Limb Lengthening Forum

Limb Lengthening Surgery => Limb Lengthening Patients Experiences => Topic started by: Thegosis on January 25, 2015, 04:07:10 AM

Title: The Double Down - Dr Suhas Shah, Mumbai - Femurs by PRECICE II, Oct 2015
Post by: Thegosis on January 25, 2015, 04:07:10 AM: I've taken the first irrevocable step to do this now and not later. As I paid down the debt from the previous venture in the first week of January and the rehabilitation of my walking form did not miss a beat during the holiday season, I started to look into the logistics of a second procedure by the femurs that would bring me from 5'9 to 6'0 thereabouts. Another procedure would bring me into the rare club of those who've lengthened both sections of their legs or gone beyond 10cm total.

And last night I cast the dice. I paid a stranger $340 for her $608 unused credit with Air Asia which will get me across the Indian Ocean and mostly back .. if the bookings are made within 3 months. I also emailed Dr Shah with a request for him to authorise the hospital's letter which will underly my application for a 12 months medical visa (up to 3 entries) to the Government of India. I've also prepared the visa application as far as that can be done at this stage.

So this means that if the letter comes and the visa issues in the normal course and the PRECICE nails are available and the flight at the right price comes up then I can be back on the torture rack and growing taller again by the stroke of my birthday #44 toward the end of next month. That's a few 'if's but this is going to happen one way or another. I've seen Sydney-Hyderabad promotional fares for $AUD354.

If anyone would like to help me out, India veterans particularly, let me know which other documents are required to support the application for medical visa; and also how should I get the whole way from where I am to where I'm going. Mumbai appears as an Air Asia destination acknowledged at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AirAsia_Group_destinations (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AirAsia_Group_destinations) but not at all by their online booking engine. What's a recommended way to get from Hyderabad to Mumbai, including train.

SPACE THIS WATCH
Title: Re: The Double Down - Dr Suhas Shah, Mumbai - Femurs by PRECICE II, Oct 2015
Post by: Thegosis on January 25, 2015, 04:18:45 AM: I briefly considered or favoured going back to Beijing for thigh externals due to my strong faith in Drs Zhao and Peng. I decided against it or rather in favour of Mumbai for a few short reasons. Mainly, they stop at 4-5cm and I'd like to see myself handle 7+. Further, those monorails mean that you can't swim or shower and can't lay on your side and they're a lesser technology overall. Finally I see the struggles and complications of those going that way as documented in places like this forum and the observation of Beijing patient LittleLiam(tm) that the femur patients who were there when he arrived were still there when he left.
Title: Re: The Double Down - Dr Suhas Shah, Mumbai - Femurs by PRECICE II, Oct 2015
Post by: ReadRothbard on January 25, 2015, 04:37:09 AM: I'm really excited to see a doctor Shah diary! Keep us posted!
Title: Re: The Double Down - Dr Suhas Shah, Mumbai - Femurs by PRECICE II, Oct 2015
Post by: Thegosis on January 25, 2015, 04:53:33 AM: http://www.limblengtheningforum.com/index.php?topic=178.0 (http://www.limblengtheningforum.com/index.php?topic=178.0)
There's the link to the predecessor of this, my Beijing adventure from November 2013 through June 2014 & followup.

I've had it suggested to me that if I start next month I'll be the -first- foreign patient taking PRECICE in India. Could that be truly true??
Title: Re: The Double Down - Dr Suhas Shah, Mumbai - Femurs by PRECICE II, Oct 2015
Post by: Uppland on January 25, 2015, 10:10:08 AM: Good luck.

-Why did you decide to do a second operation?

-How is your recovery from the first op?

-How much will you do in total?
Title: Re: The Double Down - Dr Suhas Shah, Mumbai - Femurs by PRECICE II, Oct 2015
Post by: KrP1 on January 25, 2015, 01:47:05 PM: hey thegosis, what about proportions? , do you think you will look fine with a torso of a 167cm boy in 183cm of height? can you post any photo of your actual proportions?
Title: Re: The Double Down - Dr Suhas Shah, Mumbai - Femurs by PRECICE II, Oct 2015
Post by: Bohemia on January 25, 2015, 10:53:10 PM: Can you share why you rationally selected India?

