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[Whereintheworld?]

Hey everyone, I'm not usually a 'forum' type of guy but here I am, looking for both support and hopefully to help others if I can.

I'm American, mid 20's, and just returned to my apartment in Lecco after having surgery with Dr. Pili in Milan.
I should clarify- I had surgery on Thursday morning, stayed two nights in the hospital, and am now currently sitting on the bed that I occupied as an able-bodied person just a few days back.
I feel a little bit anxious at the moment, as I noticed a 'clicking' type of feeling below by knee at the top of the device- I'm worried I may have walked too aggressively with my crutches from the cab to the elevator, from the elevator to my front door.
I just emailed Dr. Pili, expressing my concerns, and am awaiting his reply.
***Here's my sob story...
Being short, you're never allowed to be the man you really are. Aside from the opportunities we are denied in this world due to our height(I'm 5'7), there have been countless opportunities (women,jobs,etc.) that I chose to walk away from because I could not handle the thought of further embarrassment. As I've read through the forum here (and the old one), I see that we all know these experiences: the disappointed expression of a girl you were sharing eye contact with before as she walks past you and sees your height: comparing your height to every other person you walk by in the streets--taking outrageous paths to make certain you don't have to pass a tall guy: just a general feeling of worthlessness.
Despite all of that, if I could go back in time to Thursday morning when I arrived at  the hospital, I would turn around and book a ticket home. This is probably just the anxiety from the "clicking' I keep feeling but I'm kind of having a WTF moment. Too late though, I've got braces on my legs and even if I tell Dr. Pili to just take them off, I'm still looking at several months in casts.
Dr. Pili by the way is a very kind, straight forward man. He and his assistant have gone out of their ways to arrange things for my stay here.
I think I'm just going to chalk this up as a bad day.

[goodlucktomylegs]

Be srtong man
Wish you best of luck
Did u do any reseaches before operation?
Then how did u know dr pili with out reseach?

[TIBIKE200]

This WTF moment is normal from stories of patients I have spoken to. Stay strong and PATIENT!

 Btw, how much you planned to lengthen before you got your frames on?

[Whereintheworld?]

Be srtong man
Wish you best of luck
Did u do any reseaches before operation?
Then how did u know dr pili with out reseach?

I appreciate it.
I've been lurking around this, and the old board, for years. I had narrowed it down to Pili and China, but decided on Pili after having a consultation with him a few months back.

[Whereintheworld?]

This WTF moment is normal from stories of patients I have spoken to. Stay strong and PATIENT!

 Btw, how much you planned to lengthen before you got your frames on?

I had planned on 8 cm, but even before the surgery I had started to think that I would be satisfied with 4 cm.
Thanks for your words guys, they really do help.

[TIBIKE200]

my advice to you is to set the goal high, and just stop when you think enough is enough proportionally speaking. Pain should not be a reason to stop because you dont want afterwards to regret not doing enough.

 Btw I reside in Italy. If you wanna talk via whatssup, e-mail or skype let me know through pm

[Whereintheworld?]

I think you're right, I'll just play it by ear.

[Whereintheworld?]

Dr. Pili got back to me this morning-he assured me these 'clicking' feelings are quite normal and just to make sure the bolts on the device are kept tight.
-If you're not going to be staying in a clinic during your lengthening, you need to make certain you have thought everything out, in terms of what you will need in your apartment as well as the state you will be in after surgery. For example, I bought several cases of water before surgery, but had not thought of how I was going to access them afterwards. Eventually, I ended up balancing myself against a cabinet as I found a seat on top of an air conditioner next to the water. I was able to pull one out at a time and throw them across the room onto my bed. I would advice setting up 'stations' across your apartment prior to surgery to make things easier on yourself later on.

[Whereintheworld?]

I don't have much to add at this point, only that Dr. Pili has stopped by my apartment a couple of times, making sure I have what I need as well as introducing me to a man who will be 'supervising' my pin site cleanings for a while.
No pain as of yet and I'm set to start lengthening next week.

[TIBIKE200]

how is your overall feeling? Did the "what the fk have I done" thought calmed down a bit?

[Whereintheworld?]

how is your overall feeling? Did the "what the fk have I done" thought calmed down a bit?

