Limb Lengthening Forum

Limb Lengthening Surgery => Limb Lengthening Patients Experiences => Topic started by: BelowTheMean on October 12, 2020, 05:37:11 AM

Title: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on October 12, 2020, 05:37:11 AM
Introduction
Greetings everyone, I will be doing Stryde bilateral femurs with Dr. Debiparshad approximately one month from now. Therefore, I’m starting a journal to document this process as many have before me. I wasn’t sure if I even wanted to write a journal at first as I’d like to keep this procedure as private as possible, but having read so many of these over the years and having learned so much from past patients’ experiences, I thought it was only right to do my part and give back to the community as well. Also, Dr. D still doesn’t have that many data points on here yet, so I thought it was especially important to add my contribution to the mix.

This will likely not be a daily journal, but I will try to make as many updates as my schedule allows. I plan to detail both the good and bad as accurately as I can, and really dive into what I think about the process and my personal experience living with legs of varying degrees of functionality over the next few months. I’m not sure if I’ll post any media yet as I want to remain as anonymous as possible (as I mentioned) but I might change my mind on that a bit over time. Also, if you see me being vague about exact dates, it’s on purpose. However, if you have any questions for me I'll try to answer them to the best of my ability.

Basic Stats

Starting Height and Lengthening Goal
I measured myself at 169.5cm (5'6.7") first thing in the morning and 168cm (5'6.1") before bed. I stood under a box, marked the wall with a pencil, then used a tape measure. I actually forgot to ask what my measured height was during my in-person consultation, but I think my own measurements are fine. I also left the two marks on the wall so I can compare them to my final height when I’m done lengthening.

I will be going for the full 8cm. As long as my bone growth isn’t so fast as to risk premature consolidation I’m willing to slow down considerably toward the end, at the cost of increasing the duration of the lengthening phase. I plan to get the full value out of my nail as long as I am able to physically. For simplicity sake, I’m just going to say I’m going from 169cm to 177cm. With dress shoes or thick-soled sneakers I’d be comfortable calling myself 180cm (5'11") which is more than enough for me.

Proportions
Overall, I don’t care too much about proportions as I think the most important thing is to get my eye level a couple of inches higher so I don’t have to look up at as many people when interacting with them. I highly doubt anyone is going to look at my legs carefully and judge my proportions unless they know about it, and even then I doubt they can tell if I'm wearing regular pants. Otherwise, I think my baseline stats are pretty typical for a short man.

Physical Shape
I was at my personal peak shape right before the pandemic started. However, since March 2020 I’ve been avoiding going to the gym so I have gradually been losing muscle and gaining fat, putting me at my current stats. I’m not totally out of shape as my diet is fairly clean, but I’m not at the optimal strength to weight ratio either.

Sports
I’m part of an amateur tennis league and I certainly won't be able to play next spring, but I hope to get back to it someday. Losing agility and explosiveness is definitely going to make me worse, but I’m not too concerned about it since I’m not super competitive anyway.

I used to do endurance sports a long time ago, with multiple marathons and Olympic distance triathlons under my belt. However, I quit running to reduce the long-term risk to my knees, so being able to do these is not a concern for me post-LL. However, at my peak, my best mile (1600m) was just over 5:30 and my best two-mile (3200m) time was just over 12 minutes. However, that was five years ago when I was still in my 20s, so I don’t think I could ever get back to that, even if I wasn’t going to do LL. If I can run a 9 minute mile after my rods are out, I think I’d be okay with that (not that I’ve actually run a whole mile even once in the last year or two) but I plan to do some timed runs once I’m healthy enough to, so that I can benchmark and share my recovery progress.

Finally, I snowboard and ski and I’ve heard that snowsports are one of the few sports where it’s possible to return to almost 100% after lengthening so I’m definitely looking forward to that! I will definitely report back on my performance in all sports related stuff over time, but I think first I’ll have to walk normally and consolidate before I can even think about any of these ;)

Flexibility
I’ve been stretching about an hour almost every day for the last month, and will continue to do so for the month leading up to surgery. I’ve been doing stretches from the YouTube videos in some of the journals here that I’ve been rereading. I also have a guide from Dr. D’s office. I know some people on here don’t believe in stretching pre-op, but I’ve seen multiple sources say that stretching consistently pre-op will definitely help with flexibility during the lengthening phase. I also don’t think it would hurt to consistently stretch leading up to the day of surgery (as long as you don’t get injured) so even if it doesn’t help with tightness, it will at least help with establishing the habit.

I did gymnastics as a kid and used to be very flexible. In middle school I could do a front split with my left leg forward, and could almost do one with my right leg forward. I could nearly do a side split with my crotch only 1-2 inches off the ground. I could also easily touch the ground with my palms with my legs straight and touch my knees with my face. While doing a back arch, I could also grab my ankles. With that said, I’m not sure how useful any of these are for femur lengthening and currently my flexibility is not as good as when I was younger anyway.

While my legs are straight, I can still touch the ground with my palms, barely. On both my side and back, with both legs straight, I can lift one leg up just past 90 degrees. Doing a side split, I can get my crotch about 10-12 inches off the ground. I can barely do a back arch. At max stretch all of these positions are very hard to hold for more than a few seconds. However, I have noticed some gain in flexibility over the last month. Dr. D said I was pretty flexible at the consult as well, though what he tested is different than the stretches I described. My goal by surgery day is to be able to touch my wrist to my heel with my legs straight for my hamstrings, and to improve stretches on everything else as well, especially my buttocks.

Health Status
I last got a full physical three years ago and the only thing concerning was that I was Vitamin D deficient. Unfortunately, this impacts calcium intake and bone growth. However, Dr. D says that I wouldn’t be the first person starting this process with a Vitamin D deficiency, if I still have one. I’ve started supplementing Vitamin D since my phone consultation, but I don’t think I’ll know what my current Vitamin D levels are at until I get the pre-surgery blood work done (if that's even part of the testing.) I also won’t know what the impact of all this is on my callus formation until my first post-op X-rays, so fingers crossed! I have no other health concerns at the moment, though I am as paranoid as the rest of you about complications.

My Backstory
I’ve known about CLL for almost seven years and have been a member of both the old forum and this one. The original thing that got me to look into this was (of course) my girlfriend at the time – let’s just say she left me for a tall guy and told me the reason was because I was too short. Eventually I realized that my height wasn’t actually the primary reason that I got dumped; it was just the primary excuse. Unfortunately, by then I had already developed height dysphoria and it has stayed with me ever since.

After that experience, anyone who has casually mentioned my height has left a negative mark on me. Every time I get my car back from the valet and have to adjust the seat forward, I think about my height. Every time I meet a new group of people, I think about how I’m usually the shortest guy. Whenever I’m outside walking amongst a crowd of people I start comparing everyone’s heights. These are just a few examples, and anyone reading this is likely to have their own experiences with being short, but I think this surgery will finally fix these issues for me personally. I don’t need to be very tall; I just don’t want to feel short all the time and think about height constantly.

Who Knows About This
I told my best friend about the surgery back when I got dumped by the girl noted above. However, I haven’t mentioned it to him even once since then so hopefully he has forgotten about it. I know my mom is aware of the surgery since she saw a segment about it on TV a few years back, though she probably thinks it’s still performed with leg cages. I’m considering telling my sister about it as she would possibly understand since she only dates tall guys. For now though, I haven’t told anyone that I’m actually going through with it, but I think some of the people I interact with a lot will figure it out and I’ll just deal with it as it comes up. Better to ask for forgiveness than permission imo. I don’t plan on seeing anyone until my gait is fixed anyway.

For post-inpatient assistance I plan on hiring a part-time home health aide, maybe for a couple of hours a day in the first week. I don’t think the cost will be that high if they’re not staying with me 24/7. I will try to do everything myself though and accurately log what can or can’t be done alone.

Cost of the Procedure
Dr. D’s current prices are listed on his website and I’m paying full retail price. I plan to write an entire entry on costs later, once I have a better idea of what I’ll be spending outside of what I’m paying the doctor.

How I’m Paying
I work in a career that pays decently well and I’m currently employed at a large and profitable company. Having been out of college for about a decade, I’ve climbed the corporate ladder to a middle management role. However, what’s more important than the job itself is the fact that I’ve always been aware of the concept of financial independence and have been working toward it since my first job. The cost of the surgery coming out of my investments now will push back my estimated date of financial independence by about 5 months.

I’ve technically had enough liquid savings to get the surgery done since 2017. However, I haven’t been single since then, so I didn’t really have a strong drive to get it done. Now that I’m single again and there’s not exactly a lot to do during the pandemic, I figure this is probably my best chance to do it. Realistically, if I don’t do it now and life resumes after the pandemic, in all likelihood I’d probably never get as good of a chance to do it, which means I’d potentially be stuck with height dysphoria for the rest of my life. Having waited just long enough to be able to do femurs with Stryde and not have to take a break from work is just dumb luck.

Time Off Work
Everyone at my company is working from home right now. I picked the end of the year for lengthening because there will be a lot of holidays off and work is generally not very busy. I can also double dip on both floating holidays and purchased PTO. I’ll be capped on regular PTO going into the surgery as well. Basically, I won’t have to work much at all during lengthening if I’m unable to. However, based on the journals I’ve read I should be able to perform remote work throughout a good part of the lengthening phase, especially if I can manage my pain without opioids. If I don’t feel like working, I’ll just take some time off. I definitely plan to discuss in detail my ability to get work done during the different phases of lengthening.

When I eventually return to the office, I won’t have seen any of my coworkers for at least a year. My boss is a solid 6’3” (190cm) so I doubt he’ll notice the difference in my height. I don’t really care what anyone else in the office thinks, though I think it’ll be likely that some people near my original height will notice.

Why Dr. D?
I initially reached out to the major US CLL doctors by email. I was able to book an initial online consultation with Dr. D the quickest as his office is pretty responsive. He had availability around the time I wanted to get the procedure done, so everything kind of just worked out. He seems very focused and straight to the point each time we’ve talked which I appreciate, and his clinic is pretty nice as well.

I have no doubts as to his competency as a surgeon as his education and medical background are top notch, and a big part of the lengthening phase and successful outcomes is dependent on the patient’s own dedication to PT, which won’t necessarily vary by doctor.

Shoutouts
I've recently re-read a bunch of Stryde journals in various phases of the CLL process in preparation for this. In reverse chronological order: Amanexp, StrydeNailChallenge, Movie, TheAlchemist, VerticalPush, BoneStretching, and InFullStryde. I also want to give a shout out to DoingItForMe, OldieButGoldie, and leechlet, whose journals have also inspired me over the years. Hopefully I didn't miss anyone! Thanks to all of you for sharing your experiences regarding the process. Hopefully someday my own journal will help someone else as much as all your journals have helped me.

Next Steps
One of the reasons I'm starting the journal a bit early is that I think it's important to discuss pre-op preparation. I'm interested in anyone's thoughts on what needs to be done before the operation. I’m continuing to stretch and expanding my repertoire of stretches. I may go up to two or three stretching sessions a day and then rest a few days before the operation. I’m also preparing a shopping list for equipment and supplies, and making sure that everything is wrapped up at work before I go on my “long vacation”. My travel and lodging is already booked, so I'm just counting the days now!

Finally, I just wanted to say that I’m looking forward to sharing my personal experience going through this procedure with all of you, and I’m hoping to get some encouragement on here as well, especially on any of those tough days during the lengthening phase!
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: ghkid2019 on October 12, 2020, 06:05:47 AM
Let's goooo BTM.

177cm the dream 😍😍
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: TheAlchemist on October 12, 2020, 04:27:46 PM
Congrats on moving forward with LL BTM! I remember researching LL back in 2017 and appreciating the perspectives and insights from your posts, it's great to see you moving forward with the procedure.

Amazing first diary post- your diary will be a valuable resource to both yourself and this community. I found that journaling through my diary was helpful and therapeutic for me in reflecting and navigating through all the uncertainty of the LL journey. It made me feel connected to others going through it at a point in my life where I felt alone and isolated from my friends and family..... I think it will be of great use to you. I've found a bit of myself in your story and I think you will reap all the benefits I have, and many others have, from this procedure. Very excited for you man!

I'll offer a few tips in preparation of the procedure:

1) Build a solid sleep plan. Practice sleeping on your back every night. Pre LL I had been a slide sleeper all my lfie. During the first few months of distraction it will be nearly impossible to sleep on your sides due to the surgery wound trauma. It took me a few weeks to really train myself to sleep on my back and it cost me dozens of hours of valuable sleep time.

2) Build a social network. Just like you, I did LL privately and none of my family and friends knew what I was doing. The loneliness and solitude were A LOT harder to deal with than I anticipated. Being bed ridden, and crippled, in a hotel room all day, will eat away at you. Humans are social creatures after all. What really saved me from going crazy was staying at a recommended LL hotel where many Paley patients stayed and building friendships with many of the other LLers. There's a strong bond that forms between people going through incredibly difficult times, you find that you can help each other with resources, talk things out, or even have a laugh about getting taller as grown adults in our 30s.....all of it helps. I would reach out to Dr. D and see if any patients would be willing to network before the procedure, or perhaps reach out to folks through this forum, to try and build that network before you head out to Vegas. Ideally you find a hotel with other LLers to hang with in the common areas.

3) Build up a backlog of Audiobooks, podcasts, and TV shows...basically passive entertainment - when planning for LL I was overly ambitious and thought I'd learn new skills, work on new projects, and find new hobbies. I did none of that and I consier myself a pretty hard working, dedicated guy. Between stretching, physical therapy, and pain management, LL was a full time job. Keep in mind you will be sleep deprived where the majority of your calories will be dedicated to rebuilding a broken bone that get's stretched every day so you won't have much energy left for anything else. My cognitive abilities dropped significantly and I could barely read a book or even draft an email. I would plan to occupy your time with passive activities like audiobooks, podcasts, or TV shoes. Preferably those that are in line with your interests, or those about stoicism to help you through the grind of LL.

I'll be checking in on the diary, best of luck man!



Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on October 13, 2020, 02:18:10 AM
Thanks guys!

@TheAlchemist: I'm glad you stopped by and I'll definitely take your suggestions to heart.

1) I'm usually a side sleeper too, though I can fall asleep on my back so we'll see how things are. I've read about other people putting pillows under their knees and stuff, so I plan to try out a bunch of different things to see what works for me.

2) I would be more afraid of the social isolation, but due to the pandemic I was alone from March to July having minimal contact with the outside world. Having done it once, I think I'll be more ready the second time. Of course the pandemic is a double-edged sword and it won't be as easy to meet up with other LLers while I'm in Vegas, but I've been reaching out to and talking to more people about this online. If anyone else is starting in November, definitely let me know!

3) I did start an entertainment backlog already, and I bought a laptop just so I wouldn't be going to Vegas with only my work laptop heh. I'm probably still in the ambitious thinking phase though since I'm hoping to stay caught up on work. As long as I'm caught up, I can get away with doing less than 4 hours of focused work each day, which leaves me plenty of time for lengthening-related activities. I am a bit concerned about the lack of sleep, though I think I sleep less than a normal person, so if I can get 4-6 hours a night, that's probably enough for me to function normally. I've seen people talk about napping during the day as well, but I'm not really a napper so we'll see if that's possible.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: StrydeNailChallenge on October 13, 2020, 06:07:25 AM
This is great news! I am glad you are finally starting the journey. Go and beat the stryde out of this challenge!  I'll make sure to follow your journey into it :)
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: Amanexp on October 14, 2020, 10:54:42 PM
Nice bro!! I’m super excited for you, I know you will do great and you will be supper happy!! That’s so awesome!!

Let’s gooooooo!!!
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: Joker on October 17, 2020, 06:23:05 AM
All the best man.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: Meta on November 01, 2020, 09:37:53 AM
Sounds great! Best of luck and keep us updated.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: AppleFanBoy on November 08, 2020, 08:45:17 PM
Goodluck man! You seem like you’ve prepared quite well. Definitely do not hesitate to hire a home health aid as you are doing this alone. It will make your life a ton easier during the first week. Stryde is a game changer so you’ll be walking and independent in no time.

Also keep a circle of influence of other patients who are doing the procedure as well! Looking forward to this diary.  :)
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on November 14, 2020, 06:16:00 PM
Thank you all for your kind words. Knowing that I’ll have a few readers will encourage me to write more here.

I can’t believe how fast this month has flown by! I was extremely busy with work but still I didn’t expect my surgery day to sneak up so quickly. I’m feeling both excited and nervous about this whole thing but I’m ready to get it done. I arrived in Las Vegas a few days before surgery day to get things set up. I rented an Airbnb close to the clinic and PT center for a great price. It’s a standalone studio unit in a nice suburban neighborhood. Of course, once I checked in, I realized that it was a bit smaller than the pictures. Nevertheless, I believe it should be suitable for a CLL patient. I went on a Costco run while I still had my rental car and stocked up on a ton of food. Unfortunately my Airbnb only has a mini-fridge and microwave, so my grocery options are limited, but between this stash and ordering delivery I shouldn’t have to worry much about food for the next month. Once I get back here from the hospital, I plan to only leave this place to go to PT and the doctor’s office if possible.