Perhaps I possess prejudices, but the idea of traveling to India, Africa, or Russia for a discount surgery seems preposterous. (I mean no disrespect, honestly)
Title: Re: The Double Down - Dr Suhas Shah, Mumbai - Femurs by PRECICE II, Oct 2015
Post by: ReadRothbard on January 25, 2015, 10:56:10 PM: Quote from: Bohemia on January 25, 2015, 10:53:10 PM
Can you share why you rationally selected India?

Perhaps I possess prejudices, but the idea of traveling to India, Africa, or Russia for a discount surgery seems preposterous. (I mean no disrespect, honestly)

The deal with India is not poverty per se, but economic inequality. These surgeries are done in the wealthiest parts of India at hospitals that rival the healthcare standards of most developed nations. Essentially, the reason that these surgeries are discount are not that they are of sub-par quality, but that American dollars are very valuable in India compared to the ruppe.
Title: Re: The Double Down - Dr Suhas Shah, Mumbai - Femurs by PRECICE II, Oct 2015
Post by: Thegosis on January 25, 2015, 11:00:40 PM: I just measured my wingspan at 176cm+. Just before going into surgery was the first time I even discovered that my wingspan overshot my height by a substantial amount. So, yeh, didn't even concern me in the slightest. I'd even estimated measurements that way (eg. 3 x me = 5m, when its actually 1/3 of a metre more) & never ever measured myself in that dimension. I'd have to make it to 185.5cm to rate as overproportioned as I was underproportioned at the kickoff. So I'm good.

In all practical senses your arms are never too short unless you had to contort yourself to reach to the bottom of a hip pocket. That wouldn't seem to happen in our consideration (longer jeans, deeper pockets I s'pose, but only by a smidge).

In that sense I've never bought into the agonising over 'proportions' that we don't have to go too far to see around here. I can't think of an actress or an athlete whose image was killed for me by having short arms.
Title: Re: The Double Down - Dr Suhas Shah, Mumbai - Femurs by PRECICE II, Oct 2015
Post by: Thegosis on January 25, 2015, 11:04:58 PM: Well I've already done it with ('third world' country) China & been satisfied with the results, so that doesn't dispose me to writing a whole country off the map.
Title: Re: The Double Down - Dr Suhas Shah, Mumbai - Femurs by PRECICE II, Oct 2015
Post by: Thegosis on January 25, 2015, 11:12:35 PM: Well Uppland,

1. I've got the means & the time & would like to have the most of that tall privilege I've already begun to sample
2. See my Beijing thread for the report on my December Xrays. Link in my signature below.
3. The doc will ultimately determine this. For sure I won't be like Leechlet who went for 10cm after his doc said 'Stop NOW. I know what I'm talking about'.
Title: Re: The Double Down - Dr Suhas Shah, Mumbai - Femurs by PRECICE II, Oct 2015
Post by: Thegosis on January 25, 2015, 11:15:56 PM: Just don't go to India to hook up with some doc marketed to you by Captain fukknuckle running the old forum. Otherwise this forum might not even exist.
Title: Re: The Double Down - Dr Suhas Shah, Mumbai - Femurs by PRECICE II, Oct 2015
Post by: Thegosis on February 03, 2015, 04:29:20 AM: I may have confirmed elsewhere that $USD30000 is the price for the kit of PRECISE nail, and that is a worldwide rule.

The answer for India is a little different. It will be $US30k for the kits and there will also be another 10% for 'customs and taxes' and then also "5000 US dollars is deposit for magnetic device you will be using for 90 days and then you return to them they will return the deposit". This from Dr Shah directly.

So I'm currently arranging the method to make an up to $38k payment to Ellipse to have the hardware made available to the surgeon. When that's done I can count off 5 to 6 weeks for when I should plan to arrive in India.

