Limb Lengthening Forum
Limb Lengthening Surgery => Limb Lengthening Patients Experiences => Topic started by: bgreeneee on September 18, 2019, 03:59:46 PM
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47 year old male, healthy and reasonably athletic. >1" discrepancy since the age of ~19 due to teenage accident and subsequent surgeries. Have lived with the discrepancy for almost 30 years but with the latest advances with internal rods, have decided to get it corrected. My insurance will cover it almost completely. My doctor is a trauma surgeon who has experience with the Precice Stryde device.
Day 0: Day before the surgery
I have to get a blood test today for tomorrow and can't eat anything after 11PM. No liquids after 5AM tomorrow. I've gone through the full range of emotions the past number of months but ultimately am ready mentally and spiritually. My original accident ironically was a femur break, old school treatment with traction followed by a body cast, 3-4 months completely immobile including almost 2 in the hospital. Since then, I've had at least 4 somewhat related surgeries including pin removal, 2 knee reconstruction, and 1 broken ankle. So, in some ways I feel deja vu; the original accident was a long time ago but I don't feel like this is my first rodeo. Though it's on the lower end of the spectrum for lengthening, I fully expect it to be a long road. My wife of 26 years is by my side, thankful for her and the opportunity to correct this. Let's go.
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Good luck to you. Good that you started a diary. I believe as you are not lengthening too much and only one leg, you will have a smooth recovery.
It's 1.1" discrepancy and you are in Los Angeles, right? You are doing stryde covered by insurance, right? Do you know if your surgeon performs CLL?
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I’m in Northern California though my surgeon did his residency with a well known limb reconstruction specialist in Southern California. I have Kaiser insurance, I’m not certain if they would cover CLL.
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I’m in Northern California though my surgeon did his residency with a well known limb reconstruction specialist in Southern California. I have Kaiser insurance, I’m not certain if they would cover CLL.
Can you name either your surgeon or this other well known surgeon?
Good luck on recovery!
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Hi Cena—Honestly I don’t remember the name of the scal surgeon. My surgeon told me when I first met with him 6 months ago and I’ve forgotten. I looked him up at the time...not a CLL guy, but seemed pretty well published and documented on the internet in limb reconstruction. As far as the name of my surgeon, I don’t think he’s looking for publicity...if anyone is a Kaiser member and has a similar need, feel free to PM me and I’ll provide the name.
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Day 1: Day of surgery. Surgery lasted about 3 hours. It’s now 7 hours since the surgery. Amazingly I’m not in a lot of pain. We’ll see how the night goes. I’m sure I have some sort of med left from surgery but have only had Tylenol since surgery. The IV is delivering an antibiotic right now. The doctor was able to cut the bone from the inside which saves me 1 extra incision which is nice. I’ll post an X-ray when I’m a little more with it. I have a screw in my bone at the bottom of my femur from one of my surgeries in the 80s so he wasn’t sure whether he’d have to take out or not, ended up not being in the way. Obviously he put the Stryde device in from hip not at knee which I know is an option. I’m staying the night, may actually go home tomorrow, will evaluate that tomorrow.
By the way, for the person with question about who my doctor studied under out of scal, he is recently retired but his name is Dr Donald Wiss.
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X-ray
https://photos.app.goo.gl/P3PXrfU8dD8qR9Zz9
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Why the last screw?
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Day 2: I’m feeling about the same as yesterday, maybe a little more mobile. I didn’t sleep well last night so just generally tired. But the pain level is not high at all. I’m still only on Tylenol. I have been up a number of times to use the bathroom and practice with walker and crutches. My doctor is advising me to just toe tap for the growth period since it will only be 3-4 weeks even though it’s Stryde. I found out the Nuvasive reps (2) were in the OR with me and someone will come to my home next week to show me how to use the device. My doctor said they actually grew me a millimeter after the surgery to test it out..the bone cut was probably a millimeter so no real growth there but we know it works. I had a session with PT and OT today, I think i’ll Be able to go home tomorrow.
Wannagrowtaller: That screw is from 1988, I had an old school knee surgery and I think it was used to reroute my ITB to in theory strengthen my ACL (didn’t really work) It may have been what affected my growth, not sure...I never grew in that leg after that surgery, had a growth spurt in my other leg a year or 2 later. Lots of deja vu in this process for me...never grew before but broken femur in 1985 with traction including external pins for a number of months.
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Day 3: I’m home from hospital. I am glad I stayed one extra night but was very ready to come home. I was tired of the IV and my furniture is more comfortable! Pain is less than yesterday but I definitely have swelling in the thigh and knee. I’m going to focus on ice the next few days to help with that swelling. Pain when sitting is very minor, better than yesterday but never has been unbearable...when getting up and down and moving around with crutches or walker there is definitely pain. The pain is at the hip near the incision for the rod, on my quad when tightening it to raise it to move, and at the knee. Of the three, the quad is the most frequent pain just because it’s needed to raise and lower the leg. I am having my wife assist me to help lift the leg for when I need it. For me, it’s still not enough pain that I need more than Tylenol. Hopefully the next few days will just be boring/uneventful as I await lengthening starting next Wednesday.
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thanks for the updates bgreeneee. If you ever find this difficult think of LLers who get both their legs done and for 6cm :)
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Hi Cena. Yes, I watched a lot of Movies vlogs. 2 legs at the same time is a whole other level I realize as is the extra cms. And I often mention to my wife that without the CLL market, I don’t think the financial motivation for the innovation by the device manufacturers would have been there for this all-internal process. For an LLD guy like me, I am thankful for your stories and support. I am about 5’6” or 7” (depends on which side lol)...I don’t think I’d ever do this to get taller as it’s just too intense but I’m not here in any way to judge...I have nothing but thankfulness and amazement for you guys at your discipline and dedication.
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Day 4: pain about the same today, I’d say if anything a little higher than yesterday but still only Tylenol every 6 hours. The swelling is still relatively big, especially around the knee. So I’m taking it pretty easy, watching some football and have had some visitors. Looking forward to the swelling going down! I also had an in home PT visit today. Nothing too revolutionary in PT but she had some good ideas for basic exercises once I can tolerate it. I tried out the bath transfer bench for a tub/shower combo and that worked great. 3 days until lengthening begins!
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Day 4: pain about the same today, I’d say if anything a little higher than yesterday but still only Tylenol every 6 hours. The swelling is still relatively big, especially around the knee. So I’m taking it pretty easy, watching some football and have had some visitors. Looking forward to the swelling going down! I also had an in home PT visit today. Nothing too revolutionary in PT but she had some good ideas for basic exercises once I can tolerate it. I tried out the bath transfer bench for a tub/shower combo and that worked great. 3 days until lengthening begins!
