Why I am writing this:- If there is someone out there looking for some positive experience, maybe this story might help (or maybe it may make you feel worse, idk). I try to be as unbiased as I can so you can get how you would feel when you decide to do surgery. Cause I know for a fact that there are many patients who are with Dr. Sarin and are deciding to choose Dr. Sarin even though they are scared. I do not promote anyone to choose Dr. Sarin but if someone out there like me who needs to see a glimpse of what it was like - is seeking that one positive review - finds this. Doing surgery with Dr. Sarin is up to you. That's not my decision. But you should know what you are getting yourself into. The doctors warn you of everything and if all goes wrong, you need to be strong and not blame the doctors. Most patients recover well, some leave happy while the other half who has complications start posting negative reviews. Maybe if I had complications, I might have too (who the hell knows)...
"But I got myself into this," that's how I would console myself.
My Story:-I've been short my whole life. I never realized it until I was 17. Being short sucks. I remember searching for ways to get taller, looking at different medications—only to find out there are none.
I remember seeing Dr. Amar Sarin in the forum in 2016. Fast forward 7 years later, I have met him and am now taller!
I can recall people in this forum who had mixed reviews about him. Mostly negative, while some positive. I didn’t know whether or not to go to him. But my research proved he is in fact "knowledgeable". He was the only student doctor to have met Ilizarov and train under his wing.
But I didn't want to take a chance since reviews were mostly negative.
But now I did go to him and I am 5’9 now. I am happy! And my life has been refreshing. Having to walk in public, shopping in supermarkets, meeting people: it has all been easy and now I am racked with confidence.
Now that my life is normal, I thought to myself whether or not to come back to this forum, after all this is where it all started. I should end it here as well!
Flight to India:-I flew to India and came back with two rods in my leg; entered India 5’6 and left India 5’9. I think I should be grateful! There were moments where I questioned my life. There were moments in rehab where I thought I might never be the same again. I remember thinking, I might die pre-surgery—while waiting in the surgery room before the operation. The amount of medical nurses looking at me strangely in OT, all made me question whether I was making the right choice, even whether I would die. I am hoping this would help some as crazy as me to take away something from this experience.
Most people said even after gaining 3 inches, they aren’t that much happier. But for me I really am happy, perhaps the reason being that I am 5’9 now. Most patients who come to Sarin are very short (5’1) and have no money at all. Since I am 5’9 which is very good, I am super happy.
The reason why I write today is—while I spent 4 months in rehab- I was reading through every review on Amar Sarin. And they were all negative. And they seem all mostly true, cause I have seen my other fellow patients in rehab. But the ones who have positive experiences never write their reviews I guess. It’s usually the patients who are mad at the doctors who come here. This place is for those people. I understand that.
But I remember reading through here and thinking "man...where are all the positive reviews... did no one make it through and never had anything good to say?". That’s why I write today! Cause I saw all the negative reviews and still did the surgery. Cause being short is already tough enough, on top of that finding a doctor is hard—in my case, I needed a doctor who has the most experience but the lowest charge. That would be Dr. Sarin.
But his reviews were mixed. And I can see why, if the surgery is affordable, of course there would be a lot of patients. Years back when I was reading through here, hoping I would find some positive reviews which I did that made me do this surgery with him. I was actually looking for a reason to do this surgery with him, because he was affordable. But the negative reviews turned me down but the positive reviews sometimes confused me. And I was willing to take the gamble.
I do not recommend any doctor that has mixed reviews, but for those who are like me who can’t afford a “Dr. Paley” who charges 150,000 to 300,000 dollars, Dr. Sarin is a gift. But with that said, I was ready for the consequences, I was ready to risk it all coming to India. I just hated being short!
I write here, my entire experience with India as a whole! I leave behind a part of me in India. I am hoping that this story would help someone make a proper decision. Because, seeing negative reviews could be hard for anybody when that’s the doctor who is the most affordable. I hope to help anyone who is confused on whether or not to pick him.
