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[StrydeNailChallenge]

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen,

I hope you all are doing well in such strange times with COVID-19 and all.

I am going to start this new topic to share my LL experience, hoping it would help some with their current and future experiences.

I am sharing all the info I can hoping it could help current and future brother and sister LL'ers get more data points while deciding on what is best for them to go for:
 
48 year old male, LA county resident, 5'8", very athletic with an extremely strong upper body.

My health status: perfect based on my feeling, activities and numbers. There are exceptions: my cholesterol (LDL) has been at 110 - above normal for a very long time, despite having low levels fat body even while working from home during COVID-19.

Activities:
European soccer, gymnastics and taekwondo since I was a kid till 2001. Switched to swimming in 2001.

In short I could describe myself as someone who is exceptionally competitive and looking forward to challenges and doing things very few can do. I have done many crazy stuff in my life which make me feel happy and content. In addition to the extra height boost, the challenges of LL have been the reasons for me to go for it!

I did research on height increasing options since 2001. I've been determined to do this since the precise nail technologies were developed. The main problems were money and time and both were finally cleared this year.

I chose Dr. Mahboubian after 20 years of research, also considering that he is local and more importantly my phone call and then meeting with him in December 2019.

He assured me that based on my health status I am an ideal candidate. I showed a couple stretches that are probably records among adults in terms of the difficulty level. I completely trust Dr. Mahboubian and 100% sure if something goes wrong he would be able to make the right decision and perform the steps carefully and precisely.

I Did BILATERAL FEMUR OSTEOPLASTY WITH STRYDE NAILS on Thursday, July 23, 2020, aiming for 8 cm.

I will post my diary, hopefully on a daily basis. So far the most important finding since the surgery is that the LL challenge looks impossible to deal with individually with no help. I quickly realized that it's a team work. In addition to the posts here, the help of many loved ones have been crucial, therefore if all goes well, it would be a mission accomplished by a group of people and I was just one of them. 

I would like to thank all the LL'ers who have shared their experiences all these years. I am so thankful especially to my man, IFS whose posts have helped me so much since a week before the surgery when I started reading them.

[ghkid2019]

Congratulations on the start of your journey. One of the oldest if not the oldest patient diaries I've seen. If you don't mind sharing your reasons for getting this procedure (height neurosis, attractiveness increase, etc) besides the challenge aspect that would be fantastic.

Happy to see another diary. Interesting username by the way. Good luck

[Movie]

You do sound like a good candidate to a speedy recovery and great outcome, best wishes on your journey, will keep up with the diary

[StrydeNailChallenge]

Thanks very much!

As my post may have implied I am all for challenges that very few can do. This was on my list of things to do and I am looking forward to cross off of my list.

I look tall. I am not sure adding the extra height would make me more or less attractive, but I don't care. I hope you understand I did not do this for others. I did this because I wanted the challenge. I hope I look better, but if I end up looking like too thin or tall, I don't care as long as I deliver the results my Dr. has described to me.

I give you an example: if I knew I would die on July 31st, I would still have done the surgery, because I wanted to experience the challenge. I guess it's a disease competitive people have

I have a long list done already, but this is the first one involving a surgery The rest were mostly athletics related or related to skills I know.

[StrydeNailChallenge]

Movie, my Brother! I found out about your posts about 24 hours ago. I started watching them. Before checking your videos, I thought I would easily break the record of recovery among all Dr. Mahboubian's patients; but checking your videos, you've looked unbelievable. There is a chance I underestimated how good other LL'ers are.


Next step for me is to see Dr. Mahboubian. I'll let you guys know how it goes!

[LuMu]

Good Job

Wish you all the luck.

[ididUrMIM]

Thanks very much!

As my post may have implied I am all for challenges that very few can do. This was on my list of things to do and I am looking forward to cross off of my list.

