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[Great321]

Nice, which surgery method did you choose? I will probably not visit the PT center this time. But I have to stay in Athens for two weeks. My apartment will be more in the center of Athens. Last time I stayed in the Alimos area.

[azman]

Stryde on my femurs.  I’ll probably start a dairy but will discuss it with Dr. G first. If I do it will be Dr. G first Stryde dairy.

[Great321]

That would be interesting to read! I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

[Great321]

5cm

Since I'm doing LATN, I asked Dr. Giotikas if I can lengthen another 2-3mm until the surgery. He said that I can go for it.
So I will reach my intial goal of 5cm.

[Great321]

I had my LATN surgery 3 days ago, on the 13th of September. I'm in an apartment now with my family.

The frames are off. My left muslce problem has vanished. Standing on both of my legs at the same time is much easier now. Too easy, it feels weird and I have to get used to it. Without the frames I feel more vulnerable.

At first I had thick bandages on both of my legs (I will add pictures when I'm back in my home country). Here in Athens it's quite warm and I didn't know that there was an air conditioner in the beginning so I was sweating a lot. The legs felt very warm and uncomfortable. Bending my knees was also difficult partly because of the bandages and partly because of surgery discomfort/pain.

After surgery I felt cold and then hot and cold again...it's just my reaction of anasthesia. I also had to throw up. I was half asleep and too exhausted when Dr. Giotikas told me that the surgery went fine. Dr. Giannakos I think was stretching my feet and although my left leg up to the hip was hurting the whole night, that actually cured my muscle problem. I don't know.

Standing up and making a few steps is not a problem. But when I stand at the sink for example I start to feel the knee pressure. It's not painful but it makes me kind of feeling weird/sick. Probably because I'm not quite sure what's going on there and I'm afraid that if sth could happen.

Today Dr. Giannakos removed the bandages and put plasters/patches on the wounds. Some of the former pinsites are already closed, others will need another week. He will then put new patches on.

Lifting my legs to the bed without the help of hands is difficult again because of the knee pressure but I guess it will get better.

Now I have year until my bones have to consolidate, otherwise I would need a bone graft. I really hope that won't be needed because I hate surgeries. And in my current state I would not choose to do LL again. 

There is not much pain and walking is possible with the walker. But for me there are a few things worse that are side effects of surgeries.

1.constant nausea to the point that you don't dare to walk in case you have to throw up
2. tiredness in addition to nausea

I guess it's the pain killers but also this unkown sensation in my knees when I stand for a longer time that makes me sick. If it wasn't for that I'd try weight bear more and see what's possible now. Jolien was lucky because with LON several months pass, until then the body gets used go the knee trauma, with LON it must be easier when the frames
 are off

Well right now I feel rather down.I had to throw up an hour ago after I tried to eat some ordered food.

Time is passing slow when you feel bad. I'm looking forward to the upcoming weeks. I expects things to get better. Dr. Giannakos was very optimistic about it. Dr. Giotikas also visited me and checked up on me.

[wannagrowtaller]

Now I have year until my bones have to consolidate, otherwise I would need a bone graft. I really hope that won't be needed because I hate surgeries. And in my current state I would not choose to do LL again. 

Thanks for your honest testimony.

In the xrays while you were lengthening there was callus? Do you think you could avoid this if you had stop lengthening? I know you didn't lengthen a lot.

[Great321]

Thanks for your honest testimony.

In the xrays while you were lengthening there was callus? Do you think you could avoid this if you had stop lengthening? I know you didn't lengthen a lot.

Yes, I have attached them in the diary. You can see the X-rays. I have lengthened 5cm. Maybe I lost a few mm through the LATN surgery. I'll see. I don't think that stopping the lengthening would have prevented it. But maybe lengthening slower would have been better and I couldn't walk as much as needed.

Anyways. I feel better now. My nausea isn't as bad anymore. I'm not afraid anymore of standing up and making steps as the dizziness is gone.

But I don't dare to put my whole weight on only one leg yet. My femur muscles are literally aching for exercise and weightbearing. I do some exercise but it doesn't replace a good walk. I try to dare more every day. Dr. Giotikas' assistant offered me help, I can message her whenever I need something. She is a studied nurse.

As soon as I'm at home again I will continue with professional PT.

[cena]

Thanks for your honest testimony.

I don't think he regrets LL but he is saying he does not intend to another LL as he had planned before

[Great321]

I don't think he regrets LL but he is saying he does not intend to another LL as he had planned before

I definitely love my new height. I expect a good recovery as others had in this forum who did LATN. I don't think that I will regret having done LL. I didn't ask Dr. Giotikas what happens in case a possible bone graft in one year doesn't work out of fear what he would answer. Does anyone know? LL is a huge risk and health is really the most important thing in life. You really need to be desperate or objectively short like me to consider LL. I don't think that I would do a second LL (maybe a moderator can change my diary title by removing the word "Stryde")because my bone growth seems to be very slow in general, that could be too risky again. Who knows how my callus will develop in the next months. Maybe in a couple of years in case my recovery was very good I will think differently but so far it is less likely.

