Print

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

[Jamesy998]

Hi Jamesy998, firstly good luck with your process! I wanted to ask if there's already a few mm gap right after the surgery? I mean, do you actually gain 1-2 mm during the surgery? It seems like that at your X-Rays.

I have no idea to be honest with you.

[Jamesy998]

Be brave man,keep your goal in mind,3 months and it will be worthwhile in the long run,you're already in,can't go back now

Only thing I ever worry about is ROM, that is all. Other than that I feel great. Maybe my ROM is horrid because I am only 7 days post op.

[Jamesy998]

Hi James
I live in the UK and seriously considering LON fermos lengthening to 7 or 7.5cm in turkey.
How much does device stick out? Ill have to go back to UK and was wondering if I could wear baggy joggers?
Also I have a job and can work from home until we are told by the government to go back to work (probably summer) so I think i can get away with having the surgery and not going into work. Do you think you are able to sit on a chair for a few hours with rests after a couple of weeks since the surgery?

There are people that have done it before but it seems barbaric. They do not stick out too much but the pants wont exactly hide them because the devices are rather tall.

[Apollo676]

Hey man,how are you doing ?Did you start lenghtining ?

[Jamesy998]

01/01/2021
- Happy New Year everyone, hopefully it will go well. Just a little update since last post. In terms of ROM, nothing has changed at all. Since my ROM at the moment is so bad I will be calling a physiotherapist in the next day or two to start a program. Right knee is still giving me trouble in the sense that it bends less then the left knee. I have not been doing much walking lately other than to go to the bathroom or stretch. My scars are very itchy which is a good thing since it means they are healing up.

So far I have lengthened about 4mm. Zero pain other than the occasional sore feeling around the pinsites. The ROM is the only thing that has me worried for the time being. Always wondered if one could go through entire lengthening with limited ROM and then work on it in the phase after the lengthening during consolidation?

Watch Netflix all day and doing some study work as I am a part time student. That is pretty much it, I rebandage every three days and religiously clean my pinsite areas with alcohol to avoid any infection.

[more]

ROM is big problem with femur LON

[Jamesy998]

ROM is big problem with femur LON

Yeah found out the hard way, is what it is. Some people have fantastic ROM while doing LON femurs. With training it will get better

[BelowTheMean]

Doing PT is a good idea anyway. It definitely helps to have someone else stretch you since you can't do everything by yourself. Glad to hear that your pain levels are tolerable now!

[Activatedxx]

I have a genuine curiosity. What made you choose buldu? How come people don’t use leonid in Russia recently? I was considering him parihar or buldu, he’s very experienced and also a lot less, and that area of Russia appears to be very safe after research althoughy cold.

I currently have enough to pay for stryde after years of saving but do not want to spend all my savings on one thing. Just trying to figure out if I should just end up using stryde or doing LON femur with one of these doctors. What attracted you to buldu personally?

[Jamesy998]

I have a genuine curiosity. What made you choose buldu? How come people don’t use leonid in Russia recently? I was considering him parihar or buldu, he’s very experienced and also a lot less, and that area of Russia appears to be very safe after research althoughy cold.

I currently have enough to pay for stryde after years of saving but do not want to spend all my savings on one thing. Just trying to figure out if I should just end up using stryde or doing LON femur with one of these doctors. What attracted you to buldu personally?

Anyone that takes a look at Buldus resume will know why he is an attractive option for something like this, along with the patient care he provides. I emailed Kulesh in Russia and got a reply in like 3 months, did not give off the most professional vibe to me which made me lose my interest. Also the frames in Russia are way too big so it is why I changed my mind completely. If you cannot live without LL and it is something you genuinely need to live a better life then get stryde. LON Femurs practically leaves you more or less with near zero mobility. 

[Jamesy998]

Happy New year. Are you staying in Istanbul the whole time or traveling back home.
Also do you think you are at a stage where you could 1. walk around with just crutches. 2. drive 3. if you had a job working from home, be able to work sitting on a desk. 4. be able to support yourself without a carer.
I am deeply considering taking the operation while we are in tier 4, but wondering how it will affect working from home, as I have a career and house.

Yes, I am staying in Istanbul for the whole distraction period plus frame removal, then for the remainder of the consolidation I will be going home.

1. Varies from person to person but for the first 2 weeks you will 100% not be able to use only crutches.

2. There are a good few lads over here in Istanbul who drive during lengthening so I guess you could.

3. I work from home. Sometimes from the bed and every now and if your ROM/ knee bending is good then you can sit at a desk too without any issues.

