Topic: LL with Dr Rozbruch 2017-2018 (Read 13901 times)

Android · « **Reply #31 on:** January 23, 2018, 07:21:14 PM »

Quote from: lon chaney on January 23, 2018, 06:48:09 PM

aw cmon, no updates?

You might try sending a PM, he'll most likely get an email notification.

bigdreams55 · « **Reply #32 on:** January 24, 2018, 01:05:29 AM »

Just had my second post op with Dr. Rozbruch, I have distracted 3.4 cm.

In the last few days, I've really started to feel the muscle tightness and knee stiffness other diaries have associated with lengthening and it has been a couple of difficult days lately. I feel like i spend 5-10 minutes stretching to get 15-20 of "not stretching" life, then I have to get back to 5-10 min of stretching to get another 15-20 min of "not stretching" life and repeat all day which gets tedious and boring. And I keep it up at night as I have to wake up to stretch every 15-20 min (really crap sleep). I was also gonna try to sleep opposite my headboard, so when i need to stretch i wont have to leave the bed, I can just rest my feet on top of my headboard and push my knees down to get a good stretch right in bed. Also, I can sleep on my side now even though I can kinda feel the screw spot, but the tightness makes it tough to sleep for long.

As a result, Dr. Rozbruch recommended reducing to .66 mm/day for a week before going back to 1mm/day. I'm only on day 1 of .66 mm/day and wow do I feel a lot more comfortable! Sometimes, I think it might just be placebo but it makes sense that soft tissue handles smaller lengthening per day better. My xrays today looked great, good bone formation but not too much such that I need to speed up my distraction rate to prevent pre-consolidation, and my range of motion is still pretty good at 3.4 cm.

I think I might do 6.5 cm max, just because I really do think the less you do, the better your recovery will be, but again it has to be enough to make this whole experience worth it (min = 5 cm, in my opinion).

ShortLivesMatter · « **Reply #33 on:** January 24, 2018, 03:24:02 AM »

Keep it up bro, I started tightening around 3.5cm as well. Are your arms long enough to be able to push down on your knees to keep them straight? That's a very effective exercise. By this time I was no longer able to and so had to have a helper to push them down for me. It's the best stretch to keep your knees straight and avoid bending.

bigdreams55 · « **Reply #34 on:** January 24, 2018, 04:20:24 AM »

Quote from: ShortLivesMatter on January 24, 2018, 03:24:02 AM

Keep it up bro, I started tightening around 3.5cm as well. Are your arms long enough to be able to push down on your knees to keep them straight? That's a very effective exercise. By this time I was no longer able to and so had to have a helper to push them down for me. It's the best stretch to keep your knees straight and avoid bending.

Thanks pal! Luckily for me, at this point, I am able to keep my knees really straight and my arms are long enough to push down on my knees but they don't go down any further. I took your advice and barely spent any time in the wheelchair and kept my legs straight for as much time as I could which I think helped a lot.

I was sorry to hear you had to wait a bit longer to fully weight-bear, I hope you are still in good spirits! I envy you a bit, can't wait to be done with lengthening haha

sgaurav00719 · « **Reply #35 on:** January 25, 2018, 11:46:44 PM »

Hi BigDreams55,

Glad to hear your progress and I hope you will lengthen and recover soon.
I have my surgery schedule for end of the feb and I was wondering that how much effort it takes to walk ? At the stage that you are in right now, can you walk on crutches? I wanted to go to my office at least once a week after a month of post surgery. Do you think it is too ambitious?

Thanks

bigdreams55 · « **Reply #36 on:** January 27, 2018, 06:17:22 AM »

Quote from: sgaurav00719 on January 25, 2018, 11:46:44 PM

Hi BigDreams55,

Glad to hear your progress and I hope you will lengthen and recover soon.
I have my surgery schedule for end of the feb and I was wondering that how much effort it takes to walk ? At the stage that you are in right now, can you walk on crutches? I wanted to go to my office at least once a week after a month of post surgery. Do you think it is too ambitious?

Thanks

I walk with a walker, I think crutches would be dangerous at this point because of lack of balance and strength. I've been able to work remotely, but there is no way I could see myself going into the office during the lengthening stage of this surgery.

