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[OverrideYourGenetics]

Yep, the others covered pretty well the reasons why I stopped at ~3" total:

1. I developed nerve damage in the left shin. I still don't have normal sensation on the inside of my left shin.
2. I got very tight, despite the daily PT sessions at the Paley Institute (and twice a day throughout the last month of lengthening). PTs said they might need to have me stop lengthening. Thomas stretches were extremely painful (8/10).
3. I can still rebreak and lengthen in about 6 months if I want to pay the extra money and go through another recovery period.
4. I wanted to preserve function, so I'm not too disappointed, provided that I do recover to ~90% of pre-surgery functionality. Since I posted this, I made some more progress: now I can descend stairs without holding onto the rail. Yay!
5. My wingspan was already 2" shorter than my starting height, and is now 5" shorter. If I lengthen my legs even more, I'll look like a lowercase "t".

[notatroll]

Yep, the others covered pretty well the reasons why I stopped at ~3" total:

1. I developed nerve damage in the left shin. I still don't have normal sensation on the inside of my left shin.
2. I got very tight, despite the daily PT sessions at the Paley Institute (and twice a day throughout the last month of lengthening). PTs said they might need to have me stop lengthening. Thomas stretches were extremely painful (8/10).
3. I can still rebreak and lengthen in about 6 months if I want to pay the extra money and go through another recovery period.
4. I wanted to preserve function, so I'm not too disappointed, provided that I do recover to ~90% of pre-surgery functionality. Since I posted this, I made some more progress: now I can descend stairs without holding onto the rail. Yay!
5. My wingspan was already 2" shorter than my starting height, and is now 5" shorter. If I lengthen my legs even more, I'll look like a lowercase "t".

You took the right decision aesthetically and functionally wise. Nerve damage is a bit concerning but surgery was only 6 months ago. Congratulations for 4. I can't yet.

[MirinHeight]

Yep, the others covered pretty well the reasons why I stopped at ~3" total:

1. I developed nerve damage in the left shin. I still don't have normal sensation on the inside of my left shin.
2. I got very tight, despite the daily PT sessions at the Paley Institute (and twice a day throughout the last month of lengthening). PTs said they might need to have me stop lengthening. Thomas stretches were extremely painful (8/10).
3. I can still rebreak and lengthen in about 6 months if I want to pay the extra money and go through another recovery period.
4. I wanted to preserve function, so I'm not too disappointed, provided that I do recover to ~90% of pre-surgery functionality. Since I posted this, I made some more progress: now I can descend stairs without holding onto the rail. Yay!
5. My wingspan was already 2" shorter than my starting height, and is now 5" shorter. If I lengthen my legs even more, I'll look like a lowercase "t".

was the nerve damage from the surgery or lengthening post surgery?

[OverrideYourGenetics]

was the nerve damage from the surgery or lengthening post surgery?

From lengthening. It appeared, I think, once I reached 3cm in the tibias. Dr. Paley said I could recover sensation, but it might take a year. I continued lengthening the tibias anyway, but this was concerning, and combined with getting very tight, I decided to stop for the time being.

[MirinHeight]

From lengthening. It appeared, I think, once I reached 3cm in the tibias. Dr. Paley said I could recover sensation, but it might take a year. I continued lengthening the tibias anyway, but this was concerning, and combined with getting very tight, I decided to stop for the time being.

thats interesting that nerve damage would happen with just 3 cm lengthened

Did you have sensation in that leg prior to hitting 3 cm?


Thanks

[Jim_dabarber]

thats interesting that nerve damage would happen with just 3 cm lengthened

Did you have sensation in that leg prior to hitting 3 cm?


Thanks

It actually doesnt surprise me. He was lengthening both tibia and femur at the same time. I had nerve damage on both sides and i lengthened separately. I ended up with drop foot on the left foot and decreased sensation on both front of my tibias. 

[OverrideYourGenetics]

it is pretty disheartening that your recovery has been so slow considering the very conservative amount you have gained...

How slow do you think my recovery has been? Here's a timeline:

• 2018-Mar-15 - tibias surgery
• Apr 05 - femurs
• Jun 08 - stop lengthening
• Early Jul - walk with canes (unassisted). Never used crutches.
• Early Aug - walk unassisted
• Late Aug / early Sep - walk unassisted at f'in Burning Man
• Mid Sep - unassisted squats, going up and down stairs

I'm at ~3.5 months after stopping lengthening. I've done very minimal leg exercise (<30 minutes total per week (e.g. Stairmaster, stationary bike or walkstation). Of course, I've been walking around at home and at my sedentary job, but that's not any sort of specific rehab training. I haven't jogged yet. Not proud of how little work I've put into my recovery, but I guess I serve as a baseline - even if you just go about your day, you'll still recover. So have faith, my post-op crippled friends.

