Limb Lengthening Forum
Limb Lengthening Surgery => Limb Lengthening Patients Experiences => Topic started by: SuchLL on September 29, 2020, 07:00:29 AM
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Hello People,
I found many people’s experiences super helpful so I also want to share mine and hope it can help you too.
About me: I’m 25, 164cm, originally from China. My parents and I live in the state now (not in FL though). I’m software engineer so wfh is an option for me, but I will take 3 months off since it’s strongly recommended by Dr. Paley.
Who takes care of me: Chinese people are usually not that open, so I really appreciate it that my parents always support my “crazy” ideas. My mom will stay with me and take care of me during the entire 3 months.
Who knows about my surgery: right now only my parents and my ex knows about it. My ex knows it because she’s my girlfriend back then lol. (We broke up for other reasons, not because of the surgery lol). I don’t plan on letting any other people know about my surgery.
Why I want LL: I just want to be taller and feel better about myself.
What my goal is: I don’t have a goal. If I’m happy after 8 cm femur then I won’t do tibia.
Where I stay: since my mom can drive, and we have a suv that is big enough to carry wheelchair, I booked an airbnb for 3 months instead of staying in the recommended hotels. It’s a 10-minute drive to the Paley institute.
Preparation before the surgery: I stretched and used foam roller every day for 3 months before surgery.
Sep 15, surgery: I had the femur surgery with Dr. Paley today. I woke up feeling excited probably because of the meds... I didn’t feel painful but my legs were extremely heavy and stiff. That feeling was worse than pain to me. The first day was hard as I couldn’t get off the bed. My mom couldn’t stay with me overnight in the hospital because of covid. (I felt I was a baby again and seeing her made me feel better lol). I had good appetite though.
Sep 19, Day 4: sorry for not updating on day 2 and 3. so I was discharged in the afternoon. I read MyRevolution’s posts about having problems with sitting. I didn’t feel painful while sitting though. I think the incisions differ from person to person, and my incisions are probably higher. I applied ice to my legs a lot for the first three days. My incisions were good and only hurt a little on day 4. I took pain meds because I would feel cold and very uncomfortable if I didn’t. Right now I’m taking pain meds every 4-5 hours. I switched between 5mg of oxycodone and 2 acetaminophen. So if I took oxycodone this time, I would take acetaminophen next time. Pain management is easy so far. I slept for 10+ hrs every day because the pain meds made me sleepy. Several nurses said that I recovered faster than people they saw in the past few weeks. They said they loved to see me walking around (with a walker of course) and I was superstar lol. I’m not sure if it’s true or they just wanted me to feel good. It’s not an easy task to walk around but I tried to get some exercises every few hours. My mom also helped me stretch several times a day, and I ate a lot (my mom cooked delicious Chinese food!). I could stand, wash my face, brush teeth, etc... I could also took shower by myself (putting a chair in the tub and sitting on the chair). I never tried to walk without walker, but I feel I can walk a few steps without walker too. I could do these but they were not easy tasks for me.
Sep 20, Day 5: I started to only take 5mg oxy every 4.5-6 hours instead of switching between oxy and acetaminophen. Oxy is stronger, but it gave me good energy to stretch & walk around, which actually helped me recover I believe.
Sep 21, day 6: my legs are much more flexible comparing to yesterday. Stretch, exercises, and walk really help! I could walk a lot faster today (with walker). I started to do more simple tasks on my own to show off lol. Pain management is still easy so far. I’ll start lengthening tomorrow!
Sep 22, day 7: First day lengthening! I’m using the latest Samsung machine, which is smaller, smarter, and takes only about 45s to lengthen 0.25mm (I heard it’s 7 mins with the old machine...). I think they just got the new machines several months ago. Unlike the old machine, the new machine can tell you if it’s connect to the nail, and will only start to work if connected. It’s hard to incorrectly use the new machine and miss lengthening. PT measured my flexibility today, and said it’s impressive to see how flexible I am. I stretched and used form roller every day for 3 months before the surgery, so my muscles are not tight at all. PT told me to put ice pack on my thigh since they were still swollen (It’s so obvious that my thigh are swollen, but I don’t know why I didn’t notice it until my PT told me...............)
Sep 23, day 8: I was with a different PT today. It seems that she’s a little disappointed seeing me super flexible because I kept telling her “no“ when she asked me if I felt the stretch lol. She said she wanted to challenge me and see me coming in tomorrow without wheelchair, just the walker. My legs felt so good after PT because they were warmed up. I went to shopping with my mom right after PT and walked for 1 hour without rest!
Sep 23, day 9: today I went to PT without wheelchair, and felt that I will never need it! I had to keep walking while waiting for PT though since standing was harder for me... Pain management was easy before lengthening, but becomes a little harder now. It’s probably because I haven’t fully recovered from the surgery, so I’m lengthening injured areas.
Sep 27, day 13: sorry for not updating everyday. Since it’s almost 2 weeks after the surgery, I tried to not take oxy to see if I still needed it. After 9 hours without oxy, my conclusion is, I still need oxy. I felt tired after walking for 1 hour without rest on day 8. Today I just walked for 1 hour again and didn’t feel tired at all!
Sep 28, day 14: sometimes I felt discomfort in my left leg and oxy couldn’t help. I don’t know how to rate the discomfort, but I couldn’t sleep when I felt it. It’s been like this for several days but it’s getting better. Sometimes the discomfort slowly goes away if I apply heat or lay on my stomach, so I became a stomach sleeper recently... I usually have two daytime naps (3+ hours) and two nighttime naps (4 to 5+ hours), so I sleep about 7 to 8+ hours a day. I feel I’ve been doing great so far. Several PT said I should be able to hit 8 cm without problems. One PT felt that my legs probably won’t be tight at all during the entire lengthening process. Right now I’m still super flexible , have good appetite and eat 5 meals a day. Having my parents supporting me also makes me mentally stable and strong.