4. I have a full time carer with me. I need help sitting and getting up from the toilet for example as my apartment does not have the support on the seat.

First two weeks or so after the operation it will be difficult, it was for me anyway. I notice myself becoming a bit more confident with the fixators which will enable you to do a little bit more. Personally I think a carer would be nice or to at least share a place with someone because if anything were to happen, you would need help.

[Jamesy998]

05/01/2021 - Had my very first physiotherapy session and it went great. I bent my knee 90 degrees and although it was painful it was also like a great achievement for me. I will be having physio for the next two days as well. Trying to get in as much physio as I possibly can in the week as this is the MOST important stage of the lengthening. The pain that is more prevalent in the right knee is because my left leg is generally stronger than my right and most of the pain is psychological as the therapist has told me.

I will be taking Contramal 50mg before every session just to make it easier.

Overall I am satisfied with the progress and everything is looking good.

[SpeedDialer]

Since you will get significant scarring from externals, are you looking into medical tattoos or other kinds of tattoos to conceal them? I think that Medium Drink of Water said it might look weird to only have tatooos on lower legs but I'm unsure where else makes sense to put them to balance it out 

[Jamesy998]

Since you will get significant scarring from externals, are you looking into medical tattoos or other kinds of tattoos to conceal them? I think that Medium Drink of Water said it might look weird to only have tatooos on lower legs but I'm unsure where else makes sense to put them to balance it out

Yes, tattoos. I already have several tattoos on my body so I highly doubt it would look strange to add a bit more on my legs. Although I can just say I fixed a “bow legs” type of deformity when I was younger.

[Jamesy998]

07/01/2021 - I am now on Day 14 officially and while my knee bending is nothing near amazing, I did manage 60 degrees which is a big improvement from last time.
I notice that my legs now feel much stronger than before, due to some time passing from surgery and also from my 3 day in a row physiotherapy sessions lasting 1.5 hrs each day. Pain has been manageable and has not bothered me too much in the past two days, I take some painkillers before physio to get the full workout with minimum pain.

My appetite has gotten much better as I am no longer feeling depressed post op. I have also been in contact with other patients here and they have been amazing help for my mental health, it is easier when you can sympathise your issues during LL with other real life patients around you.

Currently just shy of the 1CM mark and I feel zero pain and my muscle are not acting up or anything, lets hope it stays that way.
My right knee is giving me a lot more issues than the left, in fact my left knee is perfectly fine. My physiotherapist and Dr have said that this is all normal and other patients are experiencing the exact same thing.

My only problem at the moment is the knee bending and I can see it improving little by little each day. I get up three times per day so far and walk with my walker for about 15-20 minutes which I plan to increase as I get stronger and taller.

When I walk my legs are perfectly aligned and my physio therapist was also impressed. Continuing with my good posture and straight walking I should be able to avoid any kind of duckass or other walking related issues that may arise.

ps. When I said my knee bending was better than last time what I meant was that I managed to comfortably  stay on the 60 degree bent position for a long time while the 90 degree bend that I did the previous day was momentarily with a lot of pain.

[Tokito_Ohma]

nice to see you getting into the flow of things! Hope you go smoothly all the way!

[Jamesy998]

nice to see you getting into the flow of things! Hope you go smoothly all the way!

Cheers mate!

[SpeedDialer]

What's your advice for dealing with the depression post op?

[Jamesy998]

What's your advice for dealing with the depression post op?

For me it was definitely getting the hell out of the hospital as soon as possible. After that you just need to give it time because no matter what way you look at it, you lose the main function of your legs and that takes time to process.

[Apollo676]

Hey man,how is it going ? You lengthen from home ? Are you in a hostel or do you have your place in Istanbul ? How is the pain so far,are you able to work/study day to day ?
Cheers

[Jamesy998]

Hey man,how is it going ? You lengthen from home ? Are you in a hostel or do you have your place in Istanbul ? How is the pain so far,are you able to work/study day to day ?
Cheers

I am at an AirbBnb and I study from home. It is easier to stay in Istanbul for the lengthening. I might move elsewhere for the consolidation period just until I am walking good enough to return home.

[Kal el]

Hey jamsey how much will it cost per month to stay in istanbul in terms of US dollars.

[Jamesy998]

Hey jamsey how much will it cost per month to stay in istanbul in terms of US dollars.

400-600 dollars, rent and food. X-Rays will run you about 100 dollars or so every 3 weeks to a month and then there is also physiotherapy which is 100 dollars give or take for 3 one hour sessions.

[Bob]

Does Dr Halil Buldu do leg deformity correction (valgus and procurvatum deformity correction) with external ilizarov device?