I'm also in my late 30s and had all four segments broken.

For comparison, here's Puru, age 26, only femurs, and working out the legs much more often than me:

• 2017-Sep-26 - femurs surgery
• 2017-Dec-02 - stopped lengthening
• 2018-Jan-09 - mobile with crutches
• Jan-21 - walk without crutches
• Jan-30 - walk 1/3 miles (1/2km) without crutches ("swaying like hell towards the end as I was getting tired")
• Feb-08 - normal gait and going up/down stairs at only 2.25 months after stopping lengthening
• Feb-27 - jogging for 1 minute made legs sore
• Mar-03 - can't do body weight squats unassisted yet
• Mar-08 - walk for 3 miles without tiring
• Mar-25 - walk 6.5 miles/day, run up and down stairs easily. This was ~4 months after stopping lengthening.
• Mar-27 - can touch toes while bending with knees straight. Still can't squat unassisted.
• Aug-09 - can squat unassisted
• Aug-17 - jogged 2 miles, legs sore

Looks like Puru has recovered pretty much 100%, but let's see what he says.

He's also inspired me to try jogging next week!

[MirinHeight]

It actually doesnt surprise me. He was lengthening both tibia and femur at the same time. I had nerve damage on both sides and i lengthened separately. I ended up with drop foot on the left foot and decreased sensation on both front of my tibias.

when you say nerve damage, how severe are you talking
can you still walk with normal gait and run normal?

[Jim_dabarber]

when you say nerve damage, how severe are you talking
can you still walk with normal gait and run normal?

Well im only 1 month post frame removal and stop-lengthening so my gait sucks atm but i can walk unassisted. Yesterday i walked 3 miles till i started getting tired. The nerve damage was done to my peroneal nerve at the fibular head sometime during frame removal. Im not able to lift the foot up into dorsilflexion so im required to wear an AFO brace in order to walk or my foot just drags. I can move the foot to the sides and toes down just not up. Neurologist wants to give it 3-6 months to see if the nerve recovers if not then i will need a nerve decompression and hopefully that solves the problem.

[Jim_dabarber]

How slow do you think my recovery has been? Here's a timeline:

Your recovery is going great OYB considering you had all 4 bones broke. Great job! 

[hotty]

Well im only 1 month post frame removal and stop-lengthening so my gait sucks atm but i can walk unassisted. Yesterday i walked 3 miles till i started getting tired. The nerve damage was done to my peroneal nerve at the fibular head sometime during frame removal. Im not able to lift the foot up into dorsilflexion so im required to wear an AFO brace in order to walk or my foot just drags. I can move the foot to the sides and toes down just not up. Neurologist wants to give it 3-6 months to see if the nerve recovers if not then i will need a nerve decompression and hopefully that solves the problem.

Sorry to hear this. Paley's website says that foot drop is an emergency and needs immediate decompression. Maybe you should get a second opinion from another neurologist.

Also it is concerning that nerve damage happened during frame removal. You developed foot drop right after frame removal?

[Purushrottam]

How slow do you think my recovery has been? Here's a timeline:

• 2018-Mar-15 - tibias surgery
• Apr 05 - femurs
• Jun 08 - stop lengthening
• Early Jul - walk with canes (unassisted). Never used crutches.
• Early Aug - walk unassisted
• Late Aug / early Sep - walk unassisted at f'in Burning Man
• Mid Sep - unassisted squats, going up and down stairs

I'm at ~3.5 months after stopping lengthening. I've done very minimal leg exercise (<30 minutes total per week (e.g. Stairmaster, stationary bike or walkstation). Of course, I've been walking around at home and at my sedentary job, but that's not any sort of specific rehab training. I haven't jogged yet. Not proud of how little work I've put into my recovery, but I guess I serve as a baseline - even if you just go about your day, you'll still recover. So have faith, my post-op crippled friends.

I'm also in my late 30s and had all four segments broken.