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Hi SuchLL,
Thank you so much for sharing your journey! That was very smart of you to stretch and use a foam roller 3 months prior to the surgery. How flexible are you exactly? Can you do the splits? Any stretching/exercise routine you can reveal to us? I was also wondering if you could post a picture or video of the Samsung machine? I'm very curious to see what it looks like. Pretty amazing the speed it can lengthen. You have great support from your parents and you have prepared well for this moment, I'm sure you'll do great. I look forward to reading about your progress along the way!
-brondo
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你好。 你是美国人吗？ 你的英文很好.
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Thanks for sharing this. It's really helpful. Keep updating it. I am also a Chinese in America, as a SDE... I am 160cm height.
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That's awesome man, thanks for sharing this. I'm also about 164-165cm, soon to be SW engineer, and considering going with Paley so this will be super helpful :)
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Thanks for the diary!
I look forward to reading your progress and wish you the best of luck.
Please upload an image of the new Samsung device.
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Great to hear everything is going well so far, especially with pain management and flexibility. I'm also interested in how far you got with pre-op flexibility. I've been stretching a lot as my surgery date is coming up and I'm hoping that I go in a lot more flexible than I am currently.
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Thanks for the diary
The pre surgery stretching seems to have done you justice. Hopefully this will be a breeze for you.
Those that are close to surgery please stretch your legs consistently. It may reduce pain levels significantly!
All the best
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Hi SuchLL,
Thank you so much for sharing your journey! That was very smart of you to stretch and use a foam roller 3 months prior to the surgery. How flexible are you exactly? Can you do the splits? Any stretching/exercise routine you can reveal to us? I was also wondering if you could post a picture or video of the Samsung machine? I'm very curious to see what it looks like. Pretty amazing the speed it can lengthen. You have great support from your parents and you have prepared well for this moment, I'm sure you'll do great. I look forward to reading about your progress along the way!
-brondo
Hi Brondo, I’ll try to describe how flexible I am. Two PTs thought I could do splits but I couldn’t. PTs have to work really hard for me to feel stretch on my hamstrings. I couldn’t feel stretch on my hip flexors (they usually get tight if you sit too long). Prior to the surgery I could use a very intense foam roller on my quads and still didn’t feel hurt so my quads are not tight either. My IT band is good so far since Dr. Paley does IT band release for all his patients. I forgot to mention that I also tried to strengthen my gluteus medius for 3 months before the surgery. A weak gluteus medius can make IT band tighter.
I stretch 3 times a day (2 times at home + 1 time with PT), and walk for 1 - 1.5 hours. Different PTs make me do different exercises, and I focus on the exercises that are challenging to me at home. I think the discomfort in my right leg was caused by too much exercises, so I will do less exercises in the next few days.
Here’s a picture of the new machine:
https://ibb.co/StGjG4Y
It tells you how much you’ve lengthened in total and daily. It’s also chargeable so you can do lengthening anywhere.
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Great to hear everything is going well so far, especially with pain management and flexibility. I'm also interested in how far you got with pre-op flexibility. I've been stretching a lot as my surgery date is coming up and I'm hoping that I go in a lot more flexible than I am currently.
I described how flexible I am in a different post. You will be a lot more flexible and best of luck on your surgery!
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Sorry for not replying everyone’s posts here. I read all your posts and I’m happy that you find my diary helpful!
Sep 29, day 15: I think the discomfort in my left leg was caused by too much exercises. Today I gave myself a break and did less exercises, and my left leg feels much better right now! I will do less exercises in the next few days to help my left leg recover. Today PT told me to keep my feet closer and try to avoid penguin walking... I tried it and my mom said I walked much better. It’s hard to keep my feet close though. I have to lean forward which hurts my back. I’m not sure if it’s a good idea to keep my feet closer at this stage since my butt is still very weak. I will ask other PTs to get their opinions.
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Really loving the new Paley diaries recently. Seems like randomly for some reason all of a sudden, every Asian who is a software engineer decided to book a surgery for Stryde femurs with Paley in the month of September. You're like number 3 already lol
This diary is incredibly detailed, and it's awesome you did foam rolling and stretching for 3 months. You're way ahead of the curve, and I'm happy your 妈妈 is taking care of you.
Keep taking pictures bro. That's a really cool erc machine, thanks for showing us, never would've knew if you didn't share !
Best of luck brotha
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Thanks for replying SuchLL. It look like the new ERC is the same one that has been going around to the other LL places. Didn't know it was made by Samsung though. I was wondering how you take showers without the incision points getting wet. Anything specific for that? Hope your left leg recovers soon.
-brondo
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Thanks for replying SuchLL. It look like the new ERC is the same one that has been going around to the other LL places. Didn't know it was made by Samsung though. I was wondering how you take showers without the incision points getting wet. Anything specific for that? Hope your left leg recovers soon.
-brondo
Thanks my left leg is much better and almost doesn’t bother me now. They put waterproof bandages on my incisions, checked my incisions a week after the surgery, and just took off everything on my incisions since they healed nicely.
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Really loving the new Paley diaries recently. Seems like randomly for some reason all of a sudden, every Asian who is a software engineer decided to book a surgery for Stryde femurs with Paley in the month of September. You're like number 3 already lol
This diary is incredibly detailed, and it's awesome you did foam rolling and stretching for 3 months. You're way ahead of the curve, and I'm happy your 妈妈 is taking care of you.
Keep taking pictures bro. That's a really cool erc machine, thanks for showing us, never would've knew if you didn't share !
Best of luck brotha
Yes I’ve seen at least two Chinese software engineers during PT lol... And yes 我是中国人哈哈
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All the best for your new phase of your life. Looking forward for your picture.
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Sep 30, day 16: I started getting use to the soreness caused by lengthening. I probably forgot to mention that my legs felt sore after lengthening each time. Pain meds couldn’t help, but the soreness usually went away within 1 - 1.5 hours, and I couldn’t feel it while taking showers. Now I understand why someone took 5 showers a day... It’s a good way to relax and manage pain. I also started to take acetaminophen instead of oxy sometimes, but acetaminophen only lasted about 3 hours for me.
Oct 1, day 17: I ordered a massage table and a strap for better stretches. The massage table is firm, and costs about $100 from Amazon. I can’t get good stretches on softer surfaces, and floor is an option for only some of the stretches.