I asked Dr Shah another question to which I'm surprised by the answer. I enquired the "maximum extenstion and weightbearing capacity of the nail" to which he replied "Approximately you can take 25 kg if you use the 10.7 mm Precice 2 nail". I think this must be the answer for one nail/leg, because I swear some other LLers have said that it is 150lb for the pair. But 25kg for one is just 110lb for the pair: 20lb per wrist more being borne by arms on a walking frame. Does it sound accurate or way too conservative?
Title: Re: The Double Down - Dr Suhas Shah, Mumbai - Femurs by PRECICE II, Oct 2015
Post by: JP on February 03, 2015, 10:09:04 AM: Hi,

Are you going to pay ($38,000) for the nail 6 weeks before your surgery? So are you going to pay the hospital ($38,000) by money transfer?

Regarding the payment would you explain how this works?
Title: Re: The Double Down - Dr Suhas Shah, Mumbai - Femurs by PRECICE II, Oct 2015
Post by: JP on February 03, 2015, 10:11:05 AM: hi

Could you ask the Doctor if he would accept the payment ($38,000) two days before surgery?
Title: Re: The Double Down - Dr Suhas Shah, Mumbai - Femurs by PRECICE II, Oct 2015
Post by: Thegosis on February 04, 2015, 06:40:18 AM: Well you can ask him yourself at drshahsuhas@gmail.com from which he'll personally reply from his iphone.

But I'm sure the answer will be that only when Ellipse receives payment can the process of importing the hardware commence, for which should be allowed 5-6 weeks. My only query is whether the deposit for the external magnetic unit would need to be paid at the outset or closer to when I take possession of it.

The payment will be to the manufacturer (Ellipse Technologies in the USA), not to the hospital.
Title: Re: The Double Down - Dr Suhas Shah, Mumbai - Femurs by PRECICE II, Oct 2015
Post by: Thegosis on February 05, 2015, 09:09:37 AM: I've been copied through with the list of documents requiring completion for importation of the device. A lot of red tape but the good news is that I don't have get any signoffs from any doctor in Australia. All that is done by the surgeon in India and I may have to come up with an address in India and perhaps sign as patient on the application.

The supplier has now quoted Rs 11.34 as the importation price inclusive of taxes. I don't now whether it is for 1 or 2 nails. That amount is equivalent to $US18350
Title: Re: The Double Down - Dr Suhas Shah, Mumbai - Femurs by PRECICE II, Oct 2015
Post by: Thegosis on February 05, 2015, 06:35:08 PM: Yes $Rs11.34 is the overall price for ONE of them, and two is exactly double.
Title: Re: The Double Down - Dr Suhas Shah, Mumbai - Femurs by PRECICE II, Oct 2015
Post by: Thegosis on February 09, 2015, 06:12:35 PM: Here is the wall of red tape to be mounted for getting the surgical device into the surgeon's possession:

1. Covering Letter from patient (Draft attached).
2. Form 12(A) from patient (Draft attached).
3. Letter from Treating Doctor regarding no objection for receiving Implant on behalf of patient (Draft enclosed).
4. Letter from Hospital (Draft attached).
5. Original Prescription of the patient.
6. Brief history of the patient.
7. Declaration from Treating doctor on the letterhead of Hospital duly signed and stamped (matter for declaration attached as pdf file)
8. Copy of Passport of the patient.
9. Copy of VISA of the patient
10. Copy of VISA application -specifying reason to visit India for Medical Treatment.
11. Registration certificate of the Surgeon.

I did not plan to have a visa when it is six weeks wait for the things to be available to the surgeon. I intend to seek the visa when it is certainly known if and when he'll have them.
Title: Re: The Double Down - Dr Suhas Shah, Mumbai - Femurs by PRECICE II, Oct 2015
Post by: KiloKAHN on February 11, 2015, 12:20:57 AM: The six weeks shouldn't be an issue. With a note from Dr Shah you can get an extra 4 months on your 6 month visa at the FRRO.
Title: Re: The Double Down - Dr Suhas Shah, Mumbai - Femurs by PRECICE II, Oct 2015
Post by: Thegosis on February 14, 2015, 07:16:56 AM: I've contacted Dr Shah and the supplier of the IM nails (Cure Surgical whose representative is Priyancka Qazi) to say that I'm not going through with my plans. Not a judgement on them but me feeling that I don't want to go across the world on another adventure like I've already had.