Definitely. When I got back from the hospital everything sort of hit me at once and I just panicked. I'm not sure if there's any way I could have prepared myself mentally- it might just be one of those things you have to get through. Still, it really helped to have a forum like this to come to.

[Whereintheworld?]

I started lengthening about a week ago at .75/day
Things were going pretty smooth, no pain, until yesterday afternoon when I stepped quite a bit harder than I meant to with my left foot. The pain came and left quickly but the muscle around my shin felt uncomfortable for the rest of the day.
Even now, I have a very slight throbbing pain that comes and goes located on either the osteotomy site or else a nearby screw (can't pinpoint it).

Aside from that, I'm doing pretty good.

[please]

Hey Whereintheworld
You seems to be doing pretty well man!
I wish I had your straight and manage to have surgery like you did. I envy you for this.
Keep strong and keep us up to dated.
Pictures are welcome

[Penguinn]

Dude, 5'7 to 5'10 is an awesome gain. All the best.

[Whereintheworld?]

Hey Whereintheworld
You seems to be doing pretty well man!
I wish I had your straight and manage to have surgery like you did. I envy you for this.
Keep strong and keep us up to dated.
Pictures are welcome

I heard about ll surgery ten years ago and it's only just now that I'm here. It takes time to line everything up.

Dude, 5'7 to 5'10 is an awesome gain. All the best.

I appreciate it-same to you.

[Whereintheworld?]

It's hard to believe but I'm already over 3 weeks post op, lengthening for about 11 days at .75mm.
I met with Dr. P today and went over my x-rays(he says they look good). He also gave me a thorough explanation as to what caused the 'pain' I felt when I stepped too hard with my foot last weekend.
No problems with the pin/screw sites with the exception being the fibula/tibia fix point, which is a little redder than the rest, but still ok.
Dr. Catagni was in the hospital as well and stopped by for a moment, telling me to bear in mind that I'm already 1/10 of the way done (8cm).

I have a pretty good setup here. My apartment is by no means large but it suits me well enough. The chef from the restaurant upstairs brings me lunch everyday and also stops by the grocery store for me if I need anything.
Still, it was nice to get out of the apartment today, even if it was only a cab ride to the hospital and back to my apartment.

[CCMidwest]

So you're looking at 107 days or so of lengthening, wow. Happy to hear the pain is manageable.

You guys that do external tibia are some brave souls...I know I could never do it.

Are you staying in frames until full consolidation?

[Whereintheworld?]

So you're looking at 107 days or so of lengthening, wow. Happy to hear the pain is manageable.

You guys that do external tibia are some brave souls...I know I could never do it.

Are you staying in frames until full consolidation?

Seems like a long time, I know, but the time I've been here so far has flown by.
Yea, the frames stay on until full consolidation, but a few of the pieces come out when lengthening is complete.
Dr. P said that for 8 cm, count on 10-12 months. It's all individual though.

[Whereintheworld?]

I've been lengthening now for almost 3 weeks and am a little over 1.5 cm.
For a couple of days I've experience a slight 'tingling' sensation on the ball of my foot when I start my knee exercises, but this goes away after bending my knee two or three times. Still no pain to speak of thank God, but I have pain killers ready to go if they're needed.
Aside from that, I'm going to start trying to limit myself to 2-3 hours a day on my computer, as I've been practically living on it up to now.

[Max]

Whereintheworld stay strong brother we believe in you . Take care my man ! your decision is right and atleast I am always there to support you I feel you !
TC

[Whereintheworld?]

Whereintheworld stay strong brother we believe in you . Take care my man ! your decision is right and atleast I am always there to support you I feel you !
TC

Thanks a lot Max

[Whereintheworld?]

From what I've read, sleep seems to be a problem regardless of which doctor/method one chooses. While I've been getting in 6-8 hours every night, I've yet to come by more than 3 in a given block- most nights consist of several 1 and 2 hour naps. As I've mentioned, pain has not been an issue for me, so I'm not exactly sure what is causing the problem. Sitting here at 4am, I think that I'm going to abandon my traditional sleep schedule and instead just sleep whenever I feel the need, be it morning, afternoon, or night.
I suppose I could ask my doctor for sleeping pills but I'd rather go through this whole process as 'naturally' as I can.

