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[sopranos]

Hello friends.  I'il have surgery soon.  I can't give you the surgery date now, but it's coming soon.  I will share all the details with you when I have surgery.  I've been thinking surgery for two years. I am ready now and waiting surgery. I will update continuously throughout and after the process.  This diary will be updated frequently for 2 years.  I promise in advance.  I may not be able to write often if I get better, but I'm still going to update.  I'll share lots of photos and videos.  My English is not good.  Please write simple English sentences. I may not understand idioms, acronyms and humorous words 

Guys, some of you think maybe i am crazy but sometimes you have to make choices and endure the consequences.  I really did a lot of research.  I thought a lot and made a decision. We will see the results together.  Time will tell if my decision is right or wrong.  Unfortunately, despite having 170 cm peak height, I am short in many social environments I enter    The situation is worse, especially when I am in the young Turkish population.  The list of average height according to the countries you see on the internet is not real.  Currently, two different endochronology doctors measured 176cm and 176.5cm on 1000 Turkish men in 2018.  Moreover, this average includes the elderly population.  Believe me, men between 18-30 years of age in Turkey is the average minimum 177 cm in Turkey. For example so far I went to about 6-7 educational institutions.  Usually I was among the top 5 shortest in classrooms.  I wasn't the shortest, but I was always one of the next.  Even though I didn't mind at first but this always came up to me.  Unfortunately, People care a lot about physical appearance.  It didn't take me long to realize that.  Especially the effect on the opposite gender is really tremendous.  This is perhaps an evolutionary choice.  But I'm sure that If the genetics of short people still survive, we have different abilities that keep us alive so far.  I'm sure of that.  Anyways, i noticed that 177-178 cm limit heights for men. After that, there is not much height trouble for +177cm.

I've met many patients in Turkey.  I've seen many good results.  The first thing that gave me courage was the Bluebarbie Doll diary. I never met her but she thinks exactly like me.  She likes to share her experiences.  Of course, i have read bad diaries and i think they were also helpful to see other side of Cll process.  Guys don't worry, you can be sure that i will tell you the pain in all its details and everything i have experienced. I'm not under the influence of Polyanna.  I'm quite realistic.  I'm just a little more aggressive about taking risks.  I'il explain all kinds of bad things.  My doctor's name is Ozgur Karakoyun. He is associate professor. He has many scientific studies about LL and other orthopedic issues. You can check out his medical articles on internet. There were a few reasons why I chose him.  I'm not going to tell you this now, but I can easily say that there are valid reasons for me.I have to say, if I was rich, I'd go to florida and prefer Precice Stryde.  Unfortunately, my budget is extremely inadequate.  Even if I had that much budget, I think I'd invest in something else.  I'm not writing for advertising.  I am waiting for your help and support messages.  If it passes well, this diary will stay here on a nice thing. 

I made my accommodation plan.  I looked at real estate sites for this. This problem was solved in a short time.  .  Rents are a bit expensive for me but much more affordable than foreign countries.   During the extension, I wanted to be in the city where the doctor was.   That's why I'm going to rent a house in Tekirdag. 

I repeat my method of surgery is LON with Monolateral Fixators. This fixator is a lot like Orthofix LRS and it is made of Turkey. Many doctors are using it in here.  I witnessed that.   My target is at least 7.5 cm.  I want to reach  8.5-9 cm.  I hope i reach my minimum goal. 

People who have this surgery are not only what you see on the Internet forums.  There are so much more.  But they don't write diaries. I've met seven people who have had this surgery with LON Femur. They had been recently. I followed the processes of 3 people from the beginning to the end.  There are 10 other people I don't have detailed information about.  Many of these patients belong to different Turkish doctors.You may be wondering why I chose Turkey. The first reason for choosing Turkey is my homeland.  The medical sector is also advanced from many countries.  However, costs  are not high.  Turkey's health sector and health insurance has a humanitarian system like the former Soviet countries.  Indeed, this country is a social state.  My country owes it to its founder.  Even though many right-wing parties wanted to make the system as expensive as in the USA, they failed to do so.  That's not the point, but I'm really very lucky about it. In addition, there is no medicinr education for money in this country.  Students take difficult exams to study at university.  Only those who score the best are eligible to study Medicine.  This is similar to natural selection.  Only recently, many paid universities(private) were established in Turkey but students still need high scores to study medicine because the chamber of medicine forced the ruling party to maintain quality.

