Hey AnotherShorty,
You're welcome! I hope my experience may help future LLers and that they can take from my diary. To answer your questions:
1) my pain has plateaued since +4cm. It didn't decrease nor increase. My legs are super stiff and especially the quadriceps-front muscle group and lateral IT Band are super hard and under permanent tension. This stiffness creates more discomfort than pain when resting in my bed or standing up. In fact what causes pain is continuing distraction. Although I stretch before and after each distraction, every additional 0.33mm adds stress and tension to these already stretched muscles/soft tissues. From my understanding, in one of his interviews Doctor Paley said that there's only so much a muscle can stretch. Eventually it starts to grow past a certain threshold. And we have to keep stretching in order to stimulate that muscle growth.
So yes as of this writing I'm still continuing distraction. When I wake up at 5:30am after a very short night where I barely slept and tossed in my bed like a dozen times due to the discomfort and pain, my thighs are super stiff like a rock lol. My first fear of the day is how my feet ankles and knees are going to react when I get out of the bed and stand up! Some mornings I feel pain coming from my ankle and feet when I start walking (with the walker of course!). Overall, despite my fear every morning of what's coming, so far the pain has been somewhat bearable. It's not really noticeable during the day. It's more obvious at bedtime especially after the third distraction. When laying in my bed and playing on my phone waiting to fall asleep. It's when that throbbing pain comes alive from deep within the muscles or nerves or arteries (I'm not really sure where lol). It's on and off and would last couple hours. I have to keep bending my quads to relieve that throbbing pain.
2) I haven't stepped on a scale since surgery. I don't think I lost weight because I've never eaten so much in my life lol. I feel hungry every 2-3 hours and I have to refrain myself to 4 or 5 mini meals a day. This is in stark contrast to my pre-surgery diet where I never had breakfast and always ran on an empty stomach and started my first meal of the day late afternoon!
I don't think I gained weight neither just by looking at my overall body! It's still relatively lean despite my calories intake. Note I stay away from sugar and junk food.
3) Distraction at home was in my plans since day 1. It saves me on living cost abroad for 3 months while distracting in the comfort of my own home! So yes I stayed in Turkey for 15 days post-op then flew back home for distraction. That was possible since dr. Buldu allowed me to bring the ERC remote controller with me back home for the 3 months distraction. I'll have to fly back to Turkey though at the end of distraction to return the remote controller coz it's super expensive lol. I have no one to help me at home during distraction so it's quiet challenging but manageable as long as you can walk stand up and bend your knees to sit down on the toilet and for shower. Of course if you have your family around you to help during distraction that would be even better and more comfortable.
4) My knees especially the left one has been giving me issues since +2cm. The left knee has always been more painful than the right one.
I don't think I will be pre-LL after one year and don't even expect so! One year post-op is barely around the time I expect to remove the nails out of my femurs and until then I won't feel comfortable running or pushing my body. In fact my biomechanics will shift and be disrupted with that added length on my femurs. My center of gravity will shift, my thighs will never be the same again. I don't think they will ever be as strong as before surgery! In fact I don't ever expect to regain my pre-surgery athleticism and I already accepted that going into this surgery. My prime is behind me. Being able to run again one day will be bonus and will remind me the nostalgia of all those years dedicated to running.
5) Will I recommend Dr. Halil to someone based on my overall experience? Yes absolutely! Had I had any doubt about him and the safety of my legs I would of course never choose him. Based on my interaction and contact with him pre-surgery and in person after I met him, I can say I can recommend him. Now it's your responsibility to make your own research, get in touch with doctors you consider and see for yourself how you feel about each of them. I think his number has been listed on this forum and if you consider him drop him a line and see for yourself how you feel about him. Me personally, I flew there, met him in person and I can say he's exactly how he sounded like throughout our communication before I met him. Down to earth, approchable humble and caring. Even now back in my home country, whenever I have a concern and send him a message he replies promptly. But again don't take my word for it. It's your responsibility to contact doctors you shortlisted and see for yourself.
Each day now is a big unknown for me as I wonder every morning when I wake up how my legs are gonna hold up when I get out of bed and stand up. I wonder if I'm gonna feel pain when I make my first step lol. My relief comes at the end of each day after the last distraction around 7pm, after another millimeter lengthened!
Running and cardio was my life. It was painful and required lots of dedication and sacrifice to reach that level. That life is now behind me. I'm not getting younger and regaining that pre-surgery athleticism is no more a priority as I already gave it all during these years running day in day out. Living the rest of my life height neurosis free is more important...
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Topic: chasing a lifetime dream (Read 24282 times)