Picking Dr. Sarin is up to you. I met patients in rehab who regret making that decision, while the other half who are happy with what they got. Most patients when they come in aren't prepared at all and completely disregard the consequences. You should be aware of what you are getting yourself into. I came in prepared to die, lmao, that's the gamble that I was willing to take. If I had 300,000 sure I would pick Paley, but I don't have that. I was ready to accept myself even if it goes wrong, I won't point my finger onto the doctor.
I had mostly good experiences and some were bad! Since I am from outside India, I knew there would be a lot I have to handle and sacrifice. I remember landing in the airport, during COVID-19. The airport was busy, the crowd running back and forth. I look around, people rushing like there is never tomorrow, their faces masked to protect them from each other. I was 5’6. I got outside of the airport, waiting and hoping for the staff who promised to pick me up. His name was Sanju. I get a call from the physiotherapist Shareeq.
“I have sent Sanju’s number, he will call you right now!”
I answer promptly and hang up. My heart's beating a lot, cause my sister told me to be careful in Delhi. My family never knew I was here for leg surgery. I told them I am traveling. A minute passes by, I get no calls. I am worried but still hopeful. After all, I came prepared. My always keep my expectations as low as I can to be realistic. A minute later a random cab driver comes up to me and tries to persuade me into getting into his cab. He was trying his best to get my business but I calmly say no.
As 10-15 minutes pass by, I get a call from Sanju. He said he will be 30 mins late but took 1 and half hour to get there. But my expectations were low, so I wasn’t dissatisfied.
FIRST DAY!!All the way to the car, he asked a lot about me. He said I can do up to 7.5 cm which is safe but has risks. Up to 6.5 is very safe according to him. But I wanted to go to 9 cm in tibias which is stupid. Although I met people who did 9 who were completely fine. Two hours later, we reached Gurgaon in Haryana. It was midnight. Around 1 AM. We are at the rehab. The desk receptionist fast asleep. Sanju ringing his phone hoping he would wake up. But to my surprise, I see a height lengthening patient come up to us to unlock the door. He came riding in a chair, and then prepared himself to stand up to unlock the latch of the door.
I was awkward, suddenly the receptionist was most awake. They all come to talk to me, the receptionist asks for couple of identifications from me. I give me my passport and I finally get to my personal room. This is where I would be spending the next 3-4 months. Maybe 6-9 months if I have severe complications. I always came prepared after all. It was a scary moment in my life. All by myself.
I remember Sanju, trying to explain everything to me in English. He looked innocent. I trust him. I ask him if he could buy me a toothbrush which he did that night even though it was midnight. He said go to sleep asap, I would meet the physiotherapist and the doctor tomorrow.
But I was ready to eat some french fries, lmao. I picked up the phone and ordered french fries late night. A guy comes in with french fries, I thank him, have my fries and chill for a bit.
Throughout the next 4 months, I used to question my life. That's part of every patient over there. Its common. We might be of different skin, different nationality and divided by different languages but questioning your life is what we have in common.
The next day, I meet the Shareeq who showed me around, and made me meet all the other patients. I met 7-8. After which I said I don’t want to meet anyone else. I met a guy who has done cross lengthening who has come back to remove both his rods. I asked him the most questions. He was quite calm, answered everything. He was the one who helped me the most reassuring me that everything would be fine at the end.
At the end of the day, roughly at 6 pm I meet Dr. Sarin. He doesn’t talk a lot, his psychologist was right by him. I walk into his office, it’s at the basement floor of the rehab. As soon as I walk in, I see the face of the doctor who I have been waiting to meet for a long time. I was all excited. He is at his office desk, he is on a phone call but he nods me in to take a seat. His psychologist sitting right next to me: to make her seem less threatening and less like an interrogation. The doctor hangs up the phone and says “talk! Why do you want to do the surgery?” He points at the psychologist and tells me that the psychologist has also done the surgery and to not worry about her being there.