For comparison, here's Puru, age 26, only femurs, and working out the legs much more often than me:

• 2017-Sep-26 - femurs surgery
• 2017-Dec-02 - stopped lengthening
• 2018-Jan-09 - mobile with crutches
• Jan-21 - walk without crutches
• Jan-30 - walk 1/3 miles (1/2km) without crutches ("swaying like hell towards the end as I was getting tired")
• Feb-08 - normal gait and going up/down stairs at only 2.25 months after stopping lengthening
• Feb-27 - jogging for 1 minute made legs sore
• Mar-03 - can't do body weight squats unassisted yet
• Mar-08 - walk for 3 miles without tiring
• Mar-25 - walk 6.5 miles/day, run up and down stairs easily. This was ~4 months after stopping lengthening.
• Mar-27 - can touch toes while bending with knees straight. Still can't squat unassisted.
• Aug-09 - can squat unassisted
• Aug-17 - jogged 2 miles, legs sore

Looks like Puru has recovered pretty much 100%, but let's see what he says.

He's also inspired me to try jogging next week!

Sorry for the late reply. I was traveling through Europe. I'm glad that you did this summary. I was thinking of doing it but wasn't sure if anyone wanted to know. Its really useful for comparison though. I'm super jealous that you went to Burning Man! Maybe next year for me!

[cool]

Hey overrideyourgenetics

I read through your diary and you once mentioned that nail on of your legs had left almost no bone left on one side due to reaming. Did you ask the doctor about this?

And we would you hear about your recovery progress!

Thank you

[Trevor.P]

Hello OverrideYourGenetics, I wanted to ask you how are you doing today, I plan to do the same process with the same doctor and I see in your video of the pool that you walk a little weird, with your knees in a bit can be?

I also see your legs very very thin, with hardly any muscle.
Is this because I was in wheelchair for about 4 months or were you like this before the process?

You run? Do you go down and climb stairs properly? How about squats on the floor (squatting)?
You lost range of knee flexion?

[OverrideYourGenetics]

I read through your diary and you once mentioned that nail on of your legs had left almost no bone left on one side due to reaming. Did you ask the doctor about this?

I've never said that

Yes, the upper end of my right femur looks very thin on X-rays. I don't know why. Dr. Paley said not to worry. Other bone doctors I've asked said the same. I haven't asked for a second opinion from another CLL surgeon yet though.

I see in your video of the pool that you walk a little weird, with your knees in a bit can be?

I also see your legs very very thin, with hardly any muscle.
Is this because I was in wheelchair for about 4 months or were you like this before the process?

You run? Do you go down and climb stairs properly? How about squats on the floor (squatting)?
You lost range of knee flexion?

Not sure what "with your knees in a bit" means, but yes, I was walking a little weird. I still do, though less. Read below. I've started to re-gain leg muscle. Squats with heavy weight help, but I'm increasing the weight very gradually. I used to squat 5x5x275lbs before the surgery.

Here's an update on my blog - Seven months post CLL surgery.

Semi-formatted version below because this old forum doesn't support pasting formatted text.


Today marks 7 months since my last surgery, the insertion of the PRECICE rods in my femurs. Thought I'd give an update.

Timeline
It's been 4 months since I stopped using the wheelchair (about a month after I stopped lengthening), and about 3 months of walking unaided. I haven't exercised as much as I should - only 2-3 times a week.

Progress
* The swelling in my legs has been gone for over a month
* I can squat with weights, and with far less pain. I can front squat 10 sets of 10 reps with a 50 lbs kettlebell.
* I can climb stairs without problems, and go down stairs, but slower than usual.
* I can jog, but only for about 20 seconds
* I can run on Precor treadmills for ~5 minutes at setting "5" (I should look up what speed that actually is).

Limitations
* My right knee hurts when I get up from a squat (3-4/10). The pain hasn't diminished for the last month, and got a little worse after I've done a bunch more walking over the last week. The area right below the kneecap feels different on the right knee - there's a noticeable dent when I touch it. The very top of the tibia hurts as if I banged my knee into a piece of furniture. Dr. Paley had said that permanent knee pain is a rare complication post-CLL, but I might just have it
* I can't run
* Perceptive people can tell I'm walking weird

How I feel
I see the world a bit differently. The difference in height is perceivable. I'm taller or about the same height as most women. I haven't tried any dating, so I don't know how that side of life would be impacted, but in general, at work and around random people at conferences, I feel more their equal. Being taller than women just feels good - it's as things are meant to be; or rather - being shorter than most women felt annoying and weird before the surgery.

It's funny that even though I know what it's like to be short, I can't help but feel somehow "superior" over shorter people at work (unless they're in a higher role than me, but I haven't actually met a manager shorter than me yet). So yes, the heightism bias turns out to be real in me, a rational software engineer, in one of the most "rational" of all places (Silicon Valley), who also used to be short!