I should already be recovering from surgery right now, but I encountered a minor setback and my surgery date has been delayed slightly, so I actually have a few days to kill in Vegas now. Word of advice - have some flexibility around your schedule in case things don’t go as expected. I have already stopped by Dr. D’s office and confirmed that everything is ready on their end. My pre-op blood work shows that the Vitamin D supplements have been working as I am no longer deficient. Hopefully I will have normal bone growth, but we won’t know until my first post-op x-ray. I have reached out to a home health aide company and set up a schedule for part-time assistance once my inpatient stay ends. They will be picking me up from the hospital and they can take care of my transportation needs (at a cost.) My prescriptions are all ordered for delivery at the hospital, and I’m packed and pre-registered for the hospital already. All my projects are wrapped up cleanly at work for the time being. Now while I wait for surgery day, I’m going to go out and do some activities that require legs while trying not to catch the 'rona.

It's hard to describe how I feel at this moment as there are a whirlwind of thoughts floating around in my head. Having these extra days before surgery has given me a lot of time to overthink, but if I slow down and contemplate what I’m about to do, here are a few things that may merit being written down.
Okay, those were basically my pre-op CLL “shower thoughts”. My next entry will be post-surgery with a pair of broken femurs. How soon I write an entry will depend on how I feel. In previous journals I’ve seen some people write from the hospital while others just weren’t in the mood to visit the forum at all after surgery. I’m not sure which type of person I will be yet, but we will certainly find out. See you all soon!
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: AllAboutPerspective on November 14, 2020, 07:28:36 PM
Quote from: BelowTheMean on November 14, 2020, 06:16:00 PM
Finally, I’m actually a bit proud of myself for going through with this. Taking a physical trait of mine that I don’t like which is “impossible” to change and then going ahead and modifying it is empowering in some ways. It allows me to redefine what is actually possible and expands the boundaries of control that I have over my own life. After this is done, I think that the perspective that I gain should help me exert more control over my personal satisfaction and contentment. I’m very optimistic about my life coming out the other side of lengthening but I need to get through the difficult part first.

This is a really great perspective that I didn't think about before. Doing this is absolutely something you should be proud of, it takes a lot of mental and physical willpower that not many people can do.

My surgery is in a few months and I'm really nervous, but reading this has made me feel more at ease. I'm looking forward to your updates!

Good luck with your surgery!
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on November 19, 2020, 08:19:42 PM
Hi everyone! Unfortunately I was not in the mood to browse the forum after surgery, and I definitely didn’t have the energy to write anything. I actually didn’t even bring my laptop to the hospital. Since I’ve been gone for a couple of days, I hope you all weren’t too worried about me. I’m still alive and things are progressing for me. Here is what has happened starting from surgery day. Note that I’ve never had surgery before this, so I will write everything in detail so that other people who have never had surgery can know what it’s like. Note that some of the stuff I describe may be a little gross so be warned!

Surgery Day
I took an Uber from my Airbnb to the hospital at 5am and checked in. The only entrance that was open was the ER, and they checked for COVID symptoms when I arrived. At the front desk, since I had already pre-registered and pre-paid all I had to do was review and sign a bunch of paperwork, which was pretty quick. I sat in the lobby for about 15 minutes and then I was called into a prep room. I changed into a hospital gown and then had to wipe my entire body down with some kind of sticky chemical wipe to reduce the likelihood of infection. All the stuff I brought to the hospital was placed into labeled bags for safekeeping, then the nurse just told me to lay in bed and wait. Eventually another nurse came in, took my vitals, and inserted an IV line into the inside bend of my elbow, which was super uncomfortable. I turned off the lights and lay there doing nothing. Over the next 30 minutes a bunch of other people including the anesthesiologist and OR nurses came by to say hi to me. Dr. D was the last person to stop by and we had a quick chat. He said that we would get started shortly and then left to prepare.

After another 30 or so minutes, one of the OR nurses came and disconnected me from all the equipment in the current room I was in and wheeled me into the OR. While being wheeled I remembered seeing a bunch of the same faces that I saw earlier and everyone was watching me. Once inside the OR I had to scoot from my bed onto the OR table, which was cold. The nurses pulled my arms out from under my blanket and put them on these metal stands which were also very cold. I was shivering, and then I heard the anesthesiologist say that she was injecting my IV with some meds now so that I wouldn’t feel anxious anymore.

The next thing I remember I was in a recovery room, which was a hallway with a bunch of beds on each side, though most of them were empty. Nurses would periodically come over to check my vitals and give me water through a straw and ask how I was doing. I floated in and out of consciousness but did not feel any pain at all. It was all very hazy and I don't remember any of the conversations I had - only that I had talked to people.

Some time later, they wheeled me into my room in the hospital. It was a pretty nice private room so I didn't have any complaints there aside of being right under the vent, but keeping my blanket on was enough to keep me warm. While they were setting up the room I noticed that I had a second IV attached to the back of my hand, but I don’t remember if they put it on during surgery or after I arrived in the recovery room. Later on, I would find out that having an IV in this spot was absolutely terrible for using a walker as I would be pushing the needle into my arm every time I put weight on my wrist. It must have been mid afternoon at this point since it was still light out, but I was still totally out of it. Nurses stopped by my room every hour or so to check on me. I also eventually realized that I was hooked to a catheter, and after noticing it, immediately started feeling uncomfortable there as well.

In the early evening when it was dark out a hospital PT came by to try and do a session with me. I was able to stand up with the walker and transfer from the bed having no pain and I started walking. However, I was still super nauseated from the anesthesia so I didn’t even make it out of the room. The PT had to grab the vomit bag and I dry heaved into it for a bit. Since I was on an empty stomach, there was nothing to throw up. I walked back to the bed with the walker and lay back down to continue resting.

Dinner was brought to my room at around 5 or 6 but couldn’t eat since I was nauseated and wanted to throw up if I sat up at all. I spent most of my time laying flat on my back with the bed reclined all the way. The nausea eventually wore off and around 8pm and I was able to eat part of my dinner (which was already cold.) After that I had zero nausea and could get up easily. I actually didn’t even use my cell phone on the first day. I was just so tired that I could fall asleep instantly and randomly if I lay down and close my eyes. However, time went by incredibly slow for me. I would fall asleep for what felt like hours, but then I’d look at the clock and only 30 minutes had passed. I woke up at least five times in the middle of the night, mostly from the nurses coming to check my vitals or draw blood, but each time I fell back asleep easily since I was so tired.

One annoying thing during the first night is that my ice packs kept leaking so I actually had to get up twice during the night and stand with the walker while waiting for the nurses to change my sheets and gown. After the second leak at 4am, they decided to swap me to some kind of closed electric pump system which was nice and cool but didn’t have any chance of leaking.

Surgery Day +1
I’ll consider the start of this day as sunrise, though the days kind of melded into each other. Now this is super embarrassing, but I woke up with morning wood (not good with the catheter still in.) It felt super awkward and uncomfortable and I was desperately trying to think of things that would make it go flaccid and reduce the pain. While my mind was racing I drifted off again. A nurse woke me up at 6am and fortunately I didn't have morning wood anymore (phew) and just when I was thinking about when the catheter was going to come out, the nurse said that she was going to take it out right now. I was not psychologically prepared for this, but it was quick at least. It wasn’t super painful or anything like that, but there was an internal burning sensation that felt like it lasted for a few seconds. Of course, while pulling it out urine spilled everywhere (which was super gross) but she had paper towels ready to catch all of it. It was definitely routine for her, but I still felt kind of bad.

The nurse then said that I had to pee within 6 hours since the catheter was removed or they would need to ultrasound my bladder and check for issues. Having read about this from some other people on here, this could result in needing to have the catheter reinstalled while I was awake, so I was certainly determined to pee asap. I actually felt the urge to pee less than an hour after the catheter came out and I tried to pee into a bottle while sitting on the bed. I tried this a couple of times but could never get any flow, and eventually I really really needed to pee, so I called a nurse and told her I wanted to try and get up to go pee in the bathroom. Like the previous day, I was able to stand up with no pain at all. I walked into the bathroom with my walker, and although it took a while I was able to start peeing. It was just a small trickle, even though I felt like my bladder was full, but I was so happy that I succeeded I didn't care. After clearing my bladder, I went back to bed to eat breakfast, which I had no problem wolfing down. I actually managed to pee three times in those first six hours after the catheter came out, so everything was perfectly fine. Between all the water I was drinking and the IV fluids, I had to get up and pee quite a bit while I was at the hospital.

A PT stopped by my room around 10am and we did a long walk around the hospital corridor on my floor. I estimate that I walked at least 50 meters, and it took forever, but I was not in any pain. It definitely felt really good being able to walk, even with the walk being more of a limp. I’m still amazed by how I could weight-bear on day one with Stryde. I can’t imagine how tough the guys with P2.2 and earlier rods must have had it. While walking around the hospital floor I bumped into Dr. D and he had a few questions for me about my recovery. After the walk, the PT gave me some stretches to do in bed before lunch. They were quick and easy, though at this point I had noticed that my left leg had a super awkward movement, like my heel bone was moving inside my heel. It wasn’t painful or anything, it just felt really weird! Dr. D left at the same time as the PT so I didn’t get a chance to ask him about it. At this point I thought that it might have to do with how inflamed my legs were.

For the rest of the day, I’ve also been off the IV and ice packs since the PT said it would be hard to stretch and walk while I’m iced, but that we could put the ice back on later at night to reduce the swelling. Unfortunately even though I wasn’t hooked up to the IV, the needle was still in the back of my hand so it still hurt to use the walker, especially if I put any weight down on my right hand. I was still getting Toradol and antibiotics through the IV, so they didn't want to take the needle out yet.

Next, I had lunch and took stool softener for the first time. I was hoping it would help me go number two before leaving the hospital but the nurses said sometimes it wouldn't happen. But as long as I was passing gas, that means my digestive system was working, and as long as I was taking laxatives, I should eventually be able to produce stools. I actually haven’t needed too much pain medication, which was quite surprising to me given some of the journals that I’ve read. I’m hoping this lasts and my surgical pains just happen to be minimal.

The Nuvasive rep stopped by after lunch and gave me the ERC device which itself isn't big, but is in a gigantic box. He showed me how to use it and gave me his contact info. It’s the 4th generation device that knows when it’s connected to the magnet on the rod, so I don’t have to worry about running it and not getting my 0.33 mm because it was misaligned. Also, the device is faster than previous generations so the amount of time spent each day lengthening is reduced. Hopefully it won’t be too hard to transport it on the plane as a checked bag. The rep also gave me the documentation that certifies the device for flying as a checked bag.

The PT stopped by again in the afternoon which gave me a chance to use the restroom again. I have been able to vacate more of my bladder each time, so I feel good about that, though I have not had a bowel movement yet. I’m making sure to drink a lot of fluids but I probably just haven’t eaten enough to make stools yet. We did another walk around the hospital floor with me on the walker. I was able to walk a little faster this time, even though it wasn’t really necessary. I guess I’m one of those people that likes to push my limits and the PT did encourage it. Of course, it’s only been one day since surgery so I’m still holding back quite a bit. Last year when I was still working out inside the gym, I could do a set of 8x weighted dips with two 35lb plates attached, so even though I’m not as strong now I can easily support my entire body weight with just my arms, which makes me very confident walking with the walker. We also did two sets of half squats in the PT gym which was very tiring, but he said that he wanted me to be stronger and able to transfer from bed to walker in the Airbnb.

After PT, he had me sit in a chair instead of on the bed to practice my knees bending. It felt okay so I watched an hour long episode of TV on Netflix on my phone, but that might have been overdoing it. When the nurse came to take my vitals, she said I had a slight fever and low blood pressure. I moved back to bed to be more comfortable and to eat dinner. Dinner, like the other meals, was good because I was quite hungry, but otherwise the hospital food wasn't gourmet or anything. I ate one of the protein bars that I packed after dinner to supplement. Having nothing else to do for the night, I just watched Netflix and occasionally moved my legs around. I fell asleep after dinner and woke up around 8pm, with my legs and neck in pain. This was at least 4/10 pain and the most I had experienced since waking up from surgery. I called the nurse in to administer my oral pain medication and use the ice machine on my thighs again. This definitely helped after a bit. I was able to get up and use the restroom before going to bed for the night. Another nurse came and took my vitals an hour later and I still had a fever and some pain, so she gave me toradol and put me back on the IV drip as well. After that I slept like a baby.

Surgery Day +2
I was awakened by a nurse at 4:30 to check vitals. My fever had subsided and my blood pressure was normal again. I fell right back asleep for two hours. The IV alarm went off since it needed to be refilled and I wanted to go to the bathroom as well, so I called in the nurse. I was feeling zero pain sitting in bed and only 2/10 pain from soreness when I got up to use the restroom. I felt way better in the morning than I did during the previous night. At this point I’m wondering if I was going to continue being in more pain at night than in the morning. I also got my blood drawn again and after that I decided I might as well stay awake since it was daytime.

I watched some TV until breakfast arrived, which I took with some more laxatives and MS Contin. I still haven’t gone number two yet. I was actually a bit light headed all morning, but I did a set of the three laying down stretches that my PT wanted me to do. After that I was pretty tired and drifted off for a bit. The PT came by a few hours later and we did another long walk, where I realized my left leg was a bit in pain, like 3-4/10 when putting weight on it. It has been wobbly, which I don't know if it's an issue with my skeletal structure or muscle weakness, but overall my right leg is doing way better than my left one. We got back to the room and did three sitting exercises and I was allowed back onto the bed. At lunch I was a little light headed and nauseated, though not to the point of wanting to throw up. I finished lunch, then promptly passed out for a few more hours while listening to music. Some time after, Dr D stopped by my room and checked everything and said that I was okay to be discharged today. I was awake for most of the afternoon watching Netflix. After dinner, I was sitting up in bed just waiting to be discharged. I was told that I would be discharged at 6pm, but apparently it’s right before a shift change so it took forever to get me processed.

Finally, after signing the discharge paperwork, the thing that I was looking forward to the most finally happened! The head nurse took all the IV needles out of my arm and I felt so much better! It’s a bit amusing to me how the intramedullary rods are super invasive and literally screwed to my bones but I don’t really notice or feel them at all, while the Foley catheter and all the IV needles attached to my skin were the worst part of my hospital experience by far since they had been making me constantly uncomfortable for days! Before taking the IV line out I had the nurse give me one last shot of Toradol just in case, since I hadn’t had any acute pain meds yet for the day. It worked pretty well the night before, so I assumed it would get me back to my Airbnb at least. The nurses had no problems giving me any pain meds, since I was in low pain for most of my inpatient stay and didn’t need to take all the meds meds on the dot. While they took all the needles out, there was still a ton of tape and bandages, etc that I still had attached to my body. I will need to find a way to clean all of this over the next few weeks.

My home health aide came up to my hospital room to grab my stuff, and boy did I have a lot more stuff than I came with. Aside from my clothes, I also had to take back all my prescriptions, PT worksheets, the two ice machines, and the ERC in a giant suitcase. A nursing assistant also helped me with all the stuff and got me onto a wheelchair. We loaded everything onto the aide's car and drove to my Airbnb incredibly slowly. Since each home health aide session needs to be at least 3 hours long, I had her stay with me at the Airbnb until 9pm. It was a bit crowded inside, but she was able to make me a snack and chat for a little while, which was okay. I let her go before 9pm, and then I was all on my own. My legs were pretty stiff and sore, but I didn't take any pain meds except MS Contin, which didn't do much. I was more or less ready to pass out anyway around 10pm.

Surgery Day +3
I woke up at 6:30 am, after having also awakened 4-5 times overnight. I went to the bathroom 3 times last night, with each time being progressively more difficult than the prior, since I hadn’t had any painkillers aside from MS Contin at 9pm. Since my legs were still swollen and tight, and I was in a bit of pain while walking (maybe a 4-5) so at 7am I decided to take all my prescriptions aside from MS Contin (which I wouldn’t be able to take until 9am) It made me super drowsy within 30 minutes, but at least that meant that it was working. I’m not sure if it’s the pain medication or the muscle relaxant that was making me more drowsy, but I’ll probably get a chance to individually test each one out later.

This was my first day of outpatient PT. They scheduled me for 9am but my home health aide showed up late so we didn’t even arrive until almost 9:30. I had already put on clothes, so I was ready to go as soon as my shoes were on. The drowsiness was not a huge deal as I figured that I could just power through the hour, and once I got back I could easily take a nap. At the PT, all I had to do was fill out some paperwork since the cost for the first two weeks was covered as part of my payment to Dr. D. The PT had me do a couple of exercises, then used a heat pad on my thighs for 15 minutes. I was actually still pretty flexible while he was stretching me, so I don't think I've so much lost my flexibility as I have lost the ability to use my muscles. I scheduled PT for the next two weeks, and I have some exercises that I brought back with me.

After the aide dropped me off, I just had her make me a snack and help tidy things up a bit since there was still some time left. Once she was gone, I pretty much had nothing to do. I had a set of PT exercises to complete in the afternoon - other than that the only thing there was to do is watch TV. I’m still waiting for the go-ahead from Dr. D to start lengthening, but I guess that will happen in the next day or two. So yeah, pretty bored right now, I'm at 0/10 pain while sitting on the bed and maybe 3/10 pain at most when I get up and walk around. I'm also using a cane instead of a walker when I go to the since since the walker doesn't fit in the hallway. I hope any soreness and stiffness due to surgical pains continues to decrease, and hopefully lengthening pains don't kick in for a few weeks so I can have a break in the middle. In the meantime, I need to continue practicing rationing my pain meds and using them at the right time.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: Undecided on November 20, 2020, 02:37:12 PM
Hey man thanks so much for doing this!

