Swim - yes
Mountain climbing - I climb; I guess it depends on how intense you are
Half-marathons - wouldn't ever do this in the first place, so it's never been an issue
Heavy squats - I can do 185 for 6-8 reps. I don't go much higher
Heavy deadlifts - I can do sets of 8-10 at 225.

I guess the three things to note here are (1) I did 6.5cm on femurs, (2) I wasn't a world class athlete but did win collegiate championships, and (3) I still train everyday.

[CCMidwest]

Stillyoung, thanks for the reply.

Jeeping is off roading with a lifted jeep.

Mountain climbing with equipment.

Anyway, that seems like a damn fine recovery.

You run 5k in under 23 minutes? I help organize several charity 5k's and the average time for runners is closer to 35 minutes. That's fast man. (fastest I've seen is 16 minutes or so, world record I think is 12)

Your squat is light (no offense), but your dead is way better than I expected.

I could live with the recovery you outlined here.

Thanks!

[tallerz]

Hey CCMidwest, did my best to answer your questions

Walk - of course
Jog - yep, every day
Run 5k - I run 3 miles a day, roughly 7:30/mi pace.
Ride a bike - yes
Hike/Hunt/Fish - yes/no/no (I've never attempted the second two)
Sex - yes
Skydive - you couldn't pay me to jump out of a plane
Weight lift upper body - yep
Weight lift lower body - yes to squat, leg press, and deadlifts.
Horseback riding - probably?
Jeeping - i have no idea what this is
Swim - yes
Mountain climbing - I climb; I guess it depends on how intense you are
Half-marathons - wouldn't ever do this in the first place, so it's never been an issue
Heavy squats - I can do 185 for 6-8 reps. I don't go much higher
Heavy deadlifts - I can do sets of 8-10 at 225.

I guess the three things to note here are (1) I did 6.5cm on femurs, (2) I wasn't a world class athlete but did win collegiate championships, and (3) I still train everyday.

You have dispelled all my fears. I would be more than glad with this level of recovery.

[stillyoung]

Haha no offense taken. I would rather be kicked in the balls than do squats, cleans, or snatches. There's just some lifts I can't get into. The next time I have legs day, I'll squat a little more because of your comment.

Anyway, hope this has been helpful