I did the same surgery for LLD correction of 10 mm using precice nail 2 in New York.
Nail Failed after started working in 3 months and i lost the distraction.
Its been 13 months after surgery done and still the union is very slow, maybe I have a non union.
I am going to Dr Betz next month for acute lengthening of the 10 mm using solid nail, also bone grafting if needed.
XRAY done yesterday (13 months post surgery): https://imgur.com/a/gCWJHGL
My advice for u is not to walk on it until the bone healed even if they call stryde full weight bearable.
Good Luck!
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Thanks Hamza. Sorry to hear of your experience and best of luck in what you need to do.
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I did the same surgery for LLD correction of 10 mm using precice nail 2 in New York.
Nail Failed after started working in 3 months and i lost the distraction.
Its been 13 months after surgery done and still the union is very slow, maybe I have a non union.
I am going to Dr Betz next month for acute lengthening of the 10 mm using solid nail, also bone grafting if needed.
XRAY done yesterday (13 months post surgery): https://imgur.com/a/gCWJHGL
My advice for u is not to walk on it until the bone healed even if they call stryde full weight bearable.
Good Luck!
I assume you manage to find this diary ;)
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I assume you manage to find this diary ;)
Thanks for guidance :)
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Day 5: No major changes from yesterday. One thing that is a little unexpected for me is the amount of swelling in my knee. I’ve been keeping it up a lot today with ice...the first few days I iced it but wasn’t doing a good job getting it above my heart. I do think it’s a little smaller tonight, hopefully it continues to reduce in size.
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Day 6: Swelling much better today in leg as well as knee. All the icing and elevation is paying off. Yesterday was definitely the worst pain day for me, today is better and I’m getting some more motor/muscle control of the quad to be able to lift it...for instance to lift over the edge of the bathtub without assistance. I’m still pretty sore but it’s getting better. Also I removed the waterproof bandages tonite which feels good. Swelling on incisions is down but there is a fair amount of bruising around them. Tomorrow is what I’ve been waiting for...the NuVasive rep is coming to my house with the erc...time to grow up! Let’s go!
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Some recent photos. Sorry in one of them, the lighting isn’t great. Hope they are of value for those preparing for this.
* The one with the bandages shows that I have an extra incision at the knee. This is due to the method used for the osteotomy process...bone was cut from the inside out—no extra incision there, but a temporary pin was used close to the knee to insert a temporary pin to align the lower part of the femur for the rod.
* x marks the spot for the erc
* The shadowy pic show bruising on the outside of the thigh 6 days after the surgery. Makes sense that it’s still sore with all that bruising still there
https://photos.app.goo.gl/gphVncGwnpfDvr1i8
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Day 6: Swelling much better today in leg as well as knee. All the icing and elevation is paying off. Yesterday was definitely the worst pain day for me, today is better and I’m getting some more motor/muscle control of the quad to be able to lift it...for instance to lift over the edge of the bathtub without assistance. I’m still pretty sore but it’s getting better. Also I removed the waterproof bandages tonite which feels good. Swelling on incisions is down but there is a fair amount of bruising around them. Tomorrow is what I’ve been waiting for...the NuVasive rep is coming to my house with the erc...time to grow up! Let’s go!
Stretch before & after each session as it will help u a lot to reduce the pain.
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Hamza-and others. I’m so tight from the surgery still...no where even close to the flexibility I had presurgery understandably. I can barely get my knee to bend at a right angle to sit. So I can and will work on that... but wow...to think about growth when I’m still this stiff is a little mind boggling!
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Day 7: And so it begins. I did my first lengthening today, My erc is programmed for 0.5mm per session and I will be doing 2 sessions per day. I’ve now done only 1 session, have another in a couple of hours. I felt some tingling during the process but I’m not sure if that was just my “nerves”. Ironically I have the latest Stryde nail...but I understand that I have the 1st generation erc. It’s in a huge suitcase, looks like it is out of an 80s movie and would be used to activate a nuclear bomb. I guess it doesn’t matter but I understand the newer ercs are a little more sleek. No extra pain after, we’ll see how that changes day to day with any post lengthening aching. The tech/rep who brought the erc says I’m looking really good, knee flexibility much better today so that was encouraging.
I hit a wall last night, lack of sleep for a week combined with the emotions of over 30 years of surgeries and dealing with this, combined with all the deja vu of the recovery journey I’m on...and I just broke down and sobbed, mostly by myself. People on this journey come from all different places in life...age, gender, country, economics, religion, family situation, etc. Those factors combined with ones own personal reasons for doing this and sometimes it’s hard to have empathy for others. I can tell you, as a person with a lifetime trauma journey, one thing that just drains me is the feeling of “here we go again”. That was the wall I hit last night. If anyone can go on a journey like this and not hit a wall, you’re a stronger person than I. But you have to learn to get over the wall or the journey won’t succeed.Maybe in some future diaries I’ll share some more about this...
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Awesome post. wishing u nothing but the best on your journey. You're not lying about the nuclear bomb part lmao.
Also the emotions and isolation you feel during this journey is not something to be taken lightly. Always good to let them out! I put a calendar next to my bed and I mark off everyday till I get to my goal hopefully with no complications and peace of mind. It kind of motivates me looking at it. Wishing you a successful journey!
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Hamza-and others. I’m so tight from the surgery still...no where even close to the flexibility I had presurgery understandably. I can barely get my knee to bend at a right angle to sit. So I can and will work on that... but wow...to think about growth when I’m still this stiff is a little mind boggling!
Use the Strap for stretching while laying down as tolerated. I was doing 0.25 mm four times per day and the mild pain + stiffness starts like 5 mins after each session. I regret for not using the Strap for stretching from day 1.
Once, I went to Macys in New York beside my hotel while still in lengthening phase and i walked a little bit with crutches, thx God I had the oxycodome with me because pain raised like 4/5.
I wonder with my correction surgery next month how does it feel when using solid nail and acute lengthen of 1 cm.
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Day 8: I made it through a week. One more 0.5mm lengthening tonight. If all goes as planned I’ll be done around October 19. Today I do feel soreness, hard to tell at this point whether that’s still from the surgery or from the lengthening. Like others have said, I don’t feel much during the actual erc process...but I do feel something I could only describe as a slight electrical current with the prickly sensation on my skin...where I feel it the most is at the tip of my big toe. It’s not bad, very subtle, just interesting. Anybody else feel similar?