[Skyisthelimit]

Does Dr Halil Buldu do leg deformity correction (valgus and procurvatum deformity correction) with external ilizarov device?

This is the one reasons I’ve never been completely comfortable in deciding to go with Buldu... he uses monorail to fix the deformities cases he gets, which no other reputable doctor does. You can check them in his instagram pages (LiveLifeTaller, limblengtheningturkey). I don’t think I’ve seen one post of a patient with Ilizarov, all monorails.

[Apollo676]

He actually do Ilizarov,but i'm quite sure it's just not the most use method anymore,especially on his instagram page,that's not something he can make promotion off

[Apollo676]

I am at an AirbBnb and I study from home. It is easier to stay in Istanbul for the lengthening. I might move elsewhere for the consolidation period just until I am walking good enough to return home.

That's nice,how is the pain level,i mean can you still work on a daily basis,let's say on your computer ? I'm looking to do the same surgery as yours,i was wondering as i work from my computer,if i could get enough sleep and enough energy to keep working correctly,do you move out of your place to get reeducation ?

[Body Builder]

External femurs (or LON, no difference), even with monorails, is a very very bad decision. No respectable doctor does it.
Monorails have huge screws that cut through your skin and muscles.
On my tibias there was hardly muscle on the inside side I have put them to tear it but on femurs there are muscles everywhere which will have big tears from the nails which also would be very painful after some cms.

I wish you luck from the bottom of my heart but you should really have done external monorails on tibias, not femurs.
It would have been 10 times easier at least and without much risks, especially if you did LON to not risk any misalignment which is very usual with monorails.

For any other who thinks about external femurs to reduce cost, external devices are only for tibias. Period.

Keep strong.

[Jamesy998]

External femurs (or LON, no difference), even with monorails, is a very very bad decision. No respectable doctor does it.
Monorails have huge screws that cut through your skin and muscles.
On my tibias there was hardly muscle on the inside side I have put them to tear it but on femurs there are muscles everywhere which will have big tears from the nails which also would be very painful after some cms.

I wish you luck from the bottom of my heart but you should really have done external monorails on tibias, not femurs.
It would have been 10 times easier at least and without much risks, especially if you did LON to not risk any misalignment which is very usual with monorails.

For any other who thinks about external femurs to reduce cost, external devices are only for tibias. Period.

Keep strong.

Thanks Bodybuilder. Unfortunately I had to learn this the hard way. If I knew the pain levels and the discomfort of externals on my femurs going in I would have never done it but whats done is done and I will aim for a proper recovery.

[Jamesy998]

12/01/2021 - 7am at the moment and as always at this time my pain level is about 4-5/10. What I have found is that the more physiotherapy I do, the less pain that I get for the rest of that day. The pain killers do squat if you don’t do physio. Yesterday was a good day for me as the physiotherapy gave me massive relief as I was suffering 7/10 pain the days before which completely made me reconsider even lengthening further. Now I have planned to do physio 7 days a week to avoid any complications, to improve my knee bending and also avoid any pain caused the the stretching.

My walking with the walker is perfect I must say, No duckas s or anything as such. I have great posture and since I train my legs even in bed with while I rest, that ensures me that I am not weak on my feet when I get up.

My right knee is causing me 40% more pain than my left for the time being and there is also bruising by the knee. Other patients have had this and would be considered normal I guess so it does not bother me anymore in terms of possible complications, just the pain makes it 10X harder for my right leg at physiotherapy. As bodybuilder has mentioned above, externals are only to be done on tibias and after experiencing this first hand I completely agree with him and I ask anyone else who is considering this surgery please just do the tibias, it is much more bearable and comfortable. I will post a picture of my X-Ray on Wednesday which would be the first X-Ray since I have started lengthening. Hopefully the bone consolidation is normal as I do not think I will be able to handle lengthening 1.5mm per day instead of just 1.

[Frederico86]

Hi James

I was reading that you mentioned couple of times that patients that do the LON method on the femurs are not mobile at all and that it is barbaric.

I am a living example that this is not the case. The first 2 weeks are really hard and you are not mobile but this is the case either on tibia or femurs. I have done my surgery on the 21th of november and I have lenghtened 5 cm so far and guess what I am more mobile than all Tibia patients here of Dr Halil Buldu.I am even able to walk without crutches allthough I  still I use them for safety reasons.

I am just writing this cause its important for others to see that there are different point of views and you might have desencouraged someone by saying that femur LON is barbaric .

I will also provide some videos of myself so you guys can check my progress

Cheers and great week!