I met recently with 2 patients having surgery in Turkey.  One of them lengthened to 8.5 cm and the other lengthened to 9.5 cm.  Both femur with Lon and both went well.  Of course the pain is reality but one of these patients did not use any very efficient painkillers for the first 3 months.  He only use Parol.  You may not believe this. His doctor didn't feel the need to prescribe Lyrica.  But the other one used a Lyrica every day for 3 months.  I think pain is very variable.  It depends on the doctor, the method and the person's pain tolerance.  In this forum, LON femur has been discredited.  People claims that painful and failed but i ooked at the research.  It is still the most used method in many countries due to costs.  It has advantages over mechanical nails.  Of course i can say easily  the most perfect nail is Precice 2.2 but Lon method's results were not bad.  I forgot to say this.  I know many Lon Tibia patient from Turkey and from forum. I have seen that femoral results are better in the long term.  More cm, better appearance, faster bone union.  As for the pain, I didn't see any difference about Lon Femur vs Lon Tibia. I've seen LON tibia patients who report more pain.

My doctor told me all the risks in the first.  He said that if my bone have non-union, he could give me a treatment called PRP. He said it wasn't the definitive solution, but it worked.  If some does not go well, he will support me.  He won't ask for extra money. He also told me that he realized nin-union in early time.  Otherhand family support is very important.  Without them, I wouldn't have found the money and the courage.  I'm going to share with you the photos of myself.  We'il go through the process together. 

Respects you all...

[ujin0101]

Thanks for your sharing! 

[sopranos]

Hello guys. I had surgery on October 9, 2019.  The doctor had epidural anesthesia.  They give me an injection in my back.  My legs was starting to numb.  Then I got up and listened to the sounds of surgery.  I remember everything. They offered me a sleeping medicine .  I did not want it, and i wanted to listen all sounds. I was taken to a private room at the hospital.  I was fine.  The pain started slowly.  It's coming up from the bottom.  In total, the pain peaked for 3-4 hours on night, but  i didn't cry.  It was possible to endure it. There was pain until 7 am.I can compare this pain. I've dropped a kidney stone 2 years ago. Its peak pain  value hurts much more but kidney pain lasts less time.  But as I said, especially the painkillers at night benefited.  On the first day I was able to sleep for about 5-6 hours. Today is second day and i havent pain. I'm just worried about my knees.  I can't bend them.  It bothers me.  I stood up three times today.  I went to the bathroom with a walker.  But I can't get out of bed without help.  My knees are blocking to my mobility.  There's still swelling in the surgical site.  My doctor said it would pass over time.  I hope he's right.

Please tell me how the picture is shared on LL forum.

[Meck]

I go end of this month in Turkey, LON method i hope will be fine
dr Halil Duldu will made operation i have 165 and i hope with 2 operation i get 180 tibia and femur, i will have one and after 6 month second

[sopranos]

https://pasteboard.co/IBs3OwY.jpg

[Meck]

Can you explain please , about all now , is pain?
and who did surgey? is LON ?

[sopranos]

6 days after first surgery .

Hello guys i am fine and i started lengthening. I use L type allen wrench to turn fixator. I turn 4 times dailly and every turn is about 0.25 mm(90degree rotate). My doctor said me start to lengthening on 14 October.(just 5 days after surgery)
So i have been lengthening for three days.

I left the hospital on October 14.  My plans have changed.  My doctor told me you don't have to stay here.   He said if you feel better, you can go.  I was feeling good, too and I decided to do a 10-hour car ride to go Antalya city.(Tekirdag-Antalya between 800 km) I chose car because i came to Terkidag by my car and i couldn't leave the car in another city. My father drove car. I  traveled in the back seat of the car.  Later I sat in the front seat because when I took a break I got used to sitting in a restaurant chair.  That gave me courage.  I sat in the front seat in the car.  Of course, the seats were in the lying position.  The end of the journey was difficult.  Because my knees hurt when the car suddenly breakes (this pain about 3/10).  I came to my family's house.  It will do me good during the lengthening.  This city is a calm and sunny Mediterranean city.