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Day 9: no major changes today. The incision for the rod is the only one that still is bothering me; it is achy, sensitive to the touch and still painful to lie on my side. I’m getting a little stronger each day...my biggest issue by far is sleep. Like I’ve seen in many stories, sleep is difficult...I’ve probably slept a total of 3 hours in the past 2 nights. I got a prescription for Ambien today to hopefully break that cycle. I’ve taken it 1 time like 10 years ago during another surgery recovery. I am not in to pain meds or sleep aids...I’ve still only taken Tylenol for this so far...but I’m at the desperate point to get a good night sleep.
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Day 10: Thank you Ambien...I got a decent night’s sleep last night. I feel 200% better today, partly due to the sleep, but also some marked physical improvements:
* My knee can bend well past 90 degrees, probably about 105 degrees.
* I’m getting enough strength to lift my leg over things without assistance (eg to get in car, tub)
* I fully transitioned from walker to crutches
* Swelling is way down on knee
* I went to my sons wrestling tournament today for about 3 hours, including using crutches up into the bleachers
* I rode in my 4wd SUV, which I certainly couldn’t get in until now
I’m at 4mm as of today. Just the beginning but VERY thankful for the progress!
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Now things will start to get better and when you see you will be over this.
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Days 11-12: I continue to feel stronger. Now that I can move my leg easier when sleeping, I’m actually able to sleep. I only took Ambien the one night, had a nice creepy dream to go with it. I’m still waking up a couple of times at least and moving from bed to chair and back, but last night was by far the most consistent sleep to date with no drug assistance.
The back of my thigh still has a huge dark purple bruise about the size of my outstretched hand from the bone break i assume with no real signs of fading...think it’s going to take weeks for that to go away. It’s the ugliest bruise I’ve ever had...including when I broke my femur myself lol. Also still bruising near the incisions but not too bad and looking better. Incisions are looking good and feel so much better after removing the steri strips.
I’m going to hit 6mm today and I’m super anxious to get the xrays to confirm the progress. My target is somewhere around 25, which is around Oct 19. I’ll see the doctor in 2 days. With KP, you can email the doctor directly so I’ve traded a few emails but haven’t seen him since the day after surgery.
As far as pain goes. I’d say it’s minimal. Certain leg movements hurt more than others with the one that bothers me the most being the movement to pull my leg in towards my body...the muscles that contract over where my big bruise is...not sure if it’s the bruise/break or the stretched muscles or just continued posit surgery trauma. I have lapsed many hours with no meds in the past few days but for the most part still consistently taking (only) Tylenol.
My doctor has pretty much advised to do minimal weight bearing but I do weight bear here and there with no pain, mostly when I’m stuck with one crutch or need to carry something across the kitchen or something like that. I’m going to talk to him about the exercise bike as I think that might be good soon(?).
Three non lengthening things that get some focus during this time:
* My cat: She is loving this. I’m a human pillow. Thankful for the feline friend that follows me from place to place. She’s robbed me of some sleep but the snuggles are worth it lol.
* My birds: Well they are God’s I suppose, but I insist on my caregivers (teenage son and wife) keeping the feeders out my window full and the window open as much as possible to hear them. Songbirds, hummingbirds, jays, crows, even a big hawk who comes looking for a snack.
* My Reading: I’ve also started reading...which I wasn’t up to until the past few days since I had no sleep. I’m normally not a big reader but if there is ever a time, it’s now. When I don’t feel like reading off a page, I have the iPad read to me aloud.
Little things like this help. We are not just physical beings...while in relative isolation, if you’re only focused on the physical and not the mind and the spirit, your physical healing will suffer. All for now..I appreciate reading the other diaries that are current right now, keep the updates coming and my prayers for you.
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Days 11-12: I continue to feel stronger. Now that I can move my leg easier when sleeping, I’m actually able to sleep. I only took Ambien the one night, had a nice creepy dream to go with it. I’m still waking up a couple of times at least and moving from bed to chair and back, but last night was by far the most consistent sleep to date with no drug assistance.
The back of my thigh still has a huge dark purple bruise about the size of my outstretched hand from the bone break i assume with no real signs of fading...think it’s going to take weeks for that to go away. It’s the ugliest bruise I’ve ever had...including when I broke my femur myself lol. Also still bruising near the incisions but not too bad and looking better. Incisions are looking good and feel so much better after removing the steri strips.
I’m going to hit 6mm today and I’m super anxious to get the xrays to confirm the progress. My target is somewhere around 25, which is around Oct 19. I’ll see the doctor in 2 days. With KP, you can email the doctor directly so I’ve traded a few emails but haven’t seen him since the day after surgery.
As far as pain goes. I’d say it’s minimal. Certain leg movements hurt more than others with the one that bothers me the most being the movement to pull my leg in towards my body...the muscles that contract over where my big bruise is...not sure if it’s the bruise/break or the stretched muscles or just continued posit surgery trauma. I have lapsed many hours with no meds in the past few days but for the most part still consistently taking (only) Tylenol.
My doctor has pretty much advised to do minimal weight bearing but I do weight bear here and there with no pain, mostly when I’m stuck with one crutch or need to carry something across the kitchen or something like that. I’m going to talk to him about the exercise bike as I think that might be good soon(?).
Three non lengthening things that get some focus during this time:
* My cat: She is loving this. I’m a human pillow. Thankful for the feline friend that follows me from place to place. She’s robbed me of some sleep but the snuggles are worth it lol.
* My birds: Well they are God’s I suppose, but I insist on my caregivers (teenage son and wife) keeping the feeders out my window full and the window open as much as possible to hear them. Songbirds, hummingbirds, jays, crows, even a big hawk who comes looking for a snack.
* My Reading: I’ve also started reading...which I wasn’t up to until the past few days since I had no sleep. I’m normally not a big reader but if there is ever a time, it’s now. When I don’t feel like reading off a page, I have the iPad read to me aloud.
Little things like this help. We are not just physical beings...while in relative isolation, if you’re only focused on the physical and not the mind and the spirit, your physical healing will suffer. All for now..I appreciate reading the other diaries that are current right now, keep the updates coming and my prayers for you.
Definitely do stretches with Strap and do bike as tolerated.
If stryde is not full weight bearable so what is the difference then between it and Precice nail 2 ?
