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Author Topic: Übermensch - Internal femurs - Dr Guichet 2014  (Read 23705 times)

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Übermensch

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Übermensch - Internal femurs - Dr Guichet 2014
« on: June 14, 2014, 02:45:18 PM »

Hi guys!!

As promised I'm starting a diary on my limb lengthening in Italy.. I just made the payment to Dr. Guichet, so I guess there  is no way back now..  :P
As I mentioned before, I'm 167cm, southern european, going for 7,5 cm..
I wanna thank Leechlet, Rebornmilan and ShyShy for the inspiration for my journey!  :)
I gonna try to be as honest as possible on this diary, talking about the things i do right, but probably mostly about my mistakes..   I will also try to make it as a complement for other diaries of patients of Dr. Guichet, trying to focus on stuff that wasn't mentioned before.

I'm already a week in Milan, staying at very cheap hostels.. spending never more than 20eur/night..
My first mistake was bringing my car.. I'm terribly car'aholic on my home country and I had some trouble imagining my self for 3 months without a car.. but the reality is that it brings much more trouble than benefits for this experience.. at least, after traveling 3 days by car across Europe you have lots of funny stories to entertain people at the hostel!!  :)
I have my operation schedule for the beginning of July and  I'm training 3 times a week at the Isokinetic center for being physically prepared for it (i train strength on the Cybex machine, flexibility, and triceps for the mobility after surgery..). Unfortunately there is no one limb lengthening right know in Milan, so, no one to share experiences..  :(
On this first week I spent the remaining time looking for flats for the lenghtening period, making some exams/tests that i didn't did before arriving in Milan, spending time at the hostel chatting with staff and roommates (my cover story in the hostel and looking for flats is that I'm a football player recovering from injury on the knees, and having surgery to correct it..  ;D .
My first surprise was that Dr. Guichet wants to complement/strenght my physic postoperative recovery program in the Isokinetic Center with training with Sergei (his guy from Marseille). According to him it will "allow controlling and optimizing the home care and other parameters", by this I understand that it will help me to have a better mobility postoperative, also, I know from former patients that he has been working with Dr. Guichet a long time, and they were very happy with his training..so I'm optimistic about this change!  :)
Dr. Guichet was also unimpressed by my motivation letter.. he says it is too superficial, and wants me to rewrite it.. He wants me to go deeper and specific on my reasons for limb lengthening.. I agree I was a bit superficial, it's not easy to talk about this kind of insecurities.. I imagine he wants to see the pain and the blood and use it as a tool for keeping me motivated during the lengthening phase.. of course I know exactly what he is talking about, otherwise I wouldn't be doing this.. is just that it is really hard to put on paper..  :(
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Medium Drink Of Water

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Re: Übermensch - Internal femurs - Dr Guichet 2014
« Reply #1 on: June 14, 2014, 06:48:04 PM »

Dr. Guichet requires you to write a motivation letter?  Did he give you any requirements such as minimum length?
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G-Man

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Re: Übermensch - Internal femurs - Dr Guichet 2014
« Reply #2 on: June 14, 2014, 07:30:27 PM »

Awesome!!  I am planning to go with Guichet as well so I'll be following your diary closely!
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connorcranston

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Re: Übermensch - Internal femurs - Dr Guichet 2014
« Reply #3 on: June 15, 2014, 03:54:45 AM »

yes another diary on LL Forum. gosh i wish i was there. it seems that some higher force is holding me back. every single day brings me less motivation to do LL. the wait just makes it worse. guichet didnt make u do the full 21 days of training? good luck man
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alps

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Re: Übermensch - Internal femurs - Dr Guichet 2014
« Reply #4 on: June 15, 2014, 07:26:58 AM »

Awesome!
Please put lots of pictures and videos!
All the best!
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TRS

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Re: Übermensch - Internal femurs - Dr Guichet 2014
« Reply #5 on: June 15, 2014, 07:39:38 AM »

Dr.Guichet is one of the godfathers of modern LL and you in good hands! He wants the most motivated patients, hence he is extremely strict with his preoperative requirements. Nietzche's philosophy should help you during your treatment. All the best bro!
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Übermensch

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Re: Übermensch - Internal femurs - Dr Guichet 2014
« Reply #6 on: June 17, 2014, 09:35:35 AM »

thank you for the support guys!!
for now there is not much to add to my diary.. Isokinetic sessions seem to be getting longer and harder as time goes, and although  i love the life in the hostel, i cannot wait to have my own flat or at least a room in milano!

