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[Thorfinnn]

Hobbitman, are you going to get a second surgery after your done recovering from your first?

[Worzezterlire]

Hobbitman, are you going to get a second surgery after your done recovering from your first?

This is a great question.  I originally had a goal of 188cm back when I was naive.  I will not ever entertain the idea of another 5cm on my tibias though.

I don’t know, there’s a chance I would consider 3cm tibias in the future if I reach 8cm successfully now and want another boost and to fix biomechanics.  I’m at almost 4cm right now and the journey hasn’t been horrible so far.  3cm tibias would probably be a big waste of money unless I get another promotion and have money to spare.

I’m open to the idea.  But I already feel tallish at +4cm and at +8cm I doubt I will ever want to go under the knife again.  I’ll have a 184ish day height.  That’s above average everywhere except the Netherlands and I don’t think I’ll ever live there anyways.  And if I did I wouldn’t be short there.  Anywhere else I go I’ll be firmly above average to tall.  An extra 3cm would be a waste of a good 80+k USD.

Long answer but there’s no short answer.  If in a year I have the money and the desire I will consider it.  I don’t suspect I will do it though.

Ideally I want to get to 8cm, buy new clothes, and call it a day. 

EDIT: for fun I measured myself out of bed this morning.  I was a few millimeters shy of 5’11”. I was a hair under 180cm. This lines up the fact I’m almost at 4cm now.  My final morning height will probably be a bit over 184, if not 184.5.

[GodsGrace]

Yes, Sylwia is the one. I relocated to WPB already a couple of weeks ago only for this purpose.  Fortunately, I am still able to work remotely. However, once my journey starts I am planning to take 4 months off from my work and find a new job once my lengthening phase is over. That's my plan for now. Let's see how it goes when the time comes.

[Worzezterlire]

Yes, Sylwia is the one. I relocated to WPB already a couple of weeks ago only for this purpose.  Fortunately, I am still able to work remotely. However, once my journey starts I am planning to take 4 months off from my work and find a new job once my lengthening phase is over. That's my plan for now. Let's see how it goes when the time comes.

I think taking 4 months off is a good idea.  I’m stuck working now but I probably should have used time away from work to just focus on lengthening.  It’s very possible to work while lengthening but it won’t be your best work.  Oh well only 4.2cm left to go and hence less than 6 weeks of work I have to do while lengthening

[L8GrowthSpurt]

Hey HobbitMan! How goes it? You crack 5’11” yet? Just curious how the sense of time is when you’re actually lengthening and rehabbing. Thoughts on that? I’m trying to prepare for the whole thing and I’m sure it seems entirely slow when you’re actually the one doing it. Also how are you getting around with the walker? Can you get around ok? Drive and get yourself to and from PT? With work I’ve always thought it’d be something to distract me from rather than just the grind of recovery (pun intended), but am definitely not planning on absolutely having to work all the time as if it were normal. Would you do even more rehab if you weren’t working? Just curious. Hope you’re still crushing it 💪👍

[Worzezterlire]

Hey HobbitMan! How goes it? You crack 5’11” yet? Just curious how the sense of time is when you’re actually lengthening and rehabbing. Thoughts on that? I’m trying to prepare for the whole thing and I’m sure it seems entirely slow when you’re actually the one doing it. Also how are you getting around with the walker? Can you get around ok? Drive and get yourself to and from PT? With work I’ve always thought it’d be something to distract me from rather than just the grind of recovery (pun intended), but am definitely not planning on absolutely having to work all the time as if it were normal. Would you do even more rehab if you weren’t working? Just curious. Hope you’re still crushing it 💪👍

Hey!  I do crack 5’11 morning height (I am 43mm into lengthening and had a morning height a bit over 176 — so now it’s 180.5cm morning) and I’m nearly 5’11 day height, over 179cm.  By end of week I’ll be a consistent, weak 5’11.

Time moves fairly quickly.  I’m more than halfway done and surgery feels like it was weeks ago, not more than a month ago.  Next 5 weeks should go by even quicker.

I’d definitely do more rehab if I weren’t working but instead I might work part time for a little while starting in a week or two and try that out.  I can move very easily in the walker and driving is easy in short distances.  Not a fan of filling up my car with gas though.  Not nearly as easy.