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Hi Hamza—Styrde is fully weight bearable per design. My doctor as well as the distributor told me to play it safe and not push it... this is mostly just because it’s not as critical for a LLD patient since we still have a “good” leg. I have an appointment with the doctor today and will ask when he thinks he will release me for more weight bearing...but during the growth phase I’m not doing too much weight bearing. I assume it will depend on my bone consolidation in xrays. As I mentioned before, I do weight bear here and there as needed just moving around the house.
Also, just as an FYI for your situation, I asked the device distributor that I see for Stryde about nail failures in the previous versions prior to Stryde and he had only seen 1. He said the patient he knew of that had the failure ignored the weight bearing restrictions and was walking on the nail. He said the guy had an insanely high pain tolerance and did way more than he should have way too early. That gentleman had the nail removed/replaced and started again.
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I'm not posting, but I'm reading your daily update. Very good and thanks to share you experience with us.
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For anyone interested, I setup a YouTube channel as well with vlogs of daily progress. I don’t record every day...and these aren’t fancy...but it provides some video progress in tandem with the diary here.
youtube.com/channel/UC3M6CaDHmoGXDoVOtWymJig/videos
I had some issues making the channel a link here...so you’ll have to copy and paste to a browser.
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For anyone interested, I setup a YouTube channel as well with vlogs of daily progress. I don’t record every day...and these aren’t fancy...but it provides some video progress in tandem with the diary here.
youtube.com/channel/UC3M6CaDHmoGXDoVOtWymJig/videos
I had some issues making the channel a link here...so you’ll have to copy and paste to a browser.
cool man!
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cool videos!
Not sure if someone asked this, but who is your surgon? Were you the first Stryde patient of this doctor?
Ok I see you will only reveal it via PM. Could you send me a message plz? Thanks
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Yes, I am the first Stryde patient of my surgeon. He has used the previous version of the precice nail as well as I think ilizarov. He is a trauma surgeon, limb lengthening is not something he does frequently at this point though he had significant experience in his residency in Southern California.
I imagine that a trauma surgeon has a lot of tools in his belt that are applicable to this as they are charged with putting people back together after some severe accidents. A lot of the complications/risks with limb lengthening are similar to what is dealt with in trauma. I personally met 2 people earlier this year in the SF Bay Area that had been Precice patients, both were LLD patients. I was fortunate to be at an event where I heard about Precice, and I sat in between them (a miracle). 1 had a similar story as mine...1 was a complicated trauma story where a large steel beam fell on him at a construction site. Neither of them used my surgeon. One used a surgeon out of UCSF and I think one used a surgeon out of Davis (I think?).
I did see one surgeon prior to picking my current surgeon. He had never done Precice but was a trauma surgeon and was confident in being able to do the surgery. In the end, I looked more within my network and found my current surgeon. I contacted NuVasive and they were able to help with locating a surgeon with experience with their product.
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Amazing story.
One part I would have to respectfully correct is that limb lengthening is still a specialty and not all trauma surgeons would know all aspects of limb lengthening. Since your surgeon has done a residency I think he should know LL stuff though.
Could you write down all the risks etc you discussed with your surgeon about this surgery? It's good hear this from a doctor outside the CLL world. I am particularly keen on knowing the chances of amputation.
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Hi Limewalk-
Good point and I don’t necessarily disagree with you. as far as the surgery goes, a NuVasive rep that I discussed the process with prior to surgery said to me that the surgery itself could be done by pretty much any competent orthopedic surgeon.
The first surgeon I consulted with was a very competent and extremely confident surgeon. I did not pick to consult with him but was referred to him by my primary physician when I asked to investigate this process. He said he would and could do it...but his recommendation was strongly to shorten my longer leg. For an LLD patient with a trauma history, touching our good leg is not something we want to do..leave my good leg alone! I also hate shoe lifts, my balance is not good and I actually would spend as much time as possible just wearing 1 flip flop that was about 1” thick. He too claimed to have some experience in his residency with limb lengthening but not clear to me when and how much. He was very skeptical TBH and especially hit on risks like nerve damage and dropped foot due to the growth...nerves don’t like to be stretched he said. He also spoke of some sort condition with the rod that some people have where they are bothered by it, something like they always feel pain/discomfort where it was inserted. When I pressed him a little on how these risks differed from shortening the good leg...most of them were the same. I think he down deep he thought the risks of either weren’t worth the reward. Basically, “you’ve lived with it for this long, just wear a shoe lift” was his opinion. I appreciated his opinion because I feel like I got a good negative opinion for me to consider. But truthfully, I didn’t like his attitude and his “I can do anything” mentality did not have the voice of experience I was looking for.
So I looked for an experienced 2nd opinion and selected my current surgeon based on the fact he was experienced (got name from NuVasive). He’s about an hour away from me but who cares! Night and day difference of opinion and he had the experience I was looking for. Any surgery has risks...trust me, I’m living proof. But he saw the risks as low risk for me and thought I was a good candidate. I raised all the concerns I had heard and he really downplayed them all. I liked his attitude and some side research came back positive with him being a well respected surgeon.
So it was up to me. My faith was a huge part of my decision...I don’t believe in coincidences and there were just so many things that miraculously lined up. Sitting between the 2 recent precice patients at an unplanned dinner was absolutely amazing and there were more things like that. After much prayer, my wife and I were at peace and here I am. But I will add, we are at peace with the risks too, meaning I’m ready to accept failure. I trust in God’s will and am ready for either good or bad outcomes.
In my reading/research, including this forum, the risks escalate with greater growth. My discrepancy is on the lower risk side from what I’ve read. 5cm seems to be a tipping point for escalation of risks and pain from what I’ve read, but there are others on the forum more researched and experienced than I on that. I haven’t heard a lot of amputations but I suppose that is an extreme risk/possibility.
That’s my perspective, hope it’s helpful.
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brgreene, what's your weight, how tall are you and what nail diameter they used on you?
By the way, good videos on youtube. You have the old ERC. I prefer other model of crutches.
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I’m 5’6”ish—maybe 5’7” when I even out and about 205 pounds. I’m a thick build but consider myself about 20 pounds over where I should be...hopefully i’ll knock off some pounds during rehab! I have no idea what size nail they used.
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Maybe they used 11.5mm https://www.nuvasive.com/procedures/featured-offerings/precice-stryde/ And that's why it's not recommended to full weightbear.