Dr. Guichet requires you to write a motivation letter?  Did he give you any requirements such as minimum length?
yep! he lists a bunch of topics that should be mentioned in the letter but don't remember if there was a minimum length.. mine was actually 3 pages long..

yes another diary on LL Forum. gosh i wish i was there. it seems that some higher force is holding me back. every single day brings me less motivation to do LL. the wait just makes it worse. guichet didnt make u do the full 21 days of training? good luck man
hi connorcranston! veterans LL use to say that if someone has doubts, then LL is not for him..  you must be completely sure and committed on LL to endure the process.. i hope my diary helps you making your mind about it.
i'm actually staying in milan before surgery a little more that 21 days (arrive in the 9...) .. but i'm only doing 3 sessions a week for a total of 9 sessions of training... notice that i'm only doing 7,5 cm and i already had some results form previous training (i'm already quite flexible and already improved a little my cybex results..)
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connorcranston

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Re: Übermensch - Internal femurs - Dr Guichet 2014
« Reply #7 on: June 18, 2014, 03:49:57 AM »

oh im gonna get LL even if it kills me, literally. i rather die trying to be taller than live short and depressed for the rest of my life. i might not be able to do LL until 2015 now cause i had $9,000 in a retirement savings an if i take it out there take $2700 away, so now i have to work 2 more months to make up this. plus im pretty sure LL is gonna be more expensive in 2015 since they increase it every freakin year. the thing that motivates me the most to do LL is that i want something in life no one can take away from me. ppl can take ur money, family, material matter, etc from u but they can never take ur personal achievements/gains. i have 3 dreams that i want to achieve and one of them has been taking away from me forever, so that just makes me wanna obtain the 2 dreams i have. anyways dude how much is it costing u so far? i dont think i'm gonna even do the isokentic center for preop, maybe once or twice to see where im at cause 90euro is about 4 months of gym membership in usa.
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tdas1989

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Re: Übermensch - Internal femurs - Dr Guichet 2014
« Reply #8 on: June 20, 2014, 12:31:33 PM »

hey guys i am planning to get it done by 2015 january. but i dnt want to stay after operation fr more than 3 months. as i have job here in india. then what to do? if i go for 7 cm, then would i be able to come after operation done and walk properly?
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Übermensch

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Re: Übermensch - Internal femurs - Dr Guichet 2014
« Reply #9 on: June 23, 2014, 08:28:11 PM »

guys!
i have most of the exams done and the sessions in the Isokinetic center are the only thing going on now, so i start having spare time and nothing useful to do.
the search for an flat/room is the one thing that stresses me right now. the Isokinetic is located in a very central area o milan, the flats i have seen close to the isokinetic center are usually rented by tourists and located in old buildings, that means that is very difficult to find a flat without a few stair steps..
what do you veterans think about climbing 3 stair steps to access the falt just 4 days after the operation!?

connorcranston!
i think the king of thinking Guichet likes in limb lengthners is a strong resolution for doing it, but with realistic expectations for life after limb lengthening.. from what you posted i think you have both! :)
about the costs, i had a few costs over budget by now.. for instance: the trip with car was more expensive than i expected (+150euros), there was one exame (HIV) i was not expecting to do, but Guichet demanded it because by mistake it was not in the blood exame i brought from my home country, it costed me 72 euros (more than the all blood exams i took in my home country.. :(
but i expect more costs over budget in the lengthening phase..

tdas1989!
3 months would be quite enough for lengthening 7 cm, which corresponds roughly to 2 months of lengthening.. specially if you fulfill the physical requirements of Dr. Guichet before arriving in milan, because that would mean no need for training at the Isokinetic center like the one i'm doing..
but 3 months to walk properly it may not be so easy, if at all possible.. after finishing lengthening you may need to walk on crunches for some time depending on how good is your recovery, and after leaving crunches your walking would still be strange for a while (the time varies form patient to patient..)
i would suggest you to read ShyShy diary in this forum, he did 7,5 cm and had a very fast recovery, but notice that he was extremely well prepared for surgery and his body had an excellent response to the all process
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Übermensch

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Re: Übermensch - Internal femurs - Dr Guichet 2014
« Reply #10 on: July 01, 2014, 06:37:46 AM »

guys!
Its 8h30m in Milan right now.. my surgery schedule for the end of the week, and I'm doing my last Cybex test in a couple of hours.. I'm a bit nervous and my confidence on the results of this test is low.. i didn't notice a progression on my strength during training at the Isokinetic.. I worked a lot, but I don't seem to see results.. I think my body got a shock from being in a different place with different routines, eating different food, sleeping in a different bed.. well... I will give everything i have on the test!!
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TRS

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Re: Übermensch - Internal femurs - Dr Guichet 2014
« Reply #11 on: July 01, 2014, 03:16:21 PM »

Give it your best shot and stay positive! I wish you all the best  :)
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antoky

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Re: Übermensch - Internal femurs - Dr Guichet 2014
« Reply #12 on: July 02, 2014, 05:10:33 AM »

Thank you, Übermensch, for sharing with all of us the steps of your journey towards a goal which nowadays has become possible for humanity.
I wish you all the strenght it will be needed.
Cheers.
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Übermensch