It's not hard to lie on your back for sleep.  I got used to.  Sometimes I change position in bed.  I don't lie on your back for more than six hours.  I walk 15 minutes four times a day.  It's hard getting stand postion from bed. I've done it twice, but I usually want help from family.

What's the hardest thing for me? The first thing that pushed me was when I first sat on the closet.  I'm used to it now, but it's still hard.

Maybe I told you.  I met a cll friend in hoslital.  He was operated on October 8th(1 day before me)  Our doctor is the same and our target is the same. He preferred Lon Femur like as me. I talk to his all the time.  We've already visited our rooms everyday in hospital.  Talking to his makes me feel better. But he's stronger than me.  Maybe it's because he's more fit than me  He is 165 cm tall and 68 kilograms.  The second day he sat alone on the toilet seat and got up. The nurses said that the first day he suffered more than me, but the next days we both had very little pain.  I am absolutely certain that the pain depends on several reasons:
Doctor, technique, method, personal pain tolerance.  I can add psychology to this. Also which anesthesia method was used?  This is really important.  Because general anesthesia is more painful for cll patients.  Because after surgery you wake up with great pain.  Epudral is not like that.  I was very comfortable because i controlled the surgery pain the first day.

There hasn't been a major pain in both of us since the morning of the second day.  I'm not on painkillers right now.  I only take 1 Volteren pill after night time.  The real reason is not pain.  i want to guarantee myself and to sleep more comfortably at night.  I am 79.5 kilograms with 2 fixators. My appetite is always high. I hope my weight stays stable or decreases.  I don't want to be overweight.  I never smoked after surgery.  Normally I smoke 20 cigarettes everyday.  Maybe that's why my appetite increased.  My target is a minimum of 8 cm.  I hope I will.  My only problem right now is my knees.  They are very hardened.  It hurts if I want to break my knee.  So I pay attention to my actions. Otherhand there were bruises on the back of my femurs' back 2 days ago.  These are gone today.

Everything's going well for now.  I'm gonna get an x-ray film on October 24th.  I will give you information.I took a lot of pictures and videos.  How do I upload to forum without uploading site?

[sopranos]

i uploaded 6 images to imgur. You should click ' i am over +18" button to see photos.

https://imgur.com/a/LGCiU3A

I will upload 2 videos.

[sopranos]

Can you explain please , about all now , is pain?
and who did surgey? is LON ?

The pain was less than I thought.  Because many people were saying pain is about 8/10 in first week. I know your doctor Halil Buldu.  He's a good doctor but i chose Ozgur Karakoyun.  I think he was better..  Good luck with that, but you have to give time between 2 cll surgery.  I think it should be at least a year.  By the way, I know 2 stage patients .  They rushed to second cll surgery. They are recovering late. They just removed the fixators.  I can introduce you to them.

[Meck]

Thx for you share , you are really hope to  me, i will travel in next few days , now i thinking about that 2 doctor which is better , i will also have  LON method femur ,goal about 8cm in the first stage , i just hope will be all ok

[sopranos]

Some photos and videos, in hospital(9-14 october)

https://imgur.com/a/Vr9S7t0

[sopranos]

walking video, 17 October at home
https://streamable.com/iuvt3

[sopranos]

It's today 00:10 and it is lengthening time for me.

90 degree turning=0.25 mm

only 30 minutes ago

https://streamable.com/5vygp

[daikioni]

Ty for sharing you are doing great man!!

[Roadto180]

Thank you very much for sharing your journey, i’m 22 year old male and i have 170CM like you, my goal is to gain at least 7cm, i really want to do this surgery, but for now i’m a student and i dont have alot of money, you are very lucky to have a supportive family, i’m very happy for you, may i ask you how much did it coast you,
And after the surgery can you do sports like football, or run, I’m looking forward to hear from you, until then, take care of yourself.

[sopranos]

Thank you very much for sharing your journey, i’m 22 year old male and i have 170CM like you, my goal is to gain at least 7cm, i really want to do this surgery, but for now i’m a student and i dont have alot of money, you are very lucky to have a supportive family, i’m very happy for you, may i ask you how much did it coast you,
And after the surgery can you do sports like football, or run, I’m looking forward to hear from you, until then, take care of yourself.