[ChangeMyLife]

I can move very easily in the walker

Hey HobbitMan! Amazing diary and it's great to see you're almost at the end! How do you move the walker around while partially weight bearing? Aren't worried about risk of nail breakage?

[L8GrowthSpurt]

Hey HobbitMan! Checking in on ya Brodie…how goes the climb? Everything still going relatively smooth? By my math you should now be just over 5 cm now (assuming no temporary setbacks), which seems to be the point at which the climb gets a lot steeper and noticeably harder for lots of folks. Noticing any differences as you get closer to the summit? Hope you’re doing well; stay strong 💪

[Worzezterlire]

Hey guys!  I actually did have an injury that required me to slow down, fortunately I already had an appointment in person with Dr D a few days later.  Would rather not disclose much but I will say that Dr D did a great job taking care of it as soon as was physically possible.  I’m back to lengthening again and am nearly at 5cm.  I missed about 4 days last week of lengthening.

Will probably post some more about what happened at a later time once I have X Rays, see Dr D again, etc.  it was nothing caused by him or the surgery, just a freak accident.  But all better again now!

As for differences, I definitely feel about 6’ now.  Not that I am, I’m only 5’11 and change, but I’m taller than many people who say they’re 6’ all of a sudden.  I find that very amusing.

[letsgettaller]

Congrats, the progress sounds great.

Good to also know about the knee immobilizer tip.  How are you getting around, driving cars, etc? I was under the impression that you're married to your walker / crutches while on precice 2.2, and I feel that the anxiety that I might break the rod with a slip (e.g. in shower) has been somewhat of a deterrent for me to undergo the surgery.

Can you talk about how you do general day to day things (e.g. shower, bathroom, etc)

[L8GrowthSpurt]

Good to hear from you HobbitMan but sorry to hear about the setback, which doesn’t sound major.  I’m sure you’ll be back to crushing it again soon! Stay strong and my best getting through this bump in the road 💪💪

[LongLegs]

Hi HobbitMan ~ congratulations on your LL journey so far! I am about a month behind you. I did Precice with Dr. Mahboubian early July and have been following your diary which is great. My main concern of course is not bending or breaking a nail as I am up on the walker almost all the time. No wheelchair except for long trips. AimHigh's story of nail brackage was scary but lucky for him he had reached 8cm when it happened. Any walker or getting around tips in general? Oh and thank you, I'd never thought of knee immobilizers until you wrote about them. Do you just put them on at night? I can't seem to keep my knees straight at all.

[Worzezterlire]

Congrats, the progress sounds great.

Good to also know about the knee immobilizer tip.  How are you getting around, driving cars, etc? I was under the impression that you're married to your walker / crutches while on precice 2.2, and I feel that the anxiety that I might break the rod with a slip (e.g. in shower) has been somewhat of a deterrent for me to undergo the surgery.

Can you talk about how you do general day to day things (e.g. shower, bathroom, etc)

Showers are definitely scary.  Either get a shower chair (for disabled people), or opt for irregular baths instead.  As long as you can get in and out of a bath tub, it’s the better option.  Honestly you will just be showering and bathing less if you want to stay safe.  You will definitely be married to your walker and wheelchair.  After my incident I recommend only a wheelchair outside the house.

Good to hear from you HobbitMan but sorry to hear about the setback, which doesn’t sound major.  I’m sure you’ll be back to crushing it again soon! Stay strong and my best getting through this bump in the road 💪💪

Thanks man!  Already did almost 1cm since my accident.  I’m well over 5’11 now and have over an inch to go.  I should end up a very strong 6’ or a weak 6’1.  I’m starting to already have lose my height neurosis now that I’m well past the 180cm mark, but I do plan to go all the way.

Hi HobbitMan ~ congratulations on your LL journey so far! I am about a month behind you. I did Precice with Dr. Mahboubian early July and have been following your diary which is great. My main concern of course is not bending or breaking a nail as I am up on the walker almost all the time. No wheelchair except for long trips. AimHigh's story of nail brackage was scary but lucky for him he had reached 8cm when it happened. Any walker or getting around tips in general? Oh and thank you, I'd never thought of knee immobilizers until you wrote about them. Do you just put them on at night? I can't seem to keep my knees straight at all.