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Re: Übermensch - Internal femurs - Dr Guichet 2014
« Reply #13 on: July 04, 2014, 10:24:26 PM »

hi guys!
thank you for the support.. its midnight in milan and i think it will be another night in blank.. my legs are in pain, i believe is from swelling reaction to surgery.. i had painkillers 4 hours ago, so i think there is no point asking for more, i tried the exercises of Dr. Guichet but the pain only goes off for a minute, and after i think the pain is worst.. i think i gonna try to distract from the pain watching a movie or something.. i don't bike yet.. the physiotherapist try to make me walk on walker but i had instant nausea and sweet when i was on foot.. he say this happen to 50% of patients.. tomorrow i will try bike for the first time.
unfortunately, my story is not starting like the most successful stories, but i believe i still can change this..
another thing.. i said in the beginning of this diary that i would "try to be as honest as possible".. well the possible honesty is limited by the fact that is very easy to identify me when describing my story.. so there are mistakes i made during preparation and opinions on Dr. Guichet that at least for now i'm not sharing..
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antoky

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Re: Übermensch - Internal femurs - Dr Guichet 2014
« Reply #14 on: July 05, 2014, 03:38:59 AM »

Whatever you decide it is important for us to know about the difficulties of limb lenghtening à-la-Guichet...
We will welcome any input of yours, dude ;) and thanks again for this.
All the best wishes for you!
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TRS

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Re: Übermensch - Internal femurs - Dr Guichet 2014
« Reply #15 on: July 05, 2014, 08:34:18 AM »

Congratz on doing the surgery!
It must be psychologically and physically challenging to do exercise right after surgery :o
But Dr.Guichet does have a very good record of patients recovering well so you are in good hands.
Stay strong buddy, the days will be pass quickly and you'll be a taller man in no time :)
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ShyShy

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Re: Übermensch - Internal femurs - Dr Guichet 2014
« Reply #16 on: July 05, 2014, 08:54:10 AM »

GZ on your surgery!!! From my side, there's nothing to say, i'm just enjoying my new life n i wish u the same very soon (70-75 days of lengthening is not a big deal^^).

Just a little advise, move as much as u can. All the pain u're experiencing now due to the exercices is the pain u won't have later, mobility is the key. Push it hard, like a warrior!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Übermensch

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Re: Übermensch - Internal femurs - Dr Guichet 2014
« Reply #17 on: July 06, 2014, 01:32:22 AM »

hey guys! thank you for the support!! i really need it.. its 3a.m. in Milan, i had Panacetamol 10 minuts ago so i think i will be able to sleep an hour, maybe an hour and a half in a few minuts.. but i will wake up again and be in pain for a while until the nurses give more painkillers..  the pain today is not so bad as yesterday but is enough to keep you awake.. and i'm stressing up a little because tomorrow is a very important day.. i will start clicking regularly, which scares me because i have a hard time to relax my muscles, the pain of the movements make my muscles tense and it does not let me click.. and i will leave the hospital.. which is also scary because the last time i walked i got heavy breathing, sweet and white face after just a few minutes.. Dr. Guichet already told me that i will have a slower lengthening rithm in order to recover the sensibility on two feet fingers that i lost during surgery
i was not expecting that my body would react so badly to this surgery.. i'm doing this with Caribe, we had surgery in the same day and we will be sharing a flat here in Milan.. i was expecting that our recovery would be similar because we are the same original height, he is a little older but he did bodybuilding in the past so he is heavier and with a stronger frame than me.. but until now he is so much better that me, he is doing the exercises on is own, i only can do them with the physiotherapist.. he cycled in the day of operation itself, i only did it yesterday... he walked to the x-ray room, i went in the bed.. and he had a first good night of sleep.. well i gonna try to sleep now..
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G-Man

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Re: Übermensch - Internal femurs - Dr Guichet 2014
« Reply #18 on: July 06, 2014, 06:43:59 AM »

You lost the sensitivity right, not your feet fingers?  ;)
Did he say why and if it will come back?
« Last Edit: July 06, 2014, 07:29:35 AM by G-Man »
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antoky

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Re: Übermensch - Internal femurs - Dr Guichet 2014
« Reply #19 on: July 06, 2014, 10:01:55 AM »

hey guys! thank you for the support!! i really need it.. its 3a.m. in Milan, i had Panacetamol 10 minuts ago so i think i will be able to sleep an hour, maybe an hour and a half in a few minuts.. but i will wake up again and be in pain for a while until the nurses give more painkillers..  the pain today is not so bad as yesterday but is enough to keep you awake.. and i'm stressing up a little because tomorrow is a very important day.. i will start clicking regularly, which scares me because i have a hard time to relax my muscles, the pain of the movements make my muscles tense and it does not let me click.. and i will leave the hospital.. which is also scary because the last time i walked i got heavy breathing, sweet and white face after just a few minutes.. Dr. Guichet already told me that i will have a slower lengthening rithm in order to recover the sensibility on two feet fingers that i lost during surgery
i was not expecting that my body would react so badly to this surgery.. i'm doing this with Caribe, we had surgery in the same day and we will be sharing a flat here in Milan.. i was expecting that our recovery would be similar because we are the same original height, he is a little older but he did bodybuilding in the past so he is heavier and with a stronger frame than me.. but until now he is so much better that me, he is doing the exercises on is own, i only can do them with the physiotherapist.. he cycled in the day of operation itself, i only did it yesterday... he walked to the x-ray room, i went in the bed.. and he had a first good night of sleep.. well i gonna try to sleep now..
Sorry for your foot!
Is this problem related to the lenghtening Guichet gave you during your surgery?
How much did he lenghten your thigh?
I wish you well.
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Medium Drink Of Water

