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[SuchLL]

Hello again!

Here’s my diary of femur lengthening using stryde with Dr Paley in Sep 2020:
http://www.limblengtheningforum.com/index.php?topic=65575.0

How’s my recovery from femur lengthening?
I mentioned in the post that I recovered really well. Doctor warned me that it may take a year for me to walk normally since I had very bad duck ass, but I walked perfectly just 2 months post lengthening. Right now the only thing reminding me that I had a leg surgery is the numbness on my left shin. It’s slowly getting better but it’s still there. Other than that I’m 100% back to my normal. (I am not an athlete and the most intense activity I need with my legs is just running sometimes  ) Doctor said I could still do tibia even if my left shin is still numb in Oct. Tibia lengthening won’t make it worse because any nerve damages from tibia lengthening will affect feet, not tibias self.

Why tibia lengthening?
One thing motivating me to get tibia lengthening is the good recovery from femur lengthening. I’m not sure what made my recovery fast, but working on flexibility before the surgery and having good diet are probably very important. I started to stretch everyday 3 months before femur surgery and never lost weight during entire lengthening process and even gained a few pounds.
Another thing motivating me is the awesome feeling from 8 cm increase! I’m 172 cm and probably still short to many people, but I don’t feel short anymore! I will still be very happy even if I can’t do tibia lengthening, but tibia lengthening is a big plus.

Why not to wait for Stryde to come back:
Dr Paley said Stryde won’t come back until 2023 in the latest interview. I discussed it with my parents and they said they would not wait if they were me. The lengthening will still take 3 months, and they believe I would quickly adept to inconvenience. Plus both of my parents can stay and take care of me in FL during entire 3 months (Oct to Jan), but they may not be able to do it in 2023.

About me and my goal:
I’m 26, 172 cm, originally from China. My goal with tibial lengthening is 5 cm. I heard from Dr Paley’s assistant that only about 1-2% of people can reach 6 cm...


I’m not sure if there’s anyone in this forum doing stryde first, then back to precice 2 ).
I’d love to hear your experience! If I’m the first one, I’m happy to be guinea pig and hope my experience in Oct can help some people decide whether or not to wait for stryde. Also feel free to ask me any questions!

[Growing]

Good luck on your 2nd surgery. is awesome for your parents to be doing this for you and being supportive at the same time. I haven't even told my mom I'm doing this because she will not support it at all. I'll be looking forward to following your journey bro.

[SirStretchAlot]

1) Walking 2 months post-lengthening is very normal on a weight-bearing nail. The doctors likely just wanted to control your expectations and encourage you to stretch more aggressively.

2) You should expect an extra month of recovery on Precise, mainly due to muscle loss. You will not be nearly as mobile as compared to Stryde.

3) 5cm is really the upper limit for tibia. 3 months is a reasonable timeline as tibias lengthen much less per day.

4) The positive is that tibia stretching is much easier, as there are no hip muscles involved.

5) One negative is that tibias lengthening is much more prone to complications. In fact, most complications are tibia-related as bones are thinner and have less blood flow. 2 seperate bones have to be broken as well.

6) Another negative is that there will be nearly twice as many surgical incisions. The scarring will be very apparent, and cannot be hidden with shorts. If you're satisfied with 8cm on femurs, reconsider tibias. CLL is getting popular in China these days. You don't want to be known as the CLL freak amongst your friends.

[SuchLL]

1) Walking 2 months post-lengthening is very normal on a weight-bearing nail. The doctors likely just wanted to control your expectations and encourage you to stretch more aggressively.

2) You should expect an extra month of recovery on Precise, mainly due to muscle loss. You will not be nearly as mobile as compared to Stryde.

3) 5cm is really the upper limit for tibia. 3 months is a reasonable timeline as tibias lengthen much less per day.

4) The positive is that tibia stretching is much easier, as there are no hip muscles involved.

5) One negative is that tibias lengthening is much more prone to complications. In fact, most complications are tibia-related as bones are thinner and have less blood flow. 2 seperate bones have to be broken as well.

6) Another negative is that there will be nearly twice as many surgical incisions. The scarring will be very apparent, and cannot be hidden with shorts. If you're satisfied with 8cm on femurs, reconsider tibias. CLL is getting popular in China these days. You don't want to be known as the CLL freak amongst your friends.

