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[Overdozer]

how much did you pay for the surgery and the cost for hospital stay? 

plus how is your knee movement?

Did you do external femur only or LON?

The surgery was around 3000$ with externals and 10-day hospital stay included. Keep in mind they might have different prices for international patients.

I can straight my knees easy, but I can't bend much - it goes always with femur externals. You can't bend your knee right after the surgery and it gets worse the more you lengthen. But it recovers to full motion in 1-2 month after you remove the frames.

I did only external.

This is actually interesting with external femurs. There are very few diaries on this so why don't you start one Exclide?

How many centimeters are you aiming for?

How is the alignment of your hip, knees and feet?

Can you walk with the frames?

Are you doing both legs at the same time or just one?

What is the worse pain with external femurs?

Good luck, hope for the best!

I'm consolidating atm, not much to write to be honest.

I did 7.5-8 cm on fems and 7.5-8 on tibs, I'm now waiting till I consolidate and have the second surgery.

Not sure what do you mean by alignment, I noticed nothing change. (I had a little varus that was corrected, they're now straight, with a little varus I left intentionally on both)

Yes, I can walk with the frames unaided.

I didn't have much pain even with the increased lengthening speed, my muscles hurt as whole from stretching, but it had nothing to do with externals.

[GeTs]

How big are the frames?

[Overdozer]

How big are the frames?

Rather big they're, there's picture on the first page of this thread.

Btw, lengthening femurs simultaneously with externals is a HELL! That's why I'm doing cross-lateral.

[GeTs]

Do u know if is it possible to use smaller ones?for tibias obv

[Overdozer]

Do u know if is it possible to use smaller ones?

I don't know probably so, you should ask the Dr., I guess if he creates smaller frame composition that also doesn't go up your ass, you may lengthen both femurs at the same time easily.

[tx1111]

That's where I'm lengthening. He's working closely with my doc.

Hello exclide.  I have a few questions

Who is your doc and why did you choose him.

It says somewhere that staying at the hospital costs about 60usd a day. Is the like a cheaper monthly rate?  60usd per night = 1800 usd a month.

The surgery is cheap but the hospital stay will drain your pockets.

Do you know if it is possible to get your own apartment and still be able to go and be seen if you have complications? If yes, is finding an aprtment easy? i know st petersburg might be really expensive but something a little bit farther away, but is it doable and convenient for someone who will most likely have trouble walking?

Thanks

[Overdozer]

Hello exclide.  I have a few questions

Who is your doc and why did you choose him.

It says somewhere that staying at the hospital costs about 60usd a day. Is the like a cheaper monthly rate?  60usd per night = 1800 usd a month.

The surgery is cheap but the hospital stay will drain your pockets.

Do you know if it is possible to get your own apartment and still be able to go and be seen if you have complications? If yes, is finding an aprtment easy? i know st petersburg might be really expensive but something a little bit farther away, but is it doable and convenient for someone who will most likely have trouble walking?

Thanks

Dr. Kulesh it is, you probably haven't heard of him. He's rather popular here in Russia for cosmetic LL and experienced, that's why. 60$ is for one-bed room. I think it's like twice as cheap if you go with six beds, not sure. And of course you can rent an apartament, not sure if you'll be able to find something for a good price that is close to the clinic though, you probably want to discuss this with the Dr. And yes it's possible, they let you go home, if you want.

[Dingo]

Does he do internals? Or considering doing it in the near future?

[Overdozer]

Does he do internals? Or considering doing it in the near future?

The internal lengthening devices cost too much for our patients to afford and that's why they aren't widely used in Russia - that's how he explained it.

[Taller]

It's interesting and encouraging that you report your pain as contestant but manageable, exilde. Everyone else that I've talked to, who did external femurs (although there aren't many such people on the forums, so small sample size) reported that external femoral lengthening caused excruciating pain for nearly the whole duration of lengthening.

