Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Shadow91]

Hi

I must say that you are very brave to go through this. Thank you for sharing your story and still answering our questions, especially when you could have easily stayed away from this forum.

 I would like to ask you a question or two. If you could revaluate your spending, how much did you spend in total?Not counting in the surgery cost and the price for stryde, but how much money should one set aside for rent,food,taxi,care, complications and etc. If you would stay for 3-4 months and chose to do it with stryde? Just a guess if you could.

[sylar94]

Jolien, how is your consolidation?

[Kenda]

It is very close to the Mediterraneo hospital so I think for practical reasons. I have found a couple who are both physiotherapists and reallly good! If you are really going to Greece I will ask them if they are oke if I give you their contact information. For me this reaaaally made the difference.

The price I dont know exactly I think it is around 800 euros. Dont shoot me if this is not entirely correct. Just an estimation.

Kind regards

Jolien

so Giotikas deducts 800 euros frompackage if i dont take his PT , Oh i thought its a couple of thousand euros..... (no problem i know its an estimate)
but his package contain how many times PT? & Is PT daily or 3 times per week or 2 times a day ??
yeah Private Message me please,,,the name of these other PT centers.
thanks in advance

[Jolien]

Hi

I must say that you are very brave to go through this. Thank you for sharing your story and still answering our questions, especially when you could have easily stayed away from this forum.

 I would like to ask you a question or two. If you could revaluate your spending, how much did you spend in total?Not counting in the surgery cost and the price for stryde, but how much money should one set aside for rent,food,taxi,care, complications and etc. If you would stay for 3-4 months and chose to do it with stryde? Just a guess if you could.

Dear,

For me, it was veeery expensive because I stayed for a long time in the physiotherapy center itself. And overall it will certainly depend on what you eat, where you stay.

normally you have to take a taxi to the hospital once every two weeks which is around 50 euros.

I spended around 20.000 euros in total I think during my 3 month stay.

Kind regards

Jolien

[Jolien]

Jolien, how is your consolidation?

the 5th of August I have another x-ray. For now you can check my consolidation on my google doc. Both Giotikas and the docs I see here in my country are happy about it. Still taking vit. D en calcium every day and walking around all the time together with my pretty extensive revalidation chedule I think I cannot do more than pray hahah

Kind regards

Jolien

[Jolien]

so Giotikas deducts 800 euros frompackage if i dont take his PT , Oh i thought its a couple of thousand euros..... (no problem i know its an estimate)
but his package contain how many times PT? & Is PT daily or 3 times per week or 2 times a day ??
yeah Private Message me please,,,the name of these other PT centers.
thanks in advance

We had PT 3 times a week.
 I don't remember  which ones exactly are better. You should mail a little bit around and hear them out about their experience, how long they have been running,... I did the same. The prices though are all a little bit the same.
I will ask the two physiotherapists if you want their contact data.

Kind regards

[Jolien]

so Giotikas deducts 800 euros frompackage if i dont take his PT , Oh i thought its a couple of thousand euros..... (no problem i know its an estimate)
but his package contain how many times PT? & Is PT daily or 3 times per week or 2 times a day ??
yeah Private Message me please,,,the name of these other PT centers.
thanks in advance

If you are really gonna stay at the physiotherapy he gives you the money back and you can have as much physiotherapy as you want. This is included in the price you pay the centre. I had 2 times a day physiotherapy and I could do as much excercices I wanted on my own there.

Kind regards

Jolien

[Nestor]

Hi Jolien, are you experiencing any knee pains? How is your walking now, do you still need crutches?

[Jolien]

Hi Jolien, are you experiencing any knee pains? How is your walking now, do you still need crutches?

Dear,

you can see a video of me walking from around a week ago.
I dont need crutches but because my consolidation is not full yet I am not allowed to do very long distances.
I dont have any knee pain. Only when I lie down on my side and I put my legs on each other I have some pain on the side of my knee where the knees touch each other.

Kind regards

[Nestor]

Wow you look fantastic, never would guess you had any surgery, great going Did Dr. G say how long full consolidation would take? Do you find any discomfort if you walk long distances?

[Jolien]

Wow you look fantastic, never would guess you had any surgery, great going Did Dr. G say how long full consolidation would take? Do you find any discomfort if you walk long distances?

Dear,
Thanks

I have never tried long distances because I'm not allowed :-D

My orthopedic surgeon in Belgium said you need to count on 1,5month per cm without internal nail and 2 months per cm with nail so for me that would be 10 months :-D

[champion90]

Hi Jolien
Sorry but I can't understand how you could have spent 20,000 euros in Athens in three months between lodging, food, assistance and taxis. It seems excessive to me. Could you please tell me about it?
thank you

[Rei]

Hi Jolien
Sorry but I can't understand how you could have spent 20,000 euros in Athens in three months between lodging, food, assistance and taxis. It seems excessive to me. Could you please tell me about it?
thank you

She means including the actual surgery...