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Hi SuchLL,
Thanks for the update. Can you describe exactly how you are using the massage table for your stretching?
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Hi SuchLL,
Thanks for the update. Can you describe exactly how you are using the massage table for your stretching?
It’s hard for me to answer this question but I’ll try. For example, I need to keep my back straight to do Thomas stretch, but it’s harder to do it if I lie down on a softer surface like a bed. I can still do it on my bed, but I won’t feel very good stretch and my back will hurt too.
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It’s hard for me to answer this question but I’ll try. For example, I need to keep my back straight to do Thomas stretch, but it’s harder to do it if I lie down on a softer surface like a bed. I can still do it on my bed, but I won’t feel very good stretch and my back will hurt too.
Thank you
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Sep 30, day 16: I started getting use to the soreness caused by lengthening. I probably forgot to mention that my legs felt sore after lengthening each time. Pain meds couldn’t help, but the soreness usually went away within 1 - 1.5 hours, and I couldn’t feel it while taking showers. Now I understand why someone took 5 showers a day... It’s a good way to relax and manage pain. I also started to take acetaminophen instead of oxy sometimes, but acetaminophen only lasted about 3 hours for me.
Oct 1, day 17: I ordered a massage table and a strap for better stretches. The massage table is firm, and costs about $100 from Amazon. I can’t get good stretches on softer surfaces, and floor is an option for only some of the stretches.
Hi SuchLL,
Thanks for the updates. Hope you feel better soon.
Are you able to take shower yourself?
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Hi SuchLL,
Thanks for the updates. Hope you feel better soon.
Are you able to take shower yourself?
Yes. I started to take shower by myself on day 4. The hospital will order you a shower chair. Right now I take 3-4 showers a day.
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Lucky you, you have your family to support you. I am going to get the surgery all by myself but my dr told me I need a 24/7 carer for 3 months. The cost is so expensive and I have a thought to postpone this surgery....
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Lucky you, you have your family to support you. I am going to get the surgery all by myself but my dr told me I need a 24/7 carer for 3 months. The cost is so expensive and I have a thought to postpone this surgery....
What doctor? Surely no doctor is requiring this with Stryde. The most I've seen recently is 2 weeks, though the Baltimore center that has cheap housing available does require someone to stay with you the whole time.
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Lucky you, you have your family to support you. I am going to get the surgery all by myself but my dr told me I need a 24/7 carer for 3 months. The cost is so expensive and I have a thought to postpone this surgery....
24/7 caretaker? Nah. After the first couple of weeks, you might need someone to help with certain errands, but not 24/7.
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Lucky you, you have your family to support you. I am going to get the surgery all by myself but my dr told me I need a 24/7 carer for 3 months. The cost is so expensive and I have a thought to postpone this surgery....
It’s my 3rd week. It won’t be easy for me to do everything by myself, but I’m able to take care of myself. I heard that most people feel much better after 3 weeks when surgery pain is gone. I don’t know your doctor, but Dr. Paley tells his patients to hire caregiver for 2-3 weeks. Best of luck on your surgery!
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Oct 2, day 18: my legs felt very sore after the 3rd turn today (I do four turns a day and 0.25mm each turn). I will do one turn every 5-6 hours to increase the interval between each turn to see if I’ll feel better.
Oct 3, day 19: good news! My legs almost didn’t feel sore after increasing the interval between each turn! The soreness each time after lengthening was the only thing stopping me from saying “pain management is easy”. Today I can tell you that pain management is easy again! I’m very happy and also got a haircut from my mom today lol. My legs and butt are also much more stronger. I focused on butt exercises only for three days and I already walked a lot better now.
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Hi SuchLL,
Thanks for sharing your experience. I wish you the best of luck and I will be following your diary closely as I am also planning on lengthening my femur by 8cm with Paley in September 2021.
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Oct 7, day 22: I had my first x-ray today. The x-ray showed that the nails were lengthened by 2 cm, but I only did lengthening for 15 days. The doctor said that the x-ray wasn’t very accurate and they would have a more accurate measurement at the end, but my x-ray looked really good. Today I also weighed myself and I haven’t lost a single pound lol... It’s probably because I force myself to eat when I don’t have good appetite. My right leg/butt is strong and I can even stand on my right leg and keep good balance. I can’t do it with my left leg though.
Oct 13, day 28: Sorry for not updating daily since everything is going well except one of my incisions turned red two days ago. People at Paley’s institute are really careful and responsible. They sent me antibiotics right away and booked an appointment for me to check my incision to make sure that nothing went wrong. I’m still super flexible. The post surgery pain is gone, and the muscle soreness can often be managed by ice/heat/shower. Right now I only take pain meds (Tylenol) before going out and before bedtime.
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Great update. It seems like you're into that "middle part" of lengthening after surgical pains and before any soft tissue stretching issues come up.
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Oct 16, day 31: I woke up with bad knee pain (left knee). It hurt when I bent it. PT taped my knee to help support it. The pain was gone in the afternoon, but I will still leave the tape on until the skin becomes itchy.
Oct 17, day 32: I can’t believe one month has passed... I finally stopped taking any pain meds today!
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Oct 16, day 31: I woke up with bad knee pain (left knee). It hurt when I bent it. PT taped my knee to help support it. The pain was gone in the afternoon, but I will still leave the tape on until the skin becomes itchy.
Oct 17, day 32: I can’t believe one month has passed... I finally stopped taking any pain meds today!
Wow no pain meds at all? Or just no prescribed pain meds/opioids?
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Wow no pain meds at all? Or just no prescribed pain meds/opioids?
Ya no pain meds at all!
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SuchLL can you give us an update on your walking/mobility?
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好的 祝福你
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Hey SuchLL, glad to see your off the meds!
I'm a soon to be SW engineer as well and was wondering if the 3 months you took off work were important or can I continue to wfh while doing LL?
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SuchLL can you give us an update on your walking/mobility?
I walk with a cane. I can also walk without any support but it’s not recommended.
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Hey SuchLL, glad to see your off the meds!
I'm a soon to be SW engineer as well and was wondering if the 3 months you took off work were important or can I continue to wfh while doing LL?