On another note, how bad/deep are the scars of other patients who have lengthened their femurs with your doctor and had their frames removed? Do you know if anyone has been successful on completely or almost completely removing their scars? My understanding is that the scars from external femurs are worse and deeper than those from external tibiae, and much harder to remove through scar removal surgery. Often, silicone must be injected into the scar from what I've read.

How is the PT there?

Can you walk or stand with the frames?


How long do you expect to wear frames for the ~8CM you did on your femurs? Do you know the typical consolidation rate per CM using external femurs?

Do the pins go through any muscles, or can key muscle groups be avoided?

How is the athletic recovery of past patients for this doctor who you've seen, met, or heard of?


I wish you the very best of luck with your lengthening, and hope that your new height helps you live you a very nice life. I perosnally live most of my daily life at 183CM with the aid of shoe lifts, and can say that I feel very, very comfortable in most social environments when I am that height. I've never felt short or small at 183 and hope that you'll feel the same.

[Dingo]

The internal lengthening devices cost too much for our patients to afford and that's why they aren't widely used in Russia - that's how he explained it.

But would he use them on patients who can afford the internal nails?

It just seems that his surgery and hospital stay prices are really competitive and I wouldn't mind adding the cost of Precice nails to that.

If my calculations are not too off, one could get Precice for around 40k USD:

Nails (25,000*) + stay for 90 days in 6 person ward (90 x 30 = 2,700) + surgery (1,500 ??) = 29,200 USD

*On Dr Lyall Ashberg's page he states that each Precice nail costs 130,000 ZAR which is aproximately 12,500 USD, so it would be more like 25,000 for both Precice nails.

[Overdozer]

reported that external femoral lengthening caused excruciating pain for nearly the whole duration of lengthening.

That makes no sense to me. My pin sites never really hurt, it was general pain from legnthening and I actually didn't have any pain at all at the start (expect first 3-4 days after surgery), when I was lengthening at a smaller rate.

On another note, how bad/deep are the scars of other patients who have lengthened their femurs with your doctor and had their frames removed?

Can't comment much on this one, his patients mostly do tibias for obvious reasons. Personally, I don't care about the scars.

How is the PT there?

Can you walk or stand with the frames?

PT is not there, lol, well it is, but it's pretty poor. You have to take care of it yourself. Of course I can walk and stand with the frames, externals can weight bear a lot and I weight like nothing.

How long do you expect to wear frames for the ~8CM you did on your femurs? Do you know the typical consolidation rate per CM using external femurs?

Well different sources have different opinions. I know western Drs. say you need at least 1 month for every cm lengthened. It's different at Ilizarov's centre with 2 month for 5cm and a month for every cm extra. I had a faster than usual consolidation rate, so it's been estimated for me to wear the frames for 2 months. Not sure about that though, I'll see soon.

Do the pins go through any muscles, or can key muscle groups be avoided?

Yes it goes through vastus lateralis muscle I think, yea that's for sure. Most likely.

How is the athletic recovery of past patients for this doctor who you've seen, met, or heard of?

[Overdozer]

But would he use them on patients who can afford the internal nails?

You should ask him, if you think it's a good idea.

[PrettyTall]

how about external tibia , I plan to do  the surgery and go back home how much will that cost me ?

[Greek-Semidget]

Wow exclude that's great.If there are small frames for femurs I will definately go for them. Cause I am 5'8 have 42cm tibia and 47-48 femurs which is pretty small so with 3 inches on femurs I wil look pretty good.

[Taller]

If Dr. Solomin has done external femur lengthening many times, each time ensuring proper alignment and physical recovery, then he could be the long sought after cheap but reliable femur option that CLL'ers have been trying to find for years now. However, I'd be a bit worried about my femurs looking like this afterwards:



The fact that Dr. Solomin fixates the fibula on both ends in cases of tibial lengthening seems to suggest that he is a very competent doctor.

[Overdozer]

I'd be a bit worried about my femurs looking like this afterwards:

The pin site scars will always be there (and they may also tear). But the surgery cut scars they're very small, unlike the ones on the pic (if they're surgery cuts, not sure).