I noted that you mentioned that you've read a lot of journals on this site. I have to ask, weren't/aren't you at all worried? To me it seems like the risk of complications is like 20-30+%, which is what's personally holding me back from doing it. I'm looking forward to your next updates :D

Good luck on your journey!
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on November 20, 2020, 06:12:26 PM
Quote from: Undecided on November 20, 2020, 02:37:12 PM
Hey man thanks so much for doing this!

I noted that you mentioned that you've read a lot of journals on this site. I have to ask, weren't/aren't you at all worried? To me it seems like the risk of complications is like 20-30+%, which is what's personally holding me back from doing it. I'm looking forward to your next updates :D

Good luck on your journey!

I'm not sure where you've seen such a high risk of complications. I feel like Paley is one of the few doctors that has the volume to publish stats on complication rates, and I haven't seen him show anything near 20%+. There are obviously risks to doing this compared to not doing it, but most of them should be manageable. What specific complications are you worried about? Even reading through the journals on here, most of the complications are pretty minor, especially with Stryde femurs.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: Undecided on November 21, 2020, 03:50:32 PM
Sorry, I should have been more clear. I meant as in based on the journals one can find on this forum, I kind of got the feeling that maybe the risk of getting serious complications is quite a lot higher than what it's being portrayed as. I guess maybe people who have had bad experiences are more likely to engange in a forum like this, since it was honestly a bit more gloomy than I had anticipated. You've likely read more journals than I have, did you not get the same feeling? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on November 21, 2020, 05:41:15 PM
Quote from: Undecided on November 21, 2020, 03:50:32 PM
Sorry, I should have been more clear. I meant as in based on the journals one can find on this forum, I kind of got the feeling that maybe the risk of getting serious complications is quite a lot higher than what it's being portrayed as. I guess maybe people who have had bad experiences are more likely to engange in a forum like this, since it was honestly a bit more gloomy than I had anticipated. You've likely read more journals than I have, did you not get the same feeling? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

Again, you'll have to be more specific about what complication you're afraid of, otherwise it's not possible to have a discussion. Each complication has a different likelihood of occurring and severity, and also varies with the starting health status of the patient and the type of procedure being done. Dr. Paley has previously published stats on complication rates for cosmetic lengthening, and I don't have the link off the top of my head (maybe you can search for it on here) but I don't remember any of the complication rates being higher than the low single digits, except maybe needing a blood transfusion during surgery. All of the severe complications were super unlikely.

I think there's a lot of selection bias on here. Keep in mind that all of the major CLL doctors do way way more LL cases (both cosmetic and not) than there are journals on here. There are plenty of people who got CLL and don't even know that this forum exists, let alone are willing to spend the time writing a journal for it while in pain. Also, the members on here who stay here after lengthening tend to be the ones with more issues, or whose height dysphoria wasn't fixed by getting CLL, so they tend to have a more negative attitude toward the surgery. The ones who succeed move on with their lives and don't come back here anymore. I would also say that the diaries with the worst outcome (i.e. Unicorn) get the most traffic, so I think people certainly talk more about negative outcomes than positive ones on here, regardless of their likelihood. One topic is clearly more interesting and drives more discussion than the other.

I'm not trying to convince you to get CLL by any means. If you browse this forum and feel like the complication rate is truly 20-30% then you should avoid it like the plague. I would say trust your gut feeling and don't get the surgery; it'll save you a ton of money and potential damage to your health.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: ghkid2019 on November 23, 2020, 09:08:54 AM
good job man glad surgery went well
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on November 24, 2020, 08:38:04 PM
Quote from: ghkid2019 on November 23, 2020, 09:08:54 AM
good job man glad surgery went well
Thanks, ghkid2019! Welcome back.

Hey everyone, I'm adding a couple more days to the journal. I you are all doing well; I feel like I've just been enclosed in a little bubble here in Vegas. Again, note that some of my entries talk about gross topics, so be warned.

Surgery Day +4, Lengthening Day 1 (+0.66mm, 1.66mm total)
I woke up at 5am, went to the restroom and back, then sat on my bed and ate the pills I prepared last night in case I woke up early. I then went back to sleep and got up again around 7am. I went to the bathroom again, but it was quite a struggle. I was walking extra slow and I was more than a bit out of breath. After splashing some cold water on my face and eating breakfast, I felt better, so I don’t believe it was anything too serious. However, I still spent much of the morning taking blood O2 readings with my watch since I’m scared of blood clots. I don’t know if the watch readings are accurate, but they were consistent enough so I wasn’t too worried about it. I took some more meds on schedule and tried to stay awake until my PT appointment, but the hydrocodone was making me super sleepy, and I was struggling to keep my eyes open. I went back to sleep for another hour or two.

My home health aide arrived at my Airbnb on time, 30 minutes before PT. However, she got here while I was in the bathroom trying to go #2, so that initial interaction was awkward. After we met and talked, she drove me to the PT facility. So far I’ve had a different aide for each session, but I don’t mind. Aside from having to explain a bit about the surgery to each aide, none of them have actually been super inquisitive about the details my procedure, and they’ve all been kind and encouraging to me.

Today’s PT training was quite similar to last time, though this time I had a chance to ride the stationary bike as well as the normal exercises. I was extremely slow on the bike (like maybe 15-20 rpm) but it actually helped me warm up my quad flexibility by quite a bit before doing the regular exercises. I felt pretty good doing PT, just like on the first day. Walking definitely helps loosen up my muscles and I’ve found that the more I do, the easier it gets, at least until my muscles are sore. The first rep of every exercise is the hardest for sure. I got the heat pads again at the end of the session, which felt great. After each PT session I always feel like I can walk a long distance.

After PT, the aide drove me to out to get some food - I was looking to get something with extra fiber since I still trying to go #2. While we were out for food, there was a bunch of people awkwardly trying not to stare at me (and probably feeling sorry for me) though I was in a good mood so I didn’t mind. One guy actually tried to hold the door open for me even though I was 30 seconds away from him at my current snail pace. Fortunately, my aide thanked him and waved him away so I didn’t have to try and go faster. The handicap spot right outside the restaurant was taken by two different non-handicapped people while I was ordering food. I walked past one on my way in and one on my way out, with the walker in full display, but neither of them gave me a second glance. Somehow I don’t think either one of them were the type of person that would feel bad for parking in the handicap spot. Anyway, I could walk fine with the walker, I was just really slow.

After getting back to the Airbnb and eating, I noticed that my appetite wasn’t very good, but I needed to eat more calories, so I wolfed down my whole meal. After that, I felt the food coma coming on, so I sent the aide back and passed out for a bit. After waking up, I warmed up my legs and did another set of PT for the afternoon.

It was around this time that I heard from Dr. D’s office that I could start lengthening, so I was pretty excited. Finally, I could make some progress on those height numbers! I decided to do a total of two sessions during the first day since I was starting in the early afternoon. Lengthening for the first time was pretty uneventful, though the right nail seemed to make some clicking sounds during lengthening that didn’t happen with the left nail. I asked about this and they said it is normal, so hopefully there are no issues. If there is something wrong with the nail, I guess I won’t find out until my first follow-up appointment with an x-ray. Having done some self-PT right before the lengthening session, I only felt a tiny bit tighter after lengthening, otherwise my legs are still the exact same as before. I’m assuming that the first few millimeters, or even a centimeter or two won't really stretch out my legs all that much.

Overall, my pain has been 0/10 while laying in bed, and anywhere from 3-5/10 when walking. I get around 2-3/10 pain while stretching my legs either sitting or laying in bed, though I have been stretching pretty hard. If I stretch lightly, I don’t really feel any pain at all. I’ve tried a lot of different positions so my legs don’t get stuck in one position all the time and I think I can stay in most positions without pain. I would say that I’m pretty comfortable with the current baseline of pain, and if it stays this way during the whole distraction phase, I won’t have any complaints about pain at all.

I tried to eat more for dinner than usual, since I realized I wasn’t eating all that much, especially considering I need all the extra calories for bone regeneration. I don’t know how much of it is because of painkillers and how much of it is due to a natural lack of appetite, but I do have to focus on forcing my food down.

After dinner I did some light stretching and noticed that maybe because of sweat or my knees bending, that some of my waterproof bandage covers were starting to get loose. I texted the team and they said that I could come into the office tomorrow to get it fixed. I wasn’t even that worried about it since I wasn’t planning on trying to take a shower yet, but if they can take care of it, then that would be great.

I did some more light stretches and PT exercises, then took my routine pain medications before my second lengthening session of the day. It went smoothly again, though the machine still made clicking sounds when I used it on the right side. Since it was late, I decided to go to bed soon after. First thing though, I drank a giant glass of milk thinking it would help me poop, and it got me really close. I figured out a technique that allows me to sit down on the toilet much easier. Still, although I was close, I did not succeed even after trying for nearly 30 minutes. My legs were numb from being on the toilet seat too long and getting back up was hard. I dejectedly went to bed and passed out like a rock.

Surgery Day +5, Lengthening Day 2 (+1mm, 2.66mm total)
I woke up at 4:30am and took a laxative. Went #1 and suddenly noticed the toilet water was green. It scared me at first since I was still drowsy and I was scrambling to Google “green pee” on my phone, but then I realized that the toilet cleaner was fading away so the color was just a mix of yellow pee and light blue toilet cleaner. I also tried to go #2 as well, but didn’t try for too long since nothing happening. I planned to try again later in the morning after drinking a ton of milk, so I went back to sleep.

I got back up at 7:15am and took a couple more meds. I drank a bunch of water too since I had cottonmouth. Then I drank another giant glass of milk. I tried to go #2 again as I figured I should be close since I was constantly passing gas. Unfortunately, I did not succeed, but it actually felt like I was almost able to, so hopefully that means there is progress. I’m continuing to eat more fiber and I increased my fluid intake, so I'm really hoping that helps me go #2 soon. Personally, even before surgery there would be days in a row that I wouldn’t need to go #2, so this doesn’t feel like a totally uncommon occurrence for me, but I think it’s still necessary that I do it at least once soon.

I relaxed for a bit while chatting with friends on my phone, then started a self-PT workout at 8:30am to loosen my muscles for the first lengthening session of the second day. Everything was still routine, though I noticed the right rod clicked fewer times during lengthening than before, and I had slightly adjusted the position. Maybe it's possible that the v4 ERC will show that it senses the rod even if it's not at the exact right angle. I don't have any lengthening pains and flexibility loss yet, and my surgical pains seem to be going away slowly, so things are looking up. My main complaints are that my sutures are still a bit itchy (itching is better than pain though, for sure) and that my thighs are still bruised, sore, and swollen.

Since I had nothing important to do for a bit, I got my laptop out and watched some TV while doing some light stretches. At 10:30 I took both prescription laxatives, and over the next 30 minutes I ate cookies, dried cranberries, yogurt, clementines, a protein bar, and chugged two glasses of milk. Sure enough, within the next 15 minutes I was in the bathroom successfully going #2. Although not large in mass, my stools were pretty regular, came out easily, and there was no indication of bleeding. So far so good! Even though I was pretty confident that it was coming soon, it was still a big relief when it actually happened.

After getting up from the toilet seat I felt light-headed and realized that I had been sitting on there for way too long. My watch indicated my heart rate was as high as 140 bpm, which is very high for someone sitting down and "resting". I went back to bed and sat with my back against a pillow on the wall and it dropped to 100 pretty quickly so I guess sitting on the toilet is still tiring since my legs are partially supporting the weight. I was sweating a bit as well. That things which may seem trivial and easy in daily life can be a challenge after LL surgery. I rested in that sitting position for a bit and everything returned to normal.

Since there was no PT scheduled today, I wasn't going to go out at all. However, since I needed to replace some of the waterproof covering on my surgical dressings, I stopped by Dr D’s office during the day. Since I didn’t have anything scheduled with the home health aide company, I decided to take an Uber over by myself. My Airbnb is actually only one mile away from the office so it was a quick hop. I already had plenty of experience getting in and out of different types of cars from the walker. As long as my driver was willing to help fold and store my walker in the trunk and get it back out for me, then I would be fine.

The driver was happy to help and I arrived at the clinic on time. It felt quite good to do some walking around as well. While I was there, I didn’t see Dr D, but both Teresa and Ronnie were there to greet me. Ronnie replaced the waterproof covers on my bandages. Even though I was only using bath wipes to clean myself (not comfortable with showering yet) he said that the bandages should stay waterproof until the sutures are out. I mentioned that the wound sites were itchy, and he said that was normal and would go away when the skin heals. Everything looked good, though my thighs were still swollen like fat sausages. Ronnie recommended that I use the ice pumps that I got from the hospital, as icing frequently will help with swelling. Before I left, he also helped remove some of the stickers that the hospital put on me that I wasn’t able to get off myself since I didn’t have the right solvents at my Airbnb.

On my Uber ride back, the driver assumed I was recovering from a sports injury, and I just nodded and agreed with everything he asked about it since I was tired and not in the mood to talk a lot. I was pretty sweaty as well when I got back. It was the early afternoon and too early to do the second lengthening session of the day. Therefore, I tried to use a makeshift ice pack (frozen yogurt bars) to cool my thighs for a bit, but the "ice packs" were too small to really get any effect. I was also a bit sleepy but had trouble taking a nap. However, since I was playing down with my legs under the blanket the whole time, when I was ready to lengthen, my muscles were stiff again, and I had to warm them back up with a set of PT exercises. Nothing special to note about the lengthening session.

After lengthening I realized I was still very tired from going out in the afternoon, so I lay down trying to sleep again. Another hour and a half of YouTube videos later and I was still fully awake and noticed that my left heel was a bit numb. I was a bit sweaty and overheated even though I wasn't doing any physical activity. I got up to pee and walk around a bit and felt better. I need to avoid staying in one position with my heels digging into the bed for a long time. I thought about what I wanted to eat. Although I had a lot of food in the pantry, I just wasn't in the mood to cook, so I thought ordering pizzas should be good since it's a ton of calories. The pizzas arrived late but at least they were still hot. I was only able to eat half a large pizza though, which honestly isn’t enough calories (or all that nutritious.) It’s difficult to shove food down when you don’t have the appetite though. I stuck the rest of the pizza in the fridge to microwave later if I needed a quick meal.

At this point, there were still over four hours until the final lengthening of the day (if I wanted to do it on schedule) so I had to find something to do. I was too physically tired to do PT, and mentally tired of playing with my phone/computer. I'm sure many previous LLers have encountered this type of boredom early on during lengthening. Hopefully, I’ll become more mobile soon so I can walk around the Airbnb a bit more casually. Right now it’s still a big deal to switch from laying to sitting to standing position.

Eventually my left leg started hurting a bit (like pulsating) and I realized that I hadn’t taken any pain meds in a while. I took some of the anti-spasm muscle relaxant and that helped a lot. I sat around reading the LL forum and checking random websites, then took some hydrocodone and laxatives at 9pm. It was late enough to lengthen, so I started warming up my legs with PT exercises.

It was at this time that things took a turn for the worst. After my first exercise, I realized that I was not able to do much with my legs at all. They felt a bit overheated, very swollen, and in 6/10 pain from the swelling. I didn’t know what to do, and Googled how to reduce thigh swelling. I found out that I could raise the level of my legs above my heart and that should help a bit. I stacked a bunch of extra pillows on the bed to use as a leg stand, and lay there for a while. It only helped a little, but at least it helped. Soon after, I was able to take a hydrocodone pill, which I took promptly, hoping to reduce swelling. That also didn’t do anything for me in the short term.

After laying in bed for another hour with medium-high pain from swelling in my thighs I also noticed that I had two gigantic bruises on my inner thighs - one on each side. I didn't remember if they were already there after surgery or if it just started bruising. Now this freaked me out quite a bit, and I was worried it could be compartment syndrome or some kind of blood clot or that I might be suffering from DVT. I sent the pics to Dr. D’s team along with a message that I was in severe pain and didn't think I could do my last lengthening session today. They replied and said it was just normal bruising and not blood clots. Then they said I needed to warm up before each lengthening session and cool down afterwards, frequently stretch and to use the ice pumps. Also, it’s much too early to give up and slow down on lengthening.

After hearing this, I gained the willpower to lengthen once more (or maybe the hydrocodone kicked in.) I did a full set of each PT exercise and realized that I wasn’t feeling as weak anymore. I proceeded with the lengthening session, then set up my ice pumps. I was originally going to wait until Monday for my aide to help set it up, but I was determined to ice my legs now to reduce the swelling, so I decided to do it myself. It took a grueling 45 minutes, but I got it done one small step at a time. I put cold tap water and a half-frozen bottle of water on each side. I don’t actually have any ice in the mini-fridge so I had to improvise.

At this point it was well past midnight already. I turned the ice pumps on, climbed into bed, then applied the cooled pads to my thighs. Even though the water wasn’t as cold as if I had real ice in there, it still felt incredible. I couldn't believe that I had waited this long to use the ice pumps after getting out of the hospital. I also felt a great sense of satisfaction from setting the machines up all by myself, even though it’s something I could have done in 5 minutes with two working legs. Pushing through the pain was definitely the right move for me on this night, so hopefully you can see how important it is to be psychologically prepared for this. I drifted to sleep with a smile on my face.