I see several people wfh after 3 weeks so I’m sure you can do it, but I think it’s best to just take 3 months off if you can. Working will make the whole process harder.
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Oct 21, day 36: I started to feel a little numbness in some areas of my left lower leg. Numbness is one of the symptoms of nerve damage... I probably need to ask for meds for it.
Oct 23, day 38: I had my second x-ray today. Everything looked great. I mentioned the numbness to the doctor. Today I also started to feel pins and needles in my left lower leg when I kept left leg straight. The doctor sent me gabapentin and suggested slow down the lengthening. He said I could keep 1 mm a day, but he had one patient who still had numbness in his lower leg two years after lengthening. Since I’m only at 3.1 cm, I don’t want to slow down to make the whole process longer. I’ll keep 1 mm a day and consider slowing down if the nerve pain gets worse.
Nov 6, day 52: The nerve pain didn’t get worse or better in the last two weeks. I’m not sure if gabapentin works for me, but I didn’t slow down since the nerve pain didn’t get worse and it’s tolerable. Today I had my third x-ray and it looked great. During the appointment I mentioned that I can’t keep my back straight when my legs stay close. The doctor said it’s called duckass... I had duckass since the first day after the surgery. I didn’t know it’s called duckass. I’m not sure if my duckass is getting worse during lengthening but it’s not getting better. I asked the doctor what caused the duckass and he said it’s because my TFL is tight... The funny thing is... I mentioned the duckass problem to my PTs several times during the lengthening process and none of them gave me the correct answer. Some said my hamstrings were tight, some said my IT bands were tight, and some just couldn’t explain it after seeing me so flexible. I can still do 90+ degree hamstring stretch that some PTs can’t even do. My IT bands were not bad either since I couldn’t feel good stretch on my IT band. Today it’s my first time hearing TFL... I know it’s probably weird to see people who are flexible everywhere except TFL, but I’m still disappointed by the Paley PT team. I had appointments with at least 7-8 different PTs from his team, and none of them found that my TFL was tight even after I told them about my duckass... The doctor suggested slow down lengthening at the end of the appointment again. He thinks I won’t hit 8cm based on what he saw today (nerve pain and really tight TFL). I was angry but too tired to say anything. I paid for PT, I had duckass since the first day after the surgery, I let several PTs know about my duckass, and none of them found my tight TFL. My very flexible hamstrings, quads, hip flexors were kept getting stretched, and my really tight TFL was never stretched. Then I was told that I wouldn’t hit 8 cm.
Nov 9, day 55: I felt my duckass was already improved by 50% after stretching my TFL just for 3 days!! My butt and TFL feel tight when I fight duckass, but I’m able to keep my back much more straight! I feel my TFL was probably “dead” and it’s activated now. Besides TFL everything else is still super flexible. The nerve pain is almost gone too. I still have numbness but the area is getting smaller. I will finally hit 5 cm tomorrow wow
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Glad to hear that you are feeling better after stretching TFL. I just googled about TFL. I did not know TFL before reading your post. Thanks for sharing this with us.
If I understand correctly, TFL is the muscle connect to IT band and pelvis. Paley will do IT band release for all femur patients. But its is wired that none of PTs stretch muscles in this area for you.
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I just Googled how to stretch the TFL muscle as well. After watching a Youtube video on it, I still don't know how. I guess I'll have to ask my PT once the time comes. Thanks for informing us of this issue, learned something new today!
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I just Googled how to stretch the TFL muscle as well. After watching a Youtube video on it, I still don't know how. I guess I'll have to ask my PT once the time comes. Thanks for informing us of this issue, learned something new today!
Many of the videos are not doable when you have broken legs.
Here’s the easiest one I found (It’s easier than what I learned from my PTs):
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=priy0kIvqt4
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Hey how are you doing? :0
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Please update
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Nov 20, day 66: I hit 6 cm today! I just had fourth x-ray and it looked excellent. Last time I mentioned that my duckass improved a lot after stretching TFL for just 3 days. I’m still doing the stretches and my duckass is slowly improving. Now I walk better (legs closer) than 2 weeks ago. I’m taking hot bath with epsom salt before each round of stretches and lengthening to help relax my muscle (I started to do it a month ago but forgot to mentioned it... It’s recommended by one of my PT). I’m still flexible besides my TFL. Actually my right hamstring is becoming even more flexible.... but my quads are getting a little tighter. It’s probably because I only stretch quads 2 times a day, but hamstrings 4 times a day. Overall I’m feeling great. I sleep well at night. Playing switch games, watching TV shows with my mom everyday. I want to get PS5 but it’s out of stock everywhere...
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Do you have any pain or numbness? So you took baths 4 times a day?
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Do you have any pain or numbness? So you took baths 4 times a day?
I don’t have any pain but I still have numbness on my left lower leg.
I don’t take bath before PT session so 3 baths a day. My PT is usually in the morning and I feel too lazy to take bath lol
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hi SuchLL
6cm is a real achievement! that's actually my final goal :P I hope you are able to reach your full goal after spending all this time and money.
do you see many cosmetic patients at Paley Institute doing this completely alone without any family members? how many of them do you see on average?
overall do you think you could have done this all alone?
do you find paley and team to be helpful above and beyond the call of duty? I know absolutely no one in Florida. I would rely completely on their team for any health matter.
I am similar to you, a software engineer living in the bay area and not from US. We have full wfh now dude to covid.
I have also sent you a pm about something else, please check.
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hi SuchLL
6cm is a real achievement! that's actually my final goal :P I hope you are able to reach your full goal after spending all this time and money.
do you see many cosmetic patients at Paley Institute doing this completely alone without any family members? how many of them do you see on average?
overall do you think you could have done this all alone?
do you find paley and team to be helpful above and beyond the call of duty? I know absolutely no one in Florida. I would rely completely on their team for any health matter.
I am similar to you, a software engineer living in the bay area and not from US. We have full wfh now dude to covid.
I have also sent you a pm about something else, please check.
Almost all Chinese I’ve seen here did this alone. They just hired caregiver for a short period of time when they can’t move well after the surgery.