Thanks for letting me know! I also did a lot research and it may not be a good decision to not wait for stryde, especially for someone who had stryde in past... but I already made my decision since my parents can help me if I do it this year.
I have very hairy legs so I’m not concerned about scars. If anyone asks me about scars, I’ll say I had surgery for other reasons (ex. tibial torsion, bow legs, etc). I think probably only people who did CLL or who are interested in doing CLL know how CLL scars look exactly. If I happen to have such friends, I hope we understand each other and don’t spread “rumors” lol.

[SuchLL]

Good luck on your 2nd surgery. is awesome for your parents to be doing this for you and being supportive at the same time. I haven't even told my mom I'm doing this because she will not support it at all. I'll be looking forward to following your journey bro.

Thanks bro. I’m sorry to hear that... but people here are supporting you!

[SirStretchAlot]

Thanks for letting me know! I also did a lot research and it may not be a good decision to not wait for stryde, especially for someone who had stryde in past... but I already made my decision since my parents can help me if I do it this year.
I have very hairy legs so I’m not concerned about scars. If anyone asks me about scars, I’ll say I had surgery for other reasons (ex. tibial torsion, bow legs, etc). I think probably only people who did CLL or who are interested in doing CLL know how CLL scars look exactly. If I happen to have such friends, I hope we understand each other and don’t spread “rumors” lol.

Being hairy definitely helps. I would just point out that symmetrical incisions usually indicate cosmetic sugeries rather than traumatic ones.

But then again, I can understand how important height is in the competitive China dating market. If you can afford it and bear the pain, why not. It's best to do it when you're still young.

Good luck!

[Growing]

Being hairy definitely helps. I would just point out that symmetrical incisions usually indicate cosmetic sugeries rather than traumatic ones.

But then again, I can understand how important height is in the competitive China dating market. If you can afford it and bear the pain, why not. It's best to do it when you're still young.

Good luck!

he can definitely say he had bowed legs. Depending on your insurance they'd pay for this surgery and the surgeon does it as neat as possible to have an aesthetic outcome. I have genu valgum (knock knees) and I plan on just saying I got correction surgery and im taller because my legs were straightened hence the scars. I have my story ready to go.. lol

[SuchLL]

Being hairy definitely helps. I would just point out that symmetrical incisions usually indicate cosmetic sugeries rather than traumatic ones.

But then again, I can understand how important height is in the competitive China dating market. If you can afford it and bear the pain, why not. It's best to do it when you're still young.

Good luck!

I live in the US and it’s not for dating. I don’t know about the symmetrical incision thing. I may need to think of better excuses thanks for pointing it out!

[SuchLL]

he can definitely say he had bowed legs. Depending on your insurance they'd pay for this surgery and the surgeon does it as neat as possible to have an aesthetic outcome. I have genu valgum (knock knees) and I plan on just saying I got correction surgery and im taller because my legs were straightened hence the scars. I have my story ready to go.. lol

Sounds like a good story to me. Throwing fancy terms like genu valgum will probably make the story sound even better lol... I googled genu valgum and found someone with “quadruple torsion with genu varum and recurvatum” had nails inserted in both femurs and tibias and the surgery scars look exactly same as CLL. We just have to remember these fancy terms I guess....

[Sambollio]

Did the assistant say what % reaches 5cm?

[LL2022]

Dr Donghoon, Dr Buldu, Dr Innan. All quite popular CLL doctors on this forum lengthen up to 6-7cm on Tibias. How come maximum tibias lenghtning differ so much between doctors? Is it because the doctors I mentioned primarily have LON-method patients while American doctors such as Paley exclusively uses internal methods?

[SuchLL]

Did the assistant say what % reaches 5cm?

She said 100% can reach 4 cm, 80% or 90% can reach 5 cm. (I can’t remember it’s 80% or 90%)

[SuchLL]

Dr Donghoon, Dr Buldu, Dr Innan. All quite popular CLL doctors on this forum lengthen up to 6-7cm on Tibias. How come maximum tibias lenghtning differ so much between doctors? Is it because the doctors I mentioned primarily have LON-method patients while American doctors such as Paley exclusively uses internal methods?

When I was at paley’s place last year, I met several people aiming for 6 cm tibia and I thought the upper limit became 6 cm. I didn’t follow up with any of them so not sure if they hit their goals. I think it’s possible that the paley team just want to play it safe and lower our expectations, but what you suggested (better results with LON) can also be true.

[Stryde2021]

The 5cm tibia recommendation is so strange.  I personally know 3 people who did tibias (stride).  All 3 hit 6cm.  And it seems most people on this message board break 5 too (myevo hit 7+). 

[SuchLL]

The 5cm tibia recommendation is so strange.  I personally know 3 people who did tibias (stride).  All 3 hit 6cm.  And it seems most people on this message board break 5 too (myevo hit 7+).