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Re: Übermensch - Internal femurs - Dr Guichet 2014
« Reply #20 on: July 06, 2014, 05:51:41 PM »

If you read my diary, you know that I went through the same thing: watching as all my fellow patients did better than me in the beginning.  The best advice I can give you is that it's all about the end result years from now.  Be patient and recover at your body's own pace.  I ended up catching up to a lot of people and even doing better than them in the end.
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Classical

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Re: Übermensch - Internal femurs - Dr Guichet 2014
« Reply #21 on: July 07, 2014, 09:01:46 AM »

Hi, hope you are feeling better by now. I am also doing my lengthening right now in Korea. Since I had my surgery on May 26th, I still remember the day I had my surgery vividly. Definitely being in so much pain and sleepless night is a lot of suffering, but just know that everyday you are getting stronger and better! This is what the forum is for, we are all here to support each other to get through this hard process together ;D

As for progress, everybody's physical is unique, therefore reacts differently towards the same procedure. Just like what Medium said, he started way behind others, and ended better than the rest. I am currently on the same boat as you, way behind... The only thing we can do is be patient and work with our own body. I'm rooting for you :)
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Übermensch

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Re: Übermensch - Internal femurs - Dr Guichet 2014
« Reply #22 on: July 10, 2014, 05:17:19 PM »

hi guys! :)
thanks for the messages, and sorry for not posting for a while.. it has been hard to find some time of my own to read the replies and update the diary..
i wake up feeling good on sunday (the day of discharging form the hospital), but later i had a visit of Dr. Guichet, he was disappointed that i haven't done the 7 clicks i was supposed to do at 7 a.m. .. he did them himself on my legs, i was trying to offer reasonable arguments for him to take easy on my legs, but he seem to be in a hurry and was always saying me to relax my muscles.. but i was everything but relaxed, and all hospital must have eared me screaming as he quickly made the 7 clicks on my legs..  i knew that he knew what he was doing, but it was very painfully and scary..
later we had a very nice and quick ride to the flat
a future patient that we meet during the preparation in the Isokinetic Center visited us before and offer to give us a ride, and on sunday he even brought another friend to help..
Caribe made lots of accidental clicks in the trip, i had exactly the opposite problem, i wasn't able to click the all day, i was suppose to have made trials of clicking during my stay in the hospital, but i was very uncomfortable with the idea of doing it on my own and afraid of injury myself..
even before the future patient and his friend leave, our helper arrived, so we didn't got to stay on our own on sunday..
we rented a one room flat very close to isokinetic, and we are sleeping in the huge living room .. its very spacious and i think we were very lucky to get this flat..
on monday i wake up again feeling good, Serge arrived in the morning and helped with breakfast, before starting the training, i explained my situation, i was 21 clicks behind the plan, and he very patiently explained what i had to do to click, and let me do it on my own.. the left leg was scary but unpainfull, but the right leg was very difficult to click, we need several minutes of trials to get the first click and the position to click was very painful, we continued and took about 40 minutes to make 15 clicks.. and decided to recover the rest of the clicks in other sessions.. then we started biking and doing flexibility exercises..
Serge brought us a pizza for lunch and we continued training in the afternoon with a waking trip to the ATM (350 mts away..) unfortunately it was too far away and we gave up midway in front of a little caffé.. we decided to have a coke and go back to the flat
at night without serge, i couldn't click again.. just a few in the left, but nothing on the right..
tuesday we had Serge again for training.. another time, very patiently he helped me click just by advising me.. and i recover some part of my delay in clicking.. that day at night finally i clicked on my own.. :)
wednesday it was our first day in the Isokinetic center we went by taxi and Serge decided to came with us in this first trip.. we were a bit late, and i'm very slow at clicking, so i had to make my morning clicks at the isokinetic center, they were not supportive on this, and the only thing they did was give me a private room to do it..
we trained bike, flexibility exercises, and had electro stimulation of our muscles and a massage in the end.. it was exhausting but satisfying. we came back at lunch time..
about my recovery, for now every day i seem to be a little better, i'm even catching up with Caribe on some things..
i now have a little more resistance than Caribe on waking on the walker, he still has a lot more flexibility than me.., but lately he has having more pain than me and using more painkillers, last night i sleep well (only wake up 2 or 3 times), but he had a hard time to sleep, and he even decided to cycle in the middle of the night to try to help.. i didn't even wake up with him cycling..
my feeling now that the worst days ware gone is that i'm very satisfied with the surgery, my x-rays look very good, and i feel that i'm recovering every day.. i must admit that i was lucky by having my surgery with the presence of Serge in Milan, he has been very important specially for me..


You lost the sensitivity right, not your feet fingers?  ;)
Did he say why and if it will come back?