The Paley team responds fast to their patients’ concerns and issues, but I would stay at one of their recommended hotels during the entire lengthening process if I do it alone. They have free shuttles taking you to the Paley institute, which is super convenient when you’re by yourself. You can just come to the institute when you have any concerns
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Almost all Chinese I’ve seen here did this alone. They just hired caregiver for a short period of time when they can’t move well after the surgery.
The Paley team responds fast to their patients’ concerns and issues, but I would stay at one of their recommended hotels during the entire lengthening process if I do it alone. They have free shuttles taking you to the Paley institute, which is super convenient when you’re by yourself. You can just come to the institute when you have any concerns
so in general, they are not the "we got your money, now we don't care much about you" type right?
Angelique seems to be nice over email and phone. I believe she will be my go to person for any difficulties I face?
another thing, do you feel like Paley or Robbins give you enough time during consultations?
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so in general, they are not the "we got your money, now we don't care much about you" type right?
Angelique seems to be nice over email and phone. I believe she will be my go to person for any difficulties I face?
another thing, do you feel like Paley or Robbins give you enough time during consultations?
They are very careful and responsible and that’s why they require their LL patients to stay around Paley institute during the entire lengthening process.
Your PTs and front desk at Paley institute will help you with your issues and concerns. For example, if you have knee pain, you can let your PT know during the session. They will help you contact the doctors if they think it’s a problem. Front desk can help you contact the doctors too. My concerns were always addressed on the same day.
I think I have enough time to ask questions during the consultation. Most of my questions were were already answered by Angelique before the consultation
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Congrats on 6cm, SuchLL! Looks like you're almost done with the distraction phase.
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They are very careful and responsible and that’s why they require their LL patients to stay around Paley institute during the entire lengthening process.
Your PTs and front desk at Paley institute will help you with your issues and concerns. For example, if you have knee pain, you can let your PT know during the session. They will help you contact the doctors if they think it’s a problem. Front desk can help you contact the doctors too. My concerns were always addressed on the same day.
I think I have enough time to ask questions during the consultation. Most of my questions were were already answered by Angelique before the consultation
Nice.
About consultation, I meant during follow up visits, sorry :) like that thing about duck ass don't you think Paley / Robbins could've told you about it the previous week itself?
and is Paley institute equipped to handle other medical needs? Imagine someone like me who'd be alone and wants to suddenly get a covid test for example. No car. no one to drive me anywhere. or I get sick with something and need to fill my prescriptions. can we rely on paley institute for all of these things (I'd understand and expect them to charge for any of these though)
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Nice.
About consultation, I meant during follow up visits, sorry :) like that thing about duck ass don't you think Paley / Robbins could've told you about it the previous week itself?
and is Paley institute equipped to handle other medical needs? Imagine someone like me who'd be alone and wants to suddenly get a covid test for example. No car. no one to drive me anywhere. or I get sick with something and need to fill my prescriptions. can we rely on paley institute for all of these things (I'd understand and expect them to charge for any of these though)
About duckass. I never mentioned it to the doctors during the prev 2 follow ups since I thought PTs were supposed to know what they need to do.
If you have any medical emergency, Paley institute is next to the hospital where you can also get covid test. I don’t think Paley institute can help you get your prescriptions but you can probably ask Angelique? They may be able to help you hire caregivers if you need any help.
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Dec 4, day 80: I hit 7.4 cm today! X-ray still looks good. My left quad and hip flexor are tighter. Right hip area is tight (unfortunately PT told me that there aren’t many ways to stretch hip, but good news is I only have one week left!) I walk slower because of my right hip. Most of my body weight is on my left leg so my left leg gets tired easily. I have no pain so I still sleep well at night.
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Dec 4, day 80: I hit 7.4 cm today! X-ray still looks good. My left quad and hip flexor are tighter. Right hip area is tight (unfortunately PT told me that there aren’t many ways to stretch hip, but good news is I only have one week left!) I walk slower because of my right hip. Most of my body weight is on my left leg so my left leg gets tired easily. I have no pain so I still sleep well at night.
Glad to hear you still have no pain. I'm taking a lot less pain medicine now, but I still need a bit. Only a week left and you'll be done with distraction, so close you can taste it!
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Congrats man! I'm excited to see how the surgery will impact your life, especially because we are the same starting height, keep us posted!
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Congras! Glad to hear you will reach your goal soon.
Dec 4, day 80: I hit 7.4 cm today! X-ray still looks good. My left quad and hip flexor are tighter. Right hip area is tight (unfortunately PT told me that there aren’t many ways to stretch hip, but good news is I only have one week left!) I walk slower because of my right hip. Most of my body weight is on my left leg so my left leg gets tired easily. I have no pain so I still sleep well at night.
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could you please share your physical therapy routine
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could you please share your physical therapy routine
If you want to be prepared for the lengthening, you’ll find better videos than what I’m doing by googling how to stretch hamstrings, quads, hip flexors, hip adductors, and calfs, because there’re more ways to stretch good legs. It’s also nice to work on strengthening gluteus maximus and gluteus medius because they are important for walking.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EUrJjClu2qo
This video almost covers all the exercises and stretches I’m doing now. They are not the best in my opinions but are probably the best you can do with broken legs lol
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Congrats man! I'm excited to see how the surgery will impact your life, especially because we are the same starting height, keep us posted!
Thanks! I hope I will be happy with my new height so I won’t need tibia lengthening lol
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Glad to hear you still have no pain. I'm taking a lot less pain medicine now, but I still need a bit. Only a week left and you'll be done with distraction, so close you can taste it!
Also glad that you need less pain meds!
Thinking about going back to work after 3 month off actually makes me feel a little sick lol
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Hey SuchLL, same situation (also sde but I went back to work after a week lol) glad to see you're almost done! I just hit 5cm and am also experiencing left knee/lower leg numbness with the pins and needles/burning sensation. Happened when I started accelerating my lengthening from 3 to 4 times a day (had to do it just for a week), I think it'll be resolved when distraction stops/slows and stretching alot more on that leg.
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How's it going? Have you reached 8cm and been back home now?