Not sure if stryde can help add more height but I’m happy to hear this! I hope they are just trying to lower my expectation. Last year they said I wouldn’t reach 8 cm, then I reached 8 cm without slowing down for even a single day. Then they said it would take me a year to walk normally because of my duckass, then I recovered really well and no one noticed anything wrong with my gait just 1 month post lengthening. I didn’t even go to PT post lengthening. Maybe I should have a bigger goal... 6 cm would be awesome!

[SuchLL]

Oct 12 - Oct 16 2021, from surgery to discharge:
I had tibia surgery on Oct 12!! I woke up feeling much better than femurs!!! Tibial lengthening might be harder because of higher rate of complications but it’s less painful at least for me. (probably because of less muscle involved). I didn’t even need oxy this time and sometimes I didn’t take any pain meds during the night because ice packs reduced my pain level to just 2-3. I feel I will be off the pain meds soon! When I had femur surgery last year, I took oxy for 3 weeks and tylenol for a little more than a week. Sometimes I felt my upper legs were going to explode without oxy. But for my tibias I only felt the incision pain, which will recover soon I believe. My PT told me tibia is going to be easier than femur even though I had stryde back then and had to use precice 2 this time. I’m not sure if this is true but so far I feel much better with tibias! Oh and one thing to prove that tibia is less painful: I was only prescribed 42 oxy pills for tibias, but 90 oxy pills last time for femurs.

I was discharged on Oct 16. Since we don’t live in one of Paley’s recommended hotels and our SUV is not wheelchair accessible, it took me some effort (and fear of not being weight bearing) to move from wheelchair to SUV. It just takes practice I guess. The good thing is, I almost have no pain when I don’t move!!

I’ve been talking about good things. Now let’s start with some bad things. My mom was with me last year during femoral lengthening, but I know I could probably do it myself without her, my life would just be a lot harder. This year I don’t think I can do it myself with precice 2. I’m 156 lbs but my nail only supports 50lbs per leg. Tibias are thinner so I can’t have the largest nail which supports 75 lbs per leg, or 150 lbs total. I can’t stand with my legs. For those who wants to do tibias alone but their tibias aren’t big enough for the largest nails, I think it’s worth waiting for stryde. If I don’t have both of my parents helping me this time, I would wait for stryde.

[SuchLL]

I forgot to mention I also got the latest switch oled white version when I was at hospital! It’s 40 miles away from the paley institute and I sent my dad to pick it up for me  Because of our culture, it’s just so hard for me to say “I love you” to my parents  and so hard for them to say love me either lol

[LU213]

Glad things are going well with little pain.  As far as saying you love your parents - nothing to it but to do it.  You can write it in a card or a text if it makes it easier.

[SuchLL]

Glad things are going well with little pain.  As far as saying you love your parents - nothing to it but to do it.  You can write it in a card or a text if it makes it easier.

Thanks for the advice, but writing it down is hard too lol. Sometimes we say “I feel lucky”, that’s probably our closest words to “I love you”.

[SuchLL]

Oct 19, 2021. Lengthening day 1:
Today I just started lengthening!! I’m almost off pain meds too. I only take it before PT just in case. I also sleep well at night.

Precice 2 really can’t compare to stryde and I miss stryde so much. Today I met a guy who’s 120lbs with 50lb weight bearing per leg. He said it took him more than a month to get used to walker. This was something I was good at just a week after femur surgery. I could even go shopping with walker for an hour. Can’t go back to the good old days lol.

During today’s PT session my pain went up to 10!!! My left knee was swollen too much and my knee cap couldn’t move down. My left knee hurt like hell if I tried to bend it. My PT pushed the knee cap down, bent my knee little by little. I never want to experience this again. At the end of the PT session I was able to bend my knee without pain, but I had to often move to prevent my knee cap from locking again. My left knee became more swollen probably because I didn’t listen to the nurses after discharge. They told me to elevate my legs to help with the swollen but I didn’t because it’s not comfortable…. Tonight I elevated my legs during sleep and I already felt much better!

[Highest]

It really sucks they removed Stryde so you couldn't use it for Tibias. Knowing the risks though would you use Stryde now over precise 2 if it wasn't removed from the market?

[SuchLL]

It really sucks they removed Stryde so you couldn't use it for Tibias. Knowing the risks though would you use Stryde now over precise 2 if it wasn't removed from the market?