MirinHeight · « **Reply #37 on:** January 27, 2018, 07:19:18 AM »

Quote from: bigdreams55 on January 27, 2018, 06:17:22 AM

I walk with a walker, I think crutches would be dangerous at this point because of lack of balance and strength. I've been able to work remotely, but there is no way I could see myself going into the office during the lengthening stage of this surgery.

how much do you weigh?

bigdreams55 · « **Reply #38 on:** January 27, 2018, 10:15:05 PM »

About 155

bigdreams55 · « **Reply #39 on:** February 09, 2018, 05:05:20 AM »

Hey everyone,

Had another post-op today, I have lengthened 46 mm. Dr. Rozbruch said my ROM was still very good and that my bone formation is great so far. I'm getting tired of lengthening, so hope to finish lengthening by end of month (will achieve 60 to 65 mm).

Also, I met SLM at Rozbruch's office, great guy! It was very uplifting to see how much progress he had made, as it gave me hope for my future.

ShortLivesMatter · « **Reply #40 on:** February 09, 2018, 06:18:13 AM »

Haha, I saw a young guy in a fancy looking wheelchair strolling into the office and I figured hm could it be bigdreams from the forum? It was great seeing you man, hang in there, you're looking great! Since your bone formation and ROM are great, consolidation is going to be pretty fast for you, might want to think about pushing to 7cm+.

MirinHeight · « **Reply #41 on:** February 09, 2018, 06:34:51 AM »

@bigdreams55 and @shortlivesmatter

what did Dr. Rozbruch tell about fat embolism prior to surgery. has he faced this complication before?
is there an option of unilateral cll?

Thanks

LAGrowin · « **Reply #42 on:** February 25, 2018, 10:20:16 PM »

Hi bigdreams55,

Hope you're doing well in the homestretch. Is this the start of the final week of distraction? Going to push for 6.5 CM?

Keep us posted. Pushing for you!

bigdreams55 · « **Reply #43 on:** February 26, 2018, 05:06:24 AM »

Hey LAGrowin,

Yes, this is my last week! I will be visiting Rozbruch as well to check up.

I'll post an update here after my appointment.

bigdreams55 · « **Reply #44 on:** March 02, 2018, 03:26:12 AM »

I had another checkup with Dr. Rozbruch today and I have decided to stop at 63 mm. I was having a lot of muscle tightness and ROM was starting to become limited, so I thought it best to stop lengthening. I probably could keep going, but I don't think the extra cm is worth it. Bone formation looked good so far and Ill have another checkup in 6 weeks.

Woohoo, and now on to consolidation!

LAGrowin · « **Reply #45 on:** March 02, 2018, 09:58:36 AM »

Quote from: bigdreams55 on March 02, 2018, 03:26:12 AM

I had another checkup with Dr. Rozbruch today and I have decided to stop at 63 mm. I was having a lot of muscle tightness and ROM was starting to become limited, so I thought it best to stop lengthening. I probably could keep going, but I don't think the extra cm is worth it. Bone formation looked good so far and Ill have another checkup in 6 weeks.

Woohoo, and now on to consolidation!

Congratulations bigdreams, very smart of you, I don't think the 1/2 inch is worth future complications and a more difficult recovery. I may consider doing the same if necessary.

2.5 inches is awesome. Keep us posted on how you feel now after you stop lengthening.

Wish you well!

bigdreams55 · « **Reply #46 on:** March 02, 2018, 09:33:00 PM »

Thanks LAGrowin, I'm happy with 2.5 inches. Every cm really does make a huge difference in terms of recovery. I hope you can make it to 7.5 cm or 7 cm but be sure to listen to your body. I don't think the difference between 2.5 vs 3 inches is that noticeable anyways.

But 2.5 inches to my previous height will be great! I wont be tall but it puts me in the average range. If I get really desperate, maybe ill do tibia in 5 years, but hopefully I would not need.

I'm on Day 2 post lengthening and had a great night sleep! It was amazing!

ShortLivesMatter · « **Reply #47 on:** March 02, 2018, 11:06:00 PM »

Congrats man, 2.5 inches is pretty good, not much difference from 3 inches like you said. The hardest part is over, it sounds like consolidation will go pretty smoothly for you. And yeah when I first saw you I was like damn this dude looks average height already lol.