Also my mother's against it and was against me doing the first one, although I didn't tell her about it until I came home part-way through. I still do things she's always been against, like being a blood donor. Much better to put the money for this into her own wellbeing and that of insurance for myself.

Richard M Nixon lost his campaign for President of the US in 1960 and then lost another campaign for the Governor of California in 1962. Then he said: "Defeat does not finish a man; quitting does. A man is not finished when he's defeated. He's finished when he quits."

I quit.
Title: Re: The Double Down - Dr Suhas Shah, Mumbai - Femurs by PRECICE II, Oct 2015
Post by: Thegosis on August 25, 2015, 08:55:42 PM: I've put down $US41000 ($30000 for devices, $5000 refundable deposit, $6000 import duties) and booked my travel to Mumbai for 3 October. The PRECICE 2 IM nails should be there by the time I arrive. 8cm maximum, on femurs.

This will be a surprise to you all.

At this stage any tips or recommendations for accomodation in Mumbai would be appreciate and ANY LL'ERS/LL-wannabes WHO MAY BE IN INDIA FROM OCTOBER ONWARD SHOULD MESSAGE ME.

Yes it's official .. the Double Down is back on.
Title: Re: The Double Down - Dr Suhas Shah, Mumbai - Femurs by PRECICE II, Oct 2015
Post by: Penguinn on August 25, 2015, 09:10:00 PM: Quote from: Thegosis on August 25, 2015, 08:55:42 PM
I've put down $US41000 ($30000 for devices, $5000 refundable deposit, $6000 import duties) and booked my travel to Mumbai for 3 October. The PRECICE 2 IM nails should be there by the time I arrive. 8cm maximum, on femurs.

This will be a surprise to you all.

At this stage any tips or recommendations for accomodation in Mumbai would be appreciate and ANY LL'ERS/LL-wannabes WHO MAY BE IN INDIA FROM OCTOBER ONWARD SHOULD MESSAGE ME.

Yes it's official .. the Double Down is back on.

Good for you! I also plan on 8cm in femurs.
I'm a Mumbai resident who plans on doing LL in early 2016. Isn't Dr. Shah in Delhi?
Title: Re: The Double Down - Dr Suhas Shah, Mumbai - Femurs by PRECICE II, Oct 2015
Post by: kokoko on September 18, 2015, 01:04:25 AM: Quote from: Thegosis on August 25, 2015, 08:55:42 PM
I've put down $US41000 ($30000 for devices, $5000 refundable deposit, $6000 import duties) and booked my travel to Mumbai for 3 October. The PRECICE 2 IM nails should be there by the time I arrive. 8cm maximum, on femurs.

This will be a surprise to you all.

At this stage any tips or recommendations for accomodation in Mumbai would be appreciate and ANY LL'ERS/LL-wannabes WHO MAY BE IN INDIA FROM OCTOBER ONWARD SHOULD MESSAGE ME.

Yes it's official .. the Double Down is back on.

Good for you, best luck!
Title: Re: The Double Down - Dr Suhas Shah, Mumbai - Femurs by PRECICE II, Oct 2015
Post by: Thegosis on September 19, 2015, 11:34:31 AM: Dr Suhas Shah is at the Ashwinii Accident Hospital of Mumbai. Not New Delhi.
Title: Re: The Double Down - Dr Suhas Shah, Mumbai - Femurs by PRECICE II, Oct 2015
Post by: Thegosis on September 19, 2015, 12:50:31 PM: Thank you for the benefit of that experience KK. I have received my six month tourist visa in the last week and it is for multiple entries commencing from its issued date of 10 September 2015. I had applied for a twelve month visa, also with multiple entries, but that was denied perhaps because I have never been to their country before.