I would go with stryde for sure!!! If stryde is risky, dr paley would have suggested removing them at the same time of tibia surgery, but he said it’s really up to me and there’re no safety concerns here. He could remove them now or remove all nails a year later. I trust him so I would definitely go with stryde if it’s available.

[SuchLL]

Oct 20, 2021. Lengthening day 2:
I got my braces today. They were customized and more comfortable than expected. I don’t have problems wearing them all day long (at least for now)

I didn’t mentioned I had a bad bruise on my left leg. It didn’t bother me until today. After I lengthened my left leg three times, I felt the bruise area was going to explode. We forgot to put ice packs in fridge so I couldn’t ice it. I also couldn’t take oxy because my stomach didn’t feel well. I wasn’t sure what to do so I just lay down in pain. I didn’t know how I fell asleep in bad pain but I fell asleep finally and woke up feeling strong again!

[init1alove]

Thanks for the updates. Good luck to you, buddy.

[SuchLL]

Oct 28, 2021. Lengthening day 10:
First I want to take my words back… Paley’s customized splints are super uncomfortable!! They’re “comfortable” on the first two days probably because they didn’t get my attention and I was still swollen badly from the surgery. Now the swelling has come down and the splints become unbearable…. I could only get 3-4 hour sleep with them on… I ordered amazon splints and just got them today: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CD185S3/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_CWM92549PC8000K5VXMM?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1. I’ve worn it for few hours and they feel more customized than the customized paley's splints!! They are much lighter, with good cushion, not hurting my legs.

Today I hit 0.75 cm… It’s a bit slow comparing to femurs, but it’s much less painful so far. I almost don’t have any pain except during stretch, exercises and after lengthening, but I’m feeling tired everyday. Not sure if it is because I can’t walk and am more dependent on my parents.

Last year I met many CLL patients during PT, but there’re only a few this year. I guess most people are probably waiting for stryde.

[SuchLL]

Nov 3, 2021. Lengthening day 16:
Hit 1.2 cm. I had xray today and doctor said everything looked great. He didn’t measure the xray because the system was down, but he said it looked like about 1 cm to him, and he would measure it tomorrow when the system is back. My ankle dorsiflexion is great. My right ankle can easily do 20 degrees on its own but my right calf feels very sore. So I’m sore and flexible at the same time, not sure how long I can keep this flexibility. I was worried about pre consolidation. Doctor said I was not at risk of pre consolidation as of now, and tibia pre consolidation is rare. I’m less tired than a few days ago, and I can sleep well with amazon splints. So far tibia lengthening feels much better and much more comfortable than femurs.

[6CMFemurs]

Hey SuchLL, thanks for these posts. I am having tibia lengthening in December, so I am avidly following your diary. I was wondering, does Paley do gastrocnemius recessions on anyone, if not what are some other pre-emptive measures he will take if a patient has super tight calves/ poor ankle dorsiflection?

[SuchLL]

Hey SuchLL, thanks for these posts. I am having tibia lengthening in December, so I am avidly following your diary. I was wondering, does Paley do gastrocnemius recessions on anyone, if not what are some other pre-emptive measures he will take if a patient has super tight calves/ poor ankle dorsiflection?

Hey 6CMFemurs, sorry I don’t have answers. I’m very flexible so I never asked what he does for tight calves.

[SuchLL]

Nov 11, 2021. Lengthening day 24:
Just hit 1.8 cm today. So slow!! Everything is going well so far except I’m still worried about bending my nails. PT use a lot of force to stretch my calf. Doctor said it’s safe but that force still scares me every time. My passive range of motion is still very good, 20 degrees both ankles, but my active dropped to 5 degrees. PT said as long as my passive range of motion is good, I won’t be asked to stop. I’m applying scar gel every day and hope my scars won’t look so bad 

And one thing really weird… sometimes I feel more confortable wearing the splints..

[6CMFemurs]

Nov 11, 2021. Lengthening day 24:
Just hit 1.8 cm today. So slow!! Everything is going well so far except I’m still worried about bending my nails. PT use a lot of force to stretch my calf. Doctor said it’s safe but that force still scares me every time. My passive range of motion is still very good, 20 degrees both ankles, but my active dropped to 5 degrees. PT said as long as my passive range of motion is good, I won’t be asked to stop. I’m applying scar gel every day and hope my scars won’t look so bad 

And one thing really weird… sometimes I feel more confortable wearing the splints..

Are the PT’s instructing you to do any exercises which involve partial weight bearing? Or are you always sitting/lying down?

[SpeedDialer]

6 cm on Tibia is not a good idea for most people?