Hey Great,
Just saw the video of you walking, May i ask u a couple of Qs :
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1) How long did you stay with the frames on ? If you are using pure external i believe 10 months with these frames right?
2) KNEE Pain ? Ankle Pain ? - How do u feel & do u feel that with pure external u avoided these problems ?
3) How much total gain did u achieve ?
4) When are u doing stryde on femurs? from your experience with pain do u feel that if u wouldve done internal femurs it would hurt more ?
1) I'm still wearing the frames. It's been 5 months since I stopped lengthening. (except for the 3 weeks of lengthening last month) And it's been 7 months since the surgery. I believe that I have to wear the frames for about 2-3 months more. So yes, it takes about 8-10 months.
2) The pain while wearing the frame is something that can go away after the frames are taken off. More important is the question if there is pain that lasts longer after the frames. I don't know about that yet.
I think that everyone will experience different problems. Some will have more problems with their ankle, some more with their knee or another area of their legs. Luckily I haven't had ankle problems yet. But occasionally I had and I have knee pain. I'm sure that it's only because of the pins. Either you'll experience knee pain because of the pin site being inflamed or its existence in general. But so far every pain I had disappeared again by itself or with the help of movement. (Like bending my knee although it was hurting- that helped) Over the past especially my right knee was making problems from time to time only for 2-3 days in a row. Then it was fine again.
3) I had stoppend lengthening in December. Then I had achieved about 4,3cm. Last month in April I was allowed to lengthen another 6mm. So I had gained 4,9cm. But now that my bone growth isn't very fast Dr. Giotikas recommended to shorten for 2mm again in order to take away the tension. That could help. After the next X-rays I'll know if I can get back those 2mm. So for now about 4,7cm.
4) I don't know yet. I want to rest for a few years. As I haven't had experience regarding internal nails I don't know if internal femur would be more or less painfull.
Dear,
did you switched from a walker to crutches recently? and if so did you really felt the difference? because I really feel I'm not progressing at all with my walker :-(
Kind regards!!
Jolien
The first time I walked with crutches was on April the 7th. So not that long ago. Before I was uncertain if that was possible. But I could have started earlier probably. It takes some courage and patience as the first steps will be very slow and a bit dangerous if the legs aren't strong enough. But it'll get better. And you have to carefully figure out how to use the crutches in order not to fall.
For example: When you want to make a step with your right leg, the crutch in your right hand has to be behid your body on the side while the crutch on your left hand has to be in front of your body.
You are still in the beginning so don't worry. Also since you're doing LON you'll progress faster once the frames are taken off.