Thank you.  We can make contact.  I texted your mail.
 
I had a lot of doubts about this surgery.  But I met many patient who had the surgery in Turkey.  I learned the doctors, the methods, the techniques, the devices.  All of these factors are very effective on results.  I saw the results and  I had the chance to compare them. My doubts have diminished and I have decided.  The hardest thing was to convince yourself.  I tried to be objective.  I made the best choices based on my budget.  I set everything up.  I decided.  But family support is very important.  The patient in my next room underwent surgery without his family.  He was lucky.  His mobility was better than me.  He was alone.  He must pray to the nurses.  Angel nurses helped him.  But I suggest you come with a family member.  There is already a patient companion system and the hospital is very comfortable. return to the country or stay in Turkey's your choice.  Accommodation costs are not expensive in Turkey. The decision belongs entirely to the patient.

[Jim_dabarber]

How you doing now?

[sopranos]

Hello Guys.

My two fixators show 3.5 cm lenghening but my gap is less than 3.5cm. I know this is normal situation for External Lengthening but i am worried to not reach my target cuz my fixators allows maximum 9cm lengthening. I want to reach minumum 8cm bone gap. If I lose more than 1cm from technical reasons, I may not reach my target. I asked to my doctor about my worries. He told me not to worry. and he said me you will reach your goal.

I have taken X-rays three times.  I will share it all.  Good news.  Both legs have equally gap space. Bad news I have early union issue. So last 10days, i turned 1.5 mm dailly. Cuz My last xrays show my callus tends to union and my doctor said 6*0.25mm daily tuening for just 10 days . Today is the last day for 1.5 mm turning dailly and I will turn only 1mm daily next day.

Tomorrow is very important to me. Because I'm going to take x-ray.  I drove my car my to the hospital 10 days ago to take xray.  Maybe I'il drive my car tomorrow.  I drove 30 km in total 10 days ago. You may be wondering why did i drive?  My father drove the car the first xray time.  My father is old and unfortunatly he is driving badly.  My car is diesel engine and manuel gear. He doesn't know how to drive a diesel car.  He also brakes very abruptly and does not pay attention to those pits. I promised myself that day, next time I said I'd drive and I made it.
Although my car had a clutch pedal, but I wasn't tired.

My doctor told me in second day after surgery "You can drive car after three weeks."  I thought he wanted to give me a morale.  Because the first days of my knees were very stiff. I couldn't sit in back seat of the car without help in first weak.

Now I'm going to tell you about the pain. I didn't have much pain until the last week. But I started lengthening 1.5 mm daily, my body react this. In last weak, the pain visited me night. It continues from 22:00 to 02:00 but it is not continuous. Also i used to fight it without painkillers but last weaks pain  has increased. Probably this is due to 1.5 mm daily turning. Last 1 weak, i take 75 mg Volteren(diclofenac) pill every night. Also last 2 days, i took Volteren in afternoon. This pain is not hell. Its level is 5-6/10. It decreases when i change position.  But it is preventing night sleep.I sleep at least 6 hours every day. Otherhand second problem is pin site pain. It is not a deep pain. You know when it's gonna be. It visit when i standing, sitting or hips moving in bed. But It's just a moment. If you have not pin site infections, it doesn't hurt too much. I had infections on left fixator top pin site and it hurted me a lot when i first moving moments. but now, it gone cuz i took anti-biotics. My pin site pain is normal level now.

The weather in my city is still sunny.  My house is 23-24 degrees today without heater.  It makes me so happy.  I'm a Mediterranean man.  Cold weather will depress me. I walk around the garden every day.  And I've been using crutches for last 15 days. My walker retired. Crutches are more usefull and it will improve you. My doctor said "you can use crutches after 2 weeks" in hospita but I juat thought you give a morale. but i can not believe this. I've been with crutches a lot.

Note: Guys, in first weeks after surgery, you will have bruises on your back of femur.  This looks a little scary, but it's natural.  These are all temporary.  Don't be afraid.  Your pin locations may also be infected.  This is natural.  Increases sensitivity and causes more pain.  This is also temporary.  But be sure to tell your doctor.  The color of the current gives information about bacteria type.  The doctor prescribes antibiotics accordingly.

[sopranos]

How you doing now?