Sorry for your foot!
Is this problem related to the lenghtening Guichet gave you during your surgery?
How much did he lenghten your thigh?
I wish you well.

hi G-Man and antoky!
luckily Dr. Guichet didn't chop off my fingers during surgery!! :D
he said that it happened during surgery when my body was turned by the side and the nerve was pressed upon.. he said it will come back slowly.. i wrongly understood that i would click slowly.. but he later explained that i have to click at the normal 21 clicks/day rate and he was referring to the recovery of the sensibility..
the good news is that at least since yesterday i don't feel the fingers so strange anymore, so i think i already recover at least most of the sensibility..


If you read my diary, you know that I went through the same thing: watching as all my fellow patients did better than me in the beginning.  The best advice I can give you is that it's all about the end result years from now.  Be patient and recover at your body's own pace.  I ended up catching up to a lot of people and even doing better than them in the end.

thanks for the message MDoW! your diary is inspiring and helps understand that recovery is full of ups and downs... Dr. Guichet will be operating several patients in a short period.. we were the first and will be the ones the other people will be looking at.. so i will also have as a motivation the need to inspire the recovery of the other guys..


Hi, hope you are feeling better by now. I am also doing my lengthening right now in Korea. Since I had my surgery on May 26th, I still remember the day I had my surgery vividly. Definitely being in so much pain and sleepless night is a lot of suffering, but just know that everyday you are getting stronger and better! This is what the forum is for, we are all here to support each other to get through this hard process together ;D

As for progress, everybody's physical is unique, therefore reacts differently towards the same procedure. Just like what Medium said, he started way behind others, and ended better than the rest. I am currently on the same boat as you, way behind... The only thing we can do is be patient and work with our own body. I'm rooting for you :)

thanks Classical! i'm also rooting for you.. i notice clear the way i'm getting stronger and  better every day! and that feels great!
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TRS

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Re: Übermensch - Internal femurs - Dr Guichet 2014
« Reply #23 on: July 10, 2014, 05:45:27 PM »

The clicking sounds pretty painful and scary :o But it's good that you're recovering well and overall happy with your surgery.
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antoky

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Re: Übermensch - Internal femurs - Dr Guichet 2014
« Reply #24 on: July 11, 2014, 01:11:15 PM »

Übermensch, thank you for your detailed update.

I am to be operated, if all goes well, by the start of the upcoming December: I live alone, so I have to make every aspect of my recovery as well planned as possible: so, how can one sit and stand up, without breaking the screws? How do you do this,
Übermensch, right now? How do you get up from the bed?
I know these are questions to be put directly to Guichet himself, but I am asking you who are living the real thing...
What weight can one bring in safety (I weigh 71 Kg, and you?), i.e. shopping bag?...some people say that walking would break the screws (maybe the Betz people) while I heard Guichet advicing to walk as much as possible: how are you behaving? What are the actual Guichet's policies about walking with his new nail?

We all would appreciate your answers!

We all cheer for you!
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Übermensch

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Re: Übermensch - Internal femurs - Dr Guichet 2014
« Reply #25 on: July 17, 2014, 02:05:05 AM »

hi guys!
its 3:00 a.m. in Milano, i'm around 2 weeks post-surgery and i'm at 2,5 cm taller.. that's one third of my goal, but i will only be clicking at the 21 clicks a day rate until monday, so the next 2,5 cm will take a lot longer to make..
Caribe is snoring not very distant from me..  the reason i'm awake at this moment is only because i wanted to click around this time my last 7 clicks of the day.. me and Caribe today had training in the morning in the Isokinetic center with consultation with Dr. Boldrini, and training in the afternoon with Serge at a gym close to the center, so between these trainings i didn't had the time to click at the beginning of the afternoon. i only manage to make my 7 clicks at 20:00.. because my right leg is still very, very hard to click, it is painful and i have to take time to recover after each click.. Caribe itself says that one of these days i will have a knee problem from the contortion i have to make to click that leg.. :(
i decided to give my body some time before the night clicks and delayed my clicking till this time..
serge want us to train everyday with him at the gym, and Isokinetic want us to train almost every day with them at the center.. this makes a crazy routine of taxis from one place to another.. luckily we are living very close to the center so taxis are cheap and we try to share the taxi with more limb lenghtenrs with the same program to make it even cheaper..
but this is actually a blunder to my plan for limb lenghtening in Milano.. my plan was to start being autonomous at around 2 weeks after surgery, and it would mean to don't have an helper at the flat anymore and start doing the first trips by subway.. the helper helped us for the last day today, from tomorrow on we will have to take care of our food, our laundry, the cleaning, etc.. it will not be easy, and with a program like the one we are following its close to impossible.. :( .. so i think i will be skipping some trainings.. i will probably alternate daily between Isokinetic and Serge.. i don't know how Guichet will react to this decision but otherwise it will be  impossible for me.. Caribe on the other hand wants to do everything by the book, so we will probably continue training like a mad man..
about using the subway.. it still looks very far away.. the walker is either very, very slow if you move your legs in a waking fashion or very, very tiring if you just jump like a frog with it.. so i don't think the walker will be compatible with subways... about crunches...i only did yet a few steps with crunches.. i have o train at home, but with no one to help me and no time because of this impossible routine i didn't manage to train crunches a single day..
financially, i spent already a lot more than what i was planing.. mainly because i wasn't expecting the training with serge when i arrive in Milano (more 3k euro).. but a lot of things turned out to be more costly than expected, like the helper, the food, etc.. taxis were actually cheaper than i was expecting (as we are very close to the center, we pay around 20 eur/day to go to the isokinetic, and around 25 eur/day to go to the gym of serge), but unfortunately, for a long time, i found it very difficult to not use taxis.. so it will end up more expensive than what i was expecting..
i found myself thinking how much easier and cheaper it would have been to have done Betz instead.. well, i will never know..
tomorrow i will have my first every 15 days x-ray, and the day after tomorrow a consultation with Dr. Guichet with the x-rays..
well.. its time to click...