I don’t know if she has done the surgery. I thought that might be a way he makes all the patients less ashamed of her being there. The psychologist smiles! I answer all the questions. He said be ready tomorrow and asked me if it's okay to contact my father if the surgery goes wrong. That was the point in my life, where I contemplated about my death. Holy , I could die? But I said yes. I walk back to my room. They take my blood for some pre-check up. My x-rays are all set. I am ready for the surgery.
I remember walking back to the room, climbing the stairs: knowing this would be the last time I would be climbing the stairs in a very long time.
THE SURGERY DAY:-I wake up, I am not allowed to drink any water or food for the past 12 hours (requirement for surgery). Sanju comes in and asks me to get dressed, he was in a hurry. "The Uber is almost here! Hurry!" he said. I get dressed in just 1 minute. But all I could think of is my legs. Holy ! This could be the very last time I might be able to walk! Could this be my last walk in my life? Thoughts came rushing in. I had plenty. I tried to convince myself of all the patients I met the previous day. For some reason that helped. If they can do it, so can I. The cab is here, I walk down the stairs to the ground floor. I get into the cab, there is one more patient who is with me for his frame removal. The cab driver was scared as hell not knowing what the fk this is. The cab driver kept asking the patient who has the frames, if he was okay. After 1 hour drive, we reach the hospital. 1 hour more for all the paperwork. I was ashamed, as each nurse who is filling out the form is giving me the face (as if I am crazy to do this surgery- which I am! Lol).
I kept thinking about what the doctor said the other day. If all goes wrong, him calling my dad - telling him I am dead! Not what I want my dad to hear. But hey, that's life. I came in prepared, REMEMBER
The hospital room was cozy, pretty nice! Much better than the rehab, but I preferred going back to the rehab -- to be as far away from the hospital. Cause there are a lot of people constantly looking at you crazy! In rehab, everyone is very understanding. Plus I get to constantly talk to different patients who are also from outside India. Rehab is far better. But for some people rehab is scary as well. I met a patient who told me, he wants to remain in the hospital since the rooms were much better. For me the opposite, I wanted to get done with the surgery as fast as I can and go back to rehab and start my recovery. I wanted as far away from the hospital till I need my frames to be removed.
The nurses come in, ask me to slip into the surgery scrubs. I got nked and got into the scrubs. I had to wait another one hour in my deluxe room. The more they make me wait, the more worse I tend to think!
Every minute going by, is scary. You think the worst!!!
Time was roughly 12 pm, I was getting angry since it's been close to 3 hours. However, Sanju kept his smile and remained calm. I kept asking if I would be asleep during the whole surgery, I said "No, sometimes you would be awake!" and started laughing! I was worried, I don't want to be awake. But wtf, who gives a fk! Let's do this thing and get it over with.
The time has come, the head nurse comes in. Looks at me and says get into the rolling bed (I don't what to call that thing). Everything just felt like part of a movie. I was rolled away into the surgery room like in the old-fashioned movies, where the patient is on the rolling bed. I was staring at each ceiling light as we drive by one light at a time. TIME HAS COME!
I could hear the nurses screaming at each other, laughing and talking about their day. For some reason I wish I was one of them. I don't want to be in this bed, I wish I had a normal life. I thought a lot about the life I could have had if I was normal (taller) while laying in the rolling bed, staring into the ceiling. The ceiling lights were my friend for the next 45 minutes as well.
As the next 45 minutes passed, a 6'1" tall nurse came to say hello!
"You want to be taller!" he smiled.
"Yes" I replied nervously.
He stood there staring at me with a pleasant smile. Trust me I know its cringe, but I still think of that guy, he was nice! I was there for 2-3 hours and no one came to talk to me except him, and I could see that he was not judgmental. He just wanted me to be okay!