I'm departing Sydney, Australia around noon on Friday 2 October and will first arrive (via Singapore layover) to Hyderabad at 1230am on Saturday. I'll depart Hyderabad at 0725 that day coming into the international airport of Mumbai at 845am. That same morning I'll meet Dr Shah in his clinic and later check in at a Hotel in the Maharacrapra District that is about 3km away. If all goes to plan the surgery can be done in the week of 5-9 October.

The import application for the PRECICE IM nail devices has been approved. The hope is that they get in the hands of the surgeon before I arrive and to assist that I have been tasked to provide bio stats and measurements of my femurs from xrays. These were:

1. Circumference of each thigh at the groin
2. Minimum and maximum bone canal diameters for each, both medial/lateral and anterior/posterior [1.2cm minimum for me]
3. Thigh bone length [34-35cm, each one]
4. My weight [at an all time high of about 92 kilos]

Cure Surgical is the agent in India for the import and distribution for the device from the manufacture PRECICE in the USA. I first started dealing with a Ms Priyancka Qazi at New Delhi for the import application and now it is a Mr Maxi Pereira of the same company that I'm dealing with. He's told me that a rep and product manager from PRECICE named Chris Yunker will be coming over (from the US?) specificly for me and the surgeon as it's a somewhat of a pioneering occurence for this doctor and the Indian market to do things by means of purely internal telescopic rod.

https://www.facebook.com/AshwiniiHospital/ (https://www.facebook.com/AshwiniiHospital/) Ashwinii Hospital on Facebook
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPKQ55qkFb0 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPKQ55qkFb0) Demonstration of magnetic lengthing using the PRECICE features Dr Rozbruch
Title: Re: The Double Down - Dr Suhas Shah, Mumbai - Femurs by PRECICE II, Oct 2015
Post by: Thegosis on September 19, 2015, 12:57:32 PM: Head office for Cure Surgical in New Delhi, India:
S-12, 1st Floor,
Green Park Extension
New Delhi-110016
India
Email : curesurg@curesurgical.com
Phone : +91-11-26510059
Title: Re: The Double Down - Dr Suhas Shah, Mumbai - Femurs by PRECICE II, Oct 2015
Post by: Thegosis on September 24, 2015, 09:09:37 AM: Maxi Pereira from Cure Surgical in Mumbai has just informed me re the PRECICE IM nails: "We have placed the order for material and other paraphernalia . We should have the shipment with us by 6-7th Oct 2015. The proposed date of surgery is 14th Oct 2015 . Dr Shah is blocked this date in his calendar."

So I will have between 3 and 14 October in Mumbai, or other place I may choose to visit, to amuse myself.

Any suggestions?

I will stay at the Hotel Alma Court for my first two nights after arrival in Mumbai (http://hotelarma.com/arma_court.html (http://hotelarma.com/arma_court.html))
Title: Re: The Double Down - Dr Suhas Shah, Mumbai - Femurs by PRECICE II, Oct 2015
Post by: Penguinn on September 24, 2015, 09:43:40 AM: In Mumbai, go to Phoenix Mills in Lower Parel if you're very bored. Pretty American place.
Title: Re: The Double Down - Dr Suhas Shah, Mumbai - Femurs by PRECICE II, Oct 2015
Post by: Sean Connery on September 24, 2015, 06:05:16 PM: Quote from: Thegosis on February 03, 2015, 04:29:20 AM
I may have confirmed elsewhere that $USD30000 is the price for the kit of PRECISE nail, and that is a worldwide rule.

The answer for India is a little different. It will be $US30k for the kits and there will also be another 10% for 'customs and taxes' and then also "5000 US dollars is deposit for magnetic device you will be using for 90 days and then you return to them they will return the deposit". This from Dr Shah directly.

So I'm currently arranging the method to make an up to $38k payment to Ellipse to have the hardware made available to the surgeon. When that's done I can count off 5 to 6 weeks for when I should plan to arrive in India.