Knee immobilizers at night only!  And they don’t need to keep the legs completely locked… you should just feel some tension from keeping the legs straight.  The immobilizers shouldn’t be super tight or they cut off circulation, which is (obviously) very bad.  You should easily fit a finger or two between the straps and your legs.  They don’t have to be perfectly straight (which isn’t a good idea except for stretching exercises anyways), but you should feel a very mild hamstring pull from the constant straight position.

As mentioned with the walker, I STRONGLY recommend only using walker indoors.  Anything more than bathroom visits or getting around on the ground floor (or whatever floor you’re on primarily),, use a wheelchair!

Does it suck?  Yeah.  Hurting yourself sucks a lot more though since in the best case it causes a setback, worst case it causes permanent disability.  In my accident I avoided the latter but for a little while I had what I feared would be lifelong knee pain.  2 weeks later and I’m nearly back to “normal”.

Seriously, always underestimate your progress and abilities.  Never try to do anything fancy.

[letsgettaller]

Thank you for the tips! And best of luck

[Worzezterlire]

Thank you for the tips! And best of luck

Thanks!  Best of luck on your journeys as well!  If you have any other questions please feel free to ask them here, I keep this diary primarily for those weighing their options between precise 2.2 and Stryde’s return.  To you and everyone else, this journal is for information primarily, so please ask questions if you have any!

[billsmafia]

What a journey, your almost at the finish line. At this point, do you notice your proportions still in place? Even without clothes.

Would you be keen to the idea of posting a proportion picture?

[Worzezterlire]

What a journey, your almost at the finish line. At this point, do you notice your proportions still in place? Even without clothes.

Would you be keen to the idea of posting a proportion picture?

I’d think about a picture before/after, the only time my femurs look longer is if I’m sitting down and you see me from the side.  They still don’t look super long with clothes on, very normal.  My proportions I believe still look absolutely normal and unless you knew what to look for and what I looked like before, you wouldn’t spot it.  I think any more than 8cm and it would throw proportions off.  At 5cm the difference is only visible to me.

I was  wearing 30 inseam pants before, despite growing 2 inches I think 32 pants are still slightly long.  I’ll probably end up comfortable in 32-33 inseam jeans at somewhere between 6’ and 6’1, which is a very very normal set of proportions IMO.  The long femurs don’t look weird and I started with longish tibias.  The only thing is that I need bigger shorts now, I still fit 75+% of pants I had.  Clothes will not be an issue after.  I did mock-ups like crazy beforehand and I always looked best at 8cm lengthened in clothes.  I even asked very close friends and they all agreed that +8cm was perfect proportion wise, way better than my normal height or +13cm.  At 5cm I think my femurs look natural length compared to my tibias, again, except in shorts which barely fit me before and now expose half of my thighs.  Easily solved by longer inseam shorts.  My legs looked a bit stubby in jeans, which tend to hang low on me due to how thin my waist is.  So far my legs don’t look as long in the mirror as a 5cm mock-up would, somehow.  They look much more natural than my mock-ups which I really appreciate.

I’ll consider adding very thin 1in insoles into my shoes still instead of the 2.5 inch ones I did before.  Just to balance out the tibias, get that free extra inch and claim 6’2”, and because I have flat feet.  1 inch insole is very minor compared to 2+ inches, and the minor boost is all I need.  Definitely not going to ever do a tibia surgery.  I’ve finally decided 100% that I don’t want or need it.

[billsmafia]

Very reassuring that mock-ups look less natural. I also made a lot of them in Microsoft paint and 8cm always looks extreme for femur but 5cm looked most natural.

Would your opinion be that you look better nkkd now then before?

[L8GrowthSpurt]

