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[Carter]

You got the fit and tonned look going for you (no homo).  Congrats. Your running look perfectly normal.  How much running ability do you estimate to be from pre op 100% ?

[OldieButGoldie]

OBG you are in excellent shape not just for a guy in his 40s but in general.

Do you have any particular supplements you take?

nope. nothing. never taken anything.

[OldieButGoldie]

You got the fit and tonned look going for you (no homo).  Congrats. Your running look perfectly normal.  How much running ability do you estimate to be from pre op 100% ?

75-80%.
The hardest part is stopping abruptly in the middle of sprinting.

[KrP1]

wow , thank you man! those videos are very helpfull!

[AtlasSearching]

Hi OBG, I hope things are going well for you. We met at the hospital in Neunkirchen in mid October. I had my nails removed just before you did, and the day before we had briefly talked about going to visit Peter Woll in Warden. Anyway, I was wondering how your experience has been since having the nails removed? For myself, the wounds from the nail removal are mostly healed and I removed the sutures two days ago, but as far as walking is concerned, my right leg seems to be talking longer to get back to normal i.e. maximum knee flexion is about 115 degrees whereas for the left leg I can flex the knee until my heel hits my butt. On the one hand, this is not entirely surprising since during the LL period, my right leg was always stiffer and more problematic than my left leg. Also, its been less than 2 weeks since the nails were removed so perhaps I'm being overly optimistic about how long it takes for both legs to regain the flexibility they had prior to having the nails removed. I'd say right now my left leg flexibility is about 90% back to pre-surgery levels but my right leg is about 50%. How would you rate your flexibility on both legs so far?

[ReadRothbard]

I assume many of you do not know my diary on the old forum. Therefore I will make a little documentary of my LL by posting some videos.
My surgery was on may 7 in 2013. I lengthened around 6cm (before 173cm, now 179cm).
This is my first LL video, taken 2 months and 10 days after surgery.

Absolutely beautiful. I'm definitely doing internals with either Dr. Betz or Dr. Guichet.

[goodlucktomylegs]

Hope you are fine any update please

[OldieButGoldie]

Update

summary: op on 7 of may 2013, internal femurs. Age at time of op: 45 years. Starting height: a good 173cm. Lengthened around 5,7cm. Now around 179cm. Lengthening was done around 50 days after op (end of june/beginning of july 2013). Threw away crutches one week after lengthening. Walked very much, was very active. Good bone growth.
Went skiing and snowboarding in january 2014 (around 6 months after lengthening). Was able to run ok in march 2014. Ran pretty good in may 2014 (one year after op).
Running videos are in my diary.
Had nail removal in october 2014 (1 year and 5 months after op). Can do any sport I want to. Explosiveness is reduced. Your level in any kind of sport that involves running and quick explosive movements will be reduced after LL. In any other sport you should get back to almost 100% if you work hard.
Had a hard time after nail removal. Removal is another very serious surgery, underestimated by many. Again, you will feel like hit by a truck . Takes a few weeks to recover from that. But after theses weeks, things get better continously. First i felt the missing support of the nails. Now I am happy they are out.
My right IT-band is still causing problems , but it seems to be getting better. I am sure that the problem with my right IT-band is caused by and an old accident of mine with serious injuries in my right knee, so lengthening was not a good idea for my right leg.

Some general thoughts about LL: It is hard for me to accept that I really did this crazy thing. That I was not able to accept myself the way I was. And that the whole world knows it because I was open about it.
My point of view: LL is not for people who are emotionally unstable. The rollercoaster that you will have to go through is gonna be more than tough so you have to be very tough emotionally.

Conclusion: LL is for people who are very stable and already quite happy with their life. But then: why would you wanna do LL if you are already quite happy with your life??

Conclusion: Nobody should do LL. Just my opinion.

Cheers
OBG

[Uppland]

Your level in any kind of sport that involves running and quick explosive movements will be reduced after LL.

There goes my Tennis hobby, maybe I should take up Golfing?

[YellowSpike]

You've come to a rather harsh conclusion, but perhaps you're right. 

I kinda agree with a lot of what OBG said too.

I feel like a surgery of this magnitude should be reserved only for people who are super short (men 5'6" and below and women 5'1" and below, or something like that).