I asked Dr Shah another question to which I'm surprised by the answer. I enquired the "maximum extenstion and weightbearing capacity of the nail" to which he replied "Approximately you can take 25 kg if you use the 10.7 mm Precice 2 nail". I think this must be the answer for one nail/leg, because I swear some other LLers have said that it is 150lb for the pair. But 25kg for one is just 110lb for the pair: 20lb per wrist more being borne by arms on a walking frame. Does it sound accurate or way too conservative?

India has high import taxes for absolutely everything. It's why you end up actually spending more on buying something like a high def tv over there than you would elsewhere like in the USA. Might I ask how you came to the decision of choosing Dr. Shah over other doctors in India like Parihar or someone else?
Title: Re: The Double Down - Dr Suhas Shah, Mumbai - Femurs by PRECICE II, Oct 2015
Post by: Thegosis on October 18, 2015, 06:28:49 AM: I've had the operation as scheduled on 14 October and now capable of standing unsupported on my two feet (not walking). I'm still admitted at the Ashwinii Hospital of Mumbai.

In the coming days I can be discharged in a wheelchair, begin lengthening and continue physiotheraphy to get strength and flexibility back. It will be back at my hotel in Bandra Court or at an apartment in Mahim if I can find one. The latter would be better as it is closer to the Hospital.

The day before the operation I met representatives of the importers of the PRECICE nails at the hospital: Maxi who is the rep in Mumbai and Chris who has come over from the headquarters of PRECICE in the USA. Dr Shah prepared me that the limit of my lengthening may be 5cm due to my prehistory of a lengthening on the tibias. 8cm will be the maximum and judgment of where to stop will be the matter of forestalling subluxation of the knee. Chris was at the operation, and I heard him giving some advice about positioning the nails. It was 5 hours.

The costs have been $USD15000 for the surgery including inpatient care and INR50000 for postsurgical consumables (injections, medicines, IV infusions, tests and xrays and measurements). 1USD = 64.70INR. Outpatient visits from a physiotherapist will be 500INR each. Meals at the hospital are not covered in the aforesaid.

The doctors working for Dr Shah speak, read and understand English capably although the maids and ward staff do not. They converse in Hindi and Marathi, the dialect of Mumbai. There is plenty of advertising in the street presented in English and there are local English language TV channels.

Trivia:
* the hospital is small takes up the ground floor of an apartment building. Nurse(s) are onsite 24hrs/day when patients are admitted. The doctors attend at other locations, one of which is Shivaji Park.
* Dr Shah's wife (Monica) is an MD radiologist who works at the hospital and other locations. I hadn't detected that from his website. There are signs up in his waiting room reminding that requesting sex determination of the foetus (by sonogram, ultrasound) is prohibited
* Nonvegetarian meals will not be brought into the hospital. Dr Shah is Jain.
* Across the street is a Hindu temple to aladevi that has been sited there for 500 years. One or two cows are always tied up outside. Dr Shah has talked to me about the special and therapeutic qualities of the cow.
* Dr attends to his patients very well dress and completely barefoot!
Title: Re: The Double Down - Dr Suhas Shah, Mumbai - Femurs by PRECICE II, Oct 2015
Post by: Thegosis on October 18, 2015, 06:30:30 AM: Is there some way for me to adjust the title of this thread to October 2015 rather than February 2015.
Title: Re: The Double Down - Dr Suhas Shah, Mumbai - Femurs by PRECICE II, Oct 2015
Post by: KiloKAHN on October 18, 2015, 06:49:54 AM: Look like you made CLL history by being the first to do internal femur lengthening in India. It took me a while to find Dr Shah's clinic since it was so hidden, and for some reason a lot of the auto rickshaw drivers don't know where a ton of places are, so I had to have Dr Parihar find someone to drive me to Shah's clinic when I was still deciding. Hopefully your whole journey there is smooth (as it can be for leg lengthening anyway).
Title: Re: The Double Down - Dr Suhas Shah, Mumbai - Femurs by PRECICE II, Oct 2015
Post by: LittleLiam on December 06, 2015, 03:11:27 AM: For those of you wondering how Thegosis is progressing I'm happy to report that he is doing really well and is almost 5cm now.
Title: Re: The Double Down - Dr Suhas Shah, Mumbai - Femurs by PRECICE II, Oct 2015
Post by: Alu on December 06, 2015, 05:14:37 AM: Are you in contact with him at the moment? I'm just wondering here for credibility purposes.
Title: Re: The Double Down - Dr Suhas Shah, Mumbai - Femurs by PRECICE II, Oct 2015
Post by: LittleLiam on December 07, 2015, 10:33:32 AM: Yes, we're friends outside of this forum. I followed him to Beijing to do Tibias and may also follow him to India next year.
Title: Re: The Double Down - Dr Suhas Shah, Mumbai - Femurs by PRECICE II, Oct 2015
Post by: Tallexpectations on December 18, 2015, 06:03:38 PM: News?
Title: Re: The Double Down - Dr Suhas Shah, Mumbai - Femurs by PRECICE II, Oct 2015
Post by: Thegosis on December 29, 2015, 01:38:35 AM: I arrived back in Australia on 22 December and I'm spending the Xmas/New Year break with family before I go back to India in late January. I've stopped lengthening having reached +5cm/180cm height.