When I meet a peer who's shorter, I have a tiny bit of trouble taking him seriously, unless I'm already impressed by his reputation. Seeing eye to eye with other men feels good. This may be a coincidence, or the result of having worked in my job for several years, but I've also just led a large project for the first time, and was assigned to lead another large one.

I was quite enthusiastic about that large project, and during a work trip to complete it, I was a lot more friendly to people. My attitude was picked up by Uber/Lyft drivers, who chatted me up more than usual (or maybe drivers in that city are more friendly?).

All in all, I can't say for sure it's the height, or other aspects of life that make me feel more confident, but I do feel better about myself now, even though I walk with a slight limp, and I might be left with permanent knee pain. Was it worth $200k? It depends on what $200k means to you. To me, it means paying back debts to the tune of $5k/month. From that perspective, it was not worth it - especially if the right knee pain doesn't go away after I take out the rods, or if I'm never able to run again.

[MirinHeight]

I've never said that

Yes, the upper end of my right femur looks very thin on X-rays. I don't know why. Dr. Paley said not to worry. Other bone doctors I've asked said the same. I haven't asked for a second opinion from another CLL surgeon yet though.

Not sure what "with your knees in a bit" means, but yes, I was walking a little weird. I still do, though less. Read below. I've started to re-gain leg muscle. Squats with heavy weight help, but I'm increasing the weight very gradually. I used to squat 5x5x275lbs before the surgery.

Here's an update on my blog - Seven months post CLL surgery.

Semi-formatted version below because this old forum doesn't support pasting formatted text.


Today marks 7 months since my last surgery, the insertion of the PRECICE rods in my femurs. Thought I'd give an update.

Timeline
It's been 4 months since I stopped using the wheelchair (about a month after I stopped lengthening), and about 3 months of walking unaided. I haven't exercised as much as I should - only 2-3 times a week.

Progress
* The swelling in my legs has been gone for over a month
* I can squat with weights, and with far less pain. I can front squat 10 sets of 10 reps with a 50 lbs kettlebell.
* I can climb stairs without problems, and go down stairs, but slower than usual.
* I can jog, but only for about 20 seconds
* I can run on Precor treadmills for ~5 minutes at setting "5" (I should look up what speed that actually is).

Limitations
* My right knee hurts when I get up from a squat (3-4/10). The pain hasn't diminished for the last month, and got a little worse after I've done a bunch more walking over the last week. The area right below the kneecap feels different on the right knee - there's a noticeable dent when I touch it. The very top of the tibia hurts as if I banged my knee into a piece of furniture. Dr. Paley had said that permanent knee pain is a rare complication post-CLL, but I might just have it
* I can't run
* Perceptive people can tell I'm walking weird

How I feel
I see the world a bit differently. The difference in height is perceivable. I'm taller or about the same height as most women. I haven't tried any dating, so I don't know how that side of life would be impacted, but in general, at work and around random people at conferences, I feel more their equal. Being taller than women just feels good - it's as things are meant to be; or rather - being shorter than most women felt annoying and weird before the surgery.

It's funny that even though I know what it's like to be short, I can't help but feel somehow "superior" over shorter people at work (unless they're in a higher role than me, but I haven't actually met a manager shorter than me yet). So yes, the heightism bias turns out to be real in me, a rational software engineer, in one of the most "rational" of all places (Silicon Valley), who also used to be short!

When I meet a peer who's shorter, I have a tiny bit of trouble taking him seriously, unless I'm already impressed by his reputation. Seeing eye to eye with other men feels good. This may be a coincidence, or the result of having worked in my job for several years, but I've also just led a large project for the first time, and was assigned to lead another large one.

I was quite enthusiastic about that large project, and during a work trip to complete it, I was a lot more friendly to people. My attitude was picked up by Uber/Lyft drivers, who chatted me up more than usual (or maybe drivers in that city are more friendly?).

All in all, I can't say for sure it's the height, or other aspects of life that make me feel more confident, but I do feel better about myself now, even though I walk with a slight limp, and I might be left with permanent knee pain. Was it worth $200k? It depends on what $200k means to you. To me, it means paying back debts to the tune of $5k/month. From that perspective, it was not worth it - especially if the right knee pain doesn't go away after I take out the rods, or if I'm never able to run again.

Nice to hear from you man! thank you for the update and I am happy to see you are overall doing very good!

has your gait a lot improved since last video? on a scale of 1-100% where do you think your gait is?