Purushrottam · « **Reply #48 on:** March 03, 2018, 12:13:21 AM »

Congratulations! At 63 mm, you should have a relatively fast recovery. Hard part is over.

bigdreams55 · « **Reply #49 on:** March 03, 2018, 10:12:18 AM »

@SLM, thanks man, I thought you had a good height as well! I hope your sway has improved! I think having a smaller wheelchair made me look bigger lol

@Purush, Thanks pal, I can only hope my recovery goes as smoothly as yours!

jyhtha · « **Reply #50 on:** March 04, 2018, 01:11:45 AM »

@bigdreams55

Congratulation! 63 mm is a great length. I hope your have a great recovery. We would love to hear more great news from you in the coming months.

lon chaney · « **Reply #51 on:** March 09, 2018, 12:38:53 AM »

hey bigdreams
wondering if you're eating anything special or doing any special exercises for bone formation and stimulation. was always curious about paley having patients take a silical supplement while rozbruch just does vitamin d, calcium, etc

jyhtha · « **Reply #52 on:** March 10, 2018, 08:32:09 PM »

@bigdreams55

Could you post a breakdown of cost here? I'm really curious which parts are coverable by insurance. Thank you so much.

bigdreams55 · « **Reply #53 on:** March 11, 2018, 05:42:02 AM »

Quote from: lon chaney on March 09, 2018, 12:38:53 AM

hey bigdreams
wondering if you're eating anything special or doing any special exercises for bone formation and stimulation. was always curious about paley having patients take a silical supplement while rozbruch just does vitamin d, calcium, etc

Not doing anything special, just eating a lot, calcium + vitamin d and walking and standing.

The common factors that impede natural bone healing are tobacco use, arthiritis medication, obesity, diabetes, infections and/or bad diet and nutrition. I dont have any of these factors, so I'm hoping i will have natural bone growth and healing without needing any special equipment (exogen for example).

bigdreams55 · « **Reply #54 on:** March 11, 2018, 05:45:45 AM »

Quote from: matrix on March 10, 2018, 08:32:09 PM

@bigdreams55

Could you post a breakdown of cost here? I'm really curious which parts are coverable by insurance. Thank you so much.

Hospital bill was covered by insurance, cost was $120K, I paid about $1k (including deductible).
Rozbruch's surgeon bill was ~$80k, insurance only covered about $5k, $75k out of pocket

lon chaney · « **Reply #55 on:** March 11, 2018, 10:25:52 PM »

sorry to bug you with the specificity but when you get a moment i'd love a breakdown of a typical day of eating and how many calories approximately

LAGrowin · « **Reply #56 on:** March 31, 2018, 02:05:25 AM »

Hi bigdreams55,

Everything continuing to progress ok with your consolidation ? How are you feeling ?

Wishing you well!

bigdreams55 · « **Reply #57 on:** April 04, 2018, 12:12:58 PM »

Hey LAGrowin,

Consolidation has been good, I've forgotten completely what the pain of lengthening was like. I guess while you're going through lengthening, the pain is constantly on your mind but not so much once in consolidating.

Just hoping to be cleared to walk unaided soon.

LAGrowin · « **Reply #58 on:** April 04, 2018, 01:56:30 PM »

Quote from: bigdreams55 on April 04, 2018, 12:12:58 PM

Hey LAGrowin,

Consolidation has been good, I've forgotten completely what the pain of lengthening was like. I guess while you're going through lengthening, the pain is constantly on your mind but not so much once in consolidating.

Just hoping to be cleared to walk unaided soon.

That's awesome for you bigdreams. so happy to hear that. I'm at that point now where I'm sitting in bed at 3:30 AM wondering if I should continue, so this is definitely great to hear. My knees hurt so bad at night especially. It scares me a little to think I am doing permanent damage. Everyone tells me it will go away once I stop lengthening. I have 3 more days until I hit 7 CM.

Wishing you the best and hoping to hear your good news that you are clear to walk unassisted! I'm right behind you! Please keep us posted.

Thank you!

doomsday · « **Reply #59 on:** April 04, 2018, 04:42:15 PM »

slow down and you will definitely hit 8 cm

Dont give up , you're almost there!

LAGrowin · « **Reply #60 on:** April 04, 2018, 05:33:17 PM »

Quote from: doomsday on April 04, 2018, 04:42:15 PM

slow down and you will definitely hit 8 cm Dont give up , you're almost there!

Thank you doomsday. I actually had already decided to stop at 7cm. I want to be safe, and will be just a hair under 5'9", which I'm fine with. 2.75" isn't a bad gain.

Thank you.

sgaurav00719 · « **Reply #61 on:** April 16, 2018, 03:54:44 PM »

Hi bigdreams55,

How was your appointment ? What doctor said? I hope everything is going good at your end.

Thanks

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Author Topic: LL with Dr Rozbruch 2017-2018 (Read 13901 times)