[wannagrowtaller]

I didn't ask Dr. Giotikas what happens in case a possible bone graft in one year doesn't work out of fear what he would answer.

I'm really interested in this answer.

[TinyTL]

I definitely love my new height. I expect a good recovery as others had in this forum who did LATN. I don't think that I will regret having done LL. I didn't ask Dr. Giotikas what happens in case a possible bone graft in one year doesn't work out of fear what he would answer. Does anyone know? LL is a huge risk and health is really the most important thing in life. You really need to be desperate or objectively short like me to consider LL. I don't think that I would do a second LL (maybe a moderator can change my diary title by removing the word "Stryde")because my bone growth seems to be very slow in general, that could be too risky again. Who knows how my callus will develop in the next months. Maybe in a couple of years in case my recovery was very good I will think differently but so far it is less likely.

I think you are doing the right thing. Many non LL-ers dont understand this the way us LL-ers do. The time and energy drain of such a procedure, it will offset you and change your toughts towards different aspects of life than height.

You have almost made it through this demanding procedure,
I wish you good luck in life from here on till the end

[wannagrowtaller]

I'm really interested in this answer.

I think in case bone graft doesn't work, you can take off screws from your nail, reverse lengthening using frames, do a new graft (maybe with DBX) or BMAC.

[Great321]

I think you are doing the right thing. Many non LL-ers dont understand this the way us LL-ers do. The time and energy drain of such a procedure, it will offset you and change your toughts towards different aspects of life than height.

You have almost made it through this demanding procedure,
I wish you good luck in life from here on till the end

Right. It changed the way you think. Thank you for your words:) Hope you're doing great!

I think in case bone graft doesn't work, you can take off screws from your nail, reverse lengthening using frames, do a new graft (maybe with DBX) or BMAC.

Sounds horrible. I have to avoid this at all cost! 

[Great321]

Sleep was weirdly way easier with frames on than without. I can sleep on my sides without pain in my knees. I use pillows inbetween my legs like I did with the frames. I wake up 3-5 times at night and it takes longer before I fall asleep again. With frames I was able to sleep through the night until like 10AM. But thats because my femur muscles weren't aching. Today they feel better again, so the following night might be better. Also I don't take the recommended amount of pain killers.

The knees don't feel weird anymore when I stand for a longer time.

Unfortunately my muscle problem in my left foot is not gone as I thought. But walking is possible unlike before. Still uncomfortable and I hope that it doesn't get worse. Probably it will go away when I get certain shoe soles from the orthopedist and do PT.

[Great321]

My legs are stronger today. I can weightbear a lot more per leg.

[Great321]

I can now lift my legs onto the bed and back easily without the help of my hands.

My right knee makes problems after some walking but gets better when I rest again.

[Cpl2012]

My legs are stronger today. I can weightbear a lot more per leg.

Hi Great31 đi u have a chance to talk to any of his stryde patient?

[Great321]

Hi Great31 đi u have a chance to talk to any of his stryde patient?

They seem to be at the rehab center. I am more in the center of Athens. As I'm not planning to go there, we will probably not see each other.

[cheekycabs]

Huge congrats to you man! Very happy you're on the road to recovery.

Do you have photos of your legs post LATN and frame removal? How did they close up the scars? My legs look like I've been fkin hit with a shotgun

[Great321]

Huge congrats to you man! Very happy you're on the road to recovery.

Do you have photos of your legs post LATN and frame removal? How did they close up the scars? My legs look like I've been fkin hit with a shotgun

Thanks but it's still a long road to normal. I wish I had done LON or Stryde. Hope you get back to normal, too!

I will post pictures once I'm back. Some scars are more visible than others. In the last month my arms and legs got very itchy, idk why, I should have gone to the doctor for some cream/lotion but with frames on I didn't want to. Now I have several light dots on my legs just from scratching which are not related to the frames. Around the knees it looks more scarred but I don't care much about that. Some developed because of infections/inflammations I had.

What worries me the most is since a few days ago that whenever I want to put my whole weight on each leg and walk, the back of my right pelvic bones hurts day and night. The muscle problem of my left foot that had started one month ago didn't vanish like I thought. In the past before LL I needed certain insoles for my feet so maybe it's a similar case. The right knee hurts after standing for 2+minutes.

The knee pain is normal, that takes time. But the other things are not. Dr. Giotikas said that it's "away [from their] surgical intervention]", that it could be a problem with a muscle or my spine and that I should do a clinical examination with an orthopedist near me and keep him updated. So once I'm back I'll go to an orthopedist. I want to do professional PT 5 times a week, get some good shoe insoles. Eat healthy. If there is not much bone growth in 3months I might try this plasma injection thing.

I think that PT helps with consolidation, not sure where I got that from, but sb mentioned that slow bone growth can also be a result of muscle atrophy.

