Hey Messenger! First of all, good luck on your journey! Both Paley and Rozbruch are good doctors.
Hi everyone
If there ever was a time to do this and take such a big surgery on, it would be right now. I’m not telling my family or friends anything, I am saying I am going for 6 months to one of these places for work (Florida or New York are my top 2 choices right now).
I don't know about Rozbruch, but Paley will HIGHLY recommend that you have some family with you (I'm sure he will still operate on you, but he will highly discourage it). This will take a huge psychological toll on you and it will help to have some companion. You can theoretically hire a caretaker for the first 2-3 weeks and then be independent after (especially with STRYDE). However, it helps to have someone assisting you with Physical Therapy. That being said, when I was there, there was a patient who was staying alone (it took him longer to do everything and he had REALLY strong willpower). However his wife and kids knew about the procedure and visited him periodically. If you check ProgramDude's diary, I think he was staying alone during most of the time. He isn't on the forums much right now, but it might be worth messaging him.
lot of other expenses to look into such as renting a house,
While renting a house will be a lot more comfortable, keep in mind that some of the hotels near Paley Institute have regular shuttles to Paley Institute. Also look out for things like handicap accessible pools.
This will save you loads of money. The hotels also have other patients staying there (good for company. We had a few barbeques, get togethers at the pool, lounge etc.). It will be far less isolating if you stay at one of the hotels. Trust me, there will always be a cycle of patients going through LL. You will always have company. Their schedule is packed with LL patients. Over the course of lengthening, we bonded a lot. We are still in touch now.
while once Paley is done with you it’s on to the next and he rushes you, but this is all from what I read on diaries etc and I haven’t personally met either of them).
Thats not the impression I had. After my lengthening was done, he answered my emails (with X rays) quite promptly. Unless he's traveling, he typically replies at 7-11 PM EST that day. However during the biweekly X Ray checkins (while lengthening), he does tend to be late for the appointments (because of a super busy schedule) and will make the appointment quick (unless there is something serious about your X-Ray). On the other hand, the wait time with Robbins is usually lower. Both are very knowledgeable and will spend time answering your questions.