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[thatwlstdude]

XRAYS and Legs pic for proof:
https://imgur.com/a/Nh8DZUr

Hello All,

I want to post a diary for a few reasons. 2 of the big ones are that im bored as fk and am counting down the days until I'm done lengthening, and will also give me something to distract me and make time go faster lol

Long story short, I'm a patient from the USA and am doing 8CM LON femur I will post some proof that I'm real.

I'm not going to go into every little detail in this post I'll just try to catch everyone up from when I got here to now. Feel free to ask any questions and I can go into more detail.

I landed in IST and was picked up by their driver who was very nice and spoke decent english, was brought to do an xray the same day then spent the night in the hotel before going to the hospital the next day for surgery the day after that.

Got to the hospital and met Dr Uysal who was helpful and answered my questions then told me my bones were a bit narrow inside the femurs so he may have to use 9,5mm nails instead of 10 just so I know. (ended up not needing to do that). He assessed my range of motion, said it was very good (I had been stretching for months prior) and said as I'm muscular he can see I know how to push and work hard so he will perform the surgery.

It was either that night or the next day I met with the anesthesiologist who checked everything about my medical history and the surgeon one more time before surgery. Then put the IV in and the next morning took me to surgery.
He said "night night have sweet dreams I'm going to put you to sleep now" which made me laugh and I thought I'd count down from 10 or something but it was literally instant I was out and the next thing I know I'm in the room with fixators on in alot of pain. Dr assessed and said I'm doing well and got my on painkillers. Stayed in the hospital for 7 or so days with the caretaker (who kept putting the damn AC at 35*C like a psychopath, after I told him twice he stopped). I told him to stop touching the AC as I like it cold and managed to get some sleep. He was fantastic other than that, like went out of his way to help me any way he could. Very very useful.

The next day after surgery I made the mistake of telling the Dr I couldnt bend my leg more than 90* (im joking as it needed to be done), but he then promptly forced my legs to bend completely which hurt so bad I thought I was going to pass out, but it was good because after that my range of motion began getting much better.

Left the hospital and got to the hotel, I'm not going to review the hotel unless specifically asked because I dont particularly care to currently.
Started doing PT within a couple of days and my range of motion and pain were very good. Started lengthening after a couple of days. All was going very well and the PT's are very chill and we have alot of fun, they also know what they're doing pretty well and helped me manage the pain that I did have, and get my range of motion to 100% which is impressive.

After a couple of weeks at one of the DR's biweekly visits he told me and the PT team my condition is very good so just focus on range of motion and quad strength. They did that and also insisted I go the gym and do hip abductor exercises (I had previously mentioned my hips where the IT band connects at the top had some sharp pain from the fixators) and long story short I pulled a muscle due to this and holy   the pain was so bad I was shaking and took 2 very strong painkillers per the med director at AFA which even THAT barley managed this level of pain.
After 2/3 days of it not getting better even after stopping lengthening I told them to take me to the hospital ASAP to have the doctor evaluate and confirm what I already suspected about a muscle tear/strain. Of course, they took me right away and he did a CT, XRAY and some other things. I told him what happened and he confirmed it was what I thought. Told them to scale back on PT and no gym for a while. He gave me a PRP injection mixed with antiinflammatories and some other things like morphine. It helped immensely asit jump started the muscular repair process and I got much better over the next several days.
Its now been a few weeks since then and I lost a bit of range of motion from being bed-ridden for that long but its coming back and I'm still in very good condition overall, especially for LON Femur. I still have extra pain in that leg where the tear happened but it SEEMS to be slowly getting better and better, but muscle tears in that spot can take several weeks, even for someone like me who is flexible..

The DR made sure they adjusted the PT regimen to focus on Range of motion and stretching primarily as my condition is good so too much PT would cause more problems.

Currently my condition I would say, also factoring in the average persons LON Femur experience is maybe 7/10... What sucks is I have lower back pain and butt pain where the muscle tear happened but as it continues getting better I will feel better and better🤞.

I would rate the experience so far as 7.5 out of 10.

