Hospital stay is 2200 rubles/day (55$) with one-bed room. You can stay in 5-bed room with everyone else, it's much cheaper. Plus, you only have to stay in hospital for one-two weeks after the surgery, you can then leave and rent an appartment, that will also be cheaper.
I'll start a diary on my second cross-lateral surgery, there's just nothing to write atm, as I'm consolidating.
Like I always said, external femurs are very uncomfortable, right after the surgery your ROM goes down by 90 degrees, as you can't bend your knee due to the pins going through your muscles. And it gets worse while lengthening and doesn't get much better until you remove the fixators. Sitting is also a trouble. Sleeping is hard. So I'd suggest doing LON femurs, so you'll only have to take it for 2-3 months of lengthening.
If I were to start from scratch and wanted to lengthen both of my lower leg segments, I'd get internal femurs and right after I'm done with distraction, do external tibias. But if you don't have the money for internals, you can do LON bilateral femurs instead. Keep in mind that bilateral femurs is twice as hard and uncomfortable, but you should be OK after you lengthen and remove the fixators.