Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[StrydeNailChallenge]

Day 9 (Friday, July 31) - 0.33 taller


.....
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 😊


....

Hi Movie, I am quoting this from my Day 9 as a reminder on who Dr. M. referred to as the fastest in recovery.  I wanna beat you and this guy and anyone else in this CLL game, haha.

But as you said, all of us, CLL'ers should be very proud for what we did. We came out not only taller, but more importantly wiser, stronger and more patient in hardships. 

IFS said the same thing so nicely. I am just quoting him from page 31 of his diary: 
"... I'm not only 3 inches taller as a result of CLL; but I am also a much smarter, stronger, and grateful person, having gotten through this journey..."

[StrydeNailChallenge]

Hi Movie, I am quoting this from my Day 9 as a reminder on who Dr. M. referred to as the fastest in recovery.  I wanna beat you and this guy and anyone else in this CLL game, haha.

But as you said, all of us, CLL'ers should be very proud for what we did. We came out not only taller, but more importantly wiser, stronger and more patient in hardships. 

IFS said the same thing so nicely. I am just quoting him from page 31 of his diary: 
"... I'm not only 3 inches taller as a result of CLL; but I am also a much smarter, stronger, and grateful person, having gotten through this journey..."

Future CLL'ers and those who are following this forum. I would like to put a reminder in BOLD here that matters a lot to me. I don't want anyone to be motivated or encouraged to go for this surgery because of my diary.
My goal in writing this is NOT to encourage people. This diary is only for those who did their research and finally decided to go for the highly risky CLL surgery, NOT for those who have not done the surgery and by reading this get motivated and tell themselves, I wanna do this too!!   
I say this, because I hate for someone to follow our footsteps and then find out he/she has to deal with all the problems, complications, etc. that may be attached to CLL.
I would like to compare the CLL to climbing Mount Everest. Both need a lot of preparation, planning, equipment, good team, etc. You don't wanna go for them, just because someone else wrote some nice words about the experience! CLL is no fun game! I look at it as one of the most challenging experience I have ever done.  I have mentioned in my diary before about my view of climbing Mount Everest. I am a very good hiker and I believe I can do very tough hikes, but my body cannot handle low temperatures. I therefore know climbing Mount Everest means death for me. I had done my research and I am sure of that. I would therefore never go for that experience, even if the whole world encourages me to do so.
Please do your research and think very carefully about the CLL process before going for it.

[StrydeNailChallenge]

Hi snc, did you feel the pain so much different while walking compared to standing ?

Hi Tartar,
I never had pain standing, as far as I remember. In fact in early post-op days, I remember I used to stand just because pain would diminish (as compared to sitting or lying positions).
However walking is different. During the recovery phase I experience some discomfort and pain in the evening times. I also have always had this unnatural feeling on my legs, I guess cause of the combination of nails and the bone gap. When I walk I that feeling of unnatural aggravates.
I hope that feeling would be over by month 6, but it seems a lot of CLL'ers believe here that it's impossible. Some tell me to expect a year or 1.5 years to feel normal.

[StrydeNailChallenge]

......I try to fix my walking, gait, running, stair climbing, swimming, etc. by Day 180.  I hope I can make it, but even that does not look that great I'll try to post a video by the end of the week so you guys judge for yourself how my gait looks these days.

This is the video I had promised to some of you (in two parts, cause imgur does not allow videos of more than a minute).
It's my first time posting a video, and on imgur. I am not sure if I am doing something wrong, but makes the video frame so small! let me know if there is a better way:

https://imgur.com/xW8mUgI
https://imgur.com/rxRD7W7

A few notes about this video:
1) It was taken on the 29th. On the 28th I almost fell off of a pedestrian curb side, and injured my hip [left leg, close to where nails are]. I therefore am not at my best gait.
2) For privacy reasons the clothes don't belong to me, haha!  the shoes were too tight, so I could not really put them on properly also pants are short; and very tight which may give the impression of parenthesis legs a bit, but my legs are fairly straight, most likely better than an average person.   