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Dec 17, consolidation day 7: I hit 8 cm a week ago. The last x-ray showed that my left nail was a little longer than the right. I shortened the left nail by 2 mm but the x-ray still showed the exact same numbers... I’m not sure if the left nail was shortened since it made weird click sound while the machine was running. The doctor told me to not worry since the measurements would not be that accurate if I didn’t stand up straight, and a few mm discrepancy isn’t a problem. I’m home now and I walk a lot a lot better. I can also slowly walk up and down stairs without any support. I started to wfh this week and life is getting back to normal!
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Dec 17, consolidation day 7: I hit 8 cm a week ago. The last x-ray showed that my left nail was a little longer than the right. I shortened the left nail by 2 mm but the x-ray still showed the exact same numbers... I’m not sure if the left nail was shortened since it made weird click sound while the machine was running. The doctor told me to not worry since the measurements would not be that accurate if I didn’t stand up straight, and a few mm discrepancy isn’t a problem. I’m home now and I walk a lot a lot better. I can also slowly walk up and down stairs without any support. I started to wfh this week and life is getting back to normal!
Thanks for the update and congrats on making 8cm. I wouldn't be too worried about a 2mm discrepancy since I don't think you can even feel it. How bad was flexibility right when you finished lengthening? Is it much better after seven days?
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Hey suchLL now that you're pretty much back to normal, do you think cll was worth it? Has it improved certain aspects of your life? Any complications so far?
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Really loving the new Paley diaries recently. Seems like randomly for some reason all of a sudden, every Asian who is a software engineer decided to book a surgery for Stryde femurs with Paley in the month of September. You're like number 3 already lol
This diary is incredibly detailed, and it's awesome you did foam rolling and stretching for 3 months. You're way ahead of the curve, and I'm happy your 妈妈 is taking care of you.
Keep taking pictures bro. That's a really cool erc machine, thanks for showing us, never would've knew if you didn't share !
Best of luck brotha
Kinda suspicious to be really honest, seems like fake diaries by Paley Institute. Hope not though, that would be really disappoinying lol...
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I met this guy in person during my consultation. He is recovered really well.
Kinda suspicious to be really honest, seems like fake diaries by Paley Institute. Hope not though, that would be really disappoinying lol...
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Kinda suspicious to be really honest, seems like fake diaries by Paley Institute. Hope not though, that would be really disappoinying lol...
There’re at least 5 Chinese guys and 3 Chinese girls when I was there... LL seems popular among Chinese lol. And Paley doesn’t need “fake diaries”. He doesn’t focus on cosmetic LL surgeries. Many of his patients are kids who have real problems, and he’s super busy... we only get chance to see him if we have serious problems. Small problems will be taken care of by other doctors. (I never had any serious problems so I didn’t even meet him during the 3 month process. That’s how busy he is)
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Jan 21, consolidation day 42: sorry for not having any updates for more than a month. I recovered really well and faster than I expected. I met a couple of people in the last two weeks and no one noticed any problems with my legs! I look almost normal when I walk slowly. My body is not very stable when walking downstairs, but walking upstairs is fine. I still have a little duck ass but it’s not noticeable to others in winter. I will have x-ray tomorrow and hope my bones heal nicely.
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congrats man you are 171-172 now wow from 164
very happy for you and glad no one noticed anything
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Hey suchLL now that you're pretty much back to normal, do you think cll was worth it? Has it improved certain aspects of your life? Any complications so far?
I stayed at home most of time because of covid so I can’t give you a good answer on how LL impacts my life so far. I’m just back to my “covid” normal unfortunately lol... but LL is absolutely worth it. Thinking about growing 3 inches in just 3 months! The pain is really nothing. I don’t think I have any complications so far except weaker legs, but I’m recovering pretty well so I’m sure everything will be back to normal.
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congrats man you are 171-172 now wow from 164
very happy for you and glad no one noticed anything
Thanks bro!
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... Many of his patients are kids who have real problems, and he’s super busy... we only get chance to see him if we have serious problems. Small problems will be taken care of by other doctors. (I never had any serious problems so I didn’t even meet him during the 3 month process. That’s how busy he is)
Hi @SuchLL, Congrats on your successfull recovery!
Height dysphoria IS a real problem, the fact that it hurts mentally and not physically doesn't make it less painful.
"Serious" problems start as "small" problems... Who was assessing you at your follow-ups? A certified orthopaedic surgeon? A junior doctor? Was it the same doctor every time or just random doctors of the team? Did Paley do your operation himself or was it someone else? Did you see Paley in the operation room on the day of your surgery? Did you pay the full "Paley fee" despite the fact that he never actually saw you? Would you agree to upload your x-rays when you have them?
Many thanks, All the best for your future!
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Paley is a really busy man... All diaries are similar where they barely see Paley and only see Robbins and still not often.. Paley has done on average 12 surgeries a week for the past 34 years straight... He even got sued once for doing two surgeries at the same time in different rooms and messing up some child's ankle surgery or something... He's always busy making new procedures for pediatric bone deformities and writing papers... He is a very very busy man
The Paley price is essentially the initial surgery
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Hi @SuchLL, Congrats on your successfull recovery!
Height dysphoria IS a real problem, the fact that it hurts mentally and not physically doesn't make it less painful.
"Serious" problems start as "small" problems... Who was assessing you at your follow-ups? A certified orthopaedic surgeon? A junior doctor? Was it the same doctor every time or just random doctors of the team? Did Paley do your operation himself or was it someone else? Did you see Paley in the operation room on the day of your surgery? Did you pay the full "Paley fee" despite the fact that he never actually saw you? Would you agree to upload your x-rays when you have them?
Many thanks, All the best for your future!
One of my legs was done by Paley, and one was done by Robbins. I always saw Robbins during followups. I can’t remember if I saw Robbins but I didn’t see Paley on the day of my surgery. I think the surgery itself is the most important part. If the surgery is done well and you are not one of the very unlucky people, there won’t be many things to concern about during followup visits. My followups just took probably 10 minutes each time. And yes we paid for the full “paley price”. Many patients I saw had one leg done by Paley and the other done by Robbins.