I look tall. I am not sure adding the extra height would make me more or less attractive, but I don't care. I hope you understand I did not do this for others. I did this because I wanted the challenge. I hope I look better, but if I end up looking like too thin or tall, I don't care as long as I deliver the results my Dr. has described to me.

I give you an example: if I knew I would die on July 31st, I would still have done the surgery, because I wanted to experience the challenge. I guess it's a disease competitive people have

I have a long list done already, but this is the first one involving a surgery The rest were mostly athletics related or related to skills I know.

I am doing LL for other reasons but I can still relate. That feeling of rush and being alive comes with difficult challenges and it can get very addicting haha

[StrydeNailChallenge]

Hi mrmccall,

You described it well     Great icon man! One reason is liked the idea of Dexter so much was knowing that he was the best vigilante and all the precise steps he had to take to do everything right.

This procedure involves patience, preciseness, and a lot of attention by a team (of your doctor and his team, yourself, and your family members and friends).

[StrydeNailChallenge]

Thanks very much!   Likewise, I wish you the best. Let me know if I can help with any questions.
I'll start posting my daily notes today.

[StrydeNailChallenge]

Pre-Day 1:


The date of the surgery had been set to July 3rd (back in Decem when I met Dr. Shahab Mahboubian (Dr. M.) for the first time. Later on when nurse called me to say it was cancelled, I was not surprised at all, considering the COVID-19 situation. I was under the impression that the surgery would move to 2021 (when herd immunity would be achieved with or without vaccines). However later on after talking to Dr. M. I was assured that the process is super safe and I should not worry about COVID-19 infection during my hospital visit.

The office had given me a tentative date of July 23 for my surgery. I think by July 15, I confirmed that I will keep the surgery appointment.

Food to avoid: Their instructions have some information related food items to avoid, etc.   Particularly turmeric and fish oil should be avoid at least within the last two weeks before the surgery. I asked the Dr. if it was an issue that I had turmeric and salmon about 8 days before the surgery and he said it should be fine, as long as during the last week, I would follow and avoid them. That's what I did.

Pre-surgery exercises: I just continued what I typically do these days during COVID-19 (quick sit-ups, stretches, in-door cycling, chin-ups, and hanging from bar). I don't push it though.

Pre-surgery Tests: In addition to normal tests that are done before surgery to make sure all is good, I had to do a COVID-19 test two days before the surgery. It's a very simple test that takes around 30 seconds, basically doing a gentle lower nasal swap (both left and right). Of course you would have to come out of it as negative, otherwise the surgery will be cancelled!

Day 1 (Thursday, July 23)


I woke up at 4am, took shower and brushed my teeth for one last time before the surgery! My family dropped me at the hospital by 5:15 AM. A nurse picked me from the waiting area at 5:30am and took me to the pre-surgery room. I had noticed starting the COVID-19 test appointment how nice the nurses are. My hospital experience is definitely a very positive one. I have never had any other over night hospital stay, but it felt so like home, as the nurses were so caring.

The nurse said my leg is hairy, but they shave it themselves, cause they don't want the patients to shave and possibly create infection complications. They shaved the outer side of my thighs!   They also shaved a bit of my right wrist to connect the IV.

Dr. Chan was my anesthesia doctor. He visited me before the surgery and asked me some questions that had also been asked by the nurses, like any allergies, whether I was exposed recently (COVID-19) , what time last night I stopped eating, ...

Dr. M. Also came by and asked if I am ready. Finally one of the biggest moments of my life was approaching! the challenging of LL with a lot of unknowns for me!

Another doctor or nurse took me to the surgery room.

I really really wanted to remember the last moment before going to sleep. Unfortunately I don't remember that moment at all. All I remember was that Dr. M. had 4 nurses (two ladies and two gentlemen) who greeted me very warmly.

I think I woke up around 12:30pm. I was told the surgery went well

Pain was at level 2 to 3 right after waking up,  pushed the pain button several times    That injects morphine based on the certain maximum amount during a period of time. I was later told that I used it overall minimally during day 1 (apparently 1mg).