[Whereintheworld?]

At the end of today I will have reached nearly 2.8 cm after 37 days of lengthening. Time is going by very quickly but still, not quickly enough.
I just returned from meeting with Dr. Pili who told me that my x-rays look good on the whole, but did mention that my right leg has a slight curvature that may indicate future bending (so minimal at the moment that it does not require correction) and that I have slightly less callus formation (though still within normal range) in the front of my bones.
While neither one is yet an 'issue', he said we'll keep a close eye on both.

In the years leading up to this, I was of the mindset that I was going to lengthen as much as possible and what's more, I thought people who did 6.5cm or less were foolish. Though now that I'm here, I would actually be satisfied with 5cm (turning 6cm so as to assure a legitimate 5cm gain). Whether or not this will come to pass I can't say- I've not had any pain or tightness so far but I'm a little nervous now that I'm at the 3cm mark. Dr. Pili has several patients who go well beyond 6 cm, but the majority required achilles lengthening, which I really don't want to do. Still, if I get stuck at 4 cm, I'll probably go through with it.

[Whereintheworld?]

It's been a while since I've updated so here goes...

I reached 5.4 cm during the middle of September, took a week off, then turned to 6.4.
Since I decided to stop, Dr. Pili told me to work on my dorsiflexion during the next two weeks and see him afterwards to determine whether or not we'll do achilles lengthening (no pain or ballerina foot exactly, but I'm stiff). He says chances are that physical therapy will be enough, but we'll see.
Up to this point I still haven't experienced the pain that is suppose to come with tibia lengthening (although Dr. Pili told me that I'll be in for a rough two weeks should we proceed with the achilles lengthening), but once or twice a month I'll have a wire bother me for a few days.

I'll let you guys know how it turns out.

[The Kaiser]

Seems like a long time, I know, but the time I've been here so far has flown by.
Yea, the frames stay on until full consolidation, but a few of the pieces come out when lengthening is complete.
Dr. P said that for 8 cm, count on 10-12 months. It's all individual though.

10-12 months for full recovery or walking normal?

wish you the best......,

[Whereintheworld?]

Thanks Kaiser.

I'm not exactly sure, I assume walking normal since the rule of them is 10-12 months in frames for 8cm, so it'd probably be a little longer past that before you're back to 'full recovery'.

There are a couple of Pili/Catagni patients on the old forum-
one did around 6.5 and was in was in frames 8 months total, while another did 9 cm at roughly 11 months.
Since I've been here, there was yet another patient who did 7 cm and was in frames for 7 months - his was an exceptionally rare case though.
I like to plan for worst case scenario (barring the terrible), so I'm looking at a May/June removal.

[The Kaiser]

Thanks Kaiser.

I'm not exactly sure, I assume walking normal since the rule of them is 10-12 months in frames for 8cm, so it'd probably be a little longer past that before you're back to 'full recovery'.

There are a couple of Pili/Catagni patients on the old forum-
one did around 6.5 and was in was in frames 8 months total, while another did 9 cm at roughly 11 months.
Since I've been here, there was yet another patient who did 7 cm and was in frames for 7 months - his was an exceptionally rare case though.
I like to plan for worst case scenario (barring the terrible), so I'm looking at a May/June removal.

what method did Dr Pili use with you?

[hype88]

Awesome diary! Would you be able to share the cost of the procedure?

[Whereintheworld?]

what method did Dr Pili use with you?

It's a hybrid external device, about 7 or 8 inches in diameter

[Whereintheworld?]

Awesome diary! Would you be able to share the cost of the procedure?

It's roughly 20k Euro for the initial surgery- roughly because the Hospital price may fluctuate a few hundred euro.
You'll also need to factor in a few thousand for removal and achilles lengthening (if you need it).
 Dr. Pili can give you exact figures- he usually responds pretty quickly

[Zeo]

Hey Whereintheworld, I'm glad things are going good for you. I plan on going to Dr. Pili and plan on lengthening around the same length as you. From everything I've read I think he's a really good doctor with a reasonable price.

If you don't mind me asking are you staying by yourself throughout the whole thing? Do you plan on staying in Italy until frame removal?