Fine thank you mate. Do you remember me? I asked to you about surgery. That was 1.5-2 years ago in forum and you always answered me. I really did not know anything about cll surgery.  I love everyone who shares information like you.  This operation is not an cia or kgb operation. I have nothing to hide. 

Mate ,  i found out you're okay.  I saw your photos with your family in Disneyland.  I was really happy for you.  I hope I will be as good as you are.

[sopranos]

These are some photos and videos. There are my car driving videos, my knee degree and walking videos without crurches:

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=17xUWmSs1OjsllhJJXhbmkELyopZ7hkZk

car driving videos on November 1, 2019
walking video without crutches October 29, 2019

[sopranos]

Guys good news today. I took xray and my gap 2.85 cm and my fixators show me 3.5 cm. My two legs' gap are same and it is about 2.85 cm. I went to hospital wiht my car and i drove it again but today little hard. Probably i cant drive after +4cm but i will try.

Xrays and my videos today coming soon

[sopranos]

I took xray today. This is my fourth xray after surgery.

My all xrays from start to today:

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=19ysHE9zqlz8NDzDhE3-g9XxwiUREvnk2

I took a video today while I was driving and i shared a photo about my morning routine walking:

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=19zgYlDUD69CLn772vdxIHB4B3-IGcJcl

[sopranos]

Guys i reach 4.2 cm on both legs. Everything is going well. i can still bend my knees about 90 degree. My family noticed my growing yesterday.  First time my mom said you look more taller now Today I went outside of house on my own and walked alone with crutches.

Those who want to see me can video call me on wp. I can answer all question about LON femur. As I've always said, This diaries won't be like other diaries. I share photos, videos and wp video call number.  Everything here is real.

[KSRZ]

Thanks for this awesome post! If you don't mind me asking, how much did the surgery cost?

[sopranos]

Hello guys, i am fine. I went to the xray yesterday. I have reached 5.3 cm for both leg. Everything is okey but i had a fever recently. This happened during different 2 times.  That's why I stopped lengthening twice untill i heal. Lengthening is very difficult when you have a fever. If you have fever,  Every painfull zones of body hurt a lot more about up to 4 times in fever times. Now I feel good and i started to lengthening again for 1 week. My patient days lasted a maximum of 8-9 days totaly.  Other than these days, my pain was very low.Pain is usually in night time.  It's like growing pains when you were little. But recently i feel pain more times in day. The pain visit me midday times after 5cm but it is not too hard.

My only technical problem is pin bending. My pins have bending, but that didn't bend my bones. My right fixator shows 7.1 cm but my righ leg's real gap is 5.38 cm and My left fixator show 6.8 cm but my right leg's ral gap is 5.42 cm. Especially my right leg's low schanz screws bending. I'm getting too careful now.  I don't stand up if it's not necessary.  I've walked a lot before(reach until 6cm) But now I even pay attention bending when I'm lying. The femoral muscles are very strong and they can bend even if you do not bear weight. I think the best for my  is 3 + 2 schanz screws. I think 2+2 schanz is avaible for -65 kilos people. Really i didnt see bending for -65 kilos people if the fixators is properly fixed.

I take many photos, xray and videos. I have a lot of stories  My X-rays are also beautiful. I will share all of them. I hope i reach 8cm without problems.

See you soon, take care.

[Masonm101]

Hi Sopranos, please check your message

[sopranos]

Hi Sopranos, please check your message

Okey man 

[sopranos]

Hi friends.

I want to make a statement.  I'm giving my phone number to everyone.  I'm saying my real name, also my name seen on my wp profile.  I have my own picture on my site profile and wp profile.  My face is visible on whatsapp.  I'm as clear as I can be. Many people write to me on wp.  Some of them have no profile photo, no name. Naturally I would like to video chat after meeting chapter. 2 minutes video chat is enough. I want to know who I'm talking to.  I want to see his physique and looking. This is my natural right. Of course I have other reasons.

Because I can't trust many of people on internet without confirmafion.  It happened several times. Some of them know this surgery as well as a doctor.  Maybe he is a doctor, doctor's assistant or staff. These guys ask me strange questions.They have different purposes. I'm not generalizing. What I'm saying is not for every knowledgeable guys about surgery. But if we're talking on the phone, I have to know who are you?