Lunch was great and made me realize how hungry I have been.

Daniel, the PT (Physical Therapist) came by and showed me how to walk using the walker. Also showed me two stretching exercises and one bonus one.
The  two stretching moves are 1) bending knees half way by sliding your feet on the bed,  alternating between left and right legs, and 2) squeezing and releasing the knee caps while legs are straight.

The bonus was to lift a legs up, while both at 180 degrees lying on the bed.  I could not do the bonus and after a while even bending knees was getting harder. Daniel said that that I walked longer that other patients. However my left leg was by far more painful that the right one.

Anthony, the OT (Occupational Therapist) also showed up and gave me tips on how to go to later on go to restroom from bed, how to take shower, etc.

Pain remained manageable. For most of the day I used my laptop and cellphone to distract myself while doing some stretching exercises in bed, once iin a while, and also took rest.

I felt a bit light-headed because of the anesthesia impact. The nurse gave me a medicine. Dinner was great! I should say the food in this hospital is great, but once gain, I am not a hospital veteran, but I heard from one of the nurses that the food here is better than a typical hospital food.

[BoneStretching]

The journey begins my friend. Key is, stay positive. Remain very alert and active, in mind body and soul. That will be my first tip.

[StrydeNailChallenge]

The journey begins my friend. Key is, stay positive. Remain very alert and active, in mind body and soul. That will be my first tip.

Hey BoneStretching,

Thanks for the message and support. It's a very exciting experience, but more challenging that I thought!  Particularly I wanted to stop pain killers starting week two, but I failed on that. The pain was unbearable at 8 or above and I had no choice but resuming Norco and Tylenol!

[StrydeNailChallenge]

Day 2 (Friday July 24) - Bye Catheter!

Catheter removed early morning! I have no trouble urinating in the urinal. Big relief 😊
However the day was dramatic in terms of exercises and walking.

Dr. M. visited me and said legs looked very good. He however wanted me to move.  I told him about my left leg pain and the sound on the first day that it made while moving my left leg sideways (i.e., laterally from left to right so I can get close to the right side of the bed to start walking). He believed it was just bones adjusting, and nothing to worry about.

Allan and his colleague (PTs) came by in the morning, but I could not move my left leg, so they left

They were so kind to come by once more and on the second attempt, I was able to take perhaps less than 10 baby steps overall from and back to my bed. The main reason is the severe pain on my left leg (upper thighs – on the outer side).

Later the OT (Anthony), also visited me to show me how to dress, but the process was too painful (bending my left leg) and instead I moved out of bed and did some very few steps and then back to my bed.

They disconnected me from the IV (morphine, etc.) early morning. I am on Norco now (two tablet each time).   I had two in the morning, and I think two at 7pm, then another two on Saturday @ 4am.

I was able to move my legs up, and did a lot of knee bending.
I also used the inhaler for deep breaths as my body temperate had risen to 100+. That solved the problem quickly!


Overall, today was tougher than the first day, but something I had expected based on other LL'ers experiences and what the medical staff had told me.

[StrydeNailChallenge]

Day 3 (Saturday, July 25) - Going Home Today


Last night I felt comfortable doing some simple bed exercises. But in the morning I feel like my feet are stiff. On a positive note, I am sure they are in better shape than yesterday.

A new PT came by around 9:45 am. I had taken my Norco around 8 am. My experience with him was great at start for a few seconds, but turned dramatic so fast that I lost confidence in him and partly even myself. He started by giving me some stretching exercises.  He said he would guide me through movements.