[Taller]

You're right. It's part the price to pay for getting cheap external femurs, I suppose. Femur scars will almost certainly be deeper and worse than tibia scars, I presume, due to the femur's thickness and amount of soft tissue. I do wonder if the pin site scars can be removed surgically, though.

When do you get your femoral frame removed, Exilde?

[PrettyTall]

If Dr. Solomin has done external femur lengthening many times, each time ensuring proper alignment and physical recovery, then he could be the long sought after cheap but reliable femur option that CLL'ers have been trying to find for years now. However, I'd be a bit worried about my femurs looking like this afterwards:



The fact that Dr. Solomin fixates the fibula on both ends in cases of tibial lengthening seems to suggest that he is a very competent doctor.

this is tibia righ ?  I think if the the leg is skiny the scars cant be seen especially if a hairy leg

[Taller]

How long, generally speaking, would it take to do cross lengthening for a 4CM gain on the tibiae and a 4CM gain on the femurs?

[Overdozer]

How long, generally speaking, would it take to do cross lengthening for a 4CM gain on the tibiae and a 4CM gain on the femurs?

Just externals with no rods? Take a look

Mean age is 30 in the study. You should expect to consolidate faster if you're younger. So that's 37 days for a cm. 148 days for first stage, then you'll need 1-2 month of PT to restore ROM and for general rehab and repeat...

If you do LON, you can lengthen 4 cm in a month, take the externals off, repeat, you'll be done in 2 months. FML, why didn't I go with LON? This crap takes forever to heal OMG

[Taller]

That sounds quite tantalizing, and I'm sure my proportions would look completely fine (at least to ~99.99% of people) after 4+4CM. However, I wouldn't do LON on my tibiae because of the high chance of knee pain. I do wonder how feasible LON on the femurs is, though. If it's doable, it would be very nice.

[crimsontide]

id do femurs if i can get lon on femurs and be done in 2 months


can't believe I'm saying this...

[Taller]

I wonder if it's possible to do LON or LATN Ilizarov femurs, and still lengthen along the mechanical axis. I suspect that the IM nail used in LON would limit you to only being able to lengthen along the anatomical axis, though. For LATN, it may still be possible to lengthen along the mechanical axis (and insert the nail along the mechanical axis upon completion of lengthening), but it would be nice if someone with more expertise than me could shed light on this.

[Moubgf]

Lon for tibia ofcourse, there is no other way except internal method but only rich people can have that. So lon for tibia and then remove the rod after consolidation is complete will end the problems i hope.

[RobinKing44]

Okay so if you are going to increase your height by 15cm is it better to go for LON or external?

[Medium Drink Of Water]

Okay so if you are going to increase your height by 15cm is it better to go for LON or external?

You might do what Jungle did and do external-only tibiae first, and while they're consolidating do LON femurs.

[GROWtalORdieTRYING1]

external-only tibiae first, and while they're consolidating do LON femurs

bingo that is the correct method to use.

that would prevent all the risk concerning the patella tendon

that is the method I intend to use

[RobinKing44]

okay so 7.5cm on tibia with external and 7.5cm on fib with lon which will probably cost how much overall?
And what do I do now to make this happen? do i get my passport ready,build up some cash, call the doctor,etc?

[Sweden]

okay so 7.5cm on tibia with external and 7.5cm on fib with lon which will probably cost how much overall?
And what do I do now to make this happen? do i get my passport ready,build up some cash, call the doctor,etc?

You'll regret it for the rest of your life!
No question about it.

LON in femurs puts an insanely large stress to the knees. It will take years to recover from doing 15cm like that.

[GROWtalORdieTRYING1]

sweden, where are your sources for LON for femurs causing unimaginable stress on the knees?

full external for femurs(not LON, just external) would cause a massive probability in contracture. full external femur is a very bad idea.

it has to be LON or full internal for femur.