Recommendations to improve:
When the doctor provides instructions, make sure the PT team is briefed and does what they're supposed to do as these things can happen. I've noticed the PT's all ask me what the doctor said every 2 weeks, I feel like they should already have been told prior to asking me that. Could have been even worse.
That being said, overall they do a very good job and were very caring and professional through everything and of course continue to be.
The change the bandages every 3/4 days and check them thoroughly for cleanliness and sometimes pick out scabs and other things to keep them clean.

The management team is good, and has helped with everything I've asked so far.

Sue the head PT and Mohamed are especially fun to hang out with and make the experience that is of course challenging in its own right much better 😁. Sue does alot and manages the patients day to day and does a fantastic job.

The Dr. is very conservative and prefers to be safe. Makes sure patients arent lengthening at crazy rates like 1.75-2mm, makes sure each patient has custom tailored plans for them instead of other DR's I hear about who dont take a personal approach. He's also very calm and collected, and answers all my questions.. If I mention something is bothering me or possibly abnormal he always evaluates and if needed takes action.

I am on track to be done lengthening in the next month or so thank god lol. Im tired of these fixators. Obviously I'm not done yet and cant give a review currently but this is just a diary more than anything else. I can provide much more when I'm done and a proper review with more detail if I want to. I know the weight these Limb Lengthening Forum posts have on new patients and lack thereof  so I dont want to be premature.

Yes I would recommend AFA from what I've seen so far. Also I'm not aware of any unhappy patients, everyone seems to be doing well. There are some patients that arent in as good condition as me currently but that seems to be due more to lack of stretching and perhaps body builds/PT intensity, but I'm not a Dr. so if they want to post a diary I'll leave it to them for the details.

Let me know if you guys have questions, which I'm sure you will . Lots of people want to know whats going on over here lol. It'll keep me from as much boredom haha

[Hldrive]

why exactly did you decide to go with AFA when they have so many horror stories?

[thatwlstdude]

That's just it, I see 2 people say that on several different posts, yet they NEVER show evidence. Also they seem highly emotional and troll-ish. Maybe competitors or others that just hate turkey from WBT or LLT possibly. I would love to see evidence but there doesn't seem to be any.

[Sigma]

why exactly did you decide to go with AFA when they have so many horror stories?

Unfortunately, they have no brains and they have no idea about the Asians disabled by AFA butchers.

[Victims of the AFA]

屠夫！遠離他們！

[thatwlstdude]

Speak of the devil, and his lack of proof  stfu or show proof Jesus Christ

[Sigma]

Yes I would recommend AFA from what I've seen so far. Also I'm not aware of any unhappy patients, everyone seems to be doing well. There are some patients that arent in as good condition as me currently but that seems to be due more to lack of stretching and perhaps body builds/PT intensity, but I'm not a Dr. so if they want to post a diary I'll leave it to them for the details.

You will never hear about bad patients lol. Because they keep them separate. Of course you recommend it. Because your doctor asked you to publish this diary and offered you money to clear the name of the AFA company. But you cannot clear the AFA name with just one successful patient. Treat the disabled Asians first. Also, Mustafa Uysal is a noob surgeon. He not even in Istanbul. He is a public hospital doctor in the most underdeveloped and small city of Turkey ahaha. He is nothing but a butcher who has no influence in Turkey or internationally and performs surgery on people for cheap money. Also, you always write things like "they're being nice" to me. If you give that money to any person on the street, they will do the same thing to you lol. I can only say through x-ray images that I had surgery on Mars and length 99 cm lol. If you want proof, you have to prove to me that you had surgery. Prove to me that you had surgery via PM

[thatwlstdude]

"keep them separate" 🤣🤣
ah yes they keep them in the dungeon under the hotel in chains.