First I squeezed knees that also straightens legs and he approved. Then bending knees almost to 90 degrees which was good too. The drama started when he said he would lift my feet to move them to sideways. I warned him about my left leg that if it gets into a certain position, the pain goes from 0-2 to 8-9, and I asked him to avoid…. He did not listen to me to finish my sentence, and he moved my legs keeping my feet lifted. It was so painful I screamed very loudly and nurses who were passing by stopped to see what happened. I told him I could not continue that move. He said whether I still wanted to try to stand up and possibly walk and I said sure, if he has time, because I would move very slowly to avoid pain. He said he has some time. I put my feet down, stood up and then cause he seemed a bit in rush I told him that I would just sit and go back to bed. As  I was trying to bring my feet off the floor he grabbed my feet to speed up. I told him I would not need it, but he said, it would be faster. Then the severe pain on my left leg started; once gain my movements were not under my control and any tiny movements by him would elevate the pain to 8-9. I told him to not move my feet for a while, so I figure out a way to grab my feet up to the bed, and he said he cannot just keep my feet in the air for me and I have to do this fast. It was so painful and him pushing me on time, was so disappointing. I hated the experience, thinking why is he even there if he does not have time to do what I expect him to do and spend time for. 

I knew from the posts by IFS, that Dr. M. showed up for him on a Saturday two days after his surgery, therefore I expected to see Dr. M. today again.  I was still impressed when he showed up around 11 am. He evaluated my legs, and in terms of bending knees. He said that is the bending degree he expects me to maintain every day; and that I would have a quick recovery from  the surgery.

He asked me about the morning PT. He was kind enough to remember and later asked the nurses to assign a different PT for my afternoon exercise.

Later around 2 pm, Irene, an OT stopped by for any questions about going in or out of the car and also towards the restroom. Based on her recommendation we ordered during our meeting a commode. She also recommended a bathtub transfer seat if I later found out that going to the shower room would be difficult.

She was so kind to offer to help me with standing/walking practice. I asked if she had any appointment after me, cause I was slow. She said to not worry. She then did what I exactly wanted: not touching me, but just watching me and giving me tips on how to do the next thing. She was the first to finally clarify the pain I was experiencing on my left knee. The pain comes from muscle contraction, when it is not bearing weight. This was very helpful, cause now I knew exactly where the source of the pain is and therefore I knew when to expect it and plan ahead of it. Her recommendation was to release that muscle, which I have no idea how to do so. She also recommended deep breaths. That helped a lot: this is how I was classifying my pain:  when my body weight is on both feet, there is no pain. When weight is on right leg, my left leg has this sharp severe pain; this is initially even worse, when switching weight from both feet to the right foot. I therefore made the switching super slow so I could examine my body reaction almost in fractions of a second and be ready to guide the pain to gradually appear and subside! It worked. I got a lot of confidence and thought I would be okay going to then wheelchair then the ride and finally from the ride to home.

Later Eric, the new PT came by. He emphasized the same points as those made by Irene, about my left leg's muscle contraction. I am really thankful of Irene and Eric for helping me. I could walk more than 10 feet, while Eric was just observing me and giving me tips. I believe this afternoon was successful because Irene and Eric are not only smart, but also very patient with me.

Finally it is time to go home! I loved this hospital, but very excited to go back home!   Going from the hospital wheelchair to the car was very smooth. However while getting out of the front seat in front of my house, my right leg dangled out of my control. It was so painful that I think the neighbors heard my scream. But I was finally at home.

Like the hospital nights, I woke up almost every 60 to 90 minutes. Unfortunately I forgot to ask my family to prepare some ice packs and by morning, my legs were swollen. I typically do bending and squeezing exercises anytime, including night times while I am awake, but tonight it was so painful to make any movements.

Today, with the help of my family, I could do a in-bed shower!! It was not exactly a shower, but I could wash my hair with warm water and shampoo and also wash my body piece by piece. I feel so fresh

[StrydeNailChallenge]

Day 4 (Sunday, July 26)


The major barrier is severe pain in my left leg due to its muscle contraction.   I did my first walk practice of the day starting 12:45pm and a 10 to 15 foot walk took me about an hour till 1:45 ☹


Tonight is going to be much better cause I have four ice bags from hospital ready to use in pairs, meaning I am currently using two of them and by night time the other two which are in the freezer are going to be ready to use. I fill them with water and they perform much better than any other ice packs, I have at home. They are large ice bags and they don’t get wet on the outside.