Hey HobbitMan!  Great advice about always underestimating your progress and abilities during the recovery.  Also, your words of advice about the shower chair solidified what I already had mostly decided - just get one and use it.  Glad you’re back on the mend.  Appreciate all the journaling.  I’m hopeful that I can get one or two more dominos to fall my way at work so I can follow your lead.  We’ll see.  A few questions for ya:  How are you doing with stairs? Is it getting more problematic when doing limited weight bearing as you lengthen?  It seems like in the beginning the chances of bending the nail is a lot less even if you weight bear more than you should because the nail has not expanded, but the more length you get the more careful you need to be.  Do you agree?  Seems to make sense mechanically, but from a human behavior angle  it must be hard to be more careful as you reach the destination.  I could totally see myself or most wanting to do more and more as time goes by and in hopes of progressing so the process can be completed as soon as possible.  Any thoughts on that? How’s the flexibility?  You were pretty flexible before you began, but I am wondering how things are now even with all the stretching and rehab you’re doing.  Any insight on tips to max good consolidation other than standing and limited weight bearing as much as practicable along the way?  It seems to me that doing both as much as can be safely done is key.  Have you found a good PT back home?  And are they more helpful than harmful given their relative inexperience with your CLL rehab?  Or do you think you are accomplishing most of your progress just on your own doing self PT?  I’m sure it is probably not an either or situation.  Any pool or acquatic therapy yet?  For Precice, that seems like a very good option.  Sorry to pepper ya with questions.  Obviously, answer if and/or what you want.  Hope you’re doing well and stay strong! 💪. You’re like almost there and sounds like already in the 6ft club!  Congrats! 😆

[GodsGrace]

Hey buddy, sorry to hear about the accident and glad to know that you came out of it with Dr. D's help. Hang in there bud, almost there. Onwards and upwards.

[Worzezterlire]

Hey guys, haven’t forgotten about you all or the diary but don’t have the time today to answer all these questions right now.  Plan to this weekend though!

[billsmafia]

How yu doing bruv

[Worzezterlire]

Been very busy and I want to answer those questions, just been keeping myself busy in the home stretch, so to speak.  I’m at about 6.5cm now and it’s getting a bit tight, but manageable.  I may be slowing down based upon upcoming XRays, as long as early consolidation is not an issue.

But otherwise doing well!  Range of motion still similar to when I was at 1.5cm, which is a bit amazing.  I measure over 182 during the day now.

[L8GrowthSpurt]

 Hey HobbitMan - good to hear from you; focus on finishing this up Brodie that’s what’s most important! And you’ve got enough homework already with your lengthening and normal life 😆…Almost there!! Sounds like things are going well/better after the hiccup, which is good to hear.  Especially the ROM - that’s fantastic.  Stay strong 💪💪

[0010010]

Awesome journey so far brother! Thanks for sharing your tips and journey.

[Growing]

Congrats. Are you able to walk unassisted or do you still need a walker.

[Worzezterlire]

Thanks everyone!

Slowing down the journal only because nothing changes day to day now.  I’m nearly 7cm in and things are still going fine.  Had some issues with knee extension but blasting hamstring exercises to the point my legs fell asleep actually fixed it and i get a straight knee extension again.  I’m over 6’ most of the day now and I feel very tall.  I’m going to max out the nail because things are going fine.

Biggest surprise is that my femurs look more normal than my original mock-ups.   Only sitting down sideways in front of a mirror do they look long at all.  With pants on in particular I look much better proportioned than before.  I had a very good wingspan and frame going into this so I look really normal at 6 feet tall now.  I think anyone who starts at 5’8” or over simply shouldn’t worry about proportions.  The change in size is so comparatively small that unless you have major scoliosis and a very short torso you will look normal after.  My silhouette is very model like now, in the sense that I have pleasingly but not freakishly long legs.  However the change is very subtle.

X Rays are perfect, I started with a vitamin d surplus going into this so I actually haven’t been taking supplements in fear of too much bone growth.  The second I’m finished lengthening I’ll be taking the megadose vitamin d pills twice a week to speed it up.  I’ve stopped losing weight by eating much more and have been static at about 160lbs.  My BMI has dropped about 2-3 points though because of height gain and weight loss.  I’m lower end of normal BMI now.

So far I do recommend this surgery to anyone in good mental and physical health who has the requisite income, a support system, and will be happy with their height after one surgery only.  Anyone who thinks they’ll do two surgeries is delusional, unless they’re very very short, like 5’5” and under in the west, beforehand.  Then you might have the resolve to do this twice.  For me, I see this as a good use of COVID work from home time, but since that won’t happen again, I won’t be doing this surgery again.

I’ve picked up some hobbies again since lengthening and have become a lot better at them.  I do my hobbies in bed about 8 hours a day.  I took some time off work starting this week until consolidation to focus on the hardest and final centimeter.

Also I tell people around me I am 6’1” and they either believe me or say I might be even taller.  It’s easy to get away with inflating your height when you’re already in the somewhat tall category.  Lots of 5’11” people I tower over who are already claiming 6’1”.