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Days 13-14: This was an exciting day...did my first preop post surgery visit. I have corresponded via email but no in person visits until now. I went to a more local clinic yesterday to get X-rays though the X-ray tech wouldn’t let me see the images (grrrr) so I didn’t get to see anything until the visit this AM. At the time of the X-ray, I had done 6.5mm using the erc at home and the surgeon did 1mm in the hospital. Growth on the X-ray shows about 6.9mm so seems like everything is going as planned, possible that the bone osteotomy is the small difference. I still have very manageable pain...only thing that feels a little tight is my quads so I continue stretch them most. Somewhat relieved to have the photo evidence...you use the machine every day..... wrrrr, wrrrr, wrrrr, wrrrr, wrrrr...but without the xrays I was still a little nervous about “am I doing it right?” Phewwww...keep going...next in clinic visit on 10/14....projected to be at ~2cm by then so close to my end goal.
https://m.imgur.com/a/2S7pT7S
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Hi Hamza—Styrde is fully weight bearable per design. My doctor as well as the distributor told me to play it safe and not push it... this is mostly just because it’s not as critical for a LLD patient since we still have a “good” leg. I have an appointment with the doctor today and will ask when he thinks he will release me for more weight bearing...but during the growth phase I’m not doing too much weight bearing. I assume it will depend on my bone consolidation in xrays. As I mentioned before, I do weight bear here and there as needed just moving around the house.
Also, just as an FYI for your situation, I asked the device distributor that I see for Stryde about nail failures in the previous versions prior to Stryde and he had only seen 1. He said the patient he knew of that had the failure ignored the weight bearing restrictions and was walking on the nail. He said the guy had an insanely high pain tolerance and did way more than he should have way too early. That gentleman had the nail removed/replaced and started again.
In my case I didnt walk on it untill Dr allowed me to do after 10 weeks on crutches and still the distraction was lost.
I think in my case the nail malfunctioned and very late union is due to nail instability ( 2 Dr s said that).
The surgery itself was successful also the lengthening process. when I started walking I had a great feeling as I felt balanced finally and without any insoles or shoes modification.
well my correction surgery with Dr Betz using solid nail is on the 10th of OCT.
Keep strong !! u will love the feeling when walking and forget everything that passed.
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Day 17: Today will be ~11.5mm of growth which is about 1/2 way to my goal. There is some art with the science for LLD target growth.
First of all, it’s hard to get the exact difference with xrays...so every time I’ve had measurements they’ve been slightly different. I’ve heard anywhere from 3/4” to 1.1”....though I know it’s over an inch. The latest xrays had like 3/4” in the femurs and the remainder in the tibia which was new news for me but makes sense...looks like when my body shut down growth in the femur it also shutdown growth in the tibia and foot (my foot is a half size smaller). This makes perfect sense...an intelligent designer (God) would build this in to work that way to keep proportions in line.
Second of all, my body has adjusted to not a complete correction. For the past 20 years or so I have lifted my shoes 7/8” (~22.2mm). This has been sufficient but I felt a little short. The art was lifting the shoe as little as possible for my body since the lift adds weight and instability. So, if I go too much farther past 22mm I risk my body not liking it after 20 years of only this amount of correction.
What my doctor says is it’s up to me. So as I get close, each day will be “how do I feel?” If I were to speculate at this point, I think I stop around 24mm but time will tell. Ironically, this will make my femurs inequal (again) but I’m not touching my tibias for something so small so this makes the most sense.
In regards to how I feel now...I’m definitely sorer the past few days. I’m feeling the stretch in my groin which winces some when I use it and I’m tight and tender to the touch on the outside of my quad. It’s not unbearable but I feel like I’ve gone backwards some in terms of “recovery”...the reality is recovery doesn’t start for a couple more weeks when I stop growth.
Keep growing...turning on my erc now.
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Day 17: Today will be ~11.5mm of growth which is about 1/2 way to my goal. There is some art with the science for LLD target growth.
First of all, it’s hard to get the exact difference with xrays...so every time I’ve had measurements they’ve been slightly different. I’ve heard anywhere from 3/4” to 1.1”....though I know it’s over an inch. The latest xrays had like 3/4” in the femurs and the remainder in the tibia which was new news for me but makes sense...looks like when my body shut down growth in the femur it also shutdown growth in the tibia and foot (my foot is a half size smaller). This makes perfect sense...an intelligent designer (God) would build this in to work that way to keep proportions in line.
Second of all, my body has adjusted to not a complete correction. For the past 20 years or so I have lifted my shoes 7/8” (~22.2mm). This has been sufficient but I felt a little short. The art was lifting the shoe as little as possible for my body since the lift adds weight and instability. So, if I go too much farther past 22mm I risk my body not liking it after 20 years of only this amount of correction.
What my doctor says is it’s up to me. So as I get close, each day will be “how do I feel?” If I were to speculate at this point, I think I stop around 24mm but time will tell. Ironically, this will make my femurs inequal (again) but I’m not touching my tibias for something so small so this makes the most sense.
In regards to how I feel now...I’m definitely sorer the past few days. I’m feeling the stretch in my groin which winces some when I use it and I’m tight and tender to the touch on the outside of my quad. It’s not unbearable but I feel like I’ve gone backwards some in terms of “recovery”...the reality is recovery doesn’t start for a couple more weeks when I stop growth.
Keep growing...turning on my erc now.
Same for me as Dr Rozbruch picked up 10 mm, Dr Betz Picked up 14 mm and in my country they picked up 11 mm.
I decided to correct 10 mm despite that they r not all in femur.
Femur measurements alone showed 6 to 9 mm in 3 xrays done in 3 different countries.
My advice is to correct as much as the least XRAY showed.
The most important thing is to equalize your pelvis, small difference between knees will not affect Your walk.
From my experience with 18 years LLD patient I strongly believe that for an active person, any difference more than 3 mm may result in injuries and discomfort.
My correction surgery is on Thursday 10th. so i will keep u updated.
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Day 19: I’ve hit a pain wall I haven’t experienced yet. I’m at about 13mm and this is the first time I’ve had to get out the stronger meds. The meds really don’t touch the sharp pain on the upper quad by the hip when I try to move, very intense. I’m just chilling moving as little as possible right now and hoping this passes. I was out all day yesterday...about 3 hours in a car and about 8 hours as a spectator at an event in a gym in bleachers. I felt fine yesterday but started to feel worse on the 1.5 hour drive home. After the erc last night I got worse and had a pretty rocky night with very little sleep. So maybe I overdid it, not sure...or maybe I’m just at a point where that muscle/soft tissue is aggravated a lot in that area.
Looking to the veterans for advice...do you have similar experiences? I’m more than 1/2 way to my goal which is a lot smaller of a target than most of you...is this a cycle in the process where certain muscle groups get aggravated and then it passes? Or do you have to live with pain in the same area for the entire journey or?? Do you grow through the pain and eventually your body catches up?
