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[Penguinn]

What's your blood pressure?

I have no idea.. last it was taken I was at Mangal Anand.. why?

[doomsday]

I'm asking cos mine is naturally quite low and i also got delay consolidation  . My Right tibia is consolidating since 15th September and yesterday in got my frame change. My doc told me that if my more rigid frame   won't work he will put a plate to remove the frame.
Anyway i feel that lower blood pressure my correlate with delayed consolidation but i will speak to my doc about it.

[alps]

DVT? And nope, I took only multivitamins and calcium pills throughout distraction.

Deep vein thrombosis. I think that's a risk all through the process and most doctors prescribe blood thinners at least at first. Maybe you didn't realize?

[Penguinn]

Deep vein thrombosis. I think that's a risk all through the process and most doctors prescribe blood thinners at least at first. Maybe you didn't realize?

If it was given it was through the IV and I don't know about it. After my third day post-op, I didn't take a single injection.

I'm asking cos mine is naturally quite low and i also got delay consolidation  . My Right tibia is consolidating since 15th September and yesterday in got my frame change. My doc told me that if my more rigid frame   won't work he will put a plate to remove the frame.
Anyway i feel that lower blood pressure my correlate with delayed consolidation but i will speak to my doc about it.

Huh, that's interesting. I'll have mine taken sometime to check, but every time it's been checked it's come off as totally normal so if it's low, it's normal-range-low. About consolidation, my right is either ready or 95% ready to walk unaided. It's my left leg that's lagging behind.

Edit: Oh, some good news (for me) is that I had to dress in formals for an interview; a shirt tucked in at belt-buckle level, pants and regular formal shoes that gave a 1" lift and absolutely no one, including me could tell that I was disproportionate. Looked like a normal, slightly long legged maybe person. Even my femurs:tibias didn't look off (my current ratio is 0.673) and with shoes on, they were even better proportionally. I wasn't too concerned but I'm glad.

[Penguinn]

I've started to walk unaided in small steps every now and then. For "partial" weight bearing (aka walking at home) instead of crutches, I use the walker, but I don't hold the walker. Instead I only keep my thumbs or index fingers on the walker for balance (you put almost zero weight on a walker with just your thumbs) and take steps. Sometimes I walk without a walker or crutches around, but it's in a very controlled environment with someone around and it's just a few steps. There's no real pain, but muscles get tired if I overdo it.


What I've learned so far:

-Precice 2 is sturdy
-You have to push yourself. I was very apprehensive for a lot of time and my left leg was (still is) lagging behind. Little improvement in taking full weight for walking in the left leg in the past few weeks while the right leg is soaring ahead. Taking DoingItForMe's bold decision to walk on his own during his journey as inspiration, I've been doing the thumb-on-walker method for 99% weight bearing and my left leg has improved tremendously in the past 4 days. 4 goddamn days, I kid you not. I'm going to say though that this is just my experience. I am not fully walking unaided without my doctor's permission, and I definitely don't recommend anyone else to either.
-You will have a hip sway to maintain balance. I suppose that goes with time.

I'm hoping that I'm allowed to walk unaided more soon. We'll see after my next x-rays. The worst part about my LL has been the time it's taken. The lifestyle change is so bizarre and I think my mind dissociates from it somewhat. For someone who's very extroverted and doesn't like video games, this would be hell lol. On the bright side, improvement is certain and constant.

Edit: to be more precise, when I tried walking unaided a week or so ago, my left leg's step would be fine (since the strong right leg is the supporting pillar) but the right leg's step would be smaller and hit with a jerk, since the weaker left leg wasn't providing proper support. With the right leg standing, I could take the left step in sort of slow motion, taking a lot of weight and landing a consistent, soft step- but with the left leg standing, the right step would be quick. Now, both steps can be done in slow motion meaning both legs are providing enough support at the time. This improvement has occurred over 3-4 days of pushing my left leg's limits. I'm not pushing it any further, because there is no further (the next step would be to simply walk unaided non stop) and I can't afford to break the nail at this stage.

[alps]

glad you're doing well.

I've been doing the thumb-on-walker method for 99% weight bearing and my left leg has improved tremendously in the past 4 days. 4 goddamn days, I kid you not.

how do you know without x-rays?

why don't people lie on the bed and press the wall with their legs for weight bearing? you could attach a weight scale vertically on the wall, measure and be safe, right? (I might be stupid asking this  )

[Penguinn]

glad you're doing well.

how do you know without x-rays?

why don't people lie on the bed and press the wall with their legs for weight bearing? you could attach a weight scale vertically on the wall, measure and be safe, right? (I might be stupid asking this  )

I explained in the Edit how I know the left improved without x rays. It takes weight better. It somehow adjusted, or maybe the muscles improved.