Congrats. Are you able to walk unassisted or do you still need a walker.

Still on a walker.  Not fully lengthened yet so I have to wait for that to end and then whatever time it takes for consolidation

[Growing]

4 pages of journal and no walking vids or photos bro? Thats like having a burger with nothing on it..lol.. JK.. In all seriousness though, any photos or vids? theirs ways to block out your face, etc.

[ActionSpeaks]

Wow at over 6 feet now that is major!! Thank you for documenting your journey with Precise. So you are not taking any vitamin D supplements during lengthening at all? Doesn't a fast bone growth rate mean that you are very healthy? I am mainly asking because it sounds like Precise patients in particular seem to have a higher daily lengthening rate compared to other methods from what I have read online. Like more days of lengthening in excess of 1mm which I believe is not safe depending on how many days and weeks and has more overall long term negative effects like nerve damage and mobility issues. Anyway, it must feel great to have come so far in your journey and you did it with Precise too! The best is yet to come my friend.

[Worzezterlire]

4 pages of journal and no walking vids or photos bro? Thats like having a burger with nothing on it..lol.. JK.. In all seriousness though, any photos or vids? theirs ways to block out your face, etc.

Well I’m still lengthening and also prefaced this journal saying it’s unlikely I would post many or any before-afters.  I’ll probably be gone from the forum once I’m consolidated and walking again (since I won’t have another surgery ever and because lots of… strange people here).  I will probably do a before-after picture once I’m consolidated though.  Right now it makes my legs look long because they’ve atrophied so much. But proportionally its actually very normal, 48% inseam ratio now.  I fit into 32 jeans at 6’0 so I’d call that fairly normal proportions

Wow at over 6 feet now that is major!! Thank you for documenting your journey with Precise. So you are not taking any vitamin D supplements during lengthening at all? Doesn't a fast bone growth rate mean that you are very healthy? I am mainly asking because it sounds like Precise patients in particular seem to have a higher daily lengthening rate compared to other methods from what I have read online. Like more days of lengthening in excess of 1mm which I believe is not safe depending on how many days and weeks and has more overall long term negative effects like nerve damage and mobility issues. Anyway, it must feel great to have come so far in your journey and you did it with Precise too! The best is yet to come my friend.

Yeah I had a huge vitamin D surplus before surgery, so I’ve been skipping some doses of the pills.  I don’t recommend it to the average person though.  I’ve always healed very quickly from injuries etc.  right now my bone growth without it is very solid but that’s also because my naturally very high Vitamin D levels which I doubt most people here would have.

Precise patients have the same lengthening schedule as Stryde, you might be thinking of LON or something.  Precise and Stryde both go at 1mm or less a day.  I do 1mm a day most days but once a week I skip a session, so I’m doing 6.66mm a week.

[Worzezterlire]

By the way, as I’m days from hitting 8cm, if I disappear for a while it’s not because I had some sort of catastrophic breakdown or injury, I’m just happy with my new height and not neurotic enough to visit this forum anymore.  I suspect most stories that fizzle like this one might are like that.  As I reach past 6 feet tall I simply just have no neurosis and even feel super tall, and while I like helping give advice to people here, there are a lot of neurotic people on this forum and it’s not mentally good for me to be around the negativity now that I have such a positive life ahead of me.  That being said there are some great people on this forum I hope I’ve helped with their prospective or ongoing journeys, many of whom are regulars in this diary thread.  Thanks for checking in and I’m glad this has been helpful so far!

 I will still set calendar reminder each month to post here but I don’t browse as often now that I’ve reached my height and I’m happy and healthy.  I am definitely so far a very successful patient.  Dr D says so, the PTs all say so, and my appearance says so.  If there’s a complication I won’t hide it and will 100% post it here, but I’m kind of getting to the point where if one would have arisen I’d have it already.  I don’t have duckass, bad knee extension, or nerve issues… only occasional knee pain here and there but it’s a 1 out of 10 on the pain scale and should go away even before consolidation.

I will still post a before and after heavily blurred once I can stand and walk on my own a bit more and the atrophy has reversed a bit.  But if I disappear it’s because things were a success.  I’ll be back here again if there was a failure, I feel the ethical need to do so if there are issues.  But silence will only mean one thing, that I’m healthy and happy.  Or dead, but not from this