[BelowTheMean]

This the video (in two parts, cause imgur does not allow videos of more than a minute).
It's my first time posting a video on imgur. I am not sure if I am doing something wrong, but makes the video frame so small!

https://imgur.com/xW8mUgI
https://imgur.com/rxRD7W7

A few notes about this video:
It was taken on the 29th. On the 28th I almost fell from a pedestrian curb side, and injured my hip [left leg, close to where nails are]. I therefore am not at my best gait.
For privacy reasons the clothes don't belong to me, haha!  the shoes were too tight, so I could not really wear them properly also pants are short; and very tight which may give the impression of parenthesis legs a bit, but my legs are fairly straight, most likely better than an average person.

Looks pretty clean to me, especially from the distance filmed. (Then again I'm still walking like a penguin so I may not be the best judge.)
Good solution on the clothing. I plan to only record myself in only one outfit, which no one has seen me wear IRL before, and I will dispose of it after my last video

[Movie]

Looks good , no hip swaying anymore it just looks a bit " mechanical" but that will correct itself in no time!, nice little jogging in place there too, agility and strength coming back. 

[StrydeNailChallenge]

Looks pretty clean to me, especially from the distance filmed. (Then again I'm still walking like a penguin so I may not be the best judge.)
Good solution on the clothing. I plan to only record myself in only one outfit, which no one has seen me wear IRL before, and I will dispose of it after my last video

Thanks BTM. I take you as a good judge, based on your posts.

I donated a lot of stuff this year (going for minimalism :p) including a lot of clothes    Yours is a nice plan. I choose a set  of clothes that I have never tried before and keep recording with those and then donate them

[StrydeNailChallenge]

Looks good , no hip swaying anymore it just looks a bit " mechanical" but that will correct itself in no time!, nice little jogging in place there too, agility and strength coming back. 

Thanks Movie,
You are correct. It indeed looks mechanical. To be honest with you, I did not know what "gait" means and its importance before the surgery. All I cared was to walk the fastest and that minimized my leg lifting and arm moving! I am the fastest I have ever seen walking, I am serious. I could easily beat a 2 meter guy walking as fast as he wanted to   My family, and friends or colleagues who got close to me, made fun of my walks, cause they were extremely fast, but looked like a fast cartoon character or robot moving marathon speed, with its shoulders going down and up cause of the fast speed
Now that I have learnt how the right gait should look like, I know my new normal on gait would look better than before (cause of my terrible gait before). I'll keep practicing.

I was watching a clip of Arnold Schwarzenegger today, praising Muhammad Ali and it was just a great reminder for pushing it to move the limits:


I started my today's walk in the park, feeling a bit of discomfort in both quads. First I thought I would take it easy and not go for a typical 3 miles. Then I thought following what Muhammad Ali did, I should go for even more, so I went for 4.2 miles! I think I am at a point that I can walk for long walks, but doing it when I feel discomfort, pushed my limits a bit. My watch also shows that my altitude was 214 feet today; instead of a typical below 100 feet.

Of course we should push it, only if we are confident our body can handle it.

[ghkid2019]

4 1/2 months in and you're walking that pace already? Whaa?

That's really good. 2 years ago when precice was what we had , at 4 1/2 months people still be bedridden or walker. Haha. They do what u doing at like the 8th month mark

If you want to go hard on the weightbearing, I'm a fan. I'm the biggest simp for weightbearing on stryde on this forum. But, I will recommend a thread by programdude who overdid his recovery and broke his femur in half. It's regarding stress fractures which are subtle but deadly.

http://www.limblengtheningforum.com/index.php?topic=2984.0
It ok to go hard on the weight bearing and walking. Just listen to your body. And don't go hard to the point you hurt significantly. Pain mean something wrong

Yes the walk looks mechanical and not normal yet but the pace is reassuring. Gait will probably be fixed with mindful walking for the months ahead. May not be normal by 6 months in terms of sports, that's for sure, but normal as in gait and walking? Definitely can see you do it considering the fact you survived for weeks of 1.33mm lengthening which I haven't read a diary yet of rapid extension for that much of a time block ever

Good job

[StrydeNailChallenge]

4 1/2 months in and you're walking that pace already? Whaa?