"The doctor will be a team of 3-5" he said again with a smile. The well educated anesthesiologist came in to say hello. You could tell she was educated from her accent. She was roughly around her mid-40s. Gave me an overview of how long it would take. Should take around 1 hour for each leg, and 45 mins to clean up. That would be a total of around 3 hours roughly. The tall 6ft nurse smiled and said "Let's go!" For some reason, he made me happy lol. Finally someone friendly I guess. He pushed my rolling bed into the door that says, NO TRESPASSING. I knew my time has come. I could see different surgery rooms, as I pass by. I enter one within the next couple of seconds. It's just like you see in the movies, I could hear the "beep...., beep...., beep...".
Everything happened so fast, I got pushed into the surgery bed, you know that the one that you see in the movies. Next thing you know, I am bent over and they struck a needle into my spine while I am bent backwards. For some this is the most painful thing in the surgery (even though you are not in surgery at all right now! This is just the beginning!). But I was fine. It felt painful, but I could take it!
The tall nurse left, he looked at me for one last time while smiling.... "Good luck" he said and gave me a thumbs up! What a nice guy. Finally some hospitality around here...
Few things to be prepared for here: 1.) You have every reason for you to be scared
2.) Know that nurses are used to seeing height lengthening patients all the time (So you are just one of them)
3.) The anesthesia (epidural) is extremely painful for all patients (except for a few like me). So be prepared for it...
4.) Pray... I am not religious but damn I did pray for the first time to God inside the surgery room... Anything could happen in Surgery Room.
5.) I was all alone, if you could have someone with you ...even better! I know people who came in with their girlfriends or sometimes even with their parents (I didn't want them to find out)
6.) To make you happy, and have a glimpse of hope, all it takes it is one person (in my case that male nurse with a smile). So seriously if you could have someone like your girlfriend/parents with you, it would be helpful, since it's tough to go to surgery all by yourself.
7.) TRY TO LEARN SOMETHING FOR THE 3-4 MONTHS you are there, to distract yourself....
8.) If you have Pain, try to avoid Painkillers until for the last two weeks. Saving the painkillers for the last two weeks is useful since that's when the body starts being more uncomfortable..(Plus the body would increase pain tolerance if you take them all the time...Avoid them until you can't take the pain anymore...)
This message is for the people who decide to do surgery with Dr. Sarin. The surgery is complicated, the things you should know:-- Non Vegetarians RECOVER faster. Vegetarians take time to recover, while non-vegetarians recover faster (twice as fast).
Most people who decide to do the surgery who are non-vegetarians recover twice as fast as anyone else. While patients from Delhi who are vegetarians take around 5 months to start walking.
Shareeq showed me 4 wild motherfkers who recovered faster (in less than 3 months they were walking) since they are non-vegetarians. They have great omega-3 since they eat a lot of fish. But most people who do the surgery are Indians who are vegetarians and are weak since they don't have omega-3, which is what promotes elasticity, takes a long time to recover.
Meat from animals promotes a healthy diet, animal protein is essential for muscle elasticity and calcium strengthening. All my friends who are vegetarians have broken bones at some point. Because their bone density and strength is so low. That's what the doctors usually say to them. One of my friends who is a vegetarian just fell down and broke his bones when he was 16 in high school which is horrible.
Bone density and muscle elasticity really matter if you want to push above 5 cm.
Most vegetarians can't go above 5-6cm. It's too painful for them. On the other hand, people from South India, particularly from the state Kerala who eat beef and fish tend to push for 8cm to 9cm. And what's surprising is they recover within just 3 months. It's amazing how diet plays an important role.
Plant protein from soy isn't healthy at all according to Shareeq. And the patients evidently showcase what he speaks. I met 4 south Indians, 3 of them from Kerala, 1 from Tamil Nadu, all of them pushed above 7.5cm, one guy made 8.5 cm, another made 7.5 cm and decided he got bored and just wants to recover, another one pushed 7 cm. And the girl from Tamil Nadu pushed 8.5 cm.
Keep in mind, most patients who come there are confident they can push above 7 cm but only healthy ones do. If you are a vegetarian, go for 6 and then see how you are doing. Some vegetarians have good genetics still, which could help, I met a vegetarian who pushed 7.5 easily while the others struggled to go above 6 because it was too painful.