Suddenly I woke up from a weird dream. It was not even 2am yet so I had only been asleep for an hour or so. The ice pads were barely cool now. This is good because you're not supposed to fall asleep with ice pads on. Since I didn't have enough real ice in the machine, it wasn't going to give me frostbite though. Nevertheless, I unwrapped the pads from my thigh and then lay back and fell asleep immediately. I forgot to turn the ice pumps off, but the ambient hum from the motors probably actually made it easier to fall back asleep.

Surgery Day +6, Lengthening Day 3 (+1mm, 3.66mm total)

The following morning I woke up at 5:30. I lay in bed for 10 minutes while reflecting on the dream I just had and eventually realized that I wasn’t going to fall back asleep again. I was just going to have to try and take a nap later in the day. I got up and went to the restroom and turned my ice pumps off while walking over. The pumps were definitely a tripping hazard based on how I set them up. I needed to figure out a way to keep my room safe for a temporary cripple. Given how difficult it was for me to carry any heavy objects or to even just slide things around on the ground, it wasn’t going to be an easy task.

I rearranged the ice pumps with the corresponding wires and tubes, then lay down and played with my phone for a while. Before I knew it, it was already 7am - time for me to take my pills and start warming up for lengthening. At this point every lengthening session seems like an arduous task so it's definitely not routine for me yet. I hope that things will get easier over time though. It actually took two hours for me to finish my PT exercises because I got a bunch of messages and was talking to people for a bit. However, over the course of those two hours the hydrocodone fully kicked in and it was pretty easy to do all the PT exercises. My left leg is still quite a bit weaker than my right leg but I think both are improving. Lengthening was the same as usual, though I changed the position of the ERC on the right thigh and this time there was no clicking sound, so maybe that means it is perfectly aligned. If that's the case, then the X marked on my right leg might be a bit to the left of where it should actually be. Given how swollen my thighs are, I wouldn't be surprised if it had moved. Afterwards, I dumped and refilled my ice pump buckets so I could ice my thighs and rest for a bit.

I sat around on the bed for a few hours playing on my computer and phone, then it was around lunchtime. I heated up some leftover pizza, but didn't have the appetite to finish it. I only ate a slice and a half, but at least I was able to fill with some other snacks. I still think it’s going to be very difficult to eat adequately during this phase of lengthening. Maybe once I’m done taking painkillers my appetite will get better. After eating, I took both laxatives and the muscle relaxant drug. I tried to go #2 in the bathroom, but nothing was happening, so I went back to bed. I listened to music and watched videos hoping that I would be sleepy enough to get a quick nap in. However, I didn't manage to fall asleep and the early afternoon flew by uneventfully.

It was 4pm and I decided to get another lengthening session in. I took both my short and long acting painkillers and got started on the warmup. In the last few days I've been doing the most PT exercises right before the afternoon lengthening session. I got a pretty good workout in and was all sweaty. After lengthening, I started changing the water in the ice pumps. I realized that the “cold” water that I got out of the faucet was only a tiny bit colder than the water that was still in the pump (which is insulated.) Therefore, I realized that it wasn’t worth refilling the whole ice pump bucket each time. Instead, I could just keep the water inside, and swap the frozen bottle of water from the mini-fridge into the pump and start running it. Since I’m still not very good at carrying things, let alone heavy buckets filled with water that could spill, this was a much better solution for me. The icing session felt great as usual, and I went from tight and sore almost to the point of cramping all the way down to relaxed.

After icing for a bit I got up and turned off the pumps, then went into the kitchen looking for snacks. I really didn’t have an appetite though, and I didn’t have an appetite for dinner either. All I could do is stuff myself with snacks whenever I get a chance so I was at least meeting some kind of minimum calorie requirements. I can definitely see why many people who do CLL lose a ton of weight throughout the distraction phase, even though they have more flesh, bone, and metal at the end.

After "dinner" I was pretty bored. I browsed the web on my laptop and played some games on my phone. I also frequently got up to walk around, eat snacks, and use the restroom so I wouldn't be stagnant. While walking around, I noticed a few new bruises. Well, I’m not sure if they are new or not, but my right wrist (where the IV was taken out) is bruised. My left palm is also bruised (or maybe this one is a sore muscle) which makes using any walking aid somewhat painful on my hand. This is unfortunate since I'm supposed to be increasing my daily step count each week. I also noticed the big thigh bruises from the day before were actually even bigger than yesterday, though only by a little. I also felt like I had bruises on both shins, but I didn’t see any discoloration, so that might just be from the impact of swelling. Xarelto makes you bruise more easily and makes bruises last longer, which is quite unfortunate because surgical procedures produce a lot of bruises and swelling! I still feel more comfortable being on Xarelto though since I’m a bit paranoid about blood clots after orthopedic surgery (and blood clots on flights.)

Anyway, the evening went by and even though I got up so early in the morning, I was never tired. Just before 11pm I remembered that I still needed to get another lengthening session in before midnight. I did a quick warm-up, lengthened, then swapped the frozen water bottles in the ice pumps. I turned the ice pumps on and attached the ice pads to my legs. Everything is starting to be streamlined now! I felt great after icing, and I was suddenly very sleepy, so I got ready to go to bed. It was at this time that I noticed my surgical sites were a little uncomfortable, as well as my shins. Nothing too serious, maybe 2/10 pain, but still it was a completely new type of pain that I hadn’t experienced yet after the surgery. Since there were no available painkillers for me to take at the time (all on cooldown) I decided to just ignore it and try to go to sleep.

I wish the night had just ended like that, but instead I got the worst night of sleep yet, since the surgery. I had this terrible sense of dread the whole time laying in bed, with no certainty to where it was actually manifesting from. I kept feeling like something bad was going to happen to me if I fell asleep, but I was still trying to fall asleep at the same time. So I would sleep for a few minutes, dream that I was suffering somehow, and then wake up and not be able to sleep again for a while. Also, there was quite a few occasions that I'm not sure if I was actually awake or asleep. I had a ton of nightmares throughout, dreaming about post-apocalyptic scenarios, and nearly dying a few times in my dreams. Overall, the whole night was absolutely terrible.

(Checking data from my watch later on, I saw that I had woken up eight times in total on this night and only got a total of three and a half hours of real sleep.)

Surgery Day +7, Lengthening Day 4 (+1mm, 4.66mm total)

I woke up before 7am and was not able to fall back asleep, and when I woke, I also realized that my base pain level was higher than it was the night before. However, the areas that were sensitive were not the same ones as during the prior evening. Last night, I feel like my shins and incisions hurt more, but this morning my thighs felt incredibly swollen. I was at 3/10 pain from thigh swelling even while laying down and not moving. I realized that I probably could not get up and walk comfortably without taking any painkillers, since I had sharp 5/10 pain when moving my legs. Since I wasn’t on any medication “cooldowns” at this point, I took both my short and long-acting painkillers, both types of laxatives, and Xarelto. I sat down on the side of my bed to check my phone for a bit and wait for the painkillers to kick in. At this point I was very glad that I bought a grabber tool. It was a lifesaver since the nightstand with all my prescriptions was just out of arm's reach from the bed and I was in pain trying to move as little as possible while getting my meds ready.

About 15 minutes later I wanted to pee pretty badly, so I was forced to stand up. I managed to get up and walk to the bathroom. I peed quickly and came back, then I immediately sat back down on the bed because my legs were tired already. That was one of the hardest bathroom walks I’ve had since arriving at the Airbnb from the hospital. This was definitely a low point for me, but having heard so many people say that things get better after the first two weeks, I can only remain optimistic. Still, it’s difficult not to worry because I won't have any x-rays in the first two weeks, so I won't know if all this pain has been worth anything yet.

The painkillers at least partially kicked in by 7:20, so I got up again. This time it was a bit easier, and I walked to the kitchen to make breakfast. At this point, I realized that my left leg was not weight-bearing at all, either due to pain or weakness. My right leg was still fine though. While I can make up for the lack of leg strength with arm strength, my hands are starting to get bruised from all the pressure I put on them from supporting my weight. My left leg has consistently been weaker than my right leg so far, but this is the first time I felt like I couldn’t stand on it at all. I ate quickly, then limped back to bed. I wasn’t sure if I could start my PT exercises and do my first lengthening session of the day due to the pain, but I wanted to get it done earlier in the day since I was going to have to go to the PT clinic at 11. I was planning to do my second lengthening session after exercising at the PT, so I wanted to do the first session as early as possible in the morning. However, all I could do at this point was lie down in bed and rest.

A couple of friends randomly messaged me throughout the morning, and while none of them know that I'm this procedure, just talking about fun stuff with them put me in a much better mood. I was distracted for a while, and then without even realizing it, my pain had gone back to a baseline of 0/10. I guess that meant all the narcotics kicked in. However, if I was moving around then it would be around a 3-4 level.

Now that I was all good pain-wise, I realized it was well past 9am already, so I rushed to do a full set of PT exercises and some stretches, and then did an lengthening session. Afterwards, I took the muscle relaxant drug and iced up my legs. I lay there for a bit, until my home health aide arrived, since I knew she was coming soon. When she arrived, she helped remove the ice pads from my thighs and poured out the water in the ice pumps. She also helped toss out some garbage while I was putting my socks on. I still needed help putting my shoes on though. Well, I could possibly do it at this point, but I think it’s riskier than trying to put on any other item of clothing. We drove to PT and there was no parking, so she dropped me off at the front entrance.

Inside the PT center, I got a new trainer today, since my prior one (who was very good) had all of Thanksgiving week off. However, since we were doing pretty much all the same exercises, it didn’t really matter who the trainer was. The PT office has been progressively making workouts harder for me, adding more weight, reps, or hold duration to the various exercises over time. I’m still not sure why my left leg is so much weaker than my right one, but I pointed out all of the weakness and pain that I was feeling during the various exercises to the PT. The PT’s theories as to what the problem could be were all related to muscle or soft tissue flexibility (though I’m hesitant to come to any conclusion as to what the problem is yet.) At the end of the hour I didn’t have time to use the heat pad, but I did get a quick massage that hit the right sore spots on my quads perfectly. After PT I felt so good that I asked my aide to take me to get some food, and grab a bag of ice before we got back.

I went to the same restaurant again (though it was with a different aide last time.) Someone was parked in the handicap spot again (of course) but when I walked past the driver, this time it was an old lady and she had a handicap sign hanging from her rear-view mirror. However, there was still the issue that she was actually only taking up 1/3 of the handicap spot, and 2/3 of the empty spot next to the handicap spot. I needed to walk through that empty spot since it's where the ramp starts, but I had trouble squeezing between her car and the next car without bumping into them on my walker. Eventually I did get through though, and went up the ramp. When I got to the front of the restaurant, there was an employee standing there who said that the building was at capacity due to new lockdown rules, so I would have to wait outside until more people ordered/ate/left. I was already tired from my 50 foot walk to get to the entrance, so after that I didn’t feel like eating anymore. I told the aide to go to the next location. We went to a chain grocery store hoping that they had ice freezers outdoors, but they didn’t, so we had to park and go inside. I told the aide that I wanted to spend more time walking with the walker, so she didn’t drop me off at the front of the store. There were tons of people in the grocery store, and lots of people either stared at me or awkwardly tried not to look at me, especially this 80-year old man who was walking about the same speed as me, but without a walker. I’m still pretty built in the upper body and I was wearing tight workout clothes, so I probably looked like a crippled gymnast or something. Okay, maybe not that buff, but you get the idea. After buying the 10 pound bag of ice, we drove back to the Airbnb.

During the drive back, the Airbnb host asked me if I wanted my unit cleaned since he had housekeepers over. I said sure, so they came over and started on that. The housekeepers were also able to do my laundry, which was nice since I don’t think I could do it myself. Since I was nearly halfway into my trip, with all my dirty clothes from the first half of the trip cleaned, I could easily make it through the second half without doing laundry again. They changed my sheets and towels, and mopped every room, and even took out all the remaining garbage for me. I was waiting outside so as to not get in the way, and when they had the bed ready, I went back in to sit on the bed. I started stretching since I wanted to do another lengthening session. I noticed that my time with the aide had run out, so I sent her back to avoid accumulating any additional fees.

Once the housekeepers were done cleaning, I was already done stretching, so I immediately ran the ERC on each leg. Afterwards, I still had that 10 pound bag of ice in the sink to deal with since the aide didn't have time to help me with it, so I unloaded half of it into each ice pump bucket and then filled each of them with water using a glass. This by itself was quite the workout and I was sweating by the end of it. Fortunately, everything was ready and I turned the pumps on and attached the ice pads to my legs. Let me tell you, the feeling that you get from using ice pads with real ice is so much better than cold tap water; it's not even on the same level. This time I was nice and relaxed within 20 minutes, which worked out fine, since 20 minutes is the maximum ice time anyway.

After that, since I had skipped lunch, I prepared a ton of warm food (microwaved) and ate it. My appetite was actually decent, so I ate a bit more than usual, but still I don’t think I’ve been eating enough to produce stools. I had a lot of free time before the final lengthening session of the day so since I had only slept 3.5 hours the previous night, I tried to take a nap. I watched YouTube for a bit and actually got pretty sleepy, so I put on some music and tried to nap for a while, setting an alarm so I wouldn’t sleep too long. I think I actually did doze off for a bit, but I doubt I got more than 30 minutes of sleep total.

Around 7pm I was ready to take the afternoon dose of my 12 hour drugs. It’s usually around this time that the pain starts acting up again, so maybe that means the extended release pain kill works better than I thought. I prepared and ate some more food, and also took some laxatives (with no success.) Since I had real ice in the ice buckets, I iced myself again for 20 minutes, which was nice. My thigh swelling was still quite severe though; I’ll probably need to wait another week for it to go down. Overall, I don't feel too bad right now, but not great either. I really hope the second week will be better than the first one.

I watched more TV and tried to get some my quad stretching in at the same time, since the PT said that was one of the big issues with my flexibility. Eventually, it got late and I was starting to get sleepy, so I did a full set of PT exercises and a lengthening session. Fortunately, the water still had a tiny bit of ice in it, so I basically got a full day’s worth of icing out of one bag of ice. I might try to get ice delivered to the Airbnb in the future, but I’m not sure what grocery service would be able to do it.

I fell asleep quickly after shutting down the ice pumps. I had a lot of dreams, but fortunately no nightmares. I woke up two times to go to the bathroom, but was able to fall asleep immediately afterwards each time. Overall sleep was very good, though I still totaled less than 6 hours.

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P.S.: Is anyone actually reading this stuff or is it just too much? It’s actually starting to feel quite time consuming for me to write at this level of detail, so future entries will probably be much shorter. I have a feeling that most people would rather read a cliff notes version of what happened, and only care about things specific to the procedure and lengthening.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: AppleFanBoy on November 24, 2020, 10:28:04 PM
I read the whole thing and enjoyed the level of detail. I think most people going to go through LL should read these as they would be able to feel prepared on exactly what to expect/feel during the process.

It looks like you’ve had a heck of a lot easier time than me during the first week. I was dead in bed until day 7 when I took a few steps and was forced to go to PT. It’s great to see you walking so soon and recovering well. It would be nice if you continued to post like this, but as we all know, life is busy. Don’t worry too much, focus on recovery and post in point form summary to share your journey if you can’t. Now is the fun part of growing taller ;)
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: jem_semarc on November 24, 2020, 11:55:07 PM
I also read the whole thing! I’ve never seen so much detail, it honestly helps a ton since I’ve got my LL scheduled next month. keep it up and I’ll be following closely.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: InFullStryde on November 25, 2020, 12:32:19 AM
Hi BelowTheMean,

The details are perfect and so appreciated!  I would keep it going as is and/or however you are able to do. :-)  I can remember that I used to hang on to every word of the diaries that came before my surgery.  You're doing a great service to future CLL'ers!  The diaries just keep getting better and better.  Frankly, it was the great diaries I read that lead me to having the confidence to go forward with the life changing CLL procedure.  You're doing great, man!

IFS
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: AllAboutPerspective on November 25, 2020, 01:47:17 AM
I read it all too! Thank you for putting that much time into your diary, it's really beneficial to know about all the details involved with this procedure
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on November 25, 2020, 07:26:55 AM
@AppleFanBoy, @jem_semarc, @IFS, @AllAboutPerspective, and anyone else who is readying this - thanks for the support guys! I’ll continue to write detailed daily entries until at least my first post-op office visit. I’m sure once I start working again and my surgical pains are mostly gone, my days will be less interesting from a CLL perspective (which should be actually a good thing theoretically.)

Surgery Day +8, Lengthening Day 5 (+1mm, 5.66mm total)

I woke up without an alarm around 6am. This whole week I’ve been waking up without an alarm. I wanted to say waking up “naturally”, but I’m not sure how natural waking up from the pain of your broken femurs every day is. Actually, I was in minimal pain waking up this morning and didn’t need to take any medications right away. I walked to the bathroom, which wasn’t the easiest, as usual first thing in the morning, but nonetheless tolerable. I came back and sat on my bed checking my messages from the previous night. At 7am exactly, I took my full round of morning meds. I feel now, that taking meds on a schedule is probably a good thing since that’s how they’re designed to work. It’s possible to experiment with, or reduce painkiller usage, but you should probably be confident about your pain levels before doing so.

The meds kicked in pretty quickly, and I felt the best that I have yet since surgery, like I could even fully weight-bear on my left leg (not that I was going to try of course.) I could walk around pretty easily, though obviously with the post-CLL waddle. I did all my warmup PT exercises easily and a lengthening session. Nothing special this time around, though I’m placing the ERC machine more to the right of the X on my right leg (still within the bars of course) since it looks like this is giving a better signal to the ERC than the initial positioning I was trying. Afterwards I added a frozen water bottle to each ice pump and iced my legs for 20 min while playing on my phone.