Im sorry to see that you are having trouble with knee pain. I hope this is not related to internal tibia reaming and hope you can recover fully as soon as possible

Thank you for your time,
Mirin

[myloginacc]

@OYG

Thank you very much for still bothering to post updates here. Thank you for the honest opinions, too. They're hard to come to by.

I hope the knee pain will go away in due time. It took 2 years for some CLLers to feel like their legs had "stabilized", and they weren't feeling any changes anymore.

All the best.

[Trevor.P]

Thanks for the reply OverrideYourGenetics
I really would fail the keyboard and I did not want to put in that moment ...
I will watch your progress.

[4cms]

Your comment below?

It's funny that even though I know what it's like to be short, I can't help but feel somehow "superior" over shorter people at work (unless they're in a higher role than me, but I haven't actually met a manager shorter than me yet). So yes, the heightism bias turns out to be real in me, a rational software engineer, in one of the most "rational" of all places (Silicon Valley), who also used to be short!

When I meet a peer who's shorter, I have a tiny bit of trouble taking him seriously, unless I'm already impressed by his reputation. Seeing eye to eye with other men feels good. This may be a coincidence, or the result of having worked in my job for several years, but I've also just led a large project for the first time, and was assigned to lead another large one.




------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thats abit of a questionable way of thinking from someone who should know better considering they used to be 5'5. If you feel that way does this mean someone 5'10 can feel superior to you ?

[Great321]

I agree with 4cm.

Although I appreciate your honesty as we all aren't angels and don't treat others perfectly all the time, you should at least overthink your thinking pattern in this matter.

Even though I was only 1,60m people who got to know me in school or university always treated me with respect. I was either elected as school's president by the majority of my whole school or was told how smart I seem by people who were taller than me later at university.

The size of a person shouldn't change the way you treat him/her. That person might be more succesful in certain areas of life than you. In the end you indeed might not be equals, maybe he/she is a better human.

[CaptainAmerica]

Lol he is being honest with you guys and you want him to change the unconscious way he thinks? I appreciate the honesty OYG, and I do see how you can feel that way. The same way a fat->skinny person will still subconsciously judge someone who is fat (of having poor judgement or just being lazy) even though they were once fat. The brain is silly that way.

[Trevor.P]

I also appreciate his honesty and is sure that he would have stopped to think how they looked at him and there is his thought. That then he reconsiders about it ...

I have a question OYG do you think that if you had not done the internal tibias, right now you would have pain in the knee?

I am planting to make 5cm in femur with Stryde

[4cms]

Lol he is being honest with you guys and you want him to change the unconscious way he thinks? I appreciate the honesty OYG, and I do see how you can feel that way. The same way a fat->skinny person will still subconsciously judge someone who is fat (of having poor judgement or just being lazy) even though they were once fat. The brain is silly that way.

Well let me be the one to say that he can feel that way but thats as far as it goes, I can talk about my own experience fighting or you can go watch some ufc, tall guys get their asses kicked all the time. In cases of superiority the only time you can say who is superior over who is in the fight game. Look up a fight between mark hunt vs stefan struve.
Or even look up daniel cormier vs stipe miocic, floyd mayweather vs diego corales, matt sera vs gsp, manny pacquiao vs antonio margarito the list goes on for days

He can feel that but its only his own feeling, that comment hit a nerve with me because i grew up in the fighting arts and when novice tall people used to think they were somehow better than me a big part of me would love to put them in their place. I have seen tall guys not able to defend their gf's against attackers aswell.

Look when he said he cant take people shorter than him seriously ! ..........now that was what i thought was somthing he should be corrected on.

[Cr7]

How are you sir? I hope you must be enjoying your height and moved on.
How are the things going on since your last update? Did the pain on right knee subside and can you run now?
It would be very helpful if u could manage to update either here or in your blog.

Best of luck.

[Purushrottam]

How are you doing, OYG?

[OverrideYourGenetics]

April 2019 update - one year after the femur surgery

It's been a year after my surgeries. Life is very different from me now. I quit my job in Silicon Valley and I'm traveling the world, working on my startup and visiting new places. My legs are weaker and I'm less able than others to enjoy certain activities (e.g. rappelling down waterfalls), but I can function pretty much as well as before in life/society, since I didn't use to do many things that required leg strength or agility (dancing, martial arts, basketball). I haven't started dating again, so I can't comment on how women perceive me.

Walking is pretty normal. Nobody seems to notice anything unusual.