Übermensch, thank you for your detailed update.

I am to be operated, if all goes well, by the start of the upcoming December: I live alone, so I have to make every aspect of my recovery as well planned as possible: so, how can one sit and stand up, without breaking the screws? How do you do this,
Übermensch, right now? How do you get up from the bed?
I know these are questions to be put directly to Guichet himself, but I am asking you who are living the real thing...
What weight can one bring in safety (I weigh 71 Kg, and you?), i.e. shopping bag?...some people say that walking would break the screws (maybe the Betz people) while I heard Guichet advicing to walk as much as possible: how are you behaving? What are the actual Guichet's policies about walking with his new nail?

We all would appreciate your answers!

We all cheer for you!

hi antoky!
thanks for the questions.. i'm glad to answer.. :)
you do seating and standing up from the first day of operation.. you need a special walker that has 2 pairs of hand holders one in top and one a little bellow, like the walker used by leechlet..

for standing up you:
1) seat on the bed with legs out of the bed and move your ass the closest possible to the side of the bed,
2) put the walker on the side of the bed and grab the hand holders below;
3) pull your body up, preferentially lifting the full height of your body with your hands;
4) stand with your legs straight in the floor, bending your torso to the front;
5) let your height go back to your legs;
6) raise your torso and change your hands form the hand holder below to the hand holders on top;

for going back to bed,  you:
1) get the closets possible to the bed with the walker;
2) bend your torso to the front and hold the hand holders below;
3) pull your body up, preferentially lifting the full height of your body with your hands;
4) let your legs slide to the front and sit with your ass in the side of the bed;
5) use your arms to pull your body up to get yourself into bed;

notice that moving in the bed, you should use only your arms and not your legs to lift your ass up..
Dr. Guichet will give you a follow-up book with pictures of the standing up and siting down procedures..

the golden rule is that you never bear weight on your femur if they are not in a straight position, because the nail is very strong bearing height vertically, but horizontally its easy to bend the nail .. its easy to understand, its like trying to snap a wood stick by pushing it down vertically to the floor or trying to snap the same wood stick by bending it with the two hands.. it will easily break by bending it.. but it will be hard to break just by pushing it to the floor..

i weighted 70kg before operation, now i'm at 68kgs.. i actually didn't yet made shopping, but i'm confident i can take some kgs in a backpack.. i will actually have to do it because we will not have a helper anymore from today one.. :)
Caribe topped at 74kgs but since then he lost some weight also..

Dr. Guichet wants you to walk a lot.. as long as you walk the way they teach you how to do it, you will be fine.. i did 900 meters of walking on the walker in the frog style the other day.. my hands and my arm are still a bit sore because of that day!!
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antoky

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Re: Übermensch - Internal femurs - Dr Guichet 2014
« Reply #26 on: July 17, 2014, 12:43:59 PM »

Übermensch : "The golden rule is that you never bear weight on your femur if they are not in a straight position, because the nail is very strong bearing height vertically, but horizontally its easy to bend the nail .. its easy to understand, its like trying to snap a wood stick by pushing it down vertically to the floor or trying to snap the same wood stick by bending it with the two hands.. it will easily break by bending it.. but it will be hard to break just by pushing it to the floor.."

Thanks a lot ofr your great anwers, evertything is clear now :)

How in the earth don't Serge and dr Boldrini get along in peace and in harmony? Why one of us has to choose among one of them? Do they compete with each other to gain patients?!?...maybe I am misunderstanding somotehing...or not? :)

I hope your cliquettage is going to be easier and easier.
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Übermensch