I really can’t even stretch right now...literally flat on my back trying not to move! Thanks for the advice....
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Day 20:
PAIN:
The good news for me is that the upper quad pain is a LOT better compared to yesterday, almost non existent. I’m pretty tender and sore now in my outside quad mid thigh and towards the knee. So I still need to take caution when moving my leg around or I get a level 8 stab of pain. I feel like I’ve moved back about 2 weeks in regards to current function but I continue to grow so recovery is a moving target. Yesterday felt like day 2 with me needing a lot of assistance from my wife and son just to shift positions. There’s definitely more discomfort that goes with the erc in the past few days....so much so that I’m definitely watching it count up to 0.50 and anxiously waiting for it to end and then putting a heating pad on ASAP.
GROWTH:
I should be at about 14.5mm by end of day...only 1+ week remaining of growth. I got an X-ray today to check on progress. I don’t have a copy yet but saw it on the screen and the gap is widening, ugly and weird but exactly what I want to see! To the novice eye, looked to me like there’s the beginnings of the bone filling in as well.
SLEEP:
It’s sucked the last few nights. I’m pretty exhausted and I think I’ll be able to get some zzz’s. If not it may be time for another Ambien as I can’t go much more than 1 night without getting some decent sleep.
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Day 22:
Growth:
I’m going to hit 16mm today. Somewhere ~6-9mm remaining until I can stop.
Pain:
Very happy that the pain has gone down the past few days. After 12mm it’s definitely been harder for me. Days 19-20 sucked...needed a lot of assistance from my family to move around. As of yesterday, I can now do leg lifts again and so have regained some mobility. The pain is higher now than it was before day 19...but I’ve adjusted and know how to deal with it. I think likely for the remainder of my growth, this pain level is the new normal. It’s not so unbearable that I need stronger pain meds (though i did on days 19 and 20)... I am back on Tylenol or Advil. It’s not constant pain but will stab me when I move certain ways.
New video up today here that summarizes a little more detail.
youtube.com/channel/UC3M6CaDHmoGXDoVOtWymJig/videos
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Nice update. Keep going.
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Day 24:
No major changes, I will hit 18mm today. I’m sore to the touch more at top of the knee and generally all over the quad though the outer side is less tender than it has been. I never sleep more than a few hours at a time but piece together 4-5 hours by moving around the house from bed to couch.
Psychologically I’m tired of being sore and sitting around. I got out of the house last night and went to a local college (Stanford) volleyball game. In the end, I don’t think that really helped my psyche but it was worth a shot. It’s a cycle...I can see the end of the growth journey which is awesome but I know there’s another rehab journey right behind it. Very few people around me who know about what I’m doing really understand this journey and have moved on. Even with a “small” LLD correction like me, this is marathon, not a sprint, and you have to push through the cramps along the way. Thankful as always for my faithful wife who is patient with and encouraging to me.
Keep growing....
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Day 26:
I had X-rays today and an office visit with the doctor. It’s getting hard to see a discrepancy when I stand. He measured growth at about 21mm and my shoe lift was originally 22mm. I am going to keep growing today and have a full standing X-ray with the radiologist’s analysis tomorrow. Bottom line, I’m within a few days max of being done with growth and being able to start recovery. I haven’t done much PT during the growth phase...he sent the referral today and I will start that later this week. This part of the journey is almost over...looking forward to putting it in the rear view mirror.
https://imgur.com/gallery/FTifvFe
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Day 28:
The full LLD analysis X-ray yesterday still shows almost a cm discrepancy. The doctor’s visual comparison in the office on day 26 showed the femurs equal but didn’t easily show the unlevel hips. After looking at the subsequent LLD X-ray, he recommended I keep going. It wasn’t a surprise to me due to my initial calculations but I still had to remotivate myself after the “looks like you are done but let’s get some xrays” I got in the office visit.
I’m going to lengthen until Saturday (4 additional days) and do another LLD X-ray. My femurs are now about even so I’m getting some extra length in my femur to make up for the short tibia as I described in a previous post.
Pain remains consistent... not horrible but enough to continue to affect sleep. In comparison to the CLL cases this is easy, but it still stretches one’s mental toughness. My emotions have been up and down this week, I have a number of counters and charts to keep me motivated and visually show how close I’m getting. Almost there....
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Day 28:
The full LLD analysis X-ray yesterday still shows almost a cm discrepancy. The doctor’s visual comparison in the office on day 26 showed the femurs equal but didn’t easily show the unlevel hips. After looking at the subsequent LLD X-ray, he recommended I keep going. It wasn’t a surprise to me due to my initial calculations but I still had to remotivate myself after the “looks like you are done but let’s get some xrays” I got in the office visit.
I’m going to lengthen until Saturday (4 additional days) and do another LLD X-ray. My femurs are now about even so I’m getting some extra length in my femur to make up for the short tibia as I described in a previous post.
Pain remains consistent... not horrible but enough to continue to affect sleep. In comparison to the CLL cases this is easy, but it still stretches one’s mental toughness. My emotions have been up and down this week, I have a number of counters and charts to keep me motivated and visually show how close I’m getting. Almost there....
Dont stop lengthening untill ur pelvis is leveled. even if u reached even femurs, continue to correct the small amount in tibia from femur.
I am walking now on 1 crutch, pain is still there but getting better day after day.
I saw a similar case like urs at Betz Institute, 27 mm difference between femurs, he was using betz bone and was fine and happy also.
wish u all the best !
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Day 33:
I am DONE with distraction. Total distraction ended up at 26.5mm. My hips are level and my feet line up. I bought my first pair of shoes (no lifts) a few days ago and just about cried...well actually I did cry. After living with this for almost 30 years...at age 47 I’m level again. Truly life changing and I will have to watch myself so that I don’t go crazy buying new shoes. Due to insurance (thankfully!!!), the most expensive part of this will definitely be the new shoe shopping.
As far as how I feel physically:
* I got my best night sleep yet last night due to not distracting before I went to bed.
* I feel dramatically better today after stopping the distraction almost 30 hours ago.
* I had my PT this morning and by far the weakest muscles are the abductors that control moving the leg to the side.
* I am not on ANY pain medicine, not even Tylenol. I did take some Tylenol before PT but only precautionary
* My knee flexion was measured at ~114 degrees. It hurts of course pushing beyond that.
