That's awesome that he is so close to you. Remember to stay strong in the head while lengthening. That's what will be important in order to remain positive. Keep your self busy,also. Good luck hope you achieve your goal and move on from this as an experience and get back to your normal happier life.
Thank you, I appreciate the advice.
I wish you well dear... Can't wait for your journey to begin
Thank you
To stay on topic, obviously Guichett is the best option if you are in London. Don't think you'll have any problems whatsoever...also a big plus is support of family, some people do it all alone
It must be 100 times more difficult to do this alone, I sympathise with people who do this by themselves very much. As you say, Guichet is my best option due to the fact I'm from London. The thought of flying overseas did make me a lot more nervous and unsure about all of this.
Any other doctors in London or is it really only Guichet? I recall something about Pili doing appointments there. Not sure about the actual lengthening, though.
Either way, Mike, how far are you in this whole process?
From the research I've done, Guichet is the only doctor in all of the UK who does CLL. Throughout the UK there are hospitals that do this for other medical reasons, but not CLL. He is the only one, and when I found out about this it was a big weight of my shoulders. Going overseas was not really an option for me.
I wanted to take my time and answer Guichets medical form/questionnaire as accurately as I could, almost done and once I send that his personal assistant will set me up a consultation with him. I'm nervous to meet the man and hear what he has to say, but I'll keep you guys updated.
Despite what has happened to Unicorn, I do still think that Guichet is a good choice. If you reread Unicorns diary, she did a lot of things wrong. Not saying it's 100% her fault and of course Guichet does not have good bedside manners at all. But is he a good surgeon, yes. Can he be a jerk? yes.
Even if it's a more painful/older nail, you cannot lie with his results. Other than unicorn, look at how soon his patients are back to their old lives, and look how much they can excersise during the whole thing. THAT is what you are paying for. You may say that it is "overpriced" for the nail, but you need to account for the experience of Guichet and how quick you will be back to life compared to other methods
And for the aspirin thing, look at how many patient's have been forced to lengthen fast at 1.25 mm+ just to avoid preconsolidation, and look what it does to your soft tissues. Honestly I am more fearful of preconsolidation than non-union. With the amount of weightbearing that his patients do, im not surprised that he gives something to slow down the consolidation.
Just listen to him but also listen to your body/bones, if you see you are not consolidating well, then take a break from lengthening + help your soft tissues catch up etc etc all of the basic things that you learn from actually researchign the procedure
Thanks for the advice, I'm going to try my best to exercise and be in as good shape both mentally and physically as I can before doing the procedure which I think will really increase my chances of success by a lot. Also this will decrease my chances of failure too, hopefully.
I don't have a problem with taking painkillers, I'm gonna do more research but from what I gather the pain is more apparent at night when trying to sleep. Either way thanks for the advice.
Hey Mike,
I'm not allowed to say much because what I've exposed to you guys are very sensored. But please do your research. Call the GMC (https://www.gmc-uk.org/) which is the UK regulatory body providing doctor licenses and Princess Grace Hospital to check a doctor's track record in terms of suspensions, audits or compliances etc.
This is not something doctors need to disclose to you but you should do your homework first, ok?
By the way, lengthening recovery is not about MUSCLE mass, but about soft tissue flexibility and your lengthening rate. Just make sure every 2-week xray show calluses that are bridging. If they don't bridge, STOP DISTRACTING, until they bridge again.
That will prevent you from non-union, since the nail cannot reverse nor stop. Don't end up like me following instructions blindly with the fast distraction of 70mm in 65 days.
This lengthening process can be successful and safe if all patients know what to look out for and not depend on their doctors 100%.
All doctors and even more so, lengthening doctors, are like construction tradesmen. They want to win the project and once they have the money, the service level decreases and completion date is endlessly postponed.
You've all the chances in the world to succeed, being younger and male. But just be very careful and not flirt with risk Always question the doctor, don't stress your nails, don't distract too quickly and keep stretching those soft tissues.
Best of luck and do your homework. There's a patient who refuses to be named who has done both Albizzia nail and Precice, and she says it's a difference of NIGHT and DAY in terms of pain and stress level of clicking, risk and overall experience. So have some thought ahout that too.
Yours sincerely,
Unicorn
Thank you Unicorn for all the advice, I had no idea something like the GMC even existed. I'm going to give them a call, see what information I can find out. I'm also in the process of reading your dairy, I'm grateful for how open and honest you have been in it. It's been helpful reading it.
I'm doing more and more research every day on how the whole surgery and leg lengthening process works, all I want is for it to be safe and a success. Thanks for the advice about it, also appreciate you telling me about the GMC which I will definitely look into.
Thanks again and take care.