After finishing with the ice, I stretched a little bit, then got up to go to the kitchen and made a big and fancy breakfast. It seems like my pain and mood somehow align with my appetite. Even though I’m not fully healed from surgery, the lack of pain definitely helps me in wanting to eat more. I ate the biggest meal yet since surgery, with lots of protein, fiber, and carbs even. I’m starting to eat out of my Airbnb stash instead of craving delivery since I don't mind walking around the kitchenette preparing food. Also, in hope I can finish most of what I bought and it doesn’t go to waste.

It was at this point that I wrote the previous giant 4-day journal entry before this. Since it took hours, and I was mostly sitting in bed with my laptop on my legs, I had to take frequent breaks so I wouldn’t be in pain, numb, or anything like that. The breaks worked well since I wanted to get a snack or drink frequently as well, and the pain meds were giving me major cottonmouth again. Every time I stood up to take a quick break, I had a much easier time getting up than in previous days, and I was actually pretty surprised. I feel like I have a major improvement in walking power today, even though nothing has changed in my routine.

After listening to music for hours and updating my journal, it was lunch time already. However, I wasn’t hungry (naturally, since I had so many snacks) so I did some stretches and played some video games. My legs started hurting a bit so I took some muscle relaxant. The short acting opioid had probably worn off already.

3pm came by and I felt good, so I decided to do another lengthening session. First, I did all my PT exercises, which were still pretty easy, given that my hydrocodone had already worn off. Then I swapped the water bottles from my ice pumps with frozen ones. These aren’t as frozen as the ones that stayed in the fridge overnight, but I can’t do anything about that. Before I lengthened, I cleared out a pathway in my Airbnb and recorded a video of my walk with my phone. Here is the video:

https://youtu.be/rZeNo9tAVPU

Note, in this video I was probably halfway through an MS Contin extended release pill, and just had a muscle relaxant pill, but had no short acting opioid in my system. My pain level while recording the video was only 1/10. Also, I swear my legs are swollen, these pants are super loose normally!

After taking a quick look and making sure the recording was okay, I ran the ERC on each leg and then iced up for 30 minutes. (I moved the pads mid-icing to get my hip suture area as well, and so I wouldn’t go over 20 minutes on any single patch of skin.) After that I sat up and did some stretches, then chatted with friends and family for a bit to keep my mood up.

(This next paragraph is kind of gross, so skip it if you’re easily grossed out.) About an hour later, while I was still laying in bed, I suddenly had the urge to go #2. I didn’t have time to warm up my legs, so I had to just get off the bed and walk to the bathroom. After sitting down, I immediately realized that I would be able to go. However, it still wasn’t easy, and I had to push. Finally I got it all out and it was about a 1.5 on the Bristol stool scale. No issues with discoloration, but it was kind of coarse coming out, so I was a bit worried for my hemorrhoids issue. Fortunately there wasn’t any blood in the toilet, but I did see a tiny bit on the TP after wiping. It was little enough that even I (someone paranoid about both blood clots and not being able to stop bleeding) wasn’t concerned. Even though it was only the second time I went #2 I figured I was getting a lot better and I decided that I should try to be more consistent with my laxative drug intake and try and eat more regularly.

After that I sat down and played with my phone again until dinner time. Although I was not hungry yet, I figured I should probably eat something. I wanted to do some stretches before getting out of bed since my MS Contin was about to wear off. However, as soon as I moved my legs I realized they were in pain and pretty sore since they have been wrapped under the blanket for an extended duration. Heat feels great when I’m not moving, but not moving for a while feels terrible once I do start moving. Before I got the chance to stretch, I realized that I had to go to the bathroom immediately, so I got up without warming up and walked over to the bathroom again. It was doable, though I was in 4-5/10 pain like I had just left the hospital again. While washing my hands, I noticed that my hands were shaking too. I wasn’t sure if this was from the overall pain, or narcotic withdrawal. It’s moments like these that make me wary of the potential of addition and to keep my painkiller usage minimal.

I went back and stood by my bed and checked the time - 6:30pm exactly. I couldn’t even stand in one place without feeling pain, so I immediately took a hydrocodone pill. I sat on the bed to recover a bit, and realized that I was at 3-4 pain just laying down, with very tight legs. If I moved and did a stretch thought, it would slightly lower the overall pain, and focus the pain more on whatever muscle I was using, so I just did some light PT exercises until the pain started going down. By 7pm, I was back to 1/10 pain staying still, so the hydrocodone works pretty well and kicks in fast. I was still in a little pain while moving around but I got up, took my laxatives on schedule, and then made dinner.

While I was waiting for the tiny microwave to heat up my plate of food, I did some more stretches, since I knew I was going to be sitting there watching YouTube while eating. A couple of minutes later when the microwave went off, I walked over there with no pain at all, and brought dinner back to my bed and put it on my nightstand. At this point, I’m very confident that I don’t need to be taking both hydrocodone and MS Contin at the same time, since hydrocodone is enough to relieve my pain by itself. MS Contin clearly works as well, after the hydrocodone wears off. However, I’m still not sure exactly how to time the pills so that I feel no pain at all, but still take the minimum number of pills.

While eating and watching shows, I thought a little about what I should do regarding pain pills. I planned to wait until the slightest sign that the hydrocodone was starting to wear off, and then immediately take MS Contin. If it doesn’t wear off by 10pm then I would take MS Contin anyway as an overnight protection, since it would be nearly time to go to bed. Then I shouldn’t need any hydrocodone until the following day.

Around 8pm I realized that I had been sitting for quite a while but at least I was in 0/10 pain, as if I hadn’t even had the surgery. I moved my legs a little to test and got a sharp pain on the left side. I guess I was only imagining things! After a while I did start to feel a bit of muscle stiffness even while stationary. I tried to fight back by taking a MS Contin pill instead of muscle relaxant, since I wanted to be able to take one tomorrow morning if needed. The MS Contin actually did something, and I went back to 0/10 pain.

After 10pm I realized that I had been in bed too long watching YouTube, and got ready to do the last lengthening session of the night. I warmed up with all the standard PT exercises, but I had been inactive for so long that I was slow and my muscles were stiff. I ended up taking a muscle relaxant pill after warming up, but my legs stayed sore. I guess it's that time of the night, where I have to just get things done and then go to sleep hoping tomorrow is better. I quickly did the lengthening session with no problems, and then swapped out the warm water bottles in my ice pump buckets for frozen ones. Amusingly it reminds me of swapping nuclear fuel rods in one of those spent fuel pools you see on TV ;D

Finally, I laid down to ice my legs. Then I posted this entry to the journal and we're now caught up to real time! I'm about to go to sleep. Good night all!
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: ghkid2019 on November 25, 2020, 12:21:55 PM
You are right when you say that: When dormant and feeling a nagging subtle pain, get up and do some exercises- yup that sounds like a good idea even in normal life. Laying in bed on my phone all day is way worse than walking around my house for a little bit
It's good you have the conscience to recognize this already. I feel tons of CLL people suffer unecessarily because they lay in bed all day even with stryde.. those people don't have diaries as you would've expected haha

Mscontin seems very strong. Also seems good you can do PT without pain relievers.. that's good.

And that video looks solid too. Faster than I expected after a week post op even with walker. Good job
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: las vegas baby on November 25, 2020, 01:04:04 PM
youll do great under Kevin Debiparshad's care.

the legs seems swollen please ask him about that. to be honest I thought you were fat when I first saw the video Lol.

I LOVE this diary and attention to details.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on November 26, 2020, 06:56:00 AM
Quote from: las vegas baby on November 25, 2020, 01:04:04 PM
the legs seems swollen please ask him about that. to be honest I thought you were fat when I first saw the video Lol.
All the pics I've sent the team, they say it looks normal. I feel like my swelling has gone down considerably today though, so fingers crossed.

Quote from: ghkid2019 on November 25, 2020, 12:21:55 PM
Mscontin seems very strong. Also seems good you can do PT without pain relievers.. that's good.
I usually try to take something before PT. After all, I'm still experiencing post-surgical pains, just a little bit less than the average person it seems. MS Contin is indeed very strong to me, but the nurses at the hospital actually treated the extended release pill as a "weak painkiller" as far as I could tell. (with Toradol as the strong painkiller.)

Surgery Day +9, Lengthening Day 6 (+1mm, 6.66mm total)

I woke up at 7am to the sound of my alarm. I didn’t sleep very well the night before, both because of difficulty falling asleep and because of waking up randomly, whether having to go to the bathroom or not. My watch said I got about 4.5 hours of sleep over the 7 hours I was in bed. After waking up, I realized I had to go to the bathroom yet again, so hopefully that means I’m hydrating well and not just have a small bladder. I sat back down on the bed, I silenced all my followup alarms and then ate my morning meds. I had PT fairly early today, and wanted to get in a session beforehand.

I did my warmup exercises and got ready to lengthen. I leaned my cane against the bed, then turned around to grab the ERC device and move it from the table to the bed. At this moment, the cane slipped and smacked the ground with a loud bang. With no weight support and ERC in hand, I flinched hard. I imagine that any fast or twitchy movement is not good during lengthening, but fortunately I didn’t drop the ERC or fall. Remember to be careful with all your stuff during lengthening, I’ve dropped things on the ground many times in the last week and it’s a pain to pick it up. Fortunately I have a grabber tool, though at this point I don’t think I need it anymore, I just use it when I’m feeling really lazy.

Lengthening went well, with no hitches. I haven’t heard the ERC make that clicking noise like it did on my right leg the first few times lengthening. I’ll assume for now that everything is on track. I’m getting x-rays in less than a week anyway, so I just need to be patient for a little longer. I had no time to ice up after lengthening, so I continued to stretch a bit, while listening to music. I wanted to make sure that my legs didn’t get stiff or tense before heading to PT. I also changed clothes and waited for the aide to arrive.

The aide got here on time and it was the same one, so she knew how to get to my unit. Once she was inside, I had her help take out the garbage, then I said we could head over early, in case they would let me start early at the PT place. Everything was getting pretty routine at this point. When we got to PT I had only been sitting in the car for about 15 minutes and my legs were a bit stiff already. I walked in with the walker, and walking usually helps me warm up. I was early, but they were able to start me early so I didn’t have to wait too long.

Today’s PT was harder than the last session, which makes sense since the PTs record what you did each session and try to push you harder each time. I’ve come to realize that warming up on the bicycle is a really good idea. Even though my left quad was extremely tight and sore when I started to cycle, and every revolution of the pedals made it hurt a bit, after four minutes (out of the five minutes I was supposed to pedal) my left quad suddenly decided to play nice and loosen up. I think I will definitely try using a stationary bike for future warm-ups when I return to my city. Today was also the first time they had some extra workouts for my left leg compared to my right one, as they are well aware that my left leg is weaker. However, in the last two days it has been weight-bearing fine, so I have no complaints about the left side aside from weakness and muscle tightness. At the end of this PT session I got both the hot towel treatment and a massage for the sore spot on my left quad just above the knee. Both of these were really good, and I really appreciated them. I’m pretty sure I’m going to continue PT even when I’m lengthening from home if I can get this level of service every time I go. Before leaving, I set up my next two PT appointments, and I’m not sure if they are covered or not since they’re technically during the third week, but I’m sure they’ll be happy to send me a bill later if it’s not covered.

At the PT clinic I also bumped into another one of Dr D’s patients from the east coast who also had his surgery last week, though not on the same day. He could tell that we were CLL brothers since we were both wearing shorts that revealed our surprisingly similar bandage locations. If you’re on here, feel free to PM me to chat! (Though for all I know he might not even know that this forum exists.)

After leaving PT, the aide drove me to the grocery store again. On top of a big pack of ice, I also needed tape to secure some of the waterproof dressing covers on my legs. There’s still almost a week until I get the chance to remove them, so I should keep them intact if possible. The grocery store was absolutely packed with people trying to shop for Thanksgiving dinner. You would think that the lockdown rules would have fewer people being out and about, but I suppose that is not the case. Inside the store, I felt kind of bad because it was crowded, and I was going down the main aisle to the pharmacy section and there were a bunch of people following me, going really slowly. There’s not much I could do about it though, since I couldn’t increase my walking pace. In the first aid section there was indeed 3M Nexcare tape, and it was pretty cheap, so I just went with that.

On the drive back from the grocery store my legs were getting tired already. Between all the PT and walking and warming up early this morning to lengthen, it felt like my legs had been working for hours (and I suppose they have been.) When we got back inside, I tried taking off my shoes and was able to, and then I hopped on the bed to relax for a bit. The aide helped me fill my ice pump buckets with fresh ice and then tidied up the place a bit. She left at exactly the three-hour mark, so that was perfect. I’m not sure if I’ll need the home health care company to assist me for next week’s appointments. I feel like I should be able to handle transportation on my own. I have the whole long weekend to decide, but right now I’m leaning toward no. If today was the last session, then I would have used them for only 15 hours total.

Now that I was all alone, I noticed that I was hungry. I made a big bowl of noodles and a turkey sandwich and ate those pretty quickly. The timing wasn’t great, since I wanted to take a nap, but I also wanted to do my second lengthening session first, but it was too early to lengthen. Therefore, to kill some time I got my computer out and wrote the first half of this entry and watched some YouTube.

By the time I got off the computer I wanted some snacks and walked around a little in the Airbnb, it was 2:30pm and I needed to do a lengthening session. I sat down on the bed and noticed that my calves were no longer swollen. I have no idea when it happened, but they were soft now (unless I flex my calf muscle.) I also noticed that my hamstring bruise on each side was still growing, and both sides of my right foot were bruised below the ankle. None of it is painful though, so it’s probably connected to post-surgery swelling and bruising while being on Xarelto. At least that’s what Dr D’s team has told me every time I sent over pictures. I suppose they’ve seen a lot more cases than I have, so if it was serious I’m sure they would recognize it and tell me.

I did a full round of PT exercises (which got me kind of sweaty) and I felt like my flexibility was still okay, so I did a set of stretches for all the main muscles as well. After that I sat down to lengthen. I guess from this point forward, if I don’t make any comments about using the device, that means it worked normally, because using it has definitely become routine for me now. After lengthening it was time to ice my legs up. Since I had real ice cubes I set a timer for 20 minutes so I wouldn’t hurt my skin. Afterwards I felt pretty good. I got the tape out that I bought earlier and fortunately I also had a pair of nail scissors that I brought with me, so it was easy to cut the tape into the exact shapes I needed. After I was done, I was confident that no sweat would get into the bandages. I’m not too worried about shower water since I was still only using bath wipes to clean myself. In less than a week, if all goes well Dr. D will remove the dressings anyway.

Now in the late afternoon I had to decide if I wanted to keep my legs active for the rest of the day (a bit hard) or rest a bit and let my legs get stiff. I figured it would be a while before I did the final lengthening session and I still wanted to try and take a nap to catch up on sleep, so I lay down for a bit without looking at my phone or laptop. I was sleepy very quickly, but I couldn’t get into a good position for sleeping. My thighs would get tight and uncomfortable if I kept my legs straight, but they would also become uncomfortable if I slept with my knees bent. Also, both positions could potentially make my heels numb depending on what angle I was pushing my heels into the bed. So for an hour and a half I tossed and turned in the two or three positions I could hold though I know I got at least a little shut eye during the period since I had some weird dreams.

I finally got up when I had to pee, then took a hydrocodone pill since it was past 7pm already. I sat back down on bed and started to do a few light warmup exercises and then I realized I was actually pretty hungry, so I proceeded to make dinner. After dinner I played with my phone for a bit, and was actually pretty comfortable the whole time sitting in bed, as opposed to when I was trying to nap. It may also be because I switched back and forth from legs straight to knees bent 90 degrees every 20 or 30 minutes, which I think helps a bit with general stiffness.

Now it was time for the final lengthening of the day. I did all my PT exercises, did my stretch routine, then ran the ERC on each leg. After that, I did my stretch routine again, then proceeded to ice my thighs. The ice from earlier in the day still hadn’t fully melted yet so I thoroughly enjoyed the coldness. Afterwards, I got ready to go to bed. Btw, I don’t think I’ve talked about hygiene that much in this journal yet, but in the hospital I didn’t have supplies to brush my teeth at all (since no one told me to bring any) and I don’t think I would have been able to do it unless I could do it from the bed. But the first day I got back from the hospital I could already stand for a minute or two without any support, so brushing, flossing, and washing were no problem for me. After coming out of the bathroom I sat down, finished this post, and now I’m getting ready to go to bed. I haven’t taken any medicine for the last four hours or so, but I’m pretty confident I’ll be fine until tomorrow morning.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: Quad Stryde on November 29, 2020, 11:21:29 PM
Thanks for all of the work you are putting in to make this diary, it is a brilliant read and helps tremendously.
If you can, please upload as many progress video's/pictures as possible.
I wish you the best of luck and can't wait to read your next update!
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on November 30, 2020, 07:16:33 AM
Quote from: Quad Stryde on November 29, 2020, 11:21:29 PM
Thanks for all of the work you are putting in to make this diary, it is a brilliant read and helps tremendously.
If you can, please upload as many progress video's/pictures as possible.
I wish you the best of luck and can't wait to read your next update!
I don't currently plan to upload any pictures, as there are already plenty on here for various things related to lengthening, and I don't think there's much that can't be described with words. As for videos, I may consider uploading more if I feel like there is no way for anyone to identify me from the videos.