Unbeknownst to me the PRECICE controller was programmed to raise an error and refuse function once the overall lengthening got to 10cm (both legs combined). This occurred on Sunday 13 December. Because of my own feeling of not making much flexibility gain and the doctor's initial opinion that 5cm would be the appropriate overall goal for lengthening I prepared myself for his recommendation that I should be finished at that point. Rather to my surprise, however, he viewed my xrays on the 14th and authorised me to continue lengthening week-to-week at the same pace (0.75mm/leg/day). The alignment and bone callus development are healthy and good.

Now he also gave me the option that I could go home and come back in 6 weeks (or less) and resume where I finished off, or if I came back (say) November 2016 I would require an operation (quoted $USD2000) to reopen the osteotomies before resuming lengthening if that was what I really desired. So I am doing the former and it is as much to prepare my body to find out if it is willing to go that last 3cm as it is to relieve the tedium of spending all day every day in a hotel bed in a foreign country without some respite. From 15-22 December I lengthened my left leg at 1.75mm/day to make up a 1cm difference which had occurred at the earliest stage of my outpatient selftreatment.

On the subject of cost, if I haven't previously stated, outpatient xrays and physiotherapist visits are charged at 1000INR per visit or per image above what I already outlaid as an inpatient. The physio recommends up to thrice weekly visits and there's usually 3 xrays at the Hospital each fortnight to assess progress.

I've already had more flexibility to return in this last week at home which has included driving, using a walking frames and ambulating with elbow crutch calipers none of which I had in Mumbai. The muscles get tight at the front (quads), inside and outside of the thighs for me but not the buns of the buttocks and not particularly the hamstrings.

I heard from the physio, Dr Brinelle, that Dr Shah's other current foreign patient who is male, 50yo+, and from the USA had just reached 6'0 and still going via external tibia Ilizarov frames. I met the guy when we were both inpatient in October & I think he started off as 5'9-5'10.

One last thing: the actual name of the Hindu temple opposite the Hospital is "Shi[]taladevi" which I faithfully reported in one of the earlier posts. The software autocensored that to "Crapaladevi". Isn't that cute.
Title: Re: The Double Down - Dr Suhas Shah, Mumbai - Femurs by PRECICE II, Oct 2015
Post by: alps on December 29, 2015, 07:47:11 AM: Hey,

great to see you update!

how was your overall experience? and pain?

if you were to stop right now, how far away do you think full recovery is?
Title: Re: The Double Down - Dr Suhas Shah, Mumbai - Femurs by PRECICE II, Oct 2015
Post by: Europa on December 29, 2015, 08:49:42 PM: Seems interesting… Do you have any pics of the facilities? I think a lot of people would be interested.