Pain level: So far as long as I don't walk or move, the pain level is 0-3. In case of any movements in bed it depends on whether they trigger the muscle contraction of my left leg, and if so, the pain can be higher say 5-6. However pain level while walking can be as high as 8. I move very very slowly to be able to manage the pain.

[StrydeNailChallenge]

Day 5 (Monday, July 27)


My first day with a wheelchair in the house. I used the wheelchair to perform additional exercises, like dangling knees, and using the wheelchair pedals as steps to move my feet up and down on the floor.
I think the moves help me better manage the left leg pain while walking later on.

However I made some mistakes today. I took one Norco (5mg)  I think two or three hours before standing to walk. It made my standing on left leg so painful. Pain level could go to 8 or higher intermittently. In the afternoon after the wheelchair workout, I thought I did not have much pain and skipped Norco and that was a big mistake!  When I started my walking, it was so painful that I had to stop and get back to my wheelchair. I then took Norco and waited for about 20 minutes or so and then tried again. The pain was more manageable around 5 or 6 (left leg). Right leg with the exception of the Saturday car departure episode, has been consistently good.
 
According to the hospital I can ( and now I know I should ) take the second tablet if I feel the pain is high. I think tomorrow I will take 1.5 tablets about 30 minutes before my walks.

Ice packs are so relieving. They are a must for this surgery and its success!  I am on them almost 24/7 !

It was a big milestone for me! After 4 days (since Thursday morning right before the surgery, i.e., 4 days of no bowl movement!!) I could do number 2    
It was a very long painful process, but overall I felt so relieved that I could poop again!  I used the commode, but the whole process was cleaner than I had pictured!

The left leg pain still is the bottleneck of my exercises and walks.

[StrydeNailChallenge]

Day 6 (Tuesday, July 28)


I took one Norco at 3:30 am to manage my left leg pain, especially after the ice packs were at room temperature!  Similarly to previous nights, I woke up every hour or so. One reason could be my habit of frequently switching between face up and face down positions before the surgery,
 but now  I am afraid to change my body to any position other than face up! which frustrates me. I guess those who are used to sleeping face up all the time or those who practice for it in advance to this surgery would be in a better mental state post-surgery

To manage the left leg pain during walking, I took more than 1.5 Norco at 7:30 am.
Around 8 am I started my super slow process of standing up and walking. I then used the commode and pooped for a second time since surgery.  I think Psyillium and all the fruits and vegetables I have been eating have helped.  I am so happy my number 1 and number 2 have not created complications

The pain on the left leg has not gotten better. It may even be a bit worse. I have a hard time putting my weight on the left foot or switching my weight from right to left.

Despite the high levels of pain in my left leg, I overall feel improvement, E.g., from the time I started to stand up to walk and use the commode and then clean myself, took half an hour today. Yesterday it took much longer! as my movements were slower.

These days I don't feel like working, so I mostly pass my time online, or in front of TV sitting on the wheelchair.   

Evening was okay. I took 1.5 Norco tablets and then half an hour later could stand with manageable pain on my left leg and then do a short distance walking towards my bed.

Now that I am on wheelchair I can use the vanity and floss and clean and brush my teeth, which more hygiene than doing them in bed!

[StrydeNailChallenge]

Day 7 (Wed., July 29)


Tuesday night and Wednesday morning were the worst sleeping times since the surgery and most likely one of the worsts ever. I had my ice packs, but still very painful. I finally gave up and decided to take half a Norco tablet. Also put a soft blanket under my thighs close to the knees (among the many positions and stretches I tried) and finally fell asleep for a couple hours.