Surgery Day +10, Lengthening Day 7 (+1mm, 7.66mm total)

I woke up at 7:30am. I already knew that my sleep stats were going to be pretty bad, but my watch data showed that I only got 4.5 hours of sleep out of about 7 hours in bed and I had woken up 12 times last night! I only remember going to the bathroom once though. For whatever reason I couldn’t fall asleep at all for the first few hours I was in bed. I kept tossing and turning in bed and felt way too hot underneath the blanket or way too cold without the blanket covering me. All I could do was keep changing positions and how much of my body was covered by the blanket in hopes that I could find an optimal way to fall asleep. In the last few days I haven’t felt too tired from lack of sleep because I normally sleep less than 8 hours a night, but I also normally fall asleep quickly when I lay down and sleep solidly until my alarm goes off. I look forward to the day I can achieve this type of sleep quality again.

I got up and went to the restroom. It had been nearly 12 hours since I took any painkillers, so I was expecting to be in a lot of pain, but surprisingly I was only about 2/10 pain while laying down, and maybe 3-4/10 when walking around. If someone had told me that my pain level while walking around without any painkillers would be tolerable within 10 days of my surgery, I wouldn't have believed them. Even last night I would have been skeptical about this. On the level of stiffness though it is just as bad as before. Even if it didn’t hurt to walk around with no painkillers, it was hard to walk since my legs don’t bend that much before I warm them up.

I proceeded to take all my meds since I’d rather be at 0/10 pain than have consistent low level pain. Also, I was planning to do a workout and lengthening session soon, during which I’m sure my pain level would quickly increase if I pushed myself. Unfortunately my plan hit a hitch; at this time I needed to use the restroom badly, and upon using the restroom I realized it might take a while. Straining after surgery is generally a bad idea, so I tried my best to go #2 without pushing too hard, and it took a really long time. I literally had to stand up twice and take breaks from sitting so my legs wouldn’t go numb. My advice here is that even if you reduce painkiller usage, you’ll want to make sure you keep up on laxative usage. Finally, I finished to the extent that I could. I went into the kitchen and made a giant bowl of oatmeal. Upon finishing the oatmeal, it was time to lengthen.

Lengthening has been getting more and more routine for me. After finished all my warm up exercises and stretches, I ran the ERC on each leg. I was starting to get the ice machines ready, but realized I had to go to the restroom again. After sitting on the toilet for a while I came back and iced my legs for 20 minutes. Since I was laying down while icing I got kind of sleepy, so after I took the ice wraps off I tried to take a nap. I managed to fall asleep quickly, but at some point I dreamed that I kicked a ball which caused my right leg to twitch in real life and startled me awake. I had gotten a decent nap in though.

I ate a big lunch, then had to use the restroom yet again. After that, I played with my phone and browsed the web. Nothing too exciting, and I felt like my pain level was pretty good, though I wasn’t moving around very much. At some point I dozed off again, and got back up around 4pm. Now I had to get ready for the second lengthening of the day. Since I had been stagnant for a while, I did some extra sets of PT exercises and extra stretches before lengthening. As usual, I also did a set of stretches after lengthening, but before using the ice. I talked to some people further along than me and they all said that they stopped using ice packs early on during distraction, so I guess I am the only one who needs ice to handle the continuous swelling. Good thing the hospital gave me those ice pumps then.

After lengthening I sat in bed playing on my phone and computer for a couple of hours. Shifting back and forth between legs straight and knees bent and getting up to use the restroom and eat snacks I was mostly pain-free the whole time. I probably should have warmed up more before getting up each time, but even just coming straight off the bed I was only in 2-3/10 pain walking around, though I was walking quite stiffly. By the time I noticed that I could take more drugs it was almost 8:30pm. I took another MS Contin and the laxatives; while I don’t think I necessarily need the pain meds at this point, I think they still do help a little, especially when I need to stretch harder for PT exercises.

The rest of the evening wasn’t too exciting either. I just chatted with friends on my phone while sitting in bed and changing positions every so often. I started my last set of PT exercises early again, so I’d have extra time to do more sets before lengthening. I lengthened, then stretched again, but didn’t ice my legs since I wasn’t feeling swollen at all. Afterwards, I just went to bed. Given the number of times I went #2 on this day, I can definitely say my bowel movements were regular again.

Surgery Day +11, Lengthening Day 8 (+1mm, 8.66mm total)

Last night I actually got decent sleep (at least compared to this previous week.) For just over 8 hours in bed, I was fully asleep for 6.7 hours. I did still wake up many times due to leg pains and needing to stretch or adjust my legs, but it seems like I fell back asleep pretty quickly each time. I also only needed to get up to use the restroom once the entire night, which is the fewest times in one night since the catheter came out. My current baseline pain level is at 1-2/10, where I think my legs just felt chronically uncomfortable no matter what position I'm in. I got up and used the restroom to get ready to start the day.

Upon returning to my bedside, I took a set of pills just like yesterday morning. Although the pain was tolerable, I still wanted to minimize it before doing any heavy physical activity. After that I started my pre-lengthening exercises. I noticed that they were a bit harder than before. Maybe I was just hungry, and tired because I was lacking energy. I’m probably not keeping up with the calories needed to sustain my body’s current metabolism. My joints also felt weaker than before. I was pretty sure the MS Contin hadn’t kicked in yet, but I pushed through and finished everything. I lengthened to 7.99mm, so I’m basically 10% of the way (well, assuming I make it all the way to 8cm.) While 10% seems like a small amount of progress, it surely feels bigger than any of the tiny mm counts that I’ve been dealing with so far. Anyway, I’m counting it as a personal milestone.

Afterwards, without doing my post-lengthening stretches I rushed to the kitchen and heated up a giant bowl of oatmeal for breakfast. I also put my walker next to the door, since I was planning to take an outdoor walk later in the day. I sat down on the bed to rest a bit while I was waiting for the food to heat up and then cool to a temperature I could safely consume. After waiting a bit, I went back into the kitchen to eat my breakfast. Then I went back to sit on the bed and use my computer for a bit. Since Las Vegas wasn't actually that warm right now, I wanted to wait until the daily high temperature was hit in the early afternoon to go out for my walk. Also, if I did it in the early afternoon, I could come back and lengthen right away with very warmed up legs.

On a side note, I can feel that I’m starting to get a tiny bit impatient with this whole process over the last few days. The novelty of everything has already worn off, and daily tasks are starting to feel more and more tedious. I’m also unsure of my true progress since I haven’t gone to the doctor to get x-rays yet, and I still have four more days until my appointment. Maybe seeing those first x-rays with the gap in each femur and a little bit of callus growing will reinvigorate me to the process. It certainly doesn’t help that I’m doing this all alone in a different city halfway across the country. At this point, I do feel a little homesick, especially having just spent Thanksgiving alone. I have talked to many of my friends over the last few weeks, but there is certainly a psychological barrier given that I haven’t told any of them what I’ve done. I guess having this anonymous journal is helping me talk myself through this process once step at a time.

After lunch I just sat around for a bit resting, and then the time finally came to do my first outdoor walk. Over the last few days I’ve felt stronger each day, and I could already walk days ago, so I was fairly confident about going outside and taking a walk for the first time. First, to warm up I took out the garbage in my unit. This was just walking 10 feet from the entrance of the Airbnb at the side of the house to the trash can by the garage door with my cane a couple of times. That felt quite easy and I believed I could even go out for a walk with just the cane at that point, but I still wanted to use the walker just to be safe. I made sure that I had my keys and phone with me, then proceeded to walk down the driveway to the sidewalk. I followed the sidewalk to the main street and continued along the sidewalk for one block and reached a crossroad. I wasn’t ready to attempt to cross the street yet, so I turned back and walked the same distance back to the Airbnb. When I got back I checked the stats from my watch. I had walked about 0.4 miles at a 54 min/mile pace (which is almost 10 times slower than my personal best mile sprint.) However, I felt like I certainly could improve my pace over time, since I wasn’t trying to go very fast, and I was focusing instead on my gait.

I realized that I hadn’t drank any water before leaving for my walk and I was quite thirsty. I chugged half a bottle of ice cold Gatorade, which rapidly quenched my thirst. Based on my one experience, I think it’s a good idea to walk for the sake of practicing walking. For me at the moment, since I can’t easily walk around in my Airbnb due to space limitations, going outside is a reasonable alternative. I believe that I will need to try and do at least one outdoor walk like this every day to optimize my recovery. This is also in line with what both the doctor and PT have told me about trying to get in a certain number of steps daily, then increasing this number of step each subsequent week during recovery.

After eating another snack I sat down on the bed to lengthen while my legs were still relatively warmed up. This went by smoothly, especially given that I hadn't taken any pain medications since the morning. After lengthening I sat down on the bed do some work. However, as soon as I relaxed I suddenly became tired, which is probably not all that surprising given the physical activity had I just performed, and I really wanted to sleep. Since there was nothing else I had to do immediately, I simply pulled the covers over my body and quickly fell asleep. I woke up a couple of times, but easily went back to sleep after doing some half-conscious leg stretches. The nap ended up being over 2 hours long and it was dark outside when I fully awakened. I got up to eat dinner, and after that I just played on my laptop and phone.

A short while later it was time to take some more medications. I took MS Contin and both laxatives. I haven’t taken my short-acting opioid for two days now, with no serious pain issues. However, I did notice that my joints (even ones unrelated to the lower body, like my fingers and wrists) were a bit more sensitive than they used to be. If that persists, then I may have to ask the doctor about it, since I don't see how it's related to the surgery. I continued playing on my phone for another hour or two, by which time the MS Contin had kicked in. Then I warmed up and stretched in preparation for the last lengthening session of the day, which I completed without a hitch. After that it was time to go to bed. I was feeling very optimistic at this point.

Unfortunately, the night didn’t end here. Just as I thought I was no longer in pain anymore, my joints and legs started hurting more and more as I lay in bed. I believe this was a new type of pain that I hadn’t experienced yet. If I lay completely still, the joints behind my knees would still hurt 3/10 on both legs. If I moved around, then my muscles would feel really stiff and ache continuously. I couldn’t settle into a position that was 0/10 pain, or even 1/10 pain. As I lay there trying, eventually I reached a 5-6/10 pain which was a throbbing muscle ache in both my legs. I got up and took a muscle relaxer in hopes that it would fix my problem, and lay back down. I twisted and turned and eventually thought to put a pillow between my knees, which enabled me to lay in a few new positions. After some time the drug must have kicked in, since my legs calmed down a bit and I eventually fell asleep.

Surgery Day +12, Lengthening Day 9 (+1mm, 9.66mm total)

I woke up very tired to my 7am alarm. I hit snooze a couple of times and then decided to get up. Just laying there I was at the same level of throbbing pain as the night before and it didn’t feel good at all. I got up to use the restroom, then came back and immediately took my morning drugs. This time I included a hydrocodone pill in hopes that it could provide some much needed relief. I lay back down, and wrapped my legs under the blanket and waited in pain. I checked my phone and it said I had gotten about 6.2 hours of real sleep the night before, which was actually quite a bit considering I remember tossing and turning frequently the night before.

While laying in bed, I fell asleep again and then awakened about an hour later. My legs still felt stiff and tight, but the pain had been greatly dampened by the Hydrocodone. On the overall pain front, I felt like I had regressed a couple of days, but with so many painkillers left, maybe it was my own fault for not taking them regularly. I’m not sure what the source of pain was, and maybe it had to do with my long walk yesterday, but if it was related to that then there was quite a delay from finishing the walk to the onset of pain!

I got up and made the bed, then climbed onto the bed to do my warmup exercises and stretch. I lengthened another 1/3 of a mm and my pain level stayed the same. Afterwards, I decided to clean up my ice pump setup so it wouldn’t be a tripping hazard. My swelling has gone down significantly from the peak three or four days ago, so I really don’t think I need the ice anymore. I also made breakfast since my stomach was empty, though I wasn’t hungry at all since I was taking opioid painkillers again, so I had to force myself to eat. My mouth was also very dry, which is another side effect of the strong opioid, so I drank a lot of water all morning.

It was at this point that I decided I was going to try and get some work done. I don’t want to take too much time off work, since the year-end performance review is coming soon, and I want to maintain the overall good impression that my boss has of me leading up to this review. Getting a solid year-end bonus would go a long way toward defraying the cost of doing CLL. However, based on how I felt in the last few weeks, I'm pretty sure that I will likely only be able to put in 4-5 hours of real work a day for the next few months since I'm going to need to spend a lot of time stretching, exercising, lengthening, and just resting during the day. Therefore, if I wanted to perform well, I would have to either be very efficient with my time or try and spread my work out over a longer period.

I pulled out my work laptop for the first time in weeks and booted it up. I was pretty productive and caught up on all my emails and summarized all the outstanding tasks I needed to finish in the near future. I took a quick break for lunch, and continued working after lunch. By the early afternoon, I was feeling quite productive and it was time for my daily walk again. While I could have taken another hydrocodone pill at this point in time, I decided not to since I was feeling okay. I was actually back at 0/10 pain sitting on the bed, and 2/10 pain walking around, mostly due to stiffness. I could always take a painkiller later in the day if the heavy leg pain from last night decided to reassert itself. Plus, I don't want to be on pain meds while taking a long walk, since I might not realize I'm pushing myself too hard if can't feel it. I changed into outdoor clothes, grabbed my walker, and started tracking my workout on my watch.

I walked the exact same distance as yesterday, about 0.4 miles, at the blistering pace of 46 min/mile. Again, I was not focused on speed, but rather gait. I was able to go a little faster just because I felt better. I tried to keep my legs closer together and raise my knees higher and bend my knee more while walking but it was not easy and I’m sure I still looked like a waddling penguin. When I got back I drank some Gatorade, changed into my indoor clothes, and sat down on the bed to lengthen. Lengthening was normal, though I felt extra tight after running the ERC. I tried to do a couple of stretches on the bed while listening to music, but this made me very sleepy. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to take a nap at this point, so I got my computer out and watched a movie. I did not fall asleep.

After a while it was dinnertime and I wanted some food. When I tried to get up, I realized that I hadn’t had any painkillers at all for a while and that the throbbing pain from the last few days felt like it was about to come back. I wonder if it is because of the long walks I’ve been taking or something else. I resisted taking any painkillers at first hoping it would go away, but eventually I was at 3-4/10 pain just lying down and not moving so I took a Hydrocodone. My pain gradually improved starting about 30 minutes after ingesting the pill. I was still at 1-2/10 pain though, so I took a muscle relaxant as well.

My baseline pain went down to 0/10 approximately 30 minutes after taking the muscle relaxant, but when I got up to use the restroom it was still difficult and painful to walk. My muscles were not "relaxed" and still stiff. Therefore I took an MS Contin pill as a last resort. Finally I was at a reasonable level of pain, though it took every type of painkiller I had. I really hope all this recent pain is related to the surgery and that it will go away soon, because if it persists then I’m eventually going to run out of painkillers (and there are no refills!) If these are lengthening pains, then I don’t see how I’m going to be able to lengthen any reasonable amount based on the amount of pain I currently have at under 10mm. Regardless, I have more than enough painkillers to last until my first doctor’s appointment, so hopefully I’ll have a solution at that point.

Finally it was late enough to do my last lengthening session of the day. I started with my usual PT exercises and stretching first. With all the painkillers running through me this was fairly easy, though I still feel like I have more joint pain doing these exercises than I did a few days ago. Once finished with the stretches, I ran the ERC on each leg. I noticed that my thighs actually looked longer than before but I'm pretty sure it's more from the massive reduction of swelling over the last few days than any lengthening gains. Once I was finished with lengthening I stretched again and focused on the areas that were feeling pain after lengthening. Unfortunately a large portion of the pain was coming from behind the knee cap, the same area where I would get throbbing pain if I didn’t take painkillers.

I suppose both the surgery and the process of lengthening are impacting similar areas on my legs, so surely there is some interconnection of pain between the two. However, I guess at this point I can still only take it one step at a time. Right now I just hope that lengthening from 1-2 cm won’t be harder than 0-1 cm was. It was time to go to bed now, and I lay down relatively early in the night with 2-3/10 pain and no painkillers available. I grabbed a pillow to put between my legs and hoped I could fall asleep soon. Fortunately I did.

Surgery Day +13, Lengthening Day 10 (+1mm, 10.66mm total)

I fully woke up at 7:45am, after repeatedly hitting snooze on my silent alarm for over an hour. My sleep data showed that I was asleep for 7.6 hours out of 8.5 hours in bed, which was great. I only woke up 2-3 times last night to adjust my legs, and I only woke up for an extended period once at 4am to go to the bathroom and drink water. I got up and went to the restroom again, feeling about 2-3/10 pain while walking over, mostly from stiffness. Then I came back and took all my morning drugs, including painkillers. I went to make breakfast as I waited for the painkillers to kick in. I remembered some of my dreams from last night. In one of them I was parched, just like in real-life. Another one was a sci-fi horror dream, though not quite a nightmare because I had the tools to defend myself in the dream.

While I was zoned out the toaster popped and my food was ready. I ate over the kitchen sink so I would have one less plate to clean later. I spent some time thinking about how much food I had left since I would be staying in Vegas for another two weeks or so. I would definitely need to resupply on milk and bottled water, so I was going to have to use a grocery delivery service, which I have never done before. I decided to try Instacart, and found a random coupon for first time users. I ordered everything I needed, plus some extra stuff since I had to get to $35 for free delivery. While I was grocery shopping on my computer, the painkillers had all kicked in and I was sitting in bed with 0/10 pain. I put my computer away and started my pre-lengthening exercises.