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Re: Übermensch - Internal femurs - Dr Guichet 2014
« Reply #27 on: July 25, 2014, 01:32:20 AM »

guys!
its 2:00 in Milano, the silly reason I'm awake is because i run out of paracetamol.. the only drug that works with me.. i will ask Caribe to borrow me but he is having such a nice sleep that i will wait a little longer.. he had a really ruff night yesterday.. a diarrhea keep him awake all night and we was in very bad shape today morning..
i'm at 3,6 cm now.. its almost half of my goal, it was very fast until now.. but since the beginning of the week, i'm clicking at only 15 clicks a day, so the next 3,6 cm will take much longer time to achieve..
last week i had my first 15 days x-rays and consultation with Dr. Guichet.. looking at the x-rays and comparing with Caribe i had less bone cloud in my gap.. but Dr. Guichet saw pre consolidation happening (??).. so he just took matters in his own hands and made me 21 clicks on the consultation room to put me away from the risk of pre consolidation... i had a really bad time during those clicks.. Dr. Guichet clearly knows the perfect movement to make to click, but he is not gentle..
the next days, miraculously clicking on the right became much less painful and hard.. but it only lasted the weekend and clicking on the right started to became gradually more difficult after that weekend..
the current status of clicking is:
clicking in the left leg is as easy as clicking can be, you just let your leg fall and it clicks gracefully..
clicking on the right leg is awful just to see.. first the leg must be bend at chinese circus levels and after that i have to rotate my torso countering the movement of the leg and simultaneously hold my leg down with my palm.. usually only the last 2 or 3 clicks on the right can be made in succession, in the first clicks i have to stop at each click to recover from pain.. fortunately the level of pain is now lower that in the beginning..
Dr. Guichet also complained on the consultation that i'm not exercising as much as he requires.. its true.. exercises are painful to me and take a long time, and i just can't find the time to do all the series requested.. i do as much as i can, and it has been enough until now because my flexibility is in normal levels for 2/3 weeks after surgery.. i promised Dr. Guichet to increase the amount of exercise, but until now i actually didn't manage to increase it.. mainly because its still painful and takes a long time, but also because since last weekend i have a snapping sound happening every time i do a hip flexion on my right leg.. according to Stefano from the Isokinetic it is a normal thing that results from the stretching of the tendons and muscles on my glut area.. but unfortunately there isn't much i can do about it, i will have to listen to this snap during hip flexion until the end of my lengthening phase.. 
also Dr. Guichet forbid me of using the walker on the walking fashion that i mentioned in the last post.. he says it wears the clicking mechanism and i should jump instead.. this is a bumper because my hands and my right shoulder are in really bad shape from jumping on the walker and and using in the walking fashion was so more easy on the hands.. :(
Caribe is getting pro on the crunches.. apart for some troubles getting up from chairs or from the cab, he is really getting comfortable with them and using them every day now.. i on the other hand, didn't yet got comfortable.. i see it as too dangerous, but i know i have to get on crunches if i want to be more mobile.. i will continue training at the flat until i get more comfortable with them..
the day before yesterday we went with Serge to the swimming pool for the first time.. not such a nice new experience as i was expecting form the descriptions of other limb lenghteners.., it was very far away from our flat, the weather was bad, and after i had to change all the dressing of my scars..
the pain now is very manageable.. i don't need painkillers during the day for a long time now.. but i still use them at night except for a few nights that i didn't felt the need for them..
now, more than pain, what bothers me and Caribe is the feeling of constant compression of the legs as a result of the stretching of the muscles.. its hard to sleep with that feeling, you just feel like you need to move your legs all the time.. so the way i deal with this is: i do exercises (biking) to transform the feeling in pain, and then use painkillers to deal with the pain.. at least this worked for me a couple of nights.. :)

 
How in the earth don't Serge and dr Boldrini get along in peace and in harmony? Why one of us has to choose among one of them? Do they compete with each other to gain patients?!?...maybe I am misunderstanding somotehing...or not? :)

antoky!
thanks for support! we don't choose Serge or Isokinetic.. we are required to attend both, Isokinetic in the morning and Serge in the afternoon.. this is a new thing introduced by Dr. Guichet under the argument that Serge would complement the Isokinetic training with exercises more focused on recovering our mobility and autonomy..
my take on this is that Serge is very good and i love to workout with him.. he teaches a lot of useful things and make us do different exercises and and different things all the days.. Isokinetic is the same thing every day.. I just seat on the table and know what exercises i have to do, its the same every day with few variations..
the problem for me is that doing Isokinetic and Serge in the same day means to leave the flat at 8:50 in the morning, came back at lunch time, and arrive again in the flat at 20.00 in the afternoon.. we came back exhausted and with little time.. we are without helper, so we have a hard time to cook, do laundry, etc.. Serge is supposed to give us autonomy but what is happening is that we are less autonomous because  we don't have the time and energy to do anything at home..
my financial plan was not to have a helper every day of lengthening, it is just too expensive.. so i had to find a way of compromising.. i decided to go one day to Isokinetic (although is boring, they do things that Serge does not do, like electric stimulation of the muscles and massages) and another to Serge.. this is a very personal position.. Caribe does not agree and wants to follow Dr. Guichet recommendation.. the other patients are also going to Isokinetic and Serge in the same day.. i would do it also if i had a chance to do it.. unfortunately in my case i have to compromise.. but i feel i will be alright.. other patients in Marseille only with Serge and in Milano only with Isokinetic did very well.. there is no reason why i will not do well if i train a bit in the flat also..
i didn't actually share my position on this with Dr. Guichet.. i'm making excuses to not go to Serge every day..

well Caribe is awake.. i gonna borrow paracetamol from him, and try to sleep.. :)
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G-Man

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Re: Übermensch - Internal femurs - Dr Guichet 2014
« Reply #28 on: July 25, 2014, 07:42:00 PM »

Of course there are bumps in the process but dude!  You are 3.6cm taller! ;D
You must see a difference when you stand up?  Must feel cool!
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antoky

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Re: Übermensch - Internal femurs - Dr Guichet 2014
« Reply #29 on: July 26, 2014, 10:13:12 AM »

Thank you so much, Übermensch, for finding the time to answer us and to keep on with your great diary.