For example i talked with a guy on whatsapp and i offered video chat. He rejected my video chat offer with an excuse but  i still talked him. Than It's happening another time. I offered video chat again, they reject me again. I asked why reject.  He talks about personal privacy. The excuses was over and the importance of personel privacy started. It was funny.

If you think I'm wrong, don't write me on whatsapp. I am not child and     i don't have time for your commercial networks or your privacy agent life. If you've had so much privacy paranoid, your first problem isn't about the short height, it's mental at first. We are not in James Bond movie filming or Pentagon office. We are just one of the seven billion ordinary people in the world.

Cuz i know very well, many of these secret people aren't short and they don't plan on having this surgery.  Their purpose is different. Please these guys should not talk to me.

I'm very transparent. Short people are my fate partners.  My purpose is to give information to short people. I want to help to all short people in this forum.  Otherhand i would like to ask question and recieve information from old veterans if i have trouble about my lengthening process.

In summary, don't get me wrong if I offer you a video call when talk on whatsapp. I wrote all my reasons here. It's also good for you to see me in the video call. Which patient did this to you?

Take care

[Meck]

Hi m8, you offline on what's up? I reach for now 5.8cm, my goal now is 10cm femur i hope i will get it, also now for me after 10days lengthening pain start like crazy i have feel my legs will broken i stop one day and is better than i continue

[sopranos]

Guys, my both femurs reached 9.4 cm on xray films but every x-ray devices not fully calibrated and so i controlled from my fixators meauserement on xray film. cuz i know my fixators span's length in real and i can measure on xray films. I calculated my real gap from using this mathematical proportion.  my both gaps are very close to reality. my left gap is 9.08 cm and my right gap is 9.09 cm. I stopped lengthening and i wait for removel device. If i have free time, i do big edit my diary. I will send all xray and photos step by tep, day by day. I have a lot of pictures and xray in my phone.

I don't want to indirectly share with Google drive.  I want the pictures to appear directly in the forum.  Does anyone know how to do this?  Please a friend tell me how to add my photos directly on forum.

I have a lot of story of my mind to tell you Actually my target was minimum 8 and maximum 8.4 cm but but I turned a few milimeters my fixators to reach my dream height. This was 178 cm and now I measure my height, it's net 178 cm. I stood upright whenever possible with crutches. i changed high elavation to my crutches' spans.

I havent misaligment and nerve pain. So i reach 9.08 cm but my knee Rom really bad. i did not physiotherapy support and i did not do physiotherapy movements. My doctor said a few movements but I have not practiced most of the time. Because  i had doubts about my schanz screw's  strength. Cuz my old fixators only it barely let me go 6.5 cm. Cuz my old fixators' maximum span was 9cm. .Although my two legs' gaps were equal but my old system also had centimeters losses. So i didnt want to stop on 6.5 cm. My doctor adviced me fixator changed.

I went to Tekirdag city 4 days later.  I came to the hospital.  I didnt take anesthetized.  I just took a painkiller and sleeping drug from my arm. I was put to sleep.  it took 45 minutes and I woke up when i was carried to the room on stretcher. My new fixture is again the same brand.  It was the same as everything. But it has only difference. Its fixators body span has 2.7 cm more longer than my old fixators. But both of fixators have 9 cm lenghening span but only difference body span length. We used this length to reach more cm. I have moved and walked very little for the last 1.5 months. So i had lost many knee ROM.  My knee ROM decreased every day. I have only 30 degree now both legs(maybe right is much more) and my quadriceps muscles are tight. But this hardness  not blocked my walking or not give pain me.

I stopped my lengthening a few days ago(probably 6 days ago) Therefore, the pain decreased.  But I still need muscle relaxants drugs. Otherhand sometimes I still use 50mg tramadol to sleep comfortably in night.

Summary everything is good for me. My device removal date is probably 18-20 February.

Take care. I wait your comments.

[sopranos]

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=1IJ5K9QaXQgwImaxbHSO-mGqtEKcTRWxT

You can find my real size by establishing proportion. I will upload all my xrays and photo soon in good quality.

Note: I lost 12 kilograms 4 months after firat surgery date i had 79 kg with fixators 1 week after first surgery date and now i have 67 kg with fixators.