Lengthening this morning was a lot easier than lengthening last night. I’m not sure why this is, since I was on painkillers while lengthening both last night and this morning. Maybe it has to do with overall pain or some kind of timing. I do feel like generally I have more pain at night than I do during the day. It could also be because there’s a longer gap between my last and first lengthening of each day than between my middle and last lengthening. Regardless, after lengthening I did a couple more stretches, then sat down in the bed to do a little bit of work while waiting for my grocery delivery.

The groceries arrived right before noon. Of course the delivery driver dropped it off at the wrong entrance of the house, even though I explicitly stated on the order where to drop it off. Fortunately, the Airbnb host was home and he helped carry everything into my unit. I started preparing lunch, then suddenly got a slight nosebleed. I plugged it with some tissue paper and finished making lunch. Any type of bleeding is a concern while on Xarelto, but the air here is dry and I have a history of nosebleeds, so I personally would not be too concerned unless I was unable to stop the bleeding. Sometime later when I removed the tissue, the bleeding had stopped, so it wasn't a big deal to me. After lunch, I continued working until about 2:30pm, when it was time for my daily walk and 2nd lengthening.

Even though it seems like some of the pain I’m experiencing at night could be related to these walks, I don’t think it’s too likely. I won’t be doing a long walk tomorrow since I will be going to onsite PT in the afternoon, so I can use the evening pain today as a benchmark for tomorrow. I tried to walk the same distance as usual, but before I made it to the end of the block, my left quadricep started hurting and I decided to turn around. I rested briefly then continued back to the Airbnb slowly. My final distance was 0.25 miles (400m) at a pace of 49 min/mile. After I got back I sat on the bed and stretched my quadriceps and hamstrings, then ran the ERC on each leg. I did feel a little tight after lengthening, but I have had pretty much been the same feeling after many of my lengthening sessions. After lengthening I stretched some more, though to no avail as my legs continued to have a 1-2/10 pain from general tightness.

I didn’t take any more painkillers at this point; I just sat on the bed and continued to work. Eventually my legs stopped hurting as I was just resting and focused on other things. I got up to use the restroom and had 2-3/10 pain from tightness, which persisted for a bit even after I sat down. I was also getting a little sleepy, so I decided to take a break, take my MS Contin and laxatives, then eat dinner. I watched football while eating dinner and I was distracted enough so that my pain was 0/10. I tried to do some light stretching as well while watching TV.

After a couple of hours it was time to do my last lengthening of the day. I hadn’t taken any painkillers since the MS Contin a few hours ago and I wasn’t sure if I could do my pre-lengthening exercises without any pain reduction. I stood up and walked around for a bit, and had about 3-4/10 pain while walking (though with no warm up) so I decided to take a Hydrocodone pill. Afterwards, I waited for a bit and then started my PT exercises and stretches. One interesting thing I realized while stretching was that while my left quad is tighter than my right quad, my left hamstring is more flexible than my right hamstring. This is also in line with me being able to do a left foot first split and not a right foot first split back in middle school gymnastics. I'm amazed that this asymmetry in flexibility has persisted my entire life.

After the PT exercises and stretches I lengthened both sides, and felt a little bit of tightness on each leg, but not as much as the prior session, possibly because I was on Hydrocodone. I stretched some more, then massaged my sore quads and got ready to go to bed. I think my biggest concern now is differentiating between surgical and lengthening pains. If what I’m feeling after lengthening is residual surgical pains and will go away, then I don’t have any concerns about getting at least a few inches of lengthening. If what I feel after lengthening is lengthening pains, and will continue to be painful at this level after every lengthening, or every few lengthenings, then I will need some kind of painkiller (maybe something that not a narcotic) that I can continue to take to manage the pain after using the ERC. Given my flexibility, I’m a little surprised that I have lengthening pains so early on (if that's what they are.) Especially since I’m still pretty flexible after lengthening my first centimeter. I can still touch my toes with my wrist and almost do a butterfly sit. My quads have lost the most flexibility through surgery, and that might be related to the IT band release, but I don’t have pain in my quads after lengthening. It looks like I’ll have to collect more data over the next few days through trial-and-error and hopefully when I talk to the doctor and PT later this week, they will have some solutions for me!
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on December 03, 2020, 06:53:44 AM
Surgery Day +14, Lengthening Day 11 (+1mm, 11.66mm total)

My alarm went off at 6:30am. I hit the snooze button but couldn’t fall asleep, so I just got up. I knew my sleep last night would be bad since I woke up so many times in the middle of the night, and when I checked the stats it was definitely bad - just under 5.5 hours of sleep for nearly 7 hours in bed. I remember awakening at multiple points throughout the night and changing the positioning on my legs repeatedly, though I didn’t have to get up to go to the restroom and I wasn’t thirsty any of the times I woke up. Now that I was fully awake, I got up and went to the bathroom. While walking over I carefully gauged my pain level. Truth be told, it was probably only 2/10, and purely due to stiffness preventing me from bending my knees too far while walking. I wonder if there is some kind of OTC drug that I could use in the morning instead of opiates that could deal with this stiffness.

However, since I only had prescription drugs with me, I took my morning regimen of pills, then went to make breakfast while the painkillers kicked in. While eating, I thought about my pain management strategy some more. Even if some OTC drug could alleviate my stiffness, I wasn’t sure if it would be able to reduce the pain while doing exercises and stretching. I also wasn’t sure if I was even supposed to have pain while doing those, since it seems like exercising and stretches are supposed to alleviate stiffness and tightness. Maybe I needed to try doing my PT exercises, stretching, and lengthening in the morning with no painkillers. This might be the only way for me to know for sure if I absolutely need painkillers to lengthen. If I preemptively take painkillers every morning, then I won’t know if I need them as I breeze through my morning routine.

After eating and checking the morning news, my painkillers had settled in fairly well, so I began my pre-lengthening morning workout. It was very easy to complete everything as I expected, so I did some extra stretches compared to usual. Lengthening was easy as well, with the initial discomfort after using the ERC completely going away after five minutes. I suppose there is the possibility that I could have done everything this morning without any painkillers. I suppose I could try the following morning. After cooling down, I wiped myself down with bath wipes (hopefully I can shower once my sutures are out in a few days) and changed clothes since I was going to PT later today. I can’t be out here looking like a total slob every day! Afterwards, I sat down to do some work.

I worked until lunchtime, took a break to eat lunch and do a few light stretches, and then continued working. By the way, so far I don’t think any of the drugs I’ve taken have impacted my ability to work, and my pain level when sitting still is usually 0/10, even when I’m not on painkillers. I don’t think there is any interference from CLL with working from home, at least in my role. By early afternoon I was still feeling pretty good overall. I wanted to get another lengthening session in well before PT so I wouldn’t feel tight or uncomfortable during PT. However, I was distracted with work and completely forgot about my second lengthening until about an hour before PT.

I quickly started warming up for another lengthening session. I was very tight, so I took a MS Contin pill, even though I wasn’t sure it would do anything. Since I had PT soon, I didn’t want to push myself too hard beforehand so I only did one set of each PT exercise. However, I did make sure to complete all my stretches though. Lengthening was not too bad as the uncomfortable post-lengthening feeling wore off after 15 minutes of extra stretches (or the MS Contin kicked in.) Shortly after, it was time to leave for PT. I called an Uber, which arrived quickly. I brought my walker with me, though mostly as a safety measure and we headed off to the PT clinic.

I could get in and out of the car without any help now and I didn’t need the walker right in front of me for support to get out of the car. I went to PT and they got me started right away on the stationary bike for 10 minutes. At first, since I had no leg pain, it felt much easier than last time. However, after a minute in my joint pain started kicking in, and my knees didn’t feel so good. This lasted all the way until I had two minutes left on the ride, at which point my knee pain became less noticeable. After that, they had me do my full set of PT exercises one at a time. At the end of training I got the hot towel treatment, but no massage, which is quite unfortunately given how sore my quads were.

I called an Uber back to the Airbnb, and when I got back I drank some water and sat around for about 30 minutes with 2-3/10 constant pain. After a bit I realized that the pain wasn’t going to go away anytime soon, so I gave in and took a Hydrocodone pill. Once that kicked in, I felt much better. I think they pushed me pretty hard at PT today, and I guess the MS Contin wasn’t enough for all that I had put my legs through during PT. Hopefully this hydrocodone pill will last through the last lengthening session of the day for me. After getting up again I realized that I was still in pain so I took a muscle relaxer as well. After another 30 minutes, I was finally feeling better and it was about time to make and eat dinner. However, I was not hungry at all due to the opioids, so I had to force myself to eat.

After dinner I was a little sleepy, but I wanted to do some more work before the last lengthening session of the day. Unfortunately, my legs were distracting me and I couldn’t focus at all even though my work was easy. I just didn’t feel like doing it since it wasn’t urgent and I wasn’t in a great mood at the moment with the constant light pain. I feel like even though my legs were in 0-1/10 pain while not moving, I had overdone PT today, since I did PT exercises two times by myself before going to the clinic and doing it a third time there, along with riding the bike. Therefore any movement, even just rearranging my sitting position would trigger some pain in my legs, especially my left kneecap and quad. I decided that I wasn’t going to exercise at all tonight, including just before the final lengthening of the day. I was instead going to lengthen an hour earlier than originally planned and do some extra stretches both before and after lengthening, and then go to bed early.

For once, my plan actually worked fairly well. I was feeling okay during the stretches, and while lengthening was uncomfortable at first (as usual) after doing some post-lengthening stretches, my legs felt much better and I was in low enough pain to lay down and go to sleep early. No more pills needed for the night.

Surgery Day +15, Lengthening Day 12 (+1mm, 12.66mm total)

The next day I missed my alarm in the morning, but woke up around 6:45am, which was early enough that it was fine. For the next 15 minutes or so I lay in bed and tried to find a position that was comfortable, but I could not no matter how hard I tried. Even when I was laying on my back with my legs straight, my legs felt stuffy, stiff, and tight to the point of around 3/10 pain just from all around uncomfortableness. Any type of movement was difficult, and getting up to use the restroom was difficult as well, though I was able to walk over slowly. Although I wanted to see if I could complete my first lengthening session today without any painkillers, it didn’t look like that was going to happen since I woke up with the stiffest legs I’ve had in days. I also remembered having a lot of difficulty sleeping comfortably last night, because I was unable to find a position where I couldn’t feel the leg stiffness and I remember waking up a lot and trying to find a painless position. My watch showed that I had been asleep for 6.5 hours out of 8.4 hours in bed.

After getting up and using the restroom I took all my morning pills. While waiting for the painkillers to kick in, I got up to make breakfast. Since hydrocodone makes me lose my appetite, I figured that eating first would solve that problem. After standing in the kitchen for a bit and eating breakfast, I felt like the painkillers had taken effect. While my legs were still stiff and my quads were a bit sore and felt swollen (they weren’t actually swollen) I couldn’t really feel any of it very strongly. I went back and made my bed, and got ready for the first lengthening session of the day. While doing my PT exercises, I started feeling better as well (or maybe the painkillers fully kicked in.) I got through everything easily, including lengthening. The uncomfortable aftereffect was mild and quickly went away by itself.

I worked for an hour or so and then it was about time to head over to Dr. D’s office for my first post-op visit. I called an Uber for the short trip over. Once I got there, since I had an appointment booked I didn’t have to wait long to go inside, which was fortunate because the lobby was full of elderly spine patients. I was very excited to see some evidence of progress stemming from the hard work I’ve put in over the last two weeks. First, I got my height and weight measured, both of which were more than the last visit. I’m not sure how I gained weight after surgery while everyone else has lost weight, but it is what it is. I’m still way under the weight limit for the 11.5 nail, so a couple of pounds is not a big deal. Also, my calves, quads, and hamstrings all seem to be just as big as they used to be (I’m not swollen anymore so I can make a legit comparison) though they are a lot weaker than before. Maybe my leg muscles will atrophy more later on in the distraction phase. Next, I got my X-rays taken using the EOS machine in a bunch of different positions. This took a while, and I had to lay on my side for the first time since surgery. Fortunately, it wasn’t as bad as I thought, so I might try that position tonight when I go to sleep.

After the X-rays finished developing, I got a chance to talk to Dr. D. We talked about my pain, walking, distraction, etc. Overall, everything has been going well. I looked at the X-rays and they were flawless. My bone alignment was great from both the front and lateral view and the gap was even on both sides and matched what the ERC was reading. I had average bone callus formation, which is perfect because slow formation can result in malunion or similar issues and fast formation can result in premature consolidation. Since other journals on here have recently been talking about nail bending, I asked Dr. D about that as well and he said that because I have the 11.5 nail, it is very unlikely to bend because there is a lot of leeway between my current body weight and the maximum capacity of the nail. He also said that I should work on getting to full weight-bearing as soon as I can, since that would help my gait improve faster than walking with any type of walking aid. He said my penguin gait (aka hip swing) was very noticeable and it wouldn’t easily go away if I kept using the walker.

For painkillers he said I could potentially get a refill at the one month mark, and in the meantime I could supplement acetaminophen if I wanted, as long as the combined total (including the acetaminophen in the hydrocodone pills) that I took in any given day did not exceed the maximum adult dosage. Also, he said that because my hydrocodone pills were the 10mg size, if I didn’t feel like I needed a full pill I could actually just take half a pill (wish I knew earlier, could have saved like 3-4 pills.) He also said that I probably wouldn’t feel any nerve pain or lengthening pains in the next two weeks while I was still in Vegas, so as long as I wasn’t using opioids, I could consider renting a car so that I have more freedom instead of being stuck in the suburbs. Also, he made sure I was taking my Xarelto daily, which I was, so no problems there. The risk of getting a blood clot risk is very real, so taking a blood thinner consistently is very important.

Finally, he removed all the waterproof coverings on my incision sites and cleared me for showering, though I’m not allowed to enter a bath, pool, or hot tub yet. I was quite amazed by how small the incisions were. Given the size of my wound dressings I was expecting some big scars, so I was pleasantly surprised to see only a couple of small lines on my outer leg. There is still one layer of thin bandages over the incisions, but those should fall off within a week or two. Overall, the visit was a great boost for my morale and I felt invigorated when I looked at my bones in the X-ray and realized that everything I’ve done so far has been paying off!

After getting back to the Airbnb I continued working, only taking a break for lunch. Soon it was time for my second lengthening of the day. My legs were at 2/10 baseline pain at this point, with some left knee pain and stiffness from sitting around for so long. It started hurting a bit more when I tried to do my exercises and stretch, so I took half a hydrocodone, then rested a bit before trying to stretch again. The second time it went smoothly; in fact, after lengthening I didn’t feel uncomfortable at all. On a side note, I wonder how much of that post-ERC uncomfortable feeling is psychological. When I run the ERC it only adds 1/3 of a millimeter to my femur, which is tiny, especially this early on when my soft tissue isn’t that tight yet. Maybe I only feel uncomfortable because the ERC makes these loud whirring noises with the electromagnet, and it takes a minute to run on each leg so it feels like it’s doing a lot more to my leg than it actually is. I can only imagine how people must have felt psychologically using the old ERCs that took minutes to lengthen each leg.

Shortly after lengthening, the smell of something really delicious wafted into my nose from outside. My neighbor (the Airbnb host) was cooking and it smelled like grilled steak fajitas. Even though I was on hydrocodone, the smell still made me quite hungry, so I realized the quality of food definitely makes a difference with the amount of appetite on opioids. It looks like my turkey sandwiches and canned soup weren’t cutting it. I decided that I was going to order delivery more frequently during the next two weeks while I’m still in Las Vegas. I also needed to get some acetaminophen, which I figured would be easy with an online grocery order. I also checked the prices on rental cars and calculated that compared to ride sharing, at best I would break even, but most likely renting a car for two weeks would be about 50% more than the total for the Uber rides that I planned to take. It’s not like I was planning to go on a road trip to LA or the Grand Canyon, even over to The Strip, so I thought a rental car would be overkill.

Although I was starting to feel a little sleepy, I continued to work since there were a couple of things I needed to get done by the end of the week that I wanted to make some progress on. By the time I signed off it was dark and time to eat dinner. Since I wasn’t feeling much pain standing still I decided to do the dishes. After that, I microwaved a bunch of food for dinner. While it’ll be nice once I get home and I have a dishwasher and stove, I don’t think it’s necessary for the stay in Vegas. Looking back I probably would have stashed less food and ordered more delivery. I ate in bed as usual while watching YouTube videos on my laptop. I planned to lengthen early and go to bed early again, since I’ve been able to get more sleep this way (or at least more hours attempting to sleep.)

Unfortunately, when I ran out of things to do, the time was only 7pm. I got up and walked to the restroom, which wasn’t easy. I was in quite a bit of pain walking, due to my left quad and possibly the tendon connecting that muscle to my knee. I would say it was 5/10 pain, basically just barely tolerable when walking. If it was any more painful I probably couldn’t walk, because as it was already I just wanted to lay down and rest my legs. For some reason, at this point I remembered that I had brought Biofreeze gel, which other CLL patients had said helped them, so I decided to try it. I opened the tube, and it smelled like Vicks Vaporub. I squeezed some onto each knee and quad area, and then rubbed it into my skin. I would say that it actually worked, since I tried walking a few minutes later and my left knee was only 3/10 pain, which meant I could walk a lot further if I needed to. However, at this point I wasn’t sure if I was still going to need to take a painkiller or not to lengthen later.