Dr Guichet is not answering my e-mails, since Saturday the 12th of July (i re-send it two days ago, just in case) I am wondering if he is doing like a picking-and-choosing thing among all the letters he continuously receives from all over the world: if this is the case, I would opt for dr Betz in the end.

We are all with you, dear friend!
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Übermensch

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Re: Übermensch - Internal femurs - Dr Guichet 2014
« Reply #30 on: July 30, 2014, 02:41:50 AM »

hi guys!
its 4:00 am in Milano.. this diary may have a slight negative outlook on limb lengthening, simply by the fact that i always write when i'm having a bad night.. this is just the case right now, although the nights since my last post were not so bad..
the reason i'm not sleeping is because i'm having a lot of pain in my left leg and the paracetamol is not working as usual.. i don't know how to explain the origin of this pain.. the left leg always had less flexibility and was easier to click... but from my last post it has became progressively harder to click.. nowadays it is actually more painful than my right leg that on contrary has become easier to click since my last post and now its painless although the movement is very ample..
the first moment i felt my left leg special painful was on the last weekend when i made some exercises of raising my left leg while standing on the side.. it became special sensitive to small touches.. like, in the weekend i was walking on crunches and because my legs are getting wider i accidentally hit the left crunch with my left leg and it was special painful.. today i received the reimbursement from the hospital and it was bigger than i expected..  i made a deposit of 4,5k eur for the operation, and they reimburse me 6,5eur so the surgery ended up costing me 42k eur instead of the 44k eur.. so i and Caribe decided to go to the restaurant for lunch to commemorate.. the stay in the restaurant was long and it was not good for my left leg.. when we came back, my left leg was in even worst condition.. then we had training with Serge in the afternoon.. my leg was hurting, it was raining a lot, so i was having second thoughts about training today.. but in the end i decided to go training.. in the training Serge wanted me to go to the elliptical machine like all the patients were doing.. i tried to get up in the machine but i got a special high pain on the left leg and a accidental click (the first accidental click since at least a week..) so i gave up.. Serge was skeptical about my pain but i manage to convince him that it was serious pain.. i just relaxed the rest of the session and didn't do anymore exercise..
Dr. Guichet stopped by at the gym with a new patient not operated yet and offered us a beer (???) after the training.. :)
i'm at 4,1 cm right now.. the new patient told me he was a few mm above 170..  i was noticeably taller that him.. :) i'm theoretically 171,1 cm tall right now..
whats concerning me now is that at any point from now i will probably need to reduce my clicking rate from 15 clicks a day to 12 clicks a day.. Caribe had a nerve compressed during the weekend because of the clicking and he started feeling the skin of the tibia a little strange.. a few clicking sessions after he started feeling pain on the thigh on the area were the nerve passes to go to the tibia.. he contacted Dr. Guichet and he was advised to start clicking only at 12 clicks a day.. so he is clicking at this new rate since Sunday.. and the pain has eased as a result..  i started also in the weekend feeling the strange sensation in the skin of the tibia.. fortunately it has not yet evolved to pain in the thigh.. so i'm still clicking at 15 clicks a day.. hopefully i will be able to click at 15 clicks a day for a few more days..

Of course there are bumps in the process but dude!  You are 3.6cm taller! ;D
You must see a difference when you stand up?  Must feel cool!

hi G-Man!
there are bumps in the process every day.. when you think you are a little better another problem shows up just to remind you that limb lengthening is one of the hardest things you can possibly do!!
for me now is still hard to see the difference.. the person with which i spend all day is also growing at exactly the same rate! :)
but i was impressed today about feeling taller than a guy of 170! :)

Dr Guichet is not answering my e-mails, since Saturday the 12th of July (i re-send it two days ago, just in case) I am wondering if he is doing like a picking-and-choosing thing among all the letters he continuously receives from all over the world: if this is the case, I would opt for dr Betz in the end.

hi antoky!
Dr. Guichet manages everything on his own.. he does not have a secretary in Milano.. this is not good as we notice that he sometimes forget about emails we already sent and ask us for the same exames several times even after we send him in the first time.. i think he has a lot of patients to manage at the same time.. so you should definitely send him a new email..
i also thought of him of a picker and chooser in the beginning but now looking at his patients i think he accepts most of people, but of course he will demand physical preparation..
about your choice i make my contribution by writing this diary.. now its your choice.. :)~

well because of this time in the computer or because of paracetamol i took before starting writing , my leg stopped hurting and i will try to sleep now! :)
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