That's really good. 2 years ago when precice was what we had , at 4 1/2 months people still be bedridden or walker. Haha. They do what u doing at like the 8th month mark

If you want to go hard on the weightbearing, I'm a fan. I'm the biggest simp for weightbearing on stryde on this forum. But, I will recommend a thread by programdude who overdid his recovery and broke his femur in half. It's regarding stress fractures which are subtle but deadly.

http://www.limblengtheningforum.com/index.php?topic=2984.0
It ok to go hard on the weight bearing and walking. Just listen to your body. And don't go hard to the point you hurt significantly. Pain mean something wrong

Yes the walk looks mechanical and not normal yet but the pace is reassuring. Gait will probably be fixed with mindful walking for the months ahead. May not be normal by 6 months in terms of sports, that's for sure, but normal as in gait and walking? Definitely can see you do it considering the fact you survived for weeks of 1.33mm lengthening which I haven't read a diary yet of rapid extension for that much of a time block ever

Good job

Thanks ghkid2019.

It seems programdude did Precise. If so, have you seen anyone reporting similar fracture/femur break complications on Stryde?

[las vegas baby]

good work bubba.

Dr M and Dr D have a very high opinion in my heart now. This is the picture of LL which will make thousands do this procedure and make it mainstream.

'grats on the outcome n enjoy the new height!

[StrydeNailChallenge]

good work bubba.

Dr M and Dr D have a very high opinion in my heart now. This is the picture of LL which will make thousands do this procedure and make it mainstream.

'grats on the outcome n enjoy the new height!

Thanks lvb, I hope all the readers of this forum do their own research, make a well-informed decision and do what is best for them. My goal here has been to help those who have already decided to go for CLL and then use my diary to hopefully better plan it and deal with issues while at it.

[readyprecisestryde]

Looking good SNC for only 4.5 months since your surgery

[StrydeNailChallenge]

Looking good SNC for only 4.5 months since your surgery

Thanks rpc.
 I also hope you are doing well.

[StrydeNailChallenge]

Note: I think weekly updates make more sense (than daily updates) during consolidation. I still list all the days; just in case someone would like to search for a certain day. E.g., searching for "112" would hopefully help better with pointing at the post with the updates related to Day 112.

Day 124 Post-op (Mon., Nov. 23) ....
Day 131 ...

Day 132 Post-op (Tue., Dec. 1) - Consolidation Day 51
Day 133 Post-op (Wed., Dec. 2) - Consolidation Day 52
Day 134 Post-op (Thurs., Dec. 3) - Consolidation Day 53
Day 135 Post-op (Fri., Dec. 4) - Consolidation Day 54
Day 136 Post-op (Sat., Dec. 5) - Consolidation Day 55


During the these last few days, I have enjoyed my best improvement in terms of recovery speed and the feeling of normal (as if no surgery were done).

Pain:   It's been a long time I did not experience any pain related to the surgery, with one exception: the numbness on left tibia; but I am very hopeful the numbness will disappear very soon.

The type of pain I experience is very minor and happens when when I walk for miles, e.g., say 4+ miles. I would say I would get the same level of pian, even before surgery if I walked for miles. It's typically a pain in quads, and sometimes on the sides, where the nails are. By the time I go to bed, any pain or discomfort is over and when I wake up in the morning I feel fresh as new! Also things get better on a daily basis now in terms of my strength.

Night Sleeps: Thanks to the working from home situation during COVID-19, since week two of the recovery phase, my sleeps have been even better than pre-surgery! I sleep for at least 7 hours!