Being as bored as I was, I grabbed my work laptop and tried to get some more work done since I had absolutely nothing else to do. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the mental focus to do any work, even with minimal pain sitting around. All I could do was zone out and listen to music for an hour while waiting for a reasonable time to lengthen. I also occasionally got up to eat snacks, though walking on my left leg was painful. Finally it was time for the last lengthening session of the day. Determined to hold out as long as I could without taking an opioid, I started doing my PT exercises right away. They were all doable along with my stretches, because none of the exercises were triggering the left knee pain I was getting from walking.

After warming up, I got out the ERC and lengthened each leg. I only had a mild feeling of discomfort from lengthening, especially compared to previous night sessions. However, when I finally went to bed, my legs started having that familiar throbbing pain from behind the kneecap, and more strongly in the right leg than left. Changing positions did nothing to alleviate the pain, which was easily a 3-4/10 constant pain that would make it incredibly difficult to fall asleep. At this point, if I had acetaminophen I would have tried taking that. Since I didn’t, I was just going to have to take another half a hydrocodone pill to make it through the night. After taking the pill I lay back down hoping it was enough to dull the pain. Shortly after, I dozed off.

Surgery Day +16, Lengthening Day 13 (+1mm, 13.66mm total)

I woke up in a lot of pain in the morning. Well, more like I was in a lot of pain continuously all night, and it was still painful when I awakened. I woke up many times last night including two times I had to go to the restroom. Both times I struggled to walk and could only limp over. When I finally got up, I had missed my alarm by 30 minutes. I remember turning the alarm off and then falling asleep again. I checked my watch data, 6.6 hours asleep out of 8.6 hours in bed. Not the best efficiency, but in line with what I would have expected. I took all my morning meds immediately, including half a hydrocodone and a muscle relaxer pill. I went to the restroom again, which was not easy. I felt pain in the same spot as last night while walking, that is the left quad/tendon/knee area. However, both legs were incredibly stiff as well. I lay back down in bed and waited for the painkillers to kick in. However, the effect was very slow, so I tried using some Biofreeze gel as well. About 30 minutes in, the effect from the gel and pills combined was still not good enough. I was in about 2/10 pain just laying there doing nothing.

I needed to get an early morning lengthening session in though, so I started doing my PT exercises. I hoped that warming up my body would also alleviate some pain. Worst case scenario I would just need to take another half a hydrocodone after lengthening. As I did my exercises, my pain gradually went down to just a bit of tightness and soreness. However, in the middle of my exercises, I got some work emails that distracted me and before I realized it an hour had passed. Once I noticed the time, I quickly did a set of stretches and then ran the ERC on each leg. Since nearly 12 hours had passed since I last used the ERC, the aftereffect was minimal. I still stretched a few times afterwards for good measure, then I went to make breakfast. Unfortunately I had forgotten to eat before the hydrocodone kicked in so I didn’t even realize I was hungry until I remembered that I didn’t eat breakfast. After breakfast I continued to work for a few hours.

I took a break for lunch and walking was a bit painful. However, I was tolerating the pain pretty well when sitting on the bed working, so I didn’t take any additional painkillers. I kept working until the early afternoon when it was time to lengthen again. Since I had a PT session later today I wasn’t planning to work out very hard before lengthening. I did a single set of each exercise, did all my stretches, then ran the ERC on each leg. The aftereffect of lengthening was initially minimal, but then my legs started hurting more and more. I couldn’t focus on work anymore and just sat there trying to minimize the pain. Somehow it worked (maybe I reached a state of meditation) and I wasn’t really feeling too much pain sitting on my bed hugging one leg and doing absolutely nothing. However, if I even moved a tiny bit I would be in pain, and when I tried to get up to walk, I could barely move due to the pain. I gave in and took half of a 10mg hydrocodone pill since I would be going to PT soon anyway. Fifteen minutes later, I didn’t feel any relief, so I took a second half pill, just so I would be okay to do PT. Last time when I left PT I was in quite a bit of pain so I was hoping to avoid that this time. I called an Uber and got ready to head out.

When I got to PT, I still don’t think the hydrocodone had kicked in. Walking from the side of the road into the PT office was pretty painful for my left knee. I checked in at the front desk, and they got me started right away. The first exercise was quad stretches. Normally it’s the stationary bike, but there was already someone on the bike. Based on this guy having a bandage on each IT band I’m pretty sure he was another one of Dr. D’s patients, though I didn’t talk to him. It looked like he was only one week out of surgery because his waterproof dressings were still intact, but he came with only a cane. Here I am in week three still using a walker. I guess I shouldn’t compare myself to other people, because each person’s recovery happens at a different rate. After the stationary bike was free, I cycled for 10 minutes, with my left knee in pain the entire time. Every single revolution of the pedals would cause my left knee to want to pop, which was quite painful. I think I was just having a bad knee day.

Fortunately the rest of the PT session was a lot better. Either the exercises weren’t pressuring my knee as much or the hydrocodone finally kicked in. I finished everything else the PT assistant threw at me fairly easily, then got the hot towel treatment toward the end of the session with my knees elevated. Laying there under the towel I felt 0/10 pain for the first time in hours. After the towel came off, the head PT came by to talk about my flexibility. I was able to roll over and lay on my stomach for the first time since surgery. I didn’t have the confidence to try before, but I definitely could try at the PT clinic. I think adding a new position will definitely help me fall asleep easier so I could try it at night. While I was thinking about all this, the PT just wanted me to learn a new quad stretch, which I did, though it required a rope of sorts. I guess I could try it with a towel in my Airbnb.

After leaving the PT clinic, I didn’t call an Uber right away since I wanted to go to the nearby 7-Eleven to buy some Tylenol. I just didn't need enough other groceries to warrant a delivery to the Airbnb. Given that I could clearly see the 7-Eleven from the entrance of the PT clinic a few hundred feet away, I figured it wouldn’t be too hard to walk over. However, it ended up being much more difficult than I initially believed. First, it was quite cold out, barely over 10 degrees Celsius and windy. Fortunately I had a jacket, but I wore shorts to PT so my legs were cold. Also, my left knee was still bothering me when I walked, though it wasn’t so bad that I couldn’t walk. I did have to keep taking short breaks to flex my left leg though. I think the hydrocodone might have started wearing off already. It took me at least 10 minutes to walk approximately one block down the road to the big intersection.

When I got to the intersection, I looked around for the crossing button and hit it. I needed to cross an eight lane road, so I really hoped whoever designed the walk timer had taken slow people into consideration. I got close to the edge of the road and took a deep breath. Soon the walk light turned green and I started crossing the street like it was a race, except I didn’t have the ability to run. I made it across only two lanes when the walk light switched from solid green to flashing red with 29 seconds left. My adrenaline kicked in and I went into power-walk mode. I focused only on walking fast and sped down the crosswalk without making eye contact with any of the drivers except the one in the last lane. This driver was trying to make a right turn on red, and I don’t think she saw me since she kept edging forward to get a better view of the cars passing by. When I got close to her lane she finally saw me, and visibly slammed on her brakes. It looks like she had decided to let me go first. I made it to the opposing sidewalk right when the walk timer reached zero. I took a short break and stretched my leg, then walked over to the 7-Eleven.

I quickly grabbed two overpriced bottles of generic acetaminophen (they only had 24 pill bottles) and a soda and checked out. Then I quickly called an Uber and returned to my Airbnb. As soon as I got inside and changed into indoor clothing, I popped a 500mg acetaminophen and rested my legs in bed. Miraculously after just 15 minutes or so, I was back at 0/10 pain sitting on the bed. I have high hopes for acetaminophen now, so I hope that was not a fluke. If it’s this effective, then I expect that it will greatly assist me in getting through the next few weeks with reduced opioid usage. Now that I was rested, I realized that I still needed to eat dinner. I walked over to the kitchenette and prepared a giant plate full of food, then brought it back to the bed to eat slowly. I also wanted to get some work done now so I wouldn’t be under pressure tomorrow so I popped open my work laptop as well.

Time passed quickly while I was focused on work and the next thing I knew it was nearly bedtime, which meant I had to get another lengthening session in. I did a light set of PT exercises, and then did all my stretches, plus the extra quad stretch I just learned today. It must have helped a lot, because after lengthening, I didn’t feel any uncomfortable aftereffect at all. While my left knee area (shin, knee, tendons) was bothering me whenever I tried to walk, I felt pretty good with 0/10 pain lying down or sitting, so I didn’t think I needed to take any more medications for the night. Therefore I’m ending today on a high note and going to bed now. Tomorrow my biggest hope is that my left leg starts improving and the pain I feel when I’m walking decreases.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: Froggy on December 04, 2020, 02:06:00 PM
Great Journal with tons of details. I think I’m at a similar stage in my journey and your journal has been really helpful in keeping me going through this challenging process.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on December 05, 2020, 07:50:24 AM
Quote from: Froggy on December 04, 2020, 02:06:00 PM
Great Journal with tons of details. I think I’m at a similar stage in my journey and your journal has been really helpful in keeping me going through this challenging process.
Thanks for the feedback! It must be at least a little relieving to read about other people in similar pain while you are in pain. :P Feel free to PM me if you want to discuss any details about lengthening.

Surgery Day +17, Lengthening Day 14 (+1mm, 14.66mm total)

I woke up at 12:30am to my quads being tight and twitching so maybe I should have taken some cyclobenzaprine before going to bed. I managed to fall asleep eventually and then woke up again at 3:30am to go to the bathroom. My legs were tired, tight, and still twitching, so I took an acetaminophen pill hoping it would help me sleep for the rest of the night. I think it did. When my alarm finally went off, I hit snooze a couple of times since I was still dead tired. Once I finally decided to get up, I took all my morning pills and sat in bed for a while. My watch data showed that I got 6.1 hours of sleep for 7.6 hours in bed, which I suppose is a tolerable amount. Then I realized I was actually pretty hungry so I went into the kitchenette to make breakfast.

After eating breakfast it was time for the first lengthening session. Since I had PT later in the day I only did the minimal number of exercises to get my legs warmed up. Then I did all the stretches, including the stretches on my stomach since those worked pretty well the night before. Lengthening was a breeze, with no additional pain after using the ERC. I stretched lightly afterwards, then it was time to get some work done. Around noon I decided to eat a snack, though I was still kind of full from breakfast. As I got up to get some food I noticed that my whole left knee area was still hurting just like the past few days. Unfortunately it looks like it may take a long while for this to heal. I hope it does heal as soon as possible though, otherwise I simply won’t be able to walk very well.

One other thing I’ve noticed today is that I can’t seem to focus on work because of my legs. In the last few weeks, there have been times where I would be sitting down and I wouldn’t feel anything abnormal from my legs and as long as I didn’t move them. There were moments almost as if I hadn’t had the surgery at all. However, today my legs felt just a little bit uncomfortable no matter what sitting position I was in. It wasn’t painful, but I constantly felt like I had to adjust my legs, to the point where it was distracting me from doing work. I took an acetaminophen pill in the early afternoon but it didn’t seem to help. Hopefully my legs can return to not distracting me, otherwise I’m going to have to figure out other ways to get my work done.

Eventually I was able to gain some focus. While I was still uncomfortable, I managed to get some work done. I also had to get up and use the bathroom quite a few times, and learned that I probably should have tapered down on laxatives when I stopped taking MS Contin. However, as annoying as going to the bathroom repeatedly was, it still beats having constipation. Around 2:30pm I figured it was a good time to lengthen so I started doing my PT exercises. Although my left knee hurts when I walk, somehow it doesn’t hurt when I’m laying down doing various exercises. I’m not sure why this is, but at least it allows me to work out and stretch before and after each lengthening session. The lengthening session itself was easy just like the last few. I didn’t feel any additional uncomfortable aftereffect, though part of it may be because my legs have already been constantly uncomfortable today.

A short while later it was time to head to the PT clinic. I ordered an Uber as usual, and got there pretty quickly, which was good because the Uber smelled of Big Mac sauce, which I’ve never experienced before. After checking in at the front desk, I headed to the stationary bike apprehensively, knowing that it would be painful on my knees to ride. Fortunately, today the head PT was in and he told me that I was actually going to try the treadmill. The treadmill was in front of a wall mirror, so I could observe my gait while walking. I walked at a comfortable pace of 0.6 mph for about 8 minutes. At first I was able to control my gait some and walk with only a slight wobble, but as my legs and glute muscles got tired and my left knee started hurting I started wobbling like a penguin again, and I had to use the armrests on the treadmill to balance out my hip sway. After getting off the treadmill, I got on one of the tables and did some of my old exercises, but I also got introduced to a bunch of new exercises as well. This was refreshing to me, and I was quite happy that I was able to do everything they threw at me. The best part was getting trained to stand up from a sitting position on a low chair. This chair was nearly as low as a toilet seat, and I had yet to stand up from sitting on something this low without major support from my arms. At first I could not stand up at all without holding onto something with my arms, but the PT had me gradually use less and less arm strength with each attempt, until the fifth attempt, where I finally stood up without using my arms at all. I had this power locked in my legs the entire time; I just had to relearn how to use them!

Thinking about muscle power, my physique has actually improved a bit since the surgery. My body traditionally stores body fat in my thighs, so I've always felt like my upper legs were kind of thick, but with LL they are looking more and more ideal to me. I even wonder if I'll feel like they are too long at some point during distraction. My calves are still toned, though maybe a little smaller than they used to be. My upper body is still toned as well and just as strong as before. I hope to continue PT through my entire CLL experience, even when I return home. After all the exercises, the PT inspected my left knee and tried to stretch it in various forms. Then he used what I can only describe as some kind of viscous cream and rubbed it into my knee area with what looked like brass knuckles! Somehow it helped relieve the pain a bit. After that I got the hot towel treatment, and then it was time to go. I scheduled all my other PT appointments for the rest of my time in Las Vegas (which is quickly passing by) then called an Uber to get back to the Airbnb.

As soon as I got back I ordered some food - fried chicken to be specific. I had skipped lunch and wanted to eat a big meal. To my amazement, the food was delivered within 15 minutes. I don’t think I’ve ever had that fast of a delivery before. I enjoyed the piping hot chicken and side dishes, but I had ordered way too much so I had plenty of leftovers to leave in the fridge for my next meal. It was still quite early in the evening, so I needed to find something to do until the last lengthening session of the day. However, I was sleepy and was feeling a bit of food coma coming on, but I was definitely not ready to go to bed yet so I fought to stay awake.

Randomly thinking about the CLL process - it’s crazy to me how much of this is impacted by my mood, and how much my mood is impacted by my pain level. The whole process seems so easy when I’m feeling optimistic - time just flies by. On the other hand, everything feels hard when I’m in pain and feeling pessimistic. Time moves slowly and I feel like the process will take forever. Time itself flows strangely during this phase. Sometimes it feels like I just had the surgery, even though it was weeks ago. I’m surprised that I’ve gotten almost 1.5 cm in already. Other times, when I focus too hard, it feels like a drag, and I feel every bit of how slow 1/3 of a millimeter per session really is. It feels like I haven’t accomplished anything yet because I don’t actually feel any taller, but from what other people have said, only a few more weeks until I hit that point where my perspective changes (literally.)

I didn’t really feel like doing work since I don’t have anything urgent to work on. Therefore, I just watched YouTube videos for a while in bed, sitting under the covers as it was a bit cold. I planned to go to sleep very early so I figured I could start the lengthening process around 9pm. The time to lengthen came quickly enough, and I felt a little bit tight when I started warming up. I figured an acetaminophen pill wouldn’t hurt, so I took one before starting my exercises and stretching. Since I did PT earlier in the day, I kept my exercises light, but did a full array of stretches. I ran the ERC on each leg and again didn’t feel much aftereffect. I stretched afterwards anyway just for good measure, then got ready to go to bed. I had high hopes that my sleep would be better than usual. The Airbnb host was having some kind of party next door, which was a little noisy, but I plugged in my noise cancelling earbuds and listened to some calm music. I fell asleep pretty quickly, but was awakened by my phone’s sleep reminder. (I need to turn that off when I go to bed early!) I was totally out of it though, and fell back asleep instantly.

Surgery Day +18, Lengthening Day 15 (+1mm, 15.66mm total)

Sleep was terrible last night. I awakened at 12:30am with sore legs and limped over to the restroom. I remember it took awhile for me to fall back asleep but eventually I got there. I briefly woke up a bunch of other times, but fell back asleep quickly. Then I got up again at 5:30am. Since I had been in bed for over seven hours, I guess my body must have thought that it was time to wake up. Still, my alarm hadn’t gone off, and I wanted to sleep some more, but my legs were too uncomfortable to fall asleep. 20 minutes later I took an acetaminophen pill and shortly after I was able to sleep again. I should have taken it right away instead of waiting, but how was I to know whether I could fall asleep naturally or not. Unfortunately, my alarm went off shortly after I fell asleep and I immediately hit snooze. Of course, then I missed the next two alarms and woke up after 7am. I was half awake, but quickly signed onto my work computer to see if anyone was looking for me, and sure enough, there were a couple of messages already - this was going to be a very busy morning. My mind sharpened quickly since I needed to be efficient, and I sat up to take my morning regimen of drugs, minus the laxatives.

Then I got in my usual sitting position on the bed with