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[Cthulhu]

Background
I did my tibia surgery in early 2019 in Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh, with a lengthen distance of 6.5 cm. Other than a mild case of ballerina feet, I did not experience any major complications. During the recovery phase, I was able to recover most of my daily functions (walking, running, jumping) albeit not in its original form and power.

Femur surgery
I began my surgery in late December. Both surgeries were similar, waking up feeling dazed with slight pain in one leg and numbness in the other. Couldn’t eat anything for the first day post surgery, as eating would always cause me to throw up, due to the medications. Also, I was bleeding a lot more on my femur. The doctor was considering a blood transfusion, but luckily didn’t go through with it, as my condition stabilized in the upcoming days.

10 days post op, i got to go back to the apartment to begin the lengthening process. The lengthening process consisted of using a hex key to turn a part of the frame, 90 degrees, 4 times a day, 4 hours apart.
From my experience LL on the femur is a lot more painful than tibia. A week into lengthening, I started to experience a numbing pain in my left leg, starting from my glutes, traveling all the way down to my toes. This would only occur when I lay down. I tried to find out what the cause was through an internet search. I found that it may be caused by two things: sciatic nerve damage and/or piriformis syndrome. Luckily it was piriformis syndrome, which occurs when the muscle around your glutes and hips weaken and compress on the sciatic nerve. I remedied this by doing abductor exercises with a band on my glutes and hips on a daily basis, and in a few days the pain began to subside.

About 3 months in, I finally reached my desired goal, which was 7 cm. After that, I went for frame removal and two weeks after frame removal I began my recovery phase.

Right now I am in my recovery phase and currently using a walker to move around. I made the mistake of focusing my work-out on my upper leg and neglecting my lower leg, so when I began to walk, I experienced severe tightness in my calf muscle. I haven’t experienced any major pain from walking. Most of the pain experienced is predominately in my feet, from walking too long.

In one week I will be flying back home. I hope to update my diary once I return home.

[GoaT]

Any update?

[Cthulhu]

Hi, sorry for the late post. I'm currently back at my home country. There hasn't been any pain or major complications so far. I'm still unable to bend my knee through its full range of motion. I'm hoping to fix it through gym work in the next few weeks.

Attached below is a photo of the frame and an x-ray of my femur pre-frame removal.

https://imgur.com/a/8LzUpMd

I will post my post-frame removal x-ray in a few days

[BeHappy]

Callous looks good!

[Zib]

Are you joking?

[Thekollecter]

How much was the femur surgery and tibia surgery and did you ge the femur surgery at the same location in Vietnam as you did tibia can you please tell me the surgeons name I want to go there

[Cthulhu]

How much was the femur surgery and tibia surgery and did you ge the femur surgery at the same location in Vietnam as you did tibia can you please tell me the surgeons name I want to go there

Hi, Yes, I did do both surgery at the same centre. The surgeon's name is Dr. Quynh. Communications are done with the director of the limb lengthening centre, through WhatsApp. If you would like more details, I can give you his WhatsApp contact.

[bingo888]

Are you joking?

why would he be joking? thats an xray immediately post frame removal and there is clear bridging of the two ends, this will harden with time

[Zib]

 

why would he be joking? thats an xray immediately post frame removal and there is clear bridging of the two ends, this will harden with time

Because I see no callus

[Thekollecter]

Can you give me the WhatsApp phone number and what was the price for femur lengthening and tibia lengthening each and why didn't you to go dr doan he's the most famous surgeon in Vietnam

[BeHappy]

Zib, that is how a good callous immediately after the frame removal is expected. There is a faint shadow connecting.
While, I am no expert at judging xrays so take this with a grain of salt. But, having been in this forum long enough it looks good to me.
Curious to hear what others have to say.

[bingo888]

Zib, that is how a good callous immediately after the frame removal is expected. There is a faint shadow connecting.
While, I am no expert at judging xrays so take this with a grain of salt. But, having been in this forum long enough it looks good to me.
Curious to hear what others have to say.

that is correct and nothing else to add really

the callous is basically like a soft dry bubble gum getting pulled so its normal for it to be barely visible at that stage

non union shows clear black space between the two bone ends so this is not the case here

[Cthulhu]

I will send you a PM

[Thekollecter]

Was both the surgeon external Lon for tibia and femur do they only do externals ? For both no internal ?

[Cthulhu]

Yes, They only do external. If you can accept the scares then proceed with externals.

[Thekollecter]

What's the name of the surgeon that does your surgery

[Mocrovich]

Hi, Yes, I did do both surgery at the same centre. The surgeon's name is Dr. Quynh. Communications are done with the director of the limb lengthening centre, through WhatsApp. If you would like more details, I can give you his WhatsApp contact.

Approximate price range?

[Cthulhu]

Hi all, just giving an update. I'm still in recovery, walking around the house without crutches but walking outside with crutches.