Walking: My average daily walks are above 5 miles. My longest walk with no breaks in between was on Day 136 (Sat. Dec. 5) for 5 miles and it took a bit shorter than two hours. I also tried to go as fast as I could this last Friday and I tried to set a record. I will try to break that record this coming week and I will post my numbers here to see if anyone can beat me on that Please stay tuned

Jogging: I tried jogging a few weeks ago for short distances, but with permission from Dr. M., I have increased the speed and duration.

My goal was to be back to normal (as if I had not done the CLL) by Day 180, and I myself was dubious whether I could really feel normal in every aspect by Day 180. However the progress I made during the last few days made me very hopeful. I now see a good chance I would achieve my goal even earlier than Day 180!! I am almost at 4.5 months post-op now, and I already feel normal in almost every aspects except for walking, jogging/running; and also swimming that I have not yet tried.

[BelowTheMean]

Hey SNC, glad to hear that you're doing better and better every week. Whenever I have tight legs right after waking up, I think about some arbitrary point in the future when this won't be the case. Reading your journal gives me a glimpse into the future and inspires me. I can't wait to wake up feeling refreshed instead of waking up with tight legs and needing to exercise, stretch, and take pills just to feel normal.

It's crazy to think that you're "only" 116 days ahead of me in the process. With where I am right now I can't imagine being in your position in under four months. On the other hand, with how fast the last 20 days have passed for me, I might be where you current are in just a flash of time. My current goal for the 6 month mark is not to return to 100% normal. At that point I just want to have a walking gait that is good enough that no one will suspect anything. However, if my recovery turns out anywhere as good as yours I might have to set a harder goal! Any timed walks or runs that you post on here I'll definitely be looking at as a benchmark when I reach that point, so hopefully that gives you some extra motivation heh.

Oh, I do have one question: How is your gait toward the end of your long walks? Does it regress or get sloppy when your legs get tired, or do you think at this point you can walk well subconsciously and don't even have to think about gait at all? Thanks!

[StrydeNailChallenge]

Hey SNC, glad to hear that you're doing better and better every week. Whenever I have tight legs right after waking up, I think about some arbitrary point in the future when this won't be the case. Reading your journal gives me a glimpse into the future and inspires me. I can't wait to wake up feeling refreshed instead of waking up with tight legs and needing to exercise, stretch, and take pills just to feel normal.

It's crazy to think that you're "only" 116 days ahead of me in the process. With where I am right now I can't imagine being in your position in under four months. On the other hand, with how fast the last 20 days have passed for me, I might be where you current are in just a flash of time. My current goal for the 6 month mark is not to return to 100% normal. At that point I just want to have a walking gait that is good enough that no one will suspect anything. However, if my recovery turns out anywhere as good as yours I might have to set a harder goal! Any timed walks or runs that you post on here I'll definitely be looking at as a benchmark when I reach that point, so hopefully that gives you some extra motivation heh.

Hi BTM, I had a noticeable improvement a couple weeks into recovery, i.e.,  a couple of weeks after the last day of distraction. I kept seeing improvements, but the last few days during the month 4.5 mark time have been dramatic. At month 4.5 my gait looks normal for most of the day. It's not like old times, when family members or friends would comment on how to make it better. Now most of the comments are that I am back at normal. I also walk very fast. I know the video I had posted does not show that. As Movie and ghkid2019 commented, it looks mechanical, but it was mainly due to an injury (almost fell off a curb) I had a day before the video was taken. Also the shoes were small and very uncomfortable, as I had to flatten the back and my heels were not supported. I recovered from that injury the following day and I've seen dramatic improvements on a daily basis.

I know feel like 4.5 month mark time is the magic time for Stryde patients; this is based on what Movie said and my own experience.

I am hopeful you also experience the type of progress I experienced soon after the distraction phase. Hang in there, brother.
Feel free to reach out to me whenever you think I can help you with something.

Oh, I do have one question: How is your gait toward the end of your long walks? Does it regress or get sloppy when your legs get tired, or do you think at this point you can walk well subconsciously and don't even have to think about gait at all? Thanks!