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Mar 10, consolidation day 90: I had x-ray on Jan 22 and Mar 2. Both x-ray looked great. I feel I’m already 95% recovered in my daily activities (my daily activities are simple lol. Nothing intense). I can walk fast, jog, etc... My parents actually said I walked completely normal a few weeks ago and I felt normal too. I didn’t say 100% because I still feel a little heavy when I walk downstairs. My left shin is less numb but still numb. Duckass is gone though.
I’m considering tibia now. I’m happy with my new height and don’t feel short anymore, but sometimes I worried about shrinking like my Dad. He was 173-174, but now I’m taller than him... (he’s only in early 50s). I’m sure I’m the kind of people who would still care about their looking even when they get old. If I shrink by 3-4 cm during my 50s I probably would want another lengthening surgery... Since I recovered really fast, I think it’s better to do tibia sooner rather than later. I’m not sure if my parents are going to support me like they did last time lol. My mom keeps saying “you are tall” but I feel she said it partially because she doesn’t want me to have second surgery. 8)
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Hi ... SuchLL, Is your recovery going well. How is your gait?
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Thanks for updating us on your progress during consolidation. If you did a second surgery you probably wouldn't be able to get it with Stryde for a while it seems. I personally don't care that much about shrinking when I'm old. Hopefully I'll be established enough by then to not care and also long retired.
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Hi ... SuchLL, Is your recovery going well. How is your gait?
My gait is completely normal now. It’s probably normal weeks ago. I didn’t really pay attention to my recovery process since it’s been going pretty well. I’m not sure if I’m correct but I feel people with good flexibility probably recover faster than others. I gained my full flexibility back really quick.
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Thanks for updating us on your progress during consolidation. If you did a second surgery you probably wouldn't be able to get it with Stryde for a while it seems. I personally don't care that much about shrinking when I'm old. Hopefully I'll be established enough by then to not care and also long retired.
Nice to see you here! Did you reach your goal?
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Nice to see you here! Did you reach your goal?
I'm two days away from hitting 8cm! Just got X-rays this morning and everything looks good. I can't wait to start consolidating, my legs are so tight right now.
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I'm two days away from hitting 8cm! Just got X-rays this morning and everything looks good. I can't wait to start consolidating, my legs are so tight right now.
So happy for you!! Many people said they felt much better just a few days after stop lengthening. Just two days away I’m sure you will feel better soon!
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Hi SuchLL,
Thanks for the diary, very helpful to prepare for my surgery in future.
I play tennis and hoping after surgery I can keep playing at the same level.
With 8cm on Femur, do you expect to go back 100% athletic recovery?
I read other paley diaries mentioned lengthening femur >5cm will reduce chance of getting perfect recovery, so I'm thinking of doing just 5cm femur, then 3cm tibias with better chance of 100% athletic recovery.
Also assume you do tibias too, what's the recommended gap to do it since the femur surgery?
Really appreciate your insights!
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I think there are a lot of Chinese candidates reading this post, we can build a discussion group.
My ph number is 2248069961 (email is byu@mum.edu), message me if you consider the surgery with Paley in this year! We can discuss on how to stretch and prepare!
最后， 祝愿博主身体健康！
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Hi SuchLL,
Thanks for the diary, very helpful to prepare for my surgery in future.
I play tennis and hoping after surgery I can keep playing at the same level.
With 8cm on Femur, do you expect to go back 100% athletic recovery?
I read other paley diaries mentioned lengthening femur >5cm will reduce chance of getting perfect recovery, so I'm thinking of doing just 5cm femur, then 3cm tibias with better chance of 100% athletic recovery.
Also assume you do tibias too, what's the recommended gap to do it since the femur surgery?
Really appreciate your insights!
I think technically you should be able to get 100% athletic abilities back since all soft tissues and bones can be fully recovered. Limb lengthening surgeries shouldn’t cause any permanent damages if your surgery is successful and you listen to your doctor’s advice during lengthening. But I believe you need to work really hard to get 100% athletic abilities back. (and not everyone would work that hard so some people may never get (and never need) 100% athletic abilities back)
I’m not sure if 5cm femur + 3 cm tibia is better than 8 cm femur though since you only need one surgery to get 8cm femur vs two surgeries to get 5cm femur + 3 cm tibia. Recovery might be quicker if you only need to work on one area instead of two. It’s probably best to ask for doctor’s advice since each individual is different.
Usually people wait a year to do the second lengthening surgery, but you can do femur + tibia at the same time if you only need 5 cm femur + 3 cm tibia (just 3 weeks between the two surgeries)
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I’m considering tibia now.
You still serious about it man? Would you do it with precice or just wait and chill for Stryde's return. This seems like a great diary and recovery btw, thank you for the diary SuchLL!
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You still serious about it man? Would you do it with precice or just wait and chill for Stryde's return. This seems like a great diary and recovery btw, thank you for the diary SuchLL!
Glad you found this diary helpful! One of the main reasons I want tibia lengthening is I recovered fast from femur lengthening, so I only consider tibia with stryde. Tibia lengthening is not a “must to have” for me.
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Glad you found this diary helpful! One of the main reasons I want tibia lengthening is I recovered fast from femur lengthening, so I only consider tibia with stryde. Tibia lengthening is not a “must to have” for me.
When do you plan to do it?
Also, congrats! It's so good to see that you're waling normaly!
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When do you plan to do it?
Also, congrats! It's so good to see that you're waling normaly!
Thanks! Hope I can do it in September this year, but not sure if stryde will be back by that time...
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I recall you have a big SUV that can fit a wheelchair. Is this like a wheelchair accessible van?
Or you get up from wheel chair and get into the car, then someone put the wheelchair in the SUV trunk?
Wondering how long till you're able to drive a car? Do you need someone to drive you even during consolidation period?
I'm thinking of renting an apartment (15 mins drive from paley). Does driving a bit longer will be a problem? Like your legs may become too discomfort if sit a too long...
Thanks in advance!
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Depends on person. I can drive after 1.5 months. My quards muscles are tight. I can only drive for 20 mins until my knee pain kick in.
I recall you have a big SUV that can fit a wheelchair. Is this like a wheelchair accessible van?
Or you get up from wheel chair and get into the car, then someone put the wheelchair in the SUV trunk?