OBG - regardless of how you may feel right now, your story remains one of my absolute favorites. You were definitely an inspiration to me in the year that I went back and forth on doing LL or not. Question for you - do you think maybe you should've given LL more thought? I think you said you jumped into it fairly quickly. Your starting height wasn't that bad, but I suppose I can understand why you'd want to still do LL at that height. Your starting height is my ending height, and I still feel a tad on the short side, but I'd never do a second LL even if someone paid for it all lol

[Taller]

There goes my Tennis hobby, maybe I should take up Golfing?

Uppland, I feel that OBG lost a lot of his explosiveness because he lengthened his femurs at 45 years of age, meaning that he probably didn't have enough growth hormones and other factors in his body to sufficiently rebuild his muscles as before, leading to reduced explosiveness.

People in their late teens and early 20's should be fine. When did you stop growing? Let's say 16. When do you plan to do LL? When you're 22ish? At those two ages, your hormonal profile is actually quite similar, you just aren't growing anymore because your growth plates have parmenently closed, but, if you had growth plates, you'd still be growing because all of the growth-promoting hormones that are in high concentrations in the body until around 28-30 years of age, when they begin to sharply decline.

A good friend of one of my friends lengthened his femurs 8CM internally with Precise 2 with Dr. Lee in Korea. He looks completely normal and can actually jump quite high and play basketball quite explosively from what I've heard. He did LL at 18 years of age. I think that if femoral LL is done before 30 years of age, the chances of full explosive recovery are pretty good.

[YellowSpike]

I think that if femoral LL is done before 30 years of age, the chances of full explosive recovery are pretty good.

Geez - I really cut it damn close then (I'm turning 31 late this summer). 

I think a big part of OBG's issues are also the (skiing?) injury he had before doing LL. He's made a remarkable recovery regardless of not necessarily getting full explosiveness back.

As long as I can go to the gym, walk normally, run mostly decently, and have a good sex life, that's all I care about! lol

[endomorphisme]

Uppland, I feel that OBG lost a lot of his explosiveness because he lengthened his femurs at 45 years of age, meaning that he probably didn't have enough growth hormones and other factors in his body to sufficiently rebuild his muscles as before, leading to reduced explosiveness.

People in their late teens and early 20's should be fine. When did you stop growing? Let's say 16. When do you plan to do LL? When you're 22ish? At those two ages, your hormonal profile is actually quite similar, you just aren't growing anymore because your growth plates have parmenently closed, but, if you had growth plates, you'd still be growing because all of the growth-promoting hormones that are in high concentrations in the body until around 28-30 years of age, when they begin to sharply decline.

A good friend of one of my friends lengthened his femurs 8CM internally with Precise 2 with Dr. Lee in Korea. He looks completely normal and can actually jump quite high and play basketball quite explosively from what I've heard. He did LL at 18 years of age. I think that if femoral LL is done before 30 years of age, the chances of full explosive recovery are pretty good.

do you think you can have injection during ll?

[Uppland]

Uppland, I feel that OBG lost a lot of his explosiveness because he lengthened his femurs at 45 years of age, meaning that he probably didn't have enough growth hormones and other factors in his body to sufficiently rebuild his muscles as before, leading to reduced explosiveness.

People in their late teens and early 20's should be fine. When did you stop growing? Let's say 16. When do you plan to do LL? When you're 22ish? At those two ages, your hormonal profile is actually quite similar, you just aren't growing anymore because your growth plates have parmenently closed, but, if you had growth plates, you'd still be growing because all of the growth-promoting hormones that are in high concentrations in the body until around 28-30 years of age, when they begin to sharply decline.

A good friend of one of my friends lengthened his femurs 8CM internally with Precise 2 with Dr. Lee in Korea. He looks completely normal and can actually jump quite high and play basketball quite explosively from what I've heard. He did LL at 18 years of age. I think that if femoral LL is done before 30 years of age, the chances of full explosive recovery are pretty good.

You feel that way but what can you really say for certain?

Until I hear from a qualified doctor I will prepare myself for that I might not be as agile after the surgery, I couldn't stand the disappointment if it would happen to me unexpectedly. Thanks for the kind words though.

[OldieButGoldie]

There goes my Tennis hobby, maybe I should take up Golfing?

I will play a lot of tennis this summer, will let you know how it goes... 

[OldieButGoldie]

I kinda agree with a lot of what OBG said too.

I feel like a surgery of this magnitude should be reserved only for people who are super short (men 5'6" and below and women 5'1" and below, or something like that).