If you had asked me this question last week, I would have had a different answer. I think last week, but the end of mile 4 or so, I would start walking mechanical and robotic.

Today (Sunday Dec. 7 - Day 137 - Consolidation 56) I have walked for 7.1 8.2 miles already and I plan to bring it close to 8 9+ miles to set a record for myself.

A snapshot of my today's Activity is at: https://imgur.com/G1BNZvs

However, towards the end of 7.1 mile walk, I personally found my shoulders and butt looking very natural (checking on phone video).

Thanks to the exponential improvements I've had during the last few days, I feel so strong during walking, that I think I am pretty close to my pre-surgery conditions. I would therefore need to walk for much longer distances than 8 miles for my gait to look mechanical. 

[StrydeNailChallenge]

Day 132 Post-op (Tue., Dec. 1) - Consolidation Day 51
...
Day 136 Post-op (Sat., Dec. 5) - Consolidation Day 55
...
Walking: My average daily walks are above 5 miles. My longest walk with no breaks in between was on Day 136 (Sat. Dec. 5) for 5 miles and it took a bit shorter than two hours. I also tried to go as fast as I could this last Friday and I tried to set a record. I will try to break that record this coming week and I will post my numbers here to see if anyone can beat me on that Please stay tuned

Day 137 (Almost 4.5 Months) Post-op (Sun., Dec. 7) - Consolidation Day 56


I just wanted to give an update on my gait and walking. I am at a point in this CLL journey that I am confident, distance won't be a limit for me. As an example today I very comfortably walked for 10.3 miles already and I believe my gait remains normal and I don't have any pain. I did not carry my phone with me all the time today, and I will probably have to add a few 0.1 miles to it tonight to do some stuff in the house. Therefore the final number would be higher than 10.3. I am adding a snapshot of my Activity so far: https://imgur.com/1NHcDKE

I know if I can easily walk for much longer distances. I can hold myself for long times if needed, so no need to go to restrooms and I can have a sandwich with me and keep walking   I am very confident about my speed and endurance at this point. I know I would not get tired, before this other limit which is out of my control: what will end up happening is that something at work would come up and I have to be in front of a computer! I therefore do not plan to set a record in terms of distance for a 4.5 month mark time. Instead I will try to set a record in terms of speed. I will post my time record soon.

[184dream]

the common believe is that with every cm there is 1 mm deviation eaing to valgus deformity what does your x ray say ? can you share it ?

another thing did dr mahoubian cut your biceps tendon to ease the procedure

did you have hip pain or front knee pain ?

[StrydeNailChallenge]

the common believe is that with every cm there is 1 mm deviation eaing to valgus deformity what does your x ray say ? can you share it ?

 Hi 184dream,
I am sorry to say that my knowledge on the deformity you mentioned is zero. I therefore cannot answer your question. I however have posted my x-rays. Please feel free to check them and see whether you can identify the deformity you mentioned here.

another thing did dr mahoubian cut your biceps tendon to ease the procedure

I don't believe Dr. Mahboubian did anything on my biceps

did you have hip pain or front knee pain ?

During the distraction phase, I did have front knee pain among all the random types of pain. However the pain spot would randomly move. The knee pain was not something that persisted, except for early days post-op when it did, for a few days. I have written about the pain in my diary. In short, it was most likely due to intense indoor cycling I had on early days. I stopped indoor cycling and that took care of the knee pain.   I never had a hip pain, except for a time in late November when I almost fell off a pedestrian curb and hurt my hip area (left leg, close to where the nails are). I recovered from the pain in about two days.

I hope these answer your questions, but let me know.

[StrydeNailChallenge]

Day 138 (Almost 4.5 Months) Post-op (Mon., Dec. 8 ) - Consolidation Day 57

Last week, I was finally able to bring my right heel to touch my butt. Today, I was able to do that for left leg. This is an important step for me towards the journey to "naturalization",

I can now easily sit on my legs, going all the way to heels touching butt. Also squats have become a lot easier for me.