[Jolien]

Hi Jolien
Sorry but I can't understand how you could have spent 20,000 euros in Athens in three months between lodging, food, assistance and taxis. It seems excessive to me. Could you please tell me about it?
thank you

Staying at the physiotherapy centre costs a looooot of money.

Kind regards
Jolien 

[Jolien]

She means including the actual surgery...

Haha I wish I did! ;p

[Jolien]

Dear,

I just uploaded my X-rays of the 5th of August. I put them down below the google doc.

Kind regards

Jolien

[champion90]

ahh .. I believe it! At the center I think it costs 200 euros a night ... that's how you spent all that money .. if you had gone to an airbnb near you would have spent 12,000 euros less as a minimum

[Heightmare]

Since I'm looking into going with Dr Giotikas,how much would you recommend saving overall?

 I've never lived in a foreign country. I'm a uni student so I spend about £5000 every three or so months including accommodation.  Uni accommodation is intentionally overpriced but it seems a good estimate though I'm not sure.

[Jolien]

ahh .. I believe it! At the center I think it costs 200 euros a night ... that's how you spent all that money .. if you had gone to an airbnb near you would have spent 12,000 euros less as a minimum

Indeed! :-D

[Jolien]

Since I'm looking into going with Dr Giotikas,how much would you recommend saving overall?

 I've never lived in a foreign country. I'm a uni student so I spend about £5000 every three or so months including accommodation.  Uni accommodation is intentionally overpriced but it seems a good estimate though I'm not sure.

Dear,

I listed the money I saved in this disscussion board. But this is very personally and depends on how you live.

Kind regards

Jolien

[Heightmare]

Excellent I'll check it out 🙂

[Infinity]

Dear Jolien,

Many thanks for writing this diary, Its very detailed and informative.

I am considering Dr. Giotikas and was wondering if he would consider doing femurs LON/LATN. WHat would be the best way to contact him, through his office?

x.

[MyBestSelf]

Dear Jolien,

Many thanks for your amazing diary. I have been a longtime lurker on this forum, but now am deciding to pull the trigger on this surgery. I have scheduled bilateral femur lengthening (with Stryde nail) with Dr. Giotikas for September 14 (about a month away).

May I PM you with a couple questions? I realize I will do a different procedure from you, but I am just trying to decide if I should stay at the Theseus Rehabilitation Center or not for part of the distraction period (like you did). Dr. Giotikas told me it really isn't necessary to do so (he recommends Airbnb and getting transferred to  the 4-5 times per week PT sessions at Theseus).

But either way, I am weighing out all my options.  I also wanted to get your recommendations about other physical therapists in Athens, as you have alluded to on this forum.

I had my in-person consultation with Dr. Giotikas yesterday and it went very well. He seems like a competent and professional doctor who was able to answer my questions effectively. I also visited the Theseus Rehabilitation Center briefly and checked out the facilities (but did not have a chance to meet with any other CLL patients). After I do my surgery, I will post a diary for the benefit of this forum.

Thank you.

[Jolien]

Dear Jolien,

Many thanks for writing this diary, Its very detailed and informative.

I am considering Dr. Giotikas and was wondering if he would consider doing femurs LON/LATN. WHat would be the best way to contact him, through his office?

x.

Dear,

I just applied for his free online consultation :-D. He also answers his mails via info@bjrathens.com pretty quick.

(I don't know if frames for the femur are done. I think it is too uncomfortable)

Kind regards

[Jolien]

Dear Jolien,

Many thanks for your amazing diary. I have been a longtime lurker on this forum, but now am deciding to pull the trigger on this surgery. I have scheduled bilateral femur lengthening (with Stryde nail) with Dr. Giotikas for September 14 (about a month away).

May I PM you with a couple questions? I realize I will do a different procedure from you, but I am just trying to decide if I should stay at the Theseus Rehabilitation Center or not for part of the distraction period (like you did). Dr. Giotikas told me it really isn't necessary to do so (he recommends Airbnb and getting transferred to  the 4-5 times per week PT sessions at Theseus).

But either way, I am weighing out all my options.  I also wanted to get your recommendations about other physical therapists in Athens, as you have alluded to on this forum.

I had my in-person consultation with Dr. Giotikas yesterday and it went very well. He seems like a competent and professional doctor who was able to answer my questions effectively. I also visited the Theseus Rehabilitation Center briefly and checked out the facilities (but did not have a chance to meet with any other CLL patients). After I do my surgery, I will post a diary for the benefit of this forum.

Thank you.