OBG - regardless of how you may feel right now, your story remains one of my absolute favorites. You were definitely an inspiration to me in the year that I went back and forth on doing LL or not. Question for you - do you think maybe you should've given LL more thought? I think you said you jumped into it fairly quickly. Your starting height wasn't that bad, but I suppose I can understand why you'd want to still do LL at that height. Your starting height is my ending height, and I still feel a tad on the short side, but I'd never do a second LL even if someone paid for it all lol

Yes, you are right.

[goodlucktomylegs]

Yes, you are right.

OBG please keep updating
Now you are in the final phase of ll
Your valuable experienced will help a lot of people that they should or should not do ll
I 'm alway wondering how about life after rod removal

[Uppland]

OBG please keep updating
Now you are in the final phase of ll
Your valuable experienced will help a lot of people that they should or should not do ll
I 'm alway wondering how about life after rod removal

+1

Your videos are some of the best.

[Joel]

You look super German and tall

[goodlucktomylegs]

Update

summary: op on 7 of may 2013, internal femurs. Age at time of op: 45 years. Starting height: a good 173cm. Lengthened around 5,7cm. Now around 179cm. Lengthening was done around 50 days after op (end of june/beginning of july 2013). Threw away crutches one week after lengthening. Walked very much, was very active. Good bone growth.
Went skiing and snowboarding in january 2014 (around 6 months after lengthening). Was able to run ok in march 2014. Ran pretty good in may 2014 (one year after op).
Running videos are in my diary.
Had nail removal in october 2014 (1 year and 5 months after op). Can do any sport I want to. Explosiveness is reduced. Your level in any kind of sport that involves running and quick explosive movements will be reduced after LL. In any other sport you should get back to almost 100% if you work hard.
Had a hard time after nail removal. Removal is another very serious surgery, underestimated by many. Again, you will feel like hit by a truck . Takes a few weeks to recover from that. But after theses weeks, things get better continously. First i felt the missing support of the nails. Now I am happy they are out.
My right IT-band is still causing problems , but it seems to be getting better. I am sure that the problem with my right IT-band is caused by and an old accident of mine with serious injuries in my right knee, so lengthening was not a good idea for my right leg.

Some general thoughts about LL: It is hard for me to accept that I really did this crazy thing. That I was not able to accept myself the way I was. And that the whole world knows it because I was open about it.
My point of view: LL is not for people who are emotionally unstable. The rollercoaster that you will have to go through is gonna be more than tough so you have to be very tough emotionally.

Conclusion: LL is for people who are very stable and already quite happy with their life. But then: why would you wanna do LL if you are already quite happy with your life??

Conclusion: Nobody should do LL. Just my opinion.

Cheers
OBG

Could ller can jogging on thread mill for 1hour when rod still inside?
Could ller do abs work out for 1 hour ?
Could ller do t25 work out for 1 hour when rod inside?
do you think all of these activities will effect rod ,screws or fractures?
This is my routine for keeping my good shape (177cmwith65kg)
After i do ll in this july2015 i still want to do work out continuously for life .if i didnt make a lot of work out ,i would going fat quockly.

[PANDA:BEAR..]

Thanks, for the update oldie

[OldieButGoldie]

Hi OBG, I hope things are going well for you. We met at the hospital in Neunkirchen in mid October. I had my nails removed just before you did, and the day before we had briefly talked about going to visit Peter Woll in Warden. Anyway, I was wondering how your experience has been since having the nails removed? For myself, the wounds from the nail removal are mostly healed and I removed the sutures two days ago, but as far as walking is concerned, my right leg seems to be talking longer to get back to normal i.e. maximum knee flexion is about 115 degrees whereas for the left leg I can flex the knee until my heel hits my butt. On the one hand, this is not entirely surprising since during the LL period, my right leg was always stiffer and more problematic than my left leg. Also, its been less than 2 weeks since the nails were removed so perhaps I'm being overly optimistic about how long it takes for both legs to regain the flexibility they had prior to having the nails removed. I'd say right now my left leg flexibility is about 90% back to pre-surgery levels but my right leg is about 50%. How would you rate your flexibility on both legs so far?

Hey AtlasSearching!
Sorry, I had read your post 3 months ago but forgot to answer it.
My flexibility was back to 100% pretty fast.

How are you feeling these days?
It will be interesting for others on this forum to hear if you are still struggling or not , since you lengthened so much (10cm if I remember right).

