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[marcjero]

Hi guys,

I'm 49 years old and I'm 162cm tall. I'm tired with my life because I see that I missed many opportunities because of that. The truth is that short men are not popular. I wish I did a surgery 20 years ago.

I found that my tibias a quite short : 30cm for 162cm tall. So maybe it does worth to focus in tibias in my case.

So now I'm looking for the best option for me. I have found doctors in Spain and in north of Europe (Lithuana) who are quite close to my home (2h flight)
I could consider going out of Europe if there are some benefits.

I wonder if external system (cheaper of course) is ok for my case. I want at least a 7-8 cm lengthening. I want to be able to walk and come home.

Am I a dreamer ? Or do I have to stay at the hospital during 3 months and use a wheelchair ?

Please.

[Medium Drink Of Water]

You are probably a dreamer.  Some people can walk and function with the rings but others have a rough time.  Your odds are better with monorail externals but still, there's no guarantee.  You might be one of the lucky ones but don't expect to be.

[marcjero]

I'm jealous, I would like to get the 3" lenghtening for my tibias too

[Michael J. Assayag, MD]

I'm jealous, I would like to get the 3" lenghtening for my tibias too

3 inches at the tibias has a very high rate of complications at your age.

i would not recommend it.

3 inches at the femur is more likely

[marcjero]

Yeah that's why I'm jealous. My tibias are short so lengthening the femur would not be looking good

Maybe it's possible to use an internal device twice ? I mean that after consolidation cutting the bone and stretching again ?

[SirStretchAlot]

Internals in Europe are at least 50k EUR. It's the only way you can "walk home." Note the overall cost of externals is not that much cheaper as you do have to stay near the hospital for 3 months.

You'll get 7cm max on your tibias.

[Thehighest]

3 inches at the tibias has a very high rate of complications at your age.

i would not recommend it.

3 inches at the femur is more likely

At a Young age do you think 3 incches in tibia can be done wuthoout Major complications?

[Medium Drink Of Water]

At a Young age do you think 3 incches in tibia can be done wuthoout Major complications?

Yes.  I was young and got minor complications only.

[ilovescience]

Hi guys,

I'm 49 years old and I'm 162cm tall. I'm tired with my life because I see that I missed many opportunities because of that. The truth is that short men are not popular. I wish I did a surgery 20 years ago.

I found that my tibias a quite short : 30cm for 162cm tall. So maybe it does worth to focus in tibias in my case.

So now I'm looking for the best option for me. I have found doctors in Spain and in north of Europe (Lithuana) who are quite close to my home (2h flight)
I could consider going out of Europe if there are some benefits.

I wonder if external system (cheaper of course) is ok for my case. I want at least a 7-8 cm lengthening. I want to be able to walk and come home.

Am I a dreamer ? Or do I have to stay at the hospital during 3 months and use a wheelchair ?

Please.

I remember watching a video that a Korean doctor famously known for LL was being interviewed, and he said the oldest patient he has done for was 80 something. So your age is not old for this surgery, of course the younger you are, the better you heal.

[marcjero]

thanks saying that !

I tried to mesure the bones . Looks like my femur is about 42cm long and my tibia about 30cm. Therefore the ratio is 71%.
PRECICE tibia for 7cm is possible ? 169 cm is not bad at all.

[marcjero]

Internals in Europe are at least 50k EUR. It's the only way you can "walk home." Note the overall cost of externals is not that much cheaper as you do have to stay near the hospital for 3 months.

You'll get 7cm max on your tibias.

Well internals that supports walking are crazy expensive. I don't see the point of using internals and sitting in a wheelchair for 3 months.

Frustrating

[yash]

hey marcjero,, based on your initial bone length, 6cm is considered the safe limit @ 20%.. you can consider externals if you are willing to bear a bit of pain on a regular basis for 2 months. though only 10 of those days wil be more painful . i have heard of a 52 yo who had the surgery with externals and had a good outcome

[ilovescience]

thanks saying that !

I tried to mesure the bones . Looks like my femur is about 42cm long and my tibia about 30cm. Therefore the ratio is 71%.
PRECICE tibia for 7cm is possible ? 169 cm is not bad at all.

Sorry, I'm a bit confused here. So your goal is to be 169cm tall now?

[marcjero]

dream : I would like to reach about 175cm. That would a nice 50 years anniversary gift

But if I start with tibias only  169cm would be great for now. Much better than 162.

[SuchLL]

thanks saying that !

I tried to mesure the bones . Looks like my femur is about 42cm long and my tibia about 30cm. Therefore the ratio is 71%.
PRECICE tibia for 7cm is possible ? 169 cm is not bad at all.

Hi marcjero! I think 5-6 cm is probably a more reasonable expectation, but your ratio might not be that bad since self measuring isn’t accurate and you might find out femur isn’t a bad option! I would make decision after getting accurate measurement.

[marcjero]

If I compare with my gf who is 10cm shorter than me looks like the tibias are about the same (and she doesn't have quite long legs)
I have to do an X-ray to get accurate values.

[marcjero]

Hi, went to my doctor this week but I wasn't brave enough to talk about the limb lengtening project. So no X-ray for now.

Maybe  guys remember the Gattaca movie ?  Ethan Hawke's persona is doing a limb lengtening in order to change identity. The guy he wanted to replace a taller man that was called Jerome, just like me... This movie obsessed me during years. I though it was just not possible to do this surgery in real life. Now I think this was a kind of message for me. Sad I ignored it. Life could have been quite different. I think I missed an important part of my life because of being short. Maybe it's just exagerated and people, women doesn't really care about it. But I always found me not good enough when I met someone special. I probably never accepted my appearance.