I personally know 3 Chinese patients, 2 of which are done lengthening and are back in china and fine, 1 is almost done and is in pretty good condition with some slight ROM probs that are almost fixed. All tell me theyre fine and happy. actually they did an interview on AFAs insta

[thatwlstdude]

What does this look like to any veterans? Extreme pain when I move and it swelled up overnight.
yesterday it was just red but not a lump like this
https://ibb.co/y6pSFpg

[thatwlstdude]

Update: https://ibb.co/nb1B1gN

This is it a few hours later. The redness isn’t coming from the pins but near the pins above them. It has huge pain when I stretch the skin in anyway, including lifting leg or standing. They say allergic reaction, but I’m not 100% confident in that answer as I’ve never heard of this level of excruciating pain from a skin rash. I have to take oxytocin just to be able to stop shaking from the pain so anyone who’s seen this before and can provide some insight would be very very appreciated.

- thanks

[DanishViking]

This is one of the reasons why LON on femurs isn't recommended. Because it's more painful, much more risky and tears trough your muscles that can lead to significant knee stiffness and permanent muscle pain.

But you should be fine if you push trough, since the pain usually drops regardless of the method and as long as you keep stretching even after the removal of the external frame.

[thatwlstdude]

Ah yes you did warn me. Lol

But I actually have little pain otherwise, just this and that pulled muscle from PT before. I’ll know in the next day or so. Started anti’s. Fun fun ✌️

[thatwlstdude]

P.S there is no such thing as permanent muscle pain especially from cll, but certainly pain while they’re being lengthened though

[DanishViking]

I meant chronic pain, which can happen and is more likely to happen doing LON femur. Something with the muscles because you have pins going trough your facia in the femur, can't remember 100%. Cyborg4life mentioned in one of his complication videos.

[thatwlstdude]

Oh yeah while the fixators are on, but once the pins are out it goes away in 1-3 days average

[thatwlstdude]

This doesn’t look like any muscle tearing I’ve ever seen. It’s as bad or worse today. And it’s a lump that’s excruciating. The other leg is only slightly painful and has normal redness

https://ibb.co/tzyMf59

[Beemer m3]

im guessing if its not oozing out ur skin then u should be ok. but id ask for antibiotics if they were to give it out to u.

[thatwlstdude]

Yes I’m on them. They’re gonna check me later today as well, possibly xray. Had to push to get antibiotics but I got em. lol

[thatwlstdude]

What do you know, now they admit infection level 1. Look at this picture. Scary that I knew before the dr and entire team. Does this look like a normal level 1 infection?

https://ibb.co/BzzrzSD

[thatwlstdude]

To update on this, the Dr is extremely good at what he does. He’s very professional and knowledgeable and it wasn’t his fault the diagnosis was wrong. AFA didn’t convey what I told them  properly for the 2nd time.. I’m talking to them about it and hopefully they’ll do better moving forward they seem to be trying to take my advice and improve so we’ll see. I can update as I move forward and get better.

I can’t recommend anything currently, but ask me any questions you have on here, and I’ll try to answer.

[Hldrive]

To update on this, the Dr is extremely good at what he does. He’s very professional and knowledgeable and it wasn’t his fault the diagnosis was wrong. AFA didn’t convey what I told them  properly for the 2nd time.. I’m talking to them about it and hopefully they’ll do better moving forward they seem to be trying to take my advice and improve so we’ll see. I can update as I move forward and get better.

I can’t recommend anything currently, but ask me any questions you have on here, and I’ll try to answer.

Good to hear things went better, but this is the main problem with the Turkish drs, most of them end up hiring not qualified specialists to save money, but it than results in cases like this, and some people don't get lucky and get it fixed up on time

[thatwlstdude]

Yeah you have to make sure you educate yourself on the procedure thoroughly so you can know what’s normal and what’s not. I chose AFA because Uysal is solid and doesn’t have a “bad case”. Any complications are fixed and end up fine. But physical therapists are not qualified to make calls on what’s what medically. They know enough to change bandages in a sterile fashion and spot basic infection signs but they didn’t know the varying degrees of what one can look like.

In a nutshell, just educate yourself and ask to speak directly to the DR if you have issues. And don’t choose a   surgeon with a bad track record no matter what the cost savings is.

[thatwlstdude]

Update:

Been on antibiotics for a few days and today is the first day there is a noticeable decrease in pain. Also the blister is scabbing over (I think that’s what this is) https://ibb.co/s5RVxwD.
Which should be a good sign.