[cheekycabs]

It sounds like a good plan. Would love to hear about your professional PT. I'm doing PT but it seems like rubbish. Aside from the normal tippy toe exercises and band stretching, my ankles are getting blasted with low wave and high wave electrical signals.

My only main problem is seemingly my right foot, which feels like drop foot but my doctor has assured me will go away. I'm walking everywhere just fine without crutches, but if I sit down for over 10 minutes my ankle is stiff and hurts for a minute, then its okay. It's at it's worst when I wake up. He's attributed it to shortened achilles tendons that can be stretched back.

How are your ankles? Any of that sound similar to your situation?

[Great321]

It sounds like a good plan. Would love to hear about your professional PT. I'm doing PT but it seems like rubbish. Aside from the normal tippy toe exercises and band stretching, my ankles are getting blasted with low wave and high wave electrical signals.

My only main problem is seemingly my right foot, which feels like drop foot but my doctor has assured me will go away. I'm walking everywhere just fine without crutches, but if I sit down for over 10 minutes my ankle is stiff and hurts for a minute, then its okay. It's at it's worst when I wake up. He's attributed it to shortened achilles tendons that can be stretched back.

How are your ankles? Any of that sound similar to your situation?

I don't think that whomever I will get is experienced in LL but it's basically just strengthening the leg muscles and stretching the Achilles Tendons. I will also try PT in a swimming pool. Luckily I haven't had any ankle problem. I'm sorry to hear that.

Today I also felt better. I met up with Dr. Giannakos who was satisfied with the scars. I was also able to lift both of my legs. I asked him about certain pains and he assured me that it is normal at this stage. Regarding my "pelvic bone pain", he said it is impossible that it is bone pain but rather my gluteus muscle. My left foot didn't bother me today but the left leg is not as strong as one month ago because I couldn't use it that much but I am sure that it will all get better with time.

[Great321]

Also, my legs felt exhausted last night as if I had walked a lot (which I didn't), I tried stretching my legs (femurs) by putting three pillows stacked on top of each other right under my hip. After a while my legs felt normal again and sleeping was easier.

[Great321]

another observation: a day after the surgery when I made my first three steps I noticed right away that I don't have to wait a few minutes anymore until I feel able to start to making steps. Now I can stand up and immediately start "walking". That's a big relief.

[Great321]

Had my first night back in Germany again and I was able to sleep just fine without waking up in the middle of the night multiple times. Because the mattresses in the airbnb apartment were not of good quality. And I only had two rather flat and not soft pillows for my legs. I had to turn my body hundred times and wasn't able to find a comfortable position. I thought it was only because of the LATN surgery but it was the bed. It is very important for all LLers to make your bed as comfortable as possible for your legs!

Follow these steps
http://www.limblengtheningforum.com/index.php?topic=64389.msg166344#msg166344

no matter if you do externals or not. It's a day and night experience.

Deprivation of sleep can make you depressed and unmotivated, so take it serious.

[Great321]

My right gluteus muscle problem (I thought it was sth with my pelvic bone) is mostly gone now. It doesn't cause me problems during the day or night anymore.

My right leg is pretty strong, thanks to that I can make longer steps which makes me faster.

But the only problem left is my left leg. I can put weight on it while standing on both feet but because of the muscle problem that started over a month ago while being in frames I can't use it the same as my other leg. I am 80% sure that if it wasn't for the muscle problem I would have been able to walk a bit unaided already.

I have no problem standing for longer now at the sink for example.

Tomorrow I'll go to an othopedist and hope that the problem will be found soon.

I decided not to post pictures of my scars because it's very private and look very distinct. You never know if sb might recognize you by your scars. But you can imagine that the middle and lower ones around the ankles are very small and not that noticable while around the knees there are many scars, a few quite big, that don't look aesthetic at all.  One of the bigger ones just got bigger because I had an infection around that one pin.

[daikioni]

Ty great for sharing your journey! i will go with giotikas too this year or the next

[Great321]

Ty great for sharing your journey! i will go with giotikas too this year or the next

You're welcome. Hope it helps.

Anyways my left leg got a bit better since yesterday evening. The orthopedist today wasn't concerned, she said that muscle problems are common after surgeries. I was prescribed PT.

Now I can use the crutches but still more cautious and a bit slower than with the walker.

Since this morning I have a bit of nerve pain in my left foot but Dr. Giotikas wrote me that it seems to be an irritation from the stitches above and not much to worry about.

[Great321]

UPDATE

walked fully unaided for the first time since my first surgery

well little steps and like a penguin because my muscles aren't trained yet but it's awesome

[Great321]

I am a bit more confident with walking unaided than yesterday. I make small steps but I walk faster. The only thing that slows me down is still the nerve pain in my left foot. I hope it will stop soon. Today, I asked Dr. Giotikas if Lyrica or sth similar might help, waiting for an answer.

[Michael01]

When will you take new xrays, to see if there is improvement in your callus?