[StrydeNailChallenge]

Fixing two typos:

Day 137 (Almost 4.5 Months) Post-op (Sun., Dec. 7 6) - Consolidation Day 56

Day 138 (Almost 4.5 Months) Post-op (Mon., Dec. 8 Dec. 7 ) - Consolidation Day 57
...

Updates:

Day 139 Post-op (Tue., Dec. 8 ) - Consolidation Day 58
Day 140 Post-op (Wed., Dec. 9 ) - Consolidation Day 59
Day 141 Post-op (Thurs., Dec. 10 ) - Consolidation Day 60


My phone shows the following average daily walk numbers for the following months and days:
November:  3.8 miles (per day)
December: 5.9 miles
Last 7 days: 7.4 miles


My longest walk for the whole day has been 10.5 miles (on Sun., Dec. 6, Day 56 post-op). 
My lonest walk without any breaks or stops, was on Wed. (Day 140)  for 8.3 miles (check here: https://imgur.com/qeq9s8P). I was speaking on the phone for most of the part, and did not try to go fast, therefore it took a very long time of 3 and a half hours. The uphills in the park slow me down, but they help a lot with getting my strength back.

I however finally have a record in speed to report. Will do that shortly.


I remember before the surgery long walks would give me this soreness that would persist the following day or two. However now that I regularly walk and stretch every day, the soreness does not persist. Every morning I wake up, I feel fresh and soreness is gone. On that matter, I believe I am better than my old normal. 

I hope this update helps.

[StrydeNailChallenge]

I remember I had read online about the time it takes for each 1cm of bone gap to consolidate and also to harden. E.g., https://www.limblength.org/treatments/limb-lengthening-the-process/ states that 5cm consolidation and hardening take about 2 months and 2~3 additional months, respectively.
Extrapolating that for 8cm distraction, consolidation may take about 3 months and hardening about 3 to 5 months.

It would be great if anyone could post some more info (such as any article you've seen) on the consolidation and hardening durations for limb lengthening. I assume it's case dependent (i.e., diet, exercise, genetics, tibia vs femur, stryde vs precise, quality of surgery and doctor's work, etc.) but any info is appreciated.

 

[SpeedDialer]

What have you found to be the most useful objects you brought with you for lengthening?

[StrydeNailChallenge]

What have you found to be the most useful objects you brought with you for lengthening?

Hi SpeedDialer,

I am glad you used the plural form "objects" so I can list several items (cause it would've been difficult for me to rank them and pick the topmost useful one ).


I believe physical and mental fitness, support of the friends and family have helped a lot.

There were other factors that I did not necessarily bring to the table myself, but got lucky to have them. E.g., it was a no brainer for me to choose Dr. M., considering his expertise in CLL and other deformities and the fact that I reside in the LA area.
COVID-19 has been one of the worst tragedies to humanity. A lot of lives, families and businesses were destroyed. It however had some bright sides for the CLL'ers like myself who did the surgery during the COVID-19 times. The fact that I could work from home helped a lot.


I would also like to clarify that prior physical and mental fitness would be necessary only if you'd aim for a fast recovery. Otherwise, I would say if you are content with a typical recovery (i.e., a recovery that would take more than a year), prior fitness would not be critical. Also I have seen CLL'ers who took care of themselves, while being away from home.

My goal is to break the norms and recover fully by the end of month 6. For that to happen, I believe prior physical fitness and mental fitness is a must and the help of family and friends is a must for me.

[SpeedDialer]

Thank you. Aside from physical and mental fitness, what physical objects did you find most useful to bring with you?

[StrydeNailChallenge]

Thank you. Aside from physical and mental fitness, what physical objects did you find most useful to bring with you?