Walking is essential so your legs re learn the walking movements and blood flow increases.

[alps]

I don't deny walking is useful, but if there are weight bearing restrictions, just for the goal of fast consolidation, I was thinking of doing that.

[Penguinn]

Update: My right leg is full weightbearing. I stood on my right leg only (raised left leg up like a flamingo) for like 8 seconds and not a hint of pain. If only my left wasnt lagging behind...sigh....

[Penguinn]

Update: I can actually walk pretty fast unaided (for short distances) but with a prominent hip tilt on the left. On crutches till the end of this month, told to use them for balance while loading callus(aka walking) and while going out. When I go out, I only use 1 crutch- in the right hand to balance out the bad(left) leg. My hip sway to the right is minimal.

Before doing LL I used to think walking unaided and walking normal were the same thing or only a few days apart. Boy was I wrong.

[Penguinn]

Update: Gait's improving and improvements can be seen every 15 days or so. I can climb stairs unaided (using only my right leg and leaning heavily toward the right as I climb... are people supposed to be able to do this before having a normal gait?) but not too many stairs unless there's a bar I can hold while climbing.

Gait's still wobbly but not as terribly wobbly as it was say, 3 weeks to a month ago.

Me and Dr. Parihar both attribute my left leg's slower recovery to the fact that it was initially operated twice, and has a tiny bone fragment shattered at the base of the femur that's also joining and needing callus along with the lengthened gap's callus. I wish that fragment had just been removed because it unnecessarily caused the callus to fill from a bigger base, resulting in a slower recovery. I'm no doctor but that's what it seems like.

This is what I'm talking about: http://imgur.com/a/kx7wM
I like the improvement it had from April end to May end too, and from how I feel I'm guessing the improvement from May end to June end is more.

My right leg feels great. No stiffness even as soon as I wake up and start walking to the bathroom, unlike the left. Only thing I can't do on my right leg as of now is hop/jump but there's no hurry for that. I just want to resume normal function. It's annoying that I could've been normal (walking wise, stairs wise, basically regular non athletic function wise) by now if my left hadn't been operated twice thanks to a faulty nail. Could be a lot worse though, so I guess I can't complain.

Other X Rays
Right: http://imgur.com/eh9vl68 & http://imgur.com/BRMQeMe
Left (good side): http://imgur.com/a/3VrSI

As you can see, right is miles ahead.

[doomsday]

That left one looks bad buddy. Im not a doctor but there were people with partial non union and it seems like it. Hopefully im wrong and you just need some extra time. I know that Dooghoon is using BMAC (Bone Marrow Aspirate Concentrate) to speed up  recovery. 

[p89]

sorry to hear this penguin. it is has been a long time of recovering for you. at least you do not have any soft tissue or nerve problems which are harder.

it seems like the doctors fault. still, anything can happen with any doctor.

how well  do you say the doctor and team look after you now, with such a complication?

[onemorefoot]

Even if for some reason you have delayed consolidation in the left leg,you have the reverse mechanism in precice 2 (thanks Hell!), dont worry. There is a clear improvement from April to May, If It were nonunion It would be the same, without any change.keep walking!

[Penguinn]

I have no idea what you guys are talking about lol. My improvement is constant, so it can't be non-union. There's a lot of improvement in the leg in the last month. I just said it's a shame that it hasn't recovered as fast as the right leg.

I'm walking unaided(only at home for safety reasons). My only complication as of now is a slightly wobbly gait.

[Body Builder]

That left one looks bad buddy. Im not a doctor but there were people with partial non union and it seems like it. Hopefully im wrong and you just need some extra time. I know that Dooghoon is using BMAC (Bone Marrow Aspirate Concentrate) to speed up  recovery.

You are completely wrong.
The left bone has consolidated less than right but it has still a good bone bridge and there is no way a non union case.

Penguinn everything seems completely fine.
Be a little patient and soon you'll walk completely unaided and fine.
Keep strong!

[Penguinn]

You are completely wrong.
The left bone has consolidated less than right but it has still a good bone bridge and there is no way a non union case.

Penguinn everything seems completely fine.
Be a little patient and soon you'll walk completely unaided and fine.
Keep strong!

I was never worried, because I sense the improvement in me every week.