Today has been my best day since the surgery in terms of rate of improvement on a daily basis. I could walk about 15 meters (around 50 feet or so) going from bed to walker to restroom to walker to the living room. Then transferred to wheelchair and spent the time mostly running errands online and chatting with friends online.

I also decided to stop using the commode (after using it two times, once yesterday, and the first time the day before yesterday), and instead go to the restroom.

I took one Norco and then stood up and walked using the walker for short before transferring to bed, but also spend at least  10 minutes on teeth flossing, etc. Also took help from family member to wash my hair on the vanity while standing.

I feel fresh, but I prefer the real shower. I plan to do that on Friday.

[StrydeNailChallenge]

Day 8 (Thurs., July 30)


As usual, my sleeps are so low quality. I wake up very frequently. The night of Wed. and early morning this Thurs. were no exception.

That said, I am overall happy cause I feel great progress. I did several standing and walking paths, including the first walk exercise that was 20 meters or so.

One major improvement is that my legs quickly warm up and putting and removing weight on them (e.g., switching weight from one to another) is not painful.
I also use more of my shoulder strength at the turns to not put too much pressure on my  legs, now that I can feel them without much pain!
I am able to finally raise my legs in bed even left leg with not much pain.   
Being on wheelchair gives me much better options than staying in bed and doing almost nothing!

I increase the number and level of difficulty of stretching exercises every day. It is now much easier for me to do leg lifting while sitting or standing or in bed.
 

[StrydeNailChallenge]

Day 9 (Friday, July 31) - 0.33 taller


I also decided to not use ice while at sleep, hoping to overall improve sleeping.

My sleeping was perhaps a bit better, but I still woke up every 90 minutes or so.
 
It seems my plans to discontinue pain killers (Norco) keeps failing as I have describe below:

I did not take any pain killer (Norco) since yesterday afternoon.
My first morning walk was okay, but soon after, while resting in bed, I developed shivering and sweating around 9 am! Even multiple layers of clothing and a blanket, could not stop that. I also felt a lot of pain in my legs, mainly left. I gave a high chance it was because I had stopped Norco, about 18 hours ago.

The online info on Norco states the symptoms of stopping it as sweating, mood swing, shivering, and pain. Since I did not have any other pain medication, I had to resume on Norco once more to be able to function, especially that today I will have my first appointment with Dr. M. since coming home.

I took half a Norco tablet and in 5 minutes I was back to normal. I walked into the shower room. This was the first shower since the surgery last Thursday before the surgery, to be more precise, 8 days and 8 hours! I have washed my head and body at the vanity or in bed on day 3 (Sat.), day 5 (Mon.) and 7 (Wed.), but shower brings my cleaning game to the next level
 
After the shower I got ready and we went to the doctor. Doctor M. was happy with my healing and said I am doing great. He knows my personality, so he said I have some tough competition. Apparently a patient from Hawaii was able to back to normal at month 6, and in one year did the Ironman Triathlon. Also he said he had a military personnel who was very tough and determined and a 16 year old who recovered very well.

He wanted me to be careful to not break the nails just because I wanted to break the record of recovery 😊

Eddy from the ERC team came by to show me how the magnetic lengthening device works. Both the doctor and Eddy were excited about the new device. Apparently unlike the old device needing 3 minutes per 0.33mm session, this new devicde can do 0.33 in one minute!

By the end of the presentation, I was supposedly 0.33 taller 😊

I went back home and by 4:30 pm, the symptoms of shivering, pain, and sweating started. With Dr. M.'s permission I decided to give Tylenol a try. I took the first Tylenol at 8 pm. It is not as effective (strong and fast) as Norco. But after 20 minutes or so, I could walk again, use to restroom and go back to bed to sleep. The directions on the Tylenol box read 2 tablet every 4 hours and maximum of 6 tables per day.

I took another Tylenol around 11pm.