Dear,

the problem for me was that I lose all my motivation to do exercises, walk, etc. when I am locked in my apartment all alone. I also saw this with the other patients staying alone. You are just miserable alone and you don't do enough. When I was there we only got physiotherapy 3 times a week. Which was not enough at all. I am very happy I could stay at the center. It also keeps you more productive in the things you want to accomplish besides lengthening (like studying).

So if you have money enough, you have nobody to join and you want to be as productive and as soon recovered as possible please go to a place with other people (Theseus is like a hospital with doctors and nurses 24/7). It is also very important for your mental health. If you have nothing else planned than watching television and you don't care too much about a rapid recovery you can stay at an airbnb. Theseus just makes life easy ;-)

I think you need to ask Giotikas about reliable physiotherapists because he didnt liked it that "my" physiotherapists treated his patients outside Theseus. But one of "my" physiotherapists works in Theseus, she is German, you will find her soon enough ;-)

Kind regards

 

[Heightmare]

Did you keep in contact with any of the patients you stayed with?

If so do you think you can tell them to write about their experiences on this forum. I'm specifically looking for anyone that underwent stryde with Dr Giotikas.

[MyBestSelf]

Dear Jolien,

Thank you for the kind and quick answer. I will strongly consider staying at Theseus. I think you are correct that it is just easier to stay motivated. The cost is quite high, but it includes meals and nursing care, so perhaps it isn't that bad.

1). This is a stupid question, but I assume they have wifi internet at Theseus for patients to study/ do work, correct?

2). During my consultation, I spoke at length to Dr. Giotikas about physical therapy.  Giotikas told me he personally trained the physical therapists who work at Theseus and he explained to them what his lengthening patients need. He also has a "team leader" at Theseus (the name escapes me) whom Giotikas keeps in contact with to advise what the patients need, after he examines your X-rays every 2 weeks.  This was a selling point for me because it seems like the PT at Theseus is tailor made and well planned. However, at one point earlier in your forum post (on 18 May), I noticed you wrote, "Personally I was not very happy with the physiotherapy I got at Theseus. I now have private physiotherapy at home."

That being said, do you believe the quality of the physical therapy you received at Theseus was poor? I know how vital PT is for the recovery process, so just wanted to clarify this.

Thank you again for your time. 

[Jolien]

Did you keep in contact with any of the patients you stayed with?

If so do you think you can tell them to write about their experiences on this forum. I'm specifically looking for anyone that underwent stryde with Dr Giotikas.

Dear,

I do, but I dont think they want to put their story on the discussionboard. Otherwise they would already have done it.
Maybe they will do it when they are recovered.

Kind regards

Jolien

[Jolien]

Dear Jolien,

Thank you for the kind and quick answer. I will strongly consider staying at Theseus. I think you are correct that it is just easier to stay motivated. The cost is quite high, but it includes meals and nursing care, so perhaps it isn't that bad.

1). This is a stupid question, but I assume they have wifi internet at Theseus for patients to study/ do work, correct?

2). During my consultation, I spoke at length to Dr. Giotikas about physical therapy.  Giotikas told me he personally trained the physical therapists who work at Theseus and he explained to them what his lengthening patients need. He also has a "team leader" at Theseus (the name escapes me) whom Giotikas keeps in contact with to advise what the patients need, after he examines your X-rays every 2 weeks.  This was a selling point for me because it seems like the PT at Theseus is tailor made and well planned. However, at one point earlier in your forum post (on 18 May), I noticed you wrote, "Personally I was not very happy with the physiotherapy I got at Theseus. I now have private physiotherapy at home."

That being said, do you believe the quality of the physical therapy you received at Theseus was poor? I know how vital PT is for the recovery process, so just wanted to clarify this.

Thank you again for your time.

Dear,

1.) They do have wifi!

2.) That is correct. They opened their doors 2 years ago, so in my perspective, they lack experience. And for this price, there are other more experienced physiotherapy centers. (you have to do the research I discovered this too late). But physiotherapy is not that complex. I just did the best I could with the physiotherapists and I did as many useful exercises I could by myself.  You will naturally feel the needs of your body. They also gave me a lot of exercises that I could do on my own.

In my view, your recovery depends on your own dedication to do as much as you can and by not quitting when you feel pain. A physiotherapist who pushes you to the limit (which my german physiotherapist did) helps you in pushing through. Also dont tell them to stop when it gets hard or you are exhausted. That way they can build the exercises up.

They are not too bad, it all depends on your attitude, mindset and most of all what you do in between the sessions (netflix vs. exercises, walking, stretching). Not that I was constantly busy (I slept maybe 16 hours a day) But when I was awake I always tried to do useful things.

Kind regards

Jolien

[MyBestSelf]

Thank you so much Jolien. I agree with all your points.

I sent you a quick PM and would really appreciate a response when you get some time.

Thank you again and have a great rest of your weekend!

[ujin0101]

Hi Jolien, I sent you a quick PM and would really appreciate a response when you get some time.