I am not sure if I understood your question. Therefore please let me know if the following is not what you meant:

I you meant physical objects useful during distraction; in addition to some necessary stuff (like a walker and crutches), anything that helps with pain management would help. Like the pain relievers I have listed in my diary.

During consolidation, I did not find need for anything, other than stretching exercises, walking.

If you meant any stuff to bring during the hospital stay, I had my laptop, cellphone, toothbrush, and extra clothes, so I could change my clothes every day.

I believe a calcium and protein rich diet helps a lot with fast bone consolidation.

[StrydeNailChallenge]

Day 142 Post-op (Fri., Dec. 11 ) - Consolidation Day 61

The walking time record results I had promised to some of you:

Start time around 5:01pm: https://imgur.com/BVdKAMw

Distance (Miles)              Duration (Minutes)                   Video/Image

0.5                                       ?                                       Unfortunately recording failed, but should be 7+ minutes

1                                          ?                                       Unfortunately recording failed, but should be 14+ minutes

1.5                                     <23                                       https://imgur.com/jnJIfZ3

2                                       <30                                       https://imgur.com/PG8LTpb

2.5                                    ~37                                       https://imgur.com/MxAaAIp

3                                       <45                                      https://imgur.com/KFx1QOc

A few notes:
1) I walked on a grass area that was a bit muddy. I believe I can be faster on a hard floor, but I don't want to put too much pressure on my knee joints.
2) The land was a like a small square which each lab around 0.15miles. On a straight path I can do better.
3) My shoes were not that great for walking.
4) I had a mask on for the first 0.5 miles, but I removed it for the rest of the 2.5 miles, as no one was around and I felt like walking without a mask would be easier.

I am still happy with my results. Let's see who can break my record of 3 miles in less than 45 minutes. I have been able to easily beat any fast walker I found while walking outside As I had also said before I consider myself generally as a fast walker, so I think my record is not easy to break

I walk for long distances, so you probably notice that my speed did not degrade as I got close to 3 miles!  I probably start to see a slow down if I walk for more than 10 miles!

I believe as far as walking is concerned, I definitely feel good about my progress and I consider my walking as back to my old normal.
In the quest of getting back to normal, I believe I should now focus more on jogging and swimming. I had started jogging a month ago, but from now on I will push for higher speeds and longer durations. 

I hope to try swimming for the first time post-op, sometime next week.

[BelowTheMean]

Thanks for the update SNC! I will do a 3 mile walk in 110 days to see how I compare to you! Recovery seems very far away though. My thighs are swollen again so I'm not doing too great, but at least I'm still lengthening at 1mm/day.

[StrydeNailChallenge]

Thanks for the update SNC! I will do a 3 mile walk in 110 days to see how I compare to you! Recovery seems very far away though. My thighs are swollen again so I'm not doing too great, but at least I'm still lengthening at 1mm/day.

Hi BTM,

I have not seen any Femur Stryder who did great during distraction; and by "great" I mean a pain free, swollen free process all the way to the max (say 8cm) perfectly, with no complications or problems. The best we can hope for would be to face no problems or complications with perfect x-rays, but painful and swollen legs would be part of the deal, I think.

This however quickly started to resolve itself for me, [starting] a couple weeks into the consolidation phase; already felt normal based on several factors, including experiencing almost zero pain, having stopped painkillers already; with great night sleeps.

I think the first times I felt normal (as if I had not done any surgery) happened while driving, sitting or sleeping and they mostly started around week two. If I remember correctly about a month after the last distraction, I felt completely normal all the time, while sitting, driving or sleeping.

Walking has not yet become an absolute normal, though. There are times I am self-aware of my surgery and my nails while walking. Although, my agility and strength seem to have come back to normal, but I am yet to "feel completely normal all the time" while walking, not remembering my nails, or my surgery at all!  That would be a major milestone and I hope to get there by Day 180. 

I guess you have about 40 days or so to finish up the distraction phase, right?  How are your night sleeps?

[fivetenneeded2016]

Hi SNC, approx how long post op were you fit enough to climb stairs?