The daily struggles so far are: getting out of bed, getting in out of the car, pretty much an activity that requires me to bend down low. My knees and hips sometimes click. I've been told its not a major concern unless it causes pain.

attached below are my x-ray before I left Vietnam to go back home.

I'm a bit concern about the callus formation on my right leg on the lateral side, there seems to be weak callus formation, not completely connecting.

https://imgur.com/a/ArkV8W4

I want to go an X-ray at the end of the month, I wonder what do people tell their doctors ? For my tibia, I went one year later, when the callus fully formed, so I told him I just broke my leg in a bike crash. But since the callus is not fully formed in my femur, I don't think he will believe it was a break from an accident. Do people just say they had cosmetic limb lengthening surgery?

[Cthulhu]

Approximate price range?

Hi, approximate price range is: 19-20k

[Thekollecter]

Why didn't you lengthen more on tibia or femur ? Is that all your body could handle

[Cthulhu]

Why didn't you lengthen more on tibia or femur ? Is that all your body could handle

Hi, there are important factors to consider when determining lengthened amount:

- complications: Each doctor will give you a recommended lengthen amount, I believe its about 15% - 20% of the total lengthen of the bone you're lengthening; some won't allow you to go over that amount. With each increase in distance, there is an increase risk of compilations, e.g. nerve damage. I surveyed the forum and went with the general consensus of safest amount at that time, which was 6.5cm max for tibia and 7cm for femur.

- Recovery: The lengthened amount will also contribute to recovery, that is, how long it will take you to recover normal functions again, i.e. the longer the distance the longer the recovery period.

- Mobility and functionality: lengthen amount will also impact your strength, power, mobility, and flexibility. Prior to these surgeries, I lived an active lifestyle, i.e. played a lot of sports. I plan to continue doing these activities throughout the rest of my life. If I were to lengthen further, I fear I would not be able to participate in these activities. Of course this is based on your lifestyle. If you're not an active person, then this may not matter as much.

[Bagga]

Hi, there are important factors to consider when determining lengthened amount:

- complications: Each doctor will give you a recommended lengthen amount, I believe its about 15% - 20% of the total lengthen of the bone you're lengthening; some won't allow you to go over that amount. With each increase in distance, there is an increase risk of compilations, e.g. nerve damage. I surveyed the forum and went with the general consensus of safest amount at that time, which was 6.5cm max for tibia and 7cm for femur.

- Recovery: The lengthened amount will also contribute to recovery, that is, how long it will take you to recover normal functions again, i.e. the longer the distance the longer the recovery period.

- Mobility and functionality: lengthen amount will also impact your strength, power, mobility, and flexibility. Prior to these surgeries, I lived an active lifestyle, i.e. played a lot of sports. I plan to continue doing these activities throughout the rest of my life. If I were to lengthen further, I fear I would not be able to participate in these activities. Of course this is based on your lifestyle. If you're not an active person, then this may not matter as much.

Were you doing Internal or External for Femur and Tibias?

[our time]

Were you doing Internal or External for Femur and Tibias?

The LON method is external with an internal support nail.

[Thekollecter]

Could you feel like if you wanted to lengthen more you could? Could your body handle it if you wanted to do more ?

[Cthulhu]

Could you feel like if you wanted to lengthen more you could? Could your body handle it if you wanted to do more ?

Yes, I could lengthen more. Wanting to push it further was always on my mind, but I think for my mental and physical health I had to stop at a safe point. Further, athletic ability is important to me, therefore, I did not want to go through with the risk.

Also, I forgot to mention about proportion. If you lengthened too much in both segments, it will change your proportions, i.e. you will have longer looking legs and shorter looking arms. generally speaking, a males reach tends to be longer than their height, so if you were to inverse it, you might not achieve a natural appearance. Of course this is a personal choice, it may matter to some but not others.

[Thekollecter]

Do you have any complications today and do you think you will be fine in the future

[Cthulhu]

Do you have any complications today and do you think you will be fine in the future

I don't know yet, I'm still very restricted in my knees and hips. My primary concern right now is callus formation. I'm waiting till the end of the month to get an x-ray.

[Cthulhu]

As requested, these are the scars from both surgeries.

https://imgur.com/a/G95teux

[Torbjorn]

The scars on the tibia looks very minimal. Don't you have an incision close to the knee cap? If yes would you mind showing us there too?

Another few questions:
- how much did you lentghen each segment?
- how much time between the scar picture and the surgery?
- can you describe pain regarding tibia, after surgery and also when trying to put weight on it?

Thanks a lot!

[Thekollecter]

This hip restriction and knee refriction is this after the second surgery if you didn't get the second surgery your knee friction and hip restriction would be gone already and why didn't you get scar revision from the doctor at the vietnam place I heard they do scar revision

[MOMOV]

me too plz