I should tell you that this vegetarian, when he was 14 started eating chicken. Maybe that had helped him, I don't know. So technically he isn't that much of a vegetarian.
Omega-3, animal protein will determine how fast your recovery would take.
-- YOUR WORST ENEMY IS TIME
Most people are frustrated after 3 months. They just want the frame off their legs and go back home. Because Everyday is the same, it becomes quite the same and repetitive and boring...
The guy from Kerala who has done 7.5 cm never did any exercises but did well over 7.5 could have easily pushed 8 or even 8.5 but he got bored and said lets get these off so he can go home.
You need to keep yourself occupied, the room has a TV but is too small. Some buy or RENT a big TV. I use to play videogame with other patients who had who rented TVs. They are pretty cheap since its India.
They also bought a couple of TVs that the renters offered with a 50% OFF
Bottomline, Keep yourselves occupied.
-- Your MIND dictates your course and Your BODY dictates your faith.Most people who get complications have poor genetics, but with that said the medical team should provide resolution. They offer free treatments for these complications, which they take and recover but patients are annoyed they lost a lot of time in life. They lost 8-9 months of their life, might have to undergo more surgeries which are annoying etc. But you get those for free...
So be prepared for complications, but no that it can be solved if you decide to stay. Some people just leave without staying there because they lost trust.
Your Mind should be strong, everyone can give up at any moment. You never know, this is a war between you and your mind to see how long you can go...I stayed there for 3 months, for lengthening, one month for recovery and came back strong. My mind was strong! Not too shabby.... But at the end of the day, my mind means nothing, if My body is unhealthy and unfit....(Good genetics which I am lucky, and Good Diet of Animal Protein sure came into reality for my recovery...). I saw dancers and athletes recover miraculously fast. Three guys one was a dancer, other two were kick boxer, one had undergone cross-lengthening recovered much faster.
Scary part is you won't never know if you have good genetics until you actually go to the lengthening phase. If you have pain after 4-5 cm, you have no elasticity to go past 6cm. I did 7.5 cm and had no pain at all. But got so bored, and needed stop! so did my friend from Kerala, who also stopped at 7.5 cm .
--FRIENDS in your rehab control your emotionsIf they are happy, you are happy....Have a great environment. Notice that my friend from Kerala got so bored at 7.5 cm that he decided to stop, is exactly when I also decided to stop. If he decided to go to 8 cm, I would have too.... Friends control your pace and help you go through it together. We were also competitive...It was kind of fun to see who would reach 7.5 the fastest, luckily we both got 7.5 within days apart and removed the rods and recovered together.
Push away people who are having complications. They tend to speak negatively, and therefore can negatively affect you even when you have no complications at all...
-- 10% patients have ZERO PAIN, 50% have mild pain, 30% has complications, the remaining 10% patients have severe complications(8-25 months to recover )I had probably met around 20-30 patients through the entire 4 months of stay. Half of them were Patients undergoing surgery, while the other half are people coming back after two years to remove the rods.
People who come back to remove the rods are the happiest, since they already went through the worst before. Removing rod is also painful for some, but that only lasts one Whole day. After that, viola....you are back to normal....
The other half of the patients like me going lengthening phase were depressed. I was happy though, I had no pain, but when someone else asks me If I had pain like they do... I usually say YES just to make them feel okay. Cause they look so sad.
With that said, there are a ton of drama, between patients, between patients and medical staff, with janitors, between janitors, between patients and the doctor. One of the constant complaints from patients who have pain is that the doctor never comes to visit them. But I was okay with this, since First off, I had no pain, secondly, I don't think I need the doctor, the physiotherapist Shareeq is enough. He knows everything, I don't think I need the doctor since there is nothing the doctor can really do.... You are in pain cause you have these frames on.. deal with it!!!!