Wondering how long till you're able to drive a car? Do you need someone to drive you even during consolidation period?
I'm thinking of renting an apartment (15 mins drive from paley). Does driving a bit longer will be a problem? Like your legs may become too discomfort if sit a too long...
Thanks in advance!
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I recall you have a big SUV that can fit a wheelchair. Is this like a wheelchair accessible van?
Or you get up from wheel chair and get into the car, then someone put the wheelchair in the SUV trunk?
Wondering how long till you're able to drive a car? Do you need someone to drive you even during consolidation period?
I'm thinking of renting an apartment (15 mins drive from paley). Does driving a bit longer will be a problem? Like your legs may become too discomfort if sit a too long...
Thanks in advance!
I only had a mid size suv, just big enough to carry the wheelchair. I had stryde nail at that time so I only used wheelchair twice and quickly switched to walker. My mom was with me so I never tried to drive. It’s not comfortable to sit in the car for the first month when I was still taking pain meds. I think I could probably drive after 1 month.
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During surgery/hospitalization, did they put you in catheter?
I read this happens when they gave you epidural as you will be paralyzed mid down. Wondering if it was painful? It kinda freaks me out..
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During surgery/hospitalization, did they put you in catheter?
I read this happens when they gave you epidural as you will be paralyzed mid down. Wondering if it was painful? It kinda freaks me out..
I had the same concern before the surgery lol. I didn’t use catheter and I was told most people don’t need it.
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你好 请问你现在运动具体怎么样 当然时间比较短还有很多空间
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你好 请问你现在运动具体怎么样 当然时间比较短还有很多空间
我是大概两个月前就没什么感觉了 就正常的跑跳健身等等 和手术前基本上没有区别 唯一的问题是左腿的麻还是没有完全恢复
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我是大概两个月前就没什么感觉了 就正常的跑跳健身等等 和手术前基本上没有区别 唯一的问题是左腿的麻还是没有完全恢复
Hi, how is the numbness of your left leg? Do you feel it is getting better?
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Hi, how is the numbness of your left leg? Do you feel it is getting better?
Yes it is slowly getting better, but at this rate I think it will probably take at least another year to fully recover. The numbness doesn’t bother me and rarely gets my attention though.
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Did you get stryde or percise nail? Congrats on your results man!
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Did you get stryde or percise nail? Congrats on your results man!
Thanks! I did it in 2020 so stryde
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您好，现在腿还麻么？之前麻的范围有超过一个硬币的大小么？我听Dr.Robbins说这种小硬币的局部麻基本过段时间会自己好起来了。另外我计划下个月2日去Paley做Femur。您还计划跟Paley做小腿么？有没有群推荐可以加的哈？但愿能有中国人一起拼房鼓励锻炼拉伸或者share aid帮人的伴侣什么的哈。
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您好，现在腿还麻么？之前麻的范围有超过一个硬币的大小么？我听Dr.Robbins说这种小硬币的局部麻基本过段时间会自己好起来了。另外我计划下个月2日去Paley做Femur。您还计划跟Paley做小腿么？有没有群推荐可以加的哈？但愿能有中国人一起拼房鼓励锻炼拉伸或者share aid帮人的伴侣什么的哈。
还麻，一小片区域麻，但逐渐转好，我不太知道中国人的群不好意思哈，我前几天做了小腿手术，这两天会开始写日记。希望你手术顺利！
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还麻，一小片区域麻，但逐渐转好，我不太知道中国人的群不好意思哈，我前几天做了小腿手术，这两天会开始写日记。希望你手术顺利！
谢谢！请问您的腿麻有会影响正常的脑力工作或者集中注意力么？我就要飞去佛罗里达了刚给您发了私信～
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Hi, man, I'm also Chinese. I'm expected to find Pelly for ll surgery in a few years. My goal is 5cm of femur. I see that you have finished the surgery and recovered well. I'd like to ask you, have you been worried about the risks and complications of the operation? For example, bone nonunion, pulmonary embolism, fat embolism, paralysis and even death. I know Perry is the safest doctor and 5cm is a very safe quantity, but I still can't help worrying about these possibilities. If I am in good health before the operation and can follow the doctor's instructions without fail, can I be sure that I will be safe? And my operation time may be 6 years later. I'm worried about whether Pelly will have retired and whether Pelly Institute will be the safest at that time?
Thank you for your reply in advance. I wish you all the best!
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Hi, man, I'm also Chinese. I'm expected to find Pelly for ll surgery in a few years. My goal is 5cm of femur. I see that you have finished the surgery and recovered well. I'd like to ask you, have you been worried about the risks and complications of the operation? For example, bone nonunion, pulmonary embolism, fat embolism, paralysis and even death. I know Perry is the safest doctor and 5cm is a very safe quantity, but I still can't help worrying about these possibilities. If I am in good health before the operation and can follow the doctor's instructions without fail, can I be sure that I will be safe? And my operation time may be 6 years later. I'm worried about whether Pelly will have retired and whether Pelly Institute will be the safest at that time?
Thank you for your reply in advance. I wish you all the best!
I’m not sure if Paley will be retired in 6 years. If you book surgery with Paley, he will only do one leg and Dr Robbins will do the other leg. I’m sure there’re other good doctors.
I’m not that worried about complications and risks. To be honest I don’t even know some of the risks you listed here. I think it’s a good idea to first have consultation with the doctors you trust before worrying about any risks. Some complications only exist in theory but rarely exist in practice.
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Thank you, man! I feel much more at ease! But I still want to ask briefly, didn't Dr. Paley tell you about the complications in advance? If so, maybe the complications are not so serious, since the doctor didn't say much
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Thank you, man! I feel much more at ease! But I still want to ask briefly, didn't Dr. Paley tell you about the complications in advance? If so, maybe the complications are not so serious, since the doctor didn't say much
They did go over complications but none of them are greater than 1% so I barely remember any. And almost all complications are short term and fixable. The surgery itself only takes 1 hour. I only worried about two things during lengthening. One was not being able to reach 8 cm, the other was pre consolidation…
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Thank you for your answer. I wish you every success!