* I started using a cane yesterday and dropped the crutches. It’s way easier today after stopping distraction. I can even walk without the cane but prefer the cane for now. Per doctor’s instructions, I did not walk during the distraction phase
I will continue to update this diary occasionally during recovery. I’m absolutely amazed and grateful, life changing to be level again.
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Yay. I read this diary and watched all your videos. Now your journey is complete. After all this time you will live with no discrepancy for the rest of your life. This is very good, enjoy it! Your lengthening was somewhat easy because it was unilateral and not too much. Please keep us update about your consolidation and tell us when you take the rod out.
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Congratulations you deserve it!!
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Yay! You did it! Congrats! Enjoy your new shoes, lots of new shoes!! :)
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Update -- Day 48 post surgery:
I am now 2 weeks and a day post completion of distraction. In short, coming along though the impatient person in me wishes it was faster! I did go to the beach last week and put my toes in the sand which was blissful :-)
* I am still using a cane. I stopped using one last week, but have enough pain as I continue to stretch and strengthen that I am using it again. My gait was not smooth with or without a cane and so my PT is working on getting it back to a more natural walk which will come with more strength and flexibility.
* I only go to in-office PT 1X a week. Everything else is on my own.
* I am in consistent need of over the counter pain meds (Advil) to manage the pain at this point. Not severe but consistent due to the increased physical activity.
* I spent a lot of time in the pool last week, swimming and water walking, which was very helpful
* My knee flexion has improved in 2 weeks from 113 to 133 degrees
* I have consistent pain in my knee. I had periodic pain in this same place (below the knee cap) prior to the lengthening but it's more consistent and intense now. I didn't have a great/tight ACL prior so not too surprised by the pain, but certainly hoping the pain subsides once I get my strength back.
* I started back to work at 50% for the month of November. As others have said, I wouldn't recommend working during distraction if you don't have to. Now that I'm working on rehab, I'm thankful that I can go back at a reduced schedule. I could do 100% if I had to, but this gives me some focused time to rehab...after my stretching and exercises, I'm pretty beat.
I'll do a video on my youtube channel later today to show my progress (link in earlier update)
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Update -- Day 48 post surgery:
I am now 2 weeks and a day post completion of distraction. In short, coming along though the impatient person in me wishes it was faster! I did go to the beach last week and put my toes in the sand which was blissful :-)
* I am still using a cane. I stopped using one last week, but have enough pain as I continue to stretch and strengthen that I am using it again. My gait was not smooth with or without a cane and so my PT is working on getting it back to a more natural walk which will come with more strength and flexibility.
* I only go to in-office PT 1X a week. Everything else is on my own.
* I am in consistent need of over the counter pain meds (Advil) to manage the pain at this point. Not severe but consistent due to the increased physical activity.
* I spent a lot of time in the pool last week, swimming and water walking, which was very helpful
* My knee flexion has improved in 2 weeks from 113 to 133 degrees
* I have consistent pain in my knee. I had periodic pain in this same place (below the knee cap) prior to the lengthening but it's more consistent and intense now. I didn't have a great/tight ACL prior so not too surprised by the pain, but certainly hoping the pain subsides once I get my strength back.
* I started back to work at 50% for the month of November. As others have said, I wouldn't recommend working during distraction if you don't have to. Now that I'm working on rehab, I'm thankful that I can go back at a reduced schedule. I could do 100% if I had to, but this gives me some focused time to rehab...after my stretching and exercises, I'm pretty beat.
I'll do a video on my youtube channel later today to show my progress (link in earlier update)
I am approx 3 weeks post surgery and still feel the same pain as u r taking about and when walking without 1 crutch I sway and limp a little bit due to pain above knee and in different thigh places.
I am back to office work since 1 week and definitely my colleagues noticed my swaying but I am obliged to leave the crutch as Dr Betz asked me in order to start relying on myself.
I am stretching 3 times per day by myself and strengthen using elastic cord fixed in the wall for 4 thigh sides, squat with ball on wall use treadmill in 2.5 km/h speed and this is a good training because ur hands can help reduce ur weight.
It will need time definitely to get back to normal situation.
Good luck !!
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Day 58 since surgery, almost 4 weeks post distraction
An update on my progress:
* I am still using a cane. I can get along without it for short distances, but my walk is much more natural with it so I maintain use for now. I don’t need a ton of support from the cane so hopefully I’m getting close to dropping it.
* I will be getting an X-ray in a few days to check on the bone growth
* PT has revealed just how much I have compensated with my “good” leg for so long. My gluts especially are very weak...this is definitely slowing my recovery. Quads and hamstring strength coming along.
* My knee flexion is about 140 degrees... more to go but functional
* I tried to stand on one leg at PT a few days ago... I’m definitely not ready for this. My balance is not good on the Stryde leg and I get a shot of pain kind of from the knee up. It took me a few days to recover from trying this, I just took it easy with no formal exercise
* I still have consistent pain in the quad when I do certain things. I’m not sure if it’s just generally strained/tight and needs time to heal or if it needs more strength or what. My PT doesn’t really know either.
* I’m not consistently on Advil or Tylenol now. I probably average about 2x a day, usually at least one of those is around bedtime
* I ride a stationary bike about 3-5 miles a day. It’s my favorite exercise, feels so much more normal than boring leg lifts :-)
Overall, I will admit to being a little down about my progress this week. Honestly, it’s hard to know what to expect but I wanted more. It’s hard to see daily progress but looked at over a couple of weeks I can see the small improvements in flexibility and strength. Did I expect to be walking without a cane by now...yes. In the grand scheme of things, a few weeks more won’t matter.
I was reading an daily reading/devotional from the Bible and was reminded to count my blessings. There is an old hymn that says to count your blessings and “name them one by one”. I did just that today. The mental battles don’t stop with distraction, easy to get down without the right focus...there’s so much to be thankful for!
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An X-Ray update. Bone healing coming along!!
1. Pre-surgery xray. Easy to see the discrepancy by looking at the top of the hips. The top of the left hip is not even on the xray since it's so much higher.
https://imgur.com/NNyxe5w
2. X-ray from 11/18/2019 - Angle 1. Good bone growth 4 weeks post distraction.
https://imgur.com/cnye5JK
3. X-ray from 11/18/2019 - Angle 2
https://imgur.com/k776qlT
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Day 83 since surgery. Almost 8 weeks post distraction.
* I am back to work full time as of Dec 4
* Bone growth is excellent, i’ll Post an X-ray from yesterday when I get a chance
* I’m starting to feel daily progress rather than weekly. I really feel like the muscles are healing so strengthening can take place. Pain in certain muscles has been a barrier but I feel daily improvement in that. One exercise I could barely do last week I can now do with ease.