-- THE STAFF is not perfect but try to be friendly and TREAT them well and they will TREAT you well...Most people in Delhi treat staff very harshly. My mantra is, YOU GET WHAT YOU GIVE. So I treat them well, even when they are not perfect. They are just regular working class people, They mean no harm to you, but can become quite annoying on how they behave. But Forgive them, don't act like a pig-- remember, Pigs get SLAUGHTERED, so don't act like a pig.
I feel bad for them because most patients yell at them because they are so careless(janitors).
-- SLEEP is more important than you think, and the most underated...I slept well, although 90% of the people there can't sleep due to pain. I was lucky. Sleeping is healing according any doctor, whether its Dr. Amar Sarin or Dr. Paley. They recommend you sleep well. But its hard for most, so might be have trouble but try your best to sleep in a fixed schedule. Shareeq would cancel the physio if you are sleeping. Sleeping is #1 than physio. Sleep is healing.
My callus was one of best they have ever seen according to the Doctors in the surgery room when I removed the frame after 3 months. Whats hilarious is that, I never ate much in terms of food to be healthy.
They were telling me, they see me eating well and they were concerned.
But since I was sleeping really well over 8-9 hours everyday I did well. Others could only do less than 2-4 max a day.
--Have a big budget for Food. Most Patients there including myself never thought of budget for Food(30k to 1 lakh in Food for 3-4 months).Breakfast is free, everything else is not!!!! I had no money ... I wasn't prepared and was poorly left with no finance. My friends helped me out since they had money. Other patients helped me out, the staff helped me out by giving me free food , lol... Shareeq also would buy me food.
Got some free food. And I later got money from my parents(They still don't know I have done surgery).
--Be SMART in FINANCEMost patients there are rich while others are poor. Treat money like its your family. Don't waste it!
-- OPTIMISTS win at the end, PESSIMISTS get slaughtered..In some fashion, everyone there who are extremely optimistic always for some reason recover in 3 months: It's magical. The ones left behind are pessimists, take longer for some reason to recover..
-- Anticipate 3-6 Months for recoveryHealthier patients recovery within 3-4 months, while others take upto 6 Months.
-- Doing physio 24/7 for the entire length of recovery and lengthening phase gives you 90% success rate Most people who did a ton of physio saw greater results. Shareeq(physiotherapist) would always push you to do more physio. Most people who aren't flexible are the ones who also never do physio. I can't stress it enough.
Things that I was not happy with:- 1.) They need to take x-ray, every now and then during recovery but we have to go in Uber in public with the frames on. (I hated that!)
2.) Would be nice if the Food was included(although breakfast is included).
3.) Setting proper expectations if what they lack the most, but like I said, I came in prepared!!
4.) A better rehab would be nice. (I Heard they moved to even better location for REHAB.. So everyone new will have a different experience(hopefully a better experience...))
5.) They tend to not be fully transparent about complications to some patients who are mentally weak(I had no complication, but one of the other ones did, but he was mentally not that well, hence they were trying their best to not tell him until the very last moment, I think patients deserve to know regardless, but I am not a doctor so what the hello do I know..).
6.) This surgery is not for the weak. You will prosper once you know what you are getting yourself into.
How was My Experience:-Overall, life changing, I am thankful I did this surgery. I am thankful my friends are okay as well. I met maybe 18-20 patients who were doing this surgery with or before me, who had some amount of complications but I didn't. My friends didn't. But each day we tend to overthink.
I was awake during the entire initial surgery. It went fine, although I couldn't see or feel what they were doing. I was under anesthesia. I only fell asleep after the surgery was over lol. I woke up, spent just 1 day there, most patients have to stay there for 2-3 days. I requested to the Chief Doctor that I want to leave early back to rehab as soon as possible which he agreed.
I am an optimist and I was fine, this surgery (battle) is more of a mental one. A mental war between your mind and your body. Everything around us would be negative if you want it to be. At the end of the day, my goal was to become tall and I have got it. I am 5'9. Was the experience pleasant? No, but was it worth it? Absolutely!
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Topic: My Journey from 5'6 to 5'9 with Dr. Amar Sarin (Read 2496 times)