Looking back, I can't believe you actually drove your rental car to Peter Woll on that same day after the nail removal surgery. These painkillers did a good job on you, right?

Take care,
OBG

[OldieButGoldie]

Could ller can jogging on thread mill for 1hour when rod still inside?
Could ller do abs work out for 1 hour ?
Could ller do t25 work out for 1 hour when rod inside?
do you think all of these activities will effect rod ,screws or fractures?
This is my routine for keeping my good shape (177cmwith65kg)
After i do ll in this july2015 i still want to do work out continuously for life .if i didnt make a lot of work out ,i would going fat quockly.

Yes, you can absolutely do all of these exercises.
Of course, depending on what stage of LL you are in. It is obvious that you are not able to jog a few weeks after lengthening.
Also, a lot depends on how much you lengthen.

All these activities are good for bone growth, but might bend/break screws or even nails.

You may be lucky or not. Nobody can tell you before...

[Uppland]

OBG have you notced any difference in the way you move, walk and run?

You biomechanics must have changed now that your femurs are longer, how does it feel compared to before the surgery?

[goodlucktomylegs]

OBG have you notced any difference in the way you move, walk and run?

You biomechanics must have changed now that your femurs are longer, how does it feel compared to before the surgery?

Is there any shift of anatomical axis?
I' ve heard that it'll lead to premature archiritis.
From your suggestion if i still want to do femur for 6 cm an tibia 4.5 cm which one first in ur opinion ?

[OldieButGoldie]

Is there any shift of anatomical axis?
I' ve heard that it'll lead to premature archiritis.
From your suggestion if i still want to do femur for 6 cm an tibia 4.5 cm which one first in ur opinion ?

My suggestion: forget about doing 2 LL.
You've got to be crazy to even think about doing this twice to your body...

[YellowSpike]

My suggestion: forget about doing 2 LL.
You've got to be crazy to even think about doing this twice to your body...

Totally agree with OBG. I'm still on the short side after LL, but could never see myself going through this kind of torture again. I'd rather just do yoga/pilates until I die if I want an extra inch that badly. I can't imagine the long-term damage I may have already done to myself...

[goodlucktomylegs]

My suggestion: forget about doing 2 LL.
You've got to be crazy to even think about doing this twice to your body...

Then what is the best solution for me?
Femur 6 cm
or Tibia 5 cm

How about anatomical axis's shift for femurr?
But if i go with Tibia (LATN) there are some risk for permanent knee pain?

[kare69]

OBG do you think a person can pull off 7.5cm and recover in 6 months time back to normal? Why did you suggest for a person not to do LL if they are content with all aspects in their life except height? Didn't you say initially that it brought you happiness, I.e. Fun with lady who was 5'9" and 20 years your junior?

Are you hiding any facts from us about you recovery? Are you really back to 90% or is it less?

[OldieButGoldie]

OBG do you think a person can pull off 7.5cm and recover in 6 months time back to normal? Why did you suggest for a person not to do LL if they are content with all aspects in their life except height? Didn't you say initially that it brought you happiness, I.e. Fun with lady who was 5'9" and 20 years your junior?

Are you hiding any facts from us about you recovery? Are you really back to 90% or is it less?

I am not hiding anything. I have always stated all my complications.  Still having trouble with my right IT-band, I have mentioned that a hundred times.

I never stated that I am back to 90%, don´t know where you got this number from. Please don´t post in a way as if you were citing/quoting me if it is not correct (no offense ).

Also, if you like numbers, you must make a difference between recovery in terms of walking, running, athletic sports etc. etc. etc.
The percentage of recovery will be different for each discipline.

Walking is 100% normal, running/speed might be 80% but I can´t say for sure. My level in tennis might be 70% of before.
Skiing and snowboarding is back to 100%, LL does not affect these sports.
Jumping is no problem, either. Even jumping down from a wall.
Cheers
OBG

[Uppland]

Walking is 100% normal, running/speed might be 80% but I can´t say for sure. My level in tennis might be 70% of before.
Skiing and snowboarding is back to 100%, LL does not affect these sports.
Jumping is no problem, either. Even jumping down from a wall.
Cheers
OBG

Sucks about the tennis but good think about the skiing. I love skiing, couldn't live without it.

OBG, if you don't mind me asking, is it strange having longer legs?
Like what's the difference, what does it feel like?