[StrydeNailChallenge]

Day 10 (Sat., August 1) - 1.66 mm taller

For me, sleeping is the biggest challenge of the surgery so far. I have a hard time managing it. However with the help of Tylenol I had a better handle of it tonight.  I took one more Tylenol around 3:30am.

I did my first at-home ERC session today at 6 am. I am supposedly 0.33*2=0.66 mm taller!
I did my second ERC at 12 pm, 0.33*3=0.99 mm taller
Third at 6 pm: 0.33*4=1.33 mm
Fourth at 11:58 pm: 0.33*5=1.66 mm

I walked longer than previous days. Also for the first time I took the wheelchair out in the evening to exercise my arms and shoulders.
The last time I took Tylenol was last night at 3:30 am.

My left leg has becomes so painful. I could not help but taking Norco again. I took 1/4th of a tablet and it helped.

[StrydeNailChallenge]

Day 11 (Sunday, August 2) - 0.33 + 2*1.33 =1.99 mm taller


Today was the most painful day so far. I had this dull pain ranging between 5 and 8 for almost the whole time. I took Tylenol at 12pm, then 6 pm.
At night time I resumed taking Norco at midnight: Started with 1 at 11:40pm, then half at 12 am and then another half at 12:30am.

After trying so many different exercises and positions on bed, I found out that sleeping on sofa may work better.  I set my leg to lean on the sofa back while my head was leaning to the side. With some pillow support, I had the best sleep post-surgery

Unfortunately my several attempts to continue this journey with no help from any pain killer has failed so far. It seems my body cannot handle the pain on its own or even with the help of ice packs. In addition Norco or Tylenol seems  to be necessary for my body. I have decided to not pause on pain killers for a while until I have healed much better.

[StrydeNailChallenge]

Day 12 (Monday, August 3) - 4.29 mm taller

I took a Norco shortly before each 0.33 lengthening sessions (i.e., 6am, 12pm, 6pm, and 12am).

Today so far has been the most productive day for me. Since I was regularly on the pain killer, I could do some work. The pain level for most of the day has been 0 to 3.

 

[StrydeNailChallenge]

LL'ers and All,

I hope everyone is doing great!

I am wondering if any one of you can help me with the following:

1)  Ideally I would like to not get out of the house nor to ask a PT to come to my house, considering the covid-19 risks.  Do you know a good online resource that lists all the exercises, hopefully based on a general time table designed for LL'ers to better heal?

2) Is there any accurate method to validate the correctness of the ERC device and process? Apparently the device does not communicate with the nail. Is therefore the only way to measure the 0.33 lengthening session accuracy, to wait a couple days and measure your height? or wait for the doctor to measure it using X-rays? But what if after a week or so your doctor finds out you have not been lengthening at all and the bone has already healed?!

[Movie]

1) walking is the best PT, or in your case walking with walker/crutches, going upstairs with upper body assistance but using legs as much as I can helped me. I did my own PT as many of you know. Feel free to PM me for the routine I used (as best I can remember)

2)If it hurts shortly after your lengthening sessions or feel tightness, it's working. Bones won't usually consolidate that fast to cause pre-consolidation issues and stop lengthening. There has been people here that stop lengthening and decide to keep going after a couple weeks or even after a month's time and they still successfully lengthen the nails.

[StrydeNailChallenge]

1) walking is the best PT, or in your case walking with walker/crutches, going upstairs with upper body assistance but using legs as much as I can helped me. I did my own PT as many of you know. Feel free to PM me for the routine I used (as best I can remember)


Thanks Movie! This is very helpful. I'll also PM you to get your suggestions.

2)If it hurts shortly after your lengthening sessions or feel tightness, it's working. Bones won't usually consolidate that fast to cause pre-consolidation issues and stop lengthening. There has been people here that stop lengthening and decide to keep going after a couple weeks or even after a month's time and they still successfully lengthen the nails.

