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[IamAndrew]

Advice appreciated. Tell me what you would do differently in my case and shoot me some input for these Qs.

So my main reason for wanting CLL is power. I like feeling powerful in every sense of the word and because of this I put myself at a 5.5 cm max gain. Why? I don't want to risk losing more than 15% of my initial mobility and leg strength in the long-term because I don't want to feel weak or in danger when I'm traveling or around others. What do you think of 5.5 cm in terms of long-term mobility?

This would put me just shy of 5'10" (177 cm), which is about average for most of the world (white male). I have a 6' (183 cm) wingspan, so I could do a 2nd operation on my femurs for another 5.5 cm. However, I would be happy stopping at 1 surgery at average height, even if I had the income and time to do a 2nd. Would you too? At least I would stop until a better method for becoming taller comes out, especially if I plan to live over a 100. Better to enjoy being average until it becomes way less evasive to become taller (thinking stem cells) and just wear some 1/2" inserts if I still feel insecure.

However.... A 2nd surgery may not even be an option. I don't know of anyone over 5'10" (178 cm) who has a men's shoe size 9.5 (mine). Why would feet be an issue to me? Nature intended my foot size to match my height for balance, right? So a shoe size 9.5 for 6'0" would be a little awkward or troublesome in the long-term? What do you think about this foot & balance issue?

Lastly, I have a 35k USD budget and am looking at both external or internal tibias. However, I prefer external methods because of better long-term recovery - even monorails are being considered at the risk of my non-existent sex life for 9 months. Any more than 35k and I would have regrets about not pursuing other dreams instead. What doctors would you go to if you had 35k right now and had to choose? And why? I don't care about comfort during distraction. I only care about recovery time (how soon I can walk during and after consolidation for 5.5 cm). I actually had a more evasive (but less time consuming) surgery than LL done on my chest before (non-cosmetic).

Danke

[Wannabegiant]

Honestly, with the exception of some unusual patients, 7 cm external tibia xould probably take you 12 months or more to remove frames. I know a guy who did 4,5 cm from the same clinic as me and he still has the frames after wearing them for 8 months, they tell him he needs 3 more months to remove them.

It takes a stupid long time, im almost considering plating to reduce the time, they say between 6-8 months total since operation day for me now, and 8 months would be almost unbearable for me, i did ~42 mm.

[crimsontide]

12 months for 4 cm is way too long....  he has had  issues when they realigned his frames.... for 7 cm, it should be possible to remove in 7 or months, but depends on the person

[Disobedient]

I agree with Wannabegiant, doing just the external is quite hard

but you can go for just external, then if you had problem with time consider the plate fixation ( I'll have plate implement after few days, I'll write about the outcome and side affect, but as I read it quite safe comparing to nail rod )

Franz could be a good option

[Wannabegiant]

12 months for 4 cm is way too long....  he has had  issues when they realigned his frames.... for 7 cm, it should be possible to remove in 7 or months, but depends on the person

I know he had problems, but 7 cm for 7 months while its possible its not common at all, for 7 cm you should expect 10 months minimum rather than 7 months, otherwise expect to be dissappointed.

[programdude]

At 35k I think XIA's team in bejing for external tibias would be my only consideration.


And I am looking at 6 1 as an end goal with just 10.5 feet.

[cavani]

Remember do not go over 6 cm on your Tibia , please , and try to walk after the surgery and just be a man and take the pain.

Distraction rate on tibias should be no more 0.66mm per day MAX.  Any more than that and your tendons can't match the new length of the bone which causes ballerina foot.  prevention is better than the cure with this. 

Tibias are harder to get large gains on. They don't like to stretch out as much ( they are naturally shorter than femurs so the percentage of lengthening is much  larger and more difficult).

They also consolidate much slower so an 8cm gain in tibias would take probably 50% longer to consolidate. For example this girl who have done 8cm had to do her femur because her tibia are too long for her femur.

She can not keep her balance like she has to hold on  to something when she wants to stand up, and there is something wrong about her ankle, like she can only bend her ankle to the certain degree and after 4 years it  still hasn't come back to normal, or what it used to be.

[crimsontide]

cavani does not know what he is talking about, no offense intended.   to say that ballerina feet will happen if you lengthen tibias more than .66 mm a day is not correct. i know wannabe giant did more than this,as am i, and neither of us has ballerina foot.


also, tibias do not consolidate  more slowly...   dr birkholtz has even stated as much, that there is not a noticeable difference  in terms of consolidation between tibias and femurs.

[Disobedient]

Remember do not go over 6 cm on your Tibia , please , and try to walk after the surgery and just be a man and take the pain.

Distraction rate on tibias should be no more 0.66mm per day MAX.  Any more than that and your tendons can't match the new length of the bone which causes ballerina foot.  prevention is better than the cure with this. 

Tibias are harder to get large gains on. They don't like to stretch out as much ( they are naturally shorter than femurs so the percentage of lengthening is much  larger and more difficult).

They also consolidate much slower so an 8cm gain in tibias would take probably 50% longer to consolidate. For example this girl who have done 8cm had to do her femur because her tibia are too long for her femur.

She can not keep her balance like she has to hold on  to something when she wants to stand up, and there is something wrong about her ankle, like she can only bend her ankle to the certain degree and after 4 years it  still hasn't come back to normal, or what it used to be.

You can lengthen 0.66 mm/day and still have ballerina foot, and you can lengthen 1 mm/day and don't have or have slight ballerina foot !

usually,, you should start with 1 mm/day for tibia to avoid pre-consolidation .. then after a month you decrease the amount if your dr recommend that

[Gichelu]

I think Russia is best option for external because they have done it the longest in the world.

[Medium Drink Of Water]

5.5cm max gain will be fine in terms of feeling powerful.  I haven't lost any leg strength, just a little bit of agility and balance after doing 7.5.

I agree with you about stopping once you're average height.  I don't feel like it's worth it to get two surgeries just to get to over 6 feet.  I don't think being average height is holding me back in any way.  That's where the point of diminishing returns starts.

You raise an interesting question about balance and shoe size.  It hasn't been discussed much if at all on LL forums, and I'm not sure how much it matters.  I have the same shoe size as you and I don't feel like it affected me going from 5''7 to 5'10.

35k isn't enough to get internals, but it does put you at the higher-end of the external LL price range.  If I were in your situation I'd go to Beijing and get it done.  They have a lot of experience and a proven track record doing CLL.

[Moubgf]

5.5cm max gain will be fine in terms of feeling powerful.  I haven't lost any leg strength, just a little bit of agility and balance after doing 7.5.

I agree with you about stopping once you're average height.  I don't feel like it's worth it to get two surgeries just to get to over 6 feet.  I don't think being average height is holding me back in any way.  That's where the point of diminishing returns starts.

You raise an interesting question about balance and shoe size.  It hasn't been discussed much if at all on LL forums, and I'm not sure how much it matters.  I have the same shoe size as you and I don't feel like it affected me going from 5''7 to 5'10.

35k isn't enough to get internals, but it does put you at the higher-end of the external LL price range.  If I were in your situation I'd go to Beijing and get it done.  They have a lot of experience and a proven track record doing CLL.

How did you afford the surgery?

[Medium Drink Of Water]

How did you afford the surgery?

I maxed out my credit cards with cash advances and took out a personal loan.