I think the whole thing was caused by skin tearing and IT band stretching in the exact area that it occurred in. Once I talked to the dr he had them change the bandages out every day and spray rifocin which they are still doing. Plus I take oral antis once every 12 hours. I felt very comforted after I talked to the dr because he even said if it wasn’t noticeably better within 48 hours he would have them take me to the hospital to take culture samples and possibly swap out the pins and surgically disinfect. This guys good 👍🏼 . I was premed in the us so I know a thing or 2 about the med field, at least enough to know who knows their  .

Now hopefully it continues to get better over the coming days and I will
Be done with the whole thing in a few weeks!

[thatwlstdude]

https://ibb.co/smw11WP

Update, much better today. There is ointment on the blister now and it seems to be a lot smaller. AFA is changing daily and making sure it continues to get better. Still pain and sensitivity but a lot better for sure

[thatwlstdude]

https://ibb.co/mvrrvQP

^ This is today. Pain is much better than it was but still has burning more than the other pin sites. I’m on my second box of antibiotics and am about halfway done with it now. I had to tell them to take culture samples and they said they will let me know when they figure out how to do that. They say that the yellow stuff on the bottom pin is my skin. They clean it every day and it doesn’t come off so that seems true but I’m no expert.

Any experts seen anything like this before?

[thatwlstdude]

Well it’s much better now, Dr Uysal came and removed some build up skin and blood from the wound which hurt but combined with the previous antibiotics should do the trick.

But it doesn’t matter now because tomorrow is my removal surgery. I’m at my goal of 185/186. I started out eye level with some of the taller staff here at the hotel, and now I can see clean over the top of their head barefoot while they’re wearing shoes. 98% of people aren’t as tall as me now. Kind of crazy.

I’ll be staying at the hotel for a while and training to walk normal and get my butt back (she’s gone).
But without these braces on my legs after a few days it will be heaven. I can move freely finally and get rid of this constant tension, tearing, and restlessness in both legs.

Have to hand it to AFA, they have done everything I’ve asked and taken my advice, which has been right 100% of the time , instead of just ignoring it like WBT and crippling people. lol

Doesn’t seem like there are many people using this forum for anything besides vetting where to go/avoid and or trash talking anymore, but if anyone has questions let me know. I’ve had some people DM me already too

[thatwlstdude]

On my way to the removal surgery, this is the car they booked for me and one other patient who needs a muscle release for his femur. https://ibb.co/f2WjL9j

Car reeks of cigarettes is tiny and has the suspension of a bicycle. My lower back and legs are getting slammed around and am in pain. I can imagine the other patient is the same but he doesn’t speak English to ask
-1 point for this one.. Plus the guy was 15 minutes late

[thatwlstdude]

This fking idiot they hired nearly slammed us into a truck on the highway going like 70mph. Made the other patient promptly put his seatbelt on too. Made me pull a back muscle now it’s even worse sitting in this pos. I put mine on the moment I got in the car because this guys vibes were sketchy and his car is dirty and  ty. God this pissed me off.

[thatwlstdude]

Well. Getting my xrays done and about to get fixators removed. Thank god lol. Survived AFAs new driver. Told them to get me another one next time too.

[Beemer m3]

hey congrats on ur gains and removing ur frame. i have a few questions for u. how are u eating food over there? what kind of food do they have over there? where are u staying?

they quoted me 35k for lon femur. which is easily achievable but i didnt want to deal with the skin scars. they quoted me about 66k for precice max and im waiting for that. something i want.

[thatwlstdude]

Thanks just got them removed and when I woke up, I was in the most pain I felt this entire process. Wow.

Staying in the hotel and I eat fine as far as calories, but as far as the taste of food goes, I think Turkish people are allergic to good food because I’ve not had one thing here that I loved. It’s all bland and nasty for the most part. The hotel room service food is the best I’ve had in Turkey, but it’s still not that good it’s just in America we would consider “average” . So if you are able, I would suggest buying food from the store and cooking yourself, and staying away from their driver lol

70 K for Max is actually a pretty good price. I was expecting it to be more.