My mom had seen me 2 weeks ago and then just now and says my gait has made a tremendous improvement. I literally walked like a penguin 15 days ago. Now I walk like a normal person who stubbed his left toe or with a small muscle pull in his left leg. I'm overjoyed. Last month I thought my horrible gait would take months to become normal, and now I'm walking with an 80% normal gait after 5 minutes of waking up and walking. (Immediately after waking up is horrible)

Being normal enough to walk and answer the doorbell (albeit slowly) after months of not being able to feels awesome.

However this doesn't last for long. After walking for 5-10 minutes I get tired and the gait keeps getting worse. My gait will get even worse on bumpy ass Indian roads if I go outside. For these reasons, I'll carry a crutch when I go out (also so people don't bump into me). I have my fingers crossed that my gait becomes normal and my muscle's stamina increases in a month. Honestly, this is the easy part of recovery. I don't feel like a handicapped person anymore.

[KiloKAHN]

It's not uncommon for one leg to consolidate slower than the other. My local ortho was convinced that one of my fibulae was going to be incomplete and not completely consolidate and yet after a few weeks of pushing myself to walk more it ended up consolidating even thicker than the other one.

[Penguinn]

My gait is improving really well. I can say I walk with a 90% normal gait now- *at home, on a plain surface, for short periods of time

Stamina and walking on rough surfaces should improve with time. It's nice to see improvements every 4 days after not seeing significant improvement for months. I hope this continues.

[limby101]

[this is my first posting here after weeks of reading]

penguin, thanks a lot for your diary.
you sound like a mature and intelligent young man.
(is english at this high level is common in india?)

stay safe and thanks again for all this contribution.

[alps]

Hey Penguinn. Any updates?

[Penguinn]

Nothing really. Gait improvement is slow because there's not much left to improve.

[alps]

what about your bone consolidation?

[Penguinn]

June end X rays showed improvement, not as much as I want though. There has to have been improvement since, because the stiffness pain that I got in my left leg right after getting out of bed has reduced greatly. As in, it doesn't need a 30 second warm up before walking after sitting for a long time. These are the kind of small improvements I've been noticing.

Seeing my gait video I took of 20 June, the improvement isn't slight. It's there alright. (Not uploading the vid)

This is an impatient time in my journey. In the early months, you fully accept your cripple status. Now I'm so close to normalcy, yet so far because the left bone is taking it's sweet time.

[alps]

I understand man. Stay strong. I hope you are able to get on with normal life though.

[Penguinn]

I'm definitely able to get on with normal life. Just.. like a 60 year old lol. It's fine, I was 80 a few weeks ago. I hope to be in my 40s in a month's time.

[Penguinn]

Before I forget, I had x-rays taken (haven't got them to upload them yet) and my left leg is definitely improved on the side callus already existed. Dr. believes the other side will most likely fill out horizontally once one side is strong. The leg's getting stronger and my gait is very close to normal. I still give it a few weeks though. Life's gotten busy for me and I don't get to do enough physio/straight line walking. As for the right leg, the callus is picture perfect and strong. No question about that leg. All in all, I'm happy.

I also heard that another patient's done Precice 2 cosmetic femoral lengthening with Parihar as of recent. No diary, so I assume the person wants to stay totally anonymous. If you're reading this, stranger, I wish you all the best in your journey.

One annoying little thing I'd like to report is when I walk long distances, especially if in a hurry, my right sole aches. Surprising because right is the good leg. This is probably from not walking for way too many months.

Another thing I've noticed after paying extra careful attention is gait improvements are up and down, think graph wise, but over time the graph goes up. As in one day you could see that suddenly, starting today, your knee's bending fluidly and properly when you walk, and the next day it's stiffer like it was before- but over time the "good days" increase and the "bad days" decrease until the improvement becomes your reality. It's never as if "Oh it improved, there's no going back to that   gait now!" It could be bad the next day again, but over time it improves.

[Pizzagate]

Can you take a picture on your self please? We have yet too see 1 picture of your procedure. Not x-ray please 

[Penguinn]

I've said multiple times that I won't post pictures of myself. If an overwhelming majority believed my diary was fake because I only posted like 200 x-rays, I'll have it removed.

[doomsday]

ok, remove it

[LLSouthAmerica]

I've said multiple times that I won't post pictures of myself. If an overwhelming majority believed my diary was fake because I only posted like 200 x-rays, I'll have it removed.

I vouch for the Penguinn and I really doubt Dr. Parihar is advertising himself unlike some of the other doctors here (you know who I am talking about haha)

Can you take a picture on your self please? We have yet too see 1 picture of your procedure. Not x-ray please 

If you want to see nked pictures there are web pages for that haha. You can analyze their proportions also.

ok, remove it

Do you have a diary? I read somewhere that you have problems. We could benefit from knowing what went wrong with you.