* I am still carrying a cane but mostly walk without it. If I walk longer distances, I definitely still need it.
* I go to PT 1X a week. I get guidance and then I’m on my own. I’ve never had more than 1 PT a week
All in all, I’m far from back to normal yet but have no regrets! I’ll continue to post periodic updates...
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thanks for the update! congrats and don't forget to keep doing PT ;D
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r u able to run ?
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Hi Hamza-
I can certainly light jog a little if needed but I’m not ready for running. It’s been 4 months since surgery, about 3 since the end of distraction. I can easily walk miles at this point, my main cardio and repetitive motion is a stationary bike and an elliptical. All my other rehab is still focused on strength, balance, and flexibility. I work out about an hour a day and do little exercises throughout my day impromptu. Most the time the average person wouldn’t notice my walk is in any way abnormal...but walking for me is still pretty deliberate so I wouldn’t say I’m back to normal walking yet. My knee was in stable before the surgery so that is definitely a challenge in rehab. Muscle tone on the leg is looking/feeling good. I just keep plugging away at strengthening...long answer to a short question...my goal is to be running by March.
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Hi Hamza-
I can certainly light jog a little if needed but I’m not ready for running. It’s been 4 months since surgery, about 3 since the end of distraction. I can easily walk miles at this point, my main cardio and repetitive motion is a stationary bike and an elliptical. All my other rehab is still focused on strength, balance, and flexibility. I work out about an hour a day and do little exercises throughout my day impromptu. Most the time the average person wouldn’t notice my walk is in any way abnormal...but walking for me is still pretty deliberate so I wouldn’t say I’m back to normal walking yet. My knee was in stable before the surgery so that is definitely a challenge in rehab. Muscle tone on the leg is looking/feeling good. I just keep plugging away at strengthening...long answer to a short question...my goal is to be running by March.
We r almost on the same track. I ll contact u in March to compare both progression.
wish u all the best
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Hello all-
It’s been quite a while since I’ve given an update. This Covid thing has not been great for my recovery with no access to PT or a gym. So I’d say I haven’t made as much progress as I would have liked. But I am certainly moving forward, I’m mostly doing biking for therapy, about 50 miles a week or so. I’m not running much yet...but I didn’t run too much before :-) I’d say I’m 75-80% of my presurgery condition with room for improvement with more work. No one who sees me walking would have any idea I had a surgery but I can still tell. I deal with some pain still in muscles as I work them...I need to do some more stretching...again part of the consequences of me not hitting the gym like I was before the covid shutdown.
See the video here of me last weekend at the Grand Canyon. If you listen to my wife breathing hard while holding the camera, you’ll see that I’m in better shape than her now :-)
https://youtu.be/Y0v6SrKYyy0
I’ll post another video in a few months...
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Looking great bgreene! that light jogging looked very normal as well as your walking gait. hope you continue to make great improvements.
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Perfect !
Keep training, stretching and do squat with gym ball on wall.
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Wow you look great!! bgreeneee!! Looks like better than me before my surgery. :)
Enjoy your life! wish you the best and happiness!!
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Hi all-
Good news on my front. I've definitely pushed through a plateau, still more to go but these past couple of weeks my muscles are just feeling better. I am starting to incorporate jogging into my routine. For the first time I actually started working on some easy sprints. I'm not as young as some of you here lol...I was exactly an olympic sprinter before! Here's a short youtube of my progress. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVuaL8ZLM8U
Also, I finally got an x-ray, first one since Feb since the covid thing has made access to care much more difficult. Doc says bone is fully healed, says to schedule the nail removal in September. I'll post an xray at some point...I actually haven't even seen it yet.
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This is really impressive. You’re doing excellent judging by these videos.
I’m curious about how well you think someone could recover from an 8cm lengthening on both femurs.
Would you recommend doing it based on your experience and recovery?
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Hi k1erz--8 cm is a tougher journey than mine for sure since I only did ~2.7cm. There's others on here who are going to be more qualified to advise you on that. I'm getting closer and closer to getting back to where I was but am not there yet. I'd say 80% and feel like I'm still making forward progress. I still hope to get to 100%. Good luck on your decision and journey!
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It's been about 9 months since the end of my distraction (finished growth Oct 2019). Here's the latest xray from about a week ago. Doctor says bone is good to go, I'll be scheduling rod removal in probably October.
https://imgur.com/gallery/u4ZxXoT
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It's been about 9 months since the end of my distraction (finished growth Oct 2019). Here's the latest xray from about a week ago. Doctor says bone is good to go, I'll be scheduling rod removal in probably October.
https://imgur.com/gallery/u4ZxXoT
That’s awesome. Please keep us posted.
Thank you for referring me to Dr. F.
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https://imgur.com/rAHWlha
My xray 10 months of LLD correction of 9 mm with solid nail
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Hi folks--I'll be getting my rod out on 10/5. It's been just over a year since my surgery. No regrets!
https://youtu.be/5A_B-AgsPUw
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Rod removal complete! Much easier of course than the original surgery but still pretty sore on day 2 at incisions. I’m just icing and elevating mostly today, I can walk but use a cane. I’ll let folks know how fast I’m back to presurgery condition.
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congrats man! yes do keep us updated !
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Rod removal complete! Much easier of course than the original surgery but still pretty sore on day 2 at incisions. I’m just icing and elevating mostly today, I can walk but use a cane. I’ll let folks know how fast I’m back to presurgery condition.
I ll remove the nail after a couple of months with Dr Betz.
when u r fully recovered, let me know how does it feel when u walk and run without the nail inside ur thigh,
does it feel better ? lighter ? more balance ?
good luck
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Great diary and really insightful comments of your journey.
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It’s been almost a week since the rod removal. Overall, this is of course a lot easier than the original surgery but I would say I got caught thinking it would be easier than it is. There’s been a lot of deja vu in the first week with lack of sleep and the just the feeling of being stuck waiting for it to get better. I had made so much progress, especially in the last month, that it’s a little mental battle to go backwards. I mostly limp around with no cane but still use a cane if I’m walking more than a 100 feet or so. I’ll continue to update on how fast I regain more normalcy!
So, my advice, get mentally prepared for this one. Yes, it’s easier but it’s no walk in the park. See the very end of my YouTube video for pictures of the incisions and fairly significant bruising.
https://youtu.be/0Ed4q9FZVyY
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Thank you for the video update and hope you feel 100% soon