Is there any reason why the Precise nails were programmed to lock in at 500 mm? I'm wondering why the settings weren't overridden by the surgeon, knowing your goal.
Title: Re: The Double Down - Dr Suhas Shah, Mumbai - Femurs by PRECICE II, Oct 2015
Post by: Thegosis on January 16, 2016, 12:45:30 PM: I think the termination was set for 5cm because the surgeon stated that as his goal at the first consultation.

I'm going back to resume my lengthening, arriving on 28 January. I'm getting around on calipers and dont need my wheelchair now. Actually I can put all my weight on my right leg and take small steps but the left leg's not there yet. I've been driving my car around Sydney NSW since after Christmas which I get in and out of unassisted.

Won't have my car when I'm in India. Damn.
Title: Re: The Double Down - Dr Suhas Shah, Mumbai - Femurs by PRECICE II, Oct 2015
Post by: Thegosis on April 24, 2016, 06:03:28 AM: I've been back home in Australia since the start of March. I came out through Kochi which I think is in Kerala state.

Given the time since my last post then this will probably be my final communication on this forum.

Last week I re-entered the workforce where I was allowed to go about on my crutches and this week I've been leaving them in my car.

My weakness is at the left hip which I work on with time at the gym and in hydrotherapy and of course the physical activity of testing myself in the workplace, which I feel is most important.

My last measurement of height was 180cm, and that of course varies with the measurer or the measuring equipment or even the time of day: just as measurements of my 2013 beginning height varied from 165cm to 167cm. Thus it is my claim to fame to have added 15cm (6 inch) of stature as an adult. It's not a world record though it is extreme, unusual and out of the ordinary.

I again express my recommendation of Dr Suhas Shah, his wife Dr Monika Shah, the Ashwinii Hospital practice manager Ravi Nancy, the physiotherapist Brinelle Braganza, and the other good people at the place who preserved me over that season of my life in a small corner of India: a country that goes by various other names .. Bharat, Hindustan, and "the subcontinent". The good Dr can legitimately claim to have had a successful surgery and to have supervised the use of the PRECISE 2 for its full extent also successfully. It's over to me for the remaining part.

For those who would follow in my footsteps be aware that when you have made the decision for surgery a lot of research and consideration and action is required beforehand. The surgeon's fee was $USD15000 but there was also the cost and import application for the PRECISE 2 and there was 50000 Indian rupee for aftercare at the hospital. I was going back for fortnightly xrays that were INR2000-3000 and the physiotherapist would visit each time for INR1000. Visas, accommodation, travel insurance, food, taxis, tourism are all part of the budget.

My mind throws back to October of last year when I visited the Sitaladevi Temple across the street from the hospital where I would be admitted soon after and receive the surgery on the 14th. I look into the eye of the living cow as I did that day when I resolved to live as a vegetarian out of respect and with the Mark of Respect put between my eyes by one of the Hindu believers, which itself was a first for a man in the 45th year of being. This was when the mantra came to me that will be my last words to some of you.

A Good Patient Makes A Good Doctor
Title: Re: The Double Down - Dr Suhas Shah, Mumbai - Femurs by PRECICE II, Oct 2015
Post by: thelegend on May 19, 2016, 06:20:06 AM: Why is there no pictures on this diary? It could easily be fake just saying
Title: Re: The Double Down - Dr Suhas Shah, Mumbai - Femurs by PRECICE II, Oct 2015
Post by: appgain on July 20, 2021, 04:42:20 AM: Unfortunately this person's xrays with his full name have been published on social media. I will not reveal where in order to protect privacy. This is one reason to never do this surgery in India if you care about privacy.

Thegosis, message me if you want to know the details, but I doubt you will come back to the site ever again.
Title: Re: The Double Down - Dr Suhas Shah, Mumbai - Femurs by PRECICE II, Oct 2015
Post by: appgain on August 01, 2021, 08:11:30 PM: If anyone knows this patient, please feel free to email him about this and PM me if he is concerned.