I can jog but for 2 minutes max; can't really run, except on sand (see my Instagram).

Can do 40 jumping jacks or more. Haven't tried more yet. I was surprised to see I could do those.

The pain in the right knee is still there when squatting or going down stairs, esp. if the stairs are tall. Dr. Paley said not to do deep squats, but do leg presses until the knee pain disappears. I don't know when and if that will happen - so keep in mind that even with the best doctors, there can still be complications, especially if you're older. The left knee has no problems whatsoever - so my right knee pain isn't because I haven't trained properly - I assure you that I trained both knees equally. Dr. Paley did acknowledge a risk of permanent knee pain after the tibia surgery:

Very little if any knee pin[sic] in our patients with CLL after tibial lengthening. I think it has to do with the minimally invasive we[sic] we insert the rod and avoid damage or irritation to the patellar tendon.

Dr. Robbins (Dr. Paley's colleague) told me that removing the rods won't improve the knee situation, and recommended a knee specialist.

Surgery isn't an exact science. Just like Puru - his left leg was totally normal after the rods removal surgery, but the right one was in pain for ~2 weeks.

A week ago I started training hard, every day, so let's see what that does. Already I ended up with severe right knee pain one day after training (I was limping), but it went away with ice and after a good night's sleep.

I also have trouble stretching. Pain level 3-5 if I try touching my toes with knees locked. I can't do a heel sit - there's ~3cm between my heels and the butt. Puru can.

After the surgery, I had no sensation in the left calf. That's been coming back slowly, but it's still at ~70% compared to the right calf.

I've also answered many other questions in a sort of "guest post" on Puru's diary Go check them out. You can compare our outcomes to some degree.

As for the folks criticizing how my subconscious feels about shorter people: tough luck. All I can do about it is be polite, respectful, egalitarian and friendly. I've never mistreated anyone, sorter or taller, on purpose. Or not taken them seriously because of some physical characteristic (because of terrible grammar - yes, I confess to that). What I'm saying is that I've become aware of how my subconscious reacts when it encounters others shorter than me. Read the summary of the book "Blink" for more on the topic of first impressions. This isn't something you can control, or even understand very well. You can be aware of it though, and this surgery made me very aware of how people perceive shorter people; and also of how people can and do consciously combat the heightism bias, as much as they can.

Fun fact: now that I'm taller, when I stand in front of a shorter friend, I spread my legs to stretch (they know I need to stretch), and also to become shorter than I normally am. It makes me feel more comfortable to not be much taller.

Future plans: schedule the rods removal surgery.

[Great321]

Thanks for the update! Very interesting. Hopefully the pain will go away.
I guess you're right about the subconscious feelings. I wish you the best!

[Ghostfish]

Hi OYG

Thanks for sharing your experience with this community!!  I am very sorry that you are having some problem in your knees.  Hopefully they will get better soon.
Wish you the best of luck!

[totallyred]

Would it be different if youbhad used stryde on Femurs only.
Also when did you walk with assistance as well as without for the first time post surgery.

[OverrideYourGenetics]

Would it be different if youbhad used stryde on Femurs only.

How would I know? Aside from using STRYDE on one femur and PRECICE on the other + the tibia.

STRYDE is clearly superior to PRECICE because you can walk way, way sooner (1-2 weeks after the surgery), so your muscles will atrophy much less. There's no decision to make here. The difference in price is insignificant given the difference in recovery time and quality.

Femurs only vs. tibias+femurs is another question.

Also when did you walk with assistance as well as without for the first time post surgery.

What kind of assistance? Don't be lazy! Check my diary a few posts up for when I could walk with a walker vs. cane (I never used crutches). However, again, that's irrelevant, because nobody should do PRECICE any more.

In other news, mini-update:

• Yesterday the pain in the right knee almost disappeared (!). Like, literally, overnight. What I did was a bunch of adventures during the weekend, including river rafting and 2+ hours of driving an ATV. Maybe the vibrations from the ATV helped (sounds weird, but there are devices for sale that just vibrate your legs, for some alleged benefits). Anyway, let's see if the pain comes back.
• Today I was able to do 100 jumping jacks, without knee pain during or after.
• Also did 20 back squats with the empty bar (45 lbs), and 10 reps @ 65 lbs. This is not a big deal, given that 5 months ago, I was able to do 10 sets x 10 reps with a 50 lbs kettlebell. It's hard to keep good form: I tend to lean forward, and if I try to compensate, I feel like I'll fall backwards.

[totallyred]

Thanks for the reply and good luck