Thanks very much! Knowing that bone consolidation is not too fast to create problems in case of failed lengthening sessions is a big relief. I was a bit concerned about no feeling on the right leg, so I emailed Dr. M. about it and he said it should be ok and he would see me in about two weeks to do the X-rays. Later this evening the feeling of tightness/soreness gradually appeared on the right leg as well. The pain level on left shortly after the lenghtening is 3-6 and on the right is 1-3.

[StrydeNailChallenge]

Day 13 (Tuesday, August 4) - 5.65 mm Taller

I plan to continue taking one Norco a few minutes before each lengthening session (i.e., 6am, 12pm, 6pm, and 12am, which makes it 4 5mg Norco pills per day). This allow me to manage the pain and also lets me walk as much as I want.  I feel a bit of tightness on the right, but for most of the part pain is at 0. Left is very sore and tight with the pain level at 0-3 and peaking to 7 a few times per day.

I still have the blood thinner to take, which I do every morning. Around noon-time, I take multi-vitamins, Calcium+D and Calcium+Magnesium, D/D3, Vitamin C, Turmeric, Biotin and starting today also B-complex. I also drink 3 tea spoons of Psyllium powder in warm water every night to avoid constipation.
 
In the last few days, if pain is unbearable, my last resort is to stand up on my feet for a few minutes or walk. Either way, the pain goes away! I am not sure how this works, cause it's not like I get distracted by the pressure of standing or walking on my legs! the pain really stops!!

Starting day 11 (Sunday at noon) I did not bring the wheelchair inside the house. This forces me to use the walker all the time, My walking range has dramatically increased since Sunday. I have lost track of how much I walk per day, but a rough estimate would be more than a 1000 feet. I drink a lot of tea/water, therefore a good part of the walking is to/from the restroom

Movie's response to my self-PT'ing query further motivated me to go for it. I plan to continue to self-PT! This allows me to mentally not worry about COVID-19.   I use my common sense to create stretching techniques that I can do on the walker, sofa, and bed.

I wish all the LL'ers the best. Please let me know if you have any questions for me.

SNC

[dreamBig]

hi SNC, I am glad that you are doing great! lengthening 1.33mm a day seems a little aggressive, did Dr. M mention when you will slow down?
I am also curious if you would still need get a PT to help you with the stretching, or self-PT would be enough?

[StrydeNailChallenge]

hi SNC, I am glad that you are doing great! lengthening 1.33mm a day seems a little aggressive, did Dr. M mention when you will slow down?
I am also curious if you would still need get a PT to help you with the stretching, or self-PT would be enough?

Hi dreamBig,
Dr. M.'s lengthening schedule and many other doctors' follow the same plan as far as I have seen. E.g., look at IFS, Movie, etc. who did their surgery with Dr. M.:  5 days @ 1.33 and then slow down to 1 per day till the end (say 8 cm). The reason is that the 5 times of extra .33 gives the bone an extra gap (about 1.65mm) that prevents the two broken bones to somehow connect and heal prematurely before the final length is achieved.

As for the PT, in this COVID-19 times I would try my best to avoid unnecessary interactions. Dr. M.'s evaluation last Friday was that I was doing great, but if I wanted, I could get two PT sessions per week. I am trying to eliminate even those two PT sessions, by doing extra walks and stretches of my own. Also seeing Movie who PT'ed on his own and how great his results are, further inspired me.

[m7liam]

I did stryde femurs with Giotikas about 1 week before you.

Just hit 3 weeks yesterday and for the first time start to take steps by myself without crutches

Unfortunately walking like a penguin with huge swinging body... hopefully that reduces over time

[mangoman]

Hi SNC,

as a fellow Stryde patient (currently 35mm distracted) I wish you all the best for the rest of your journey!

I'm doing PT on my own as well. In my opinion, it is way more important to integrate your PT routine into your daily life. Nevertheless, it is still helpful to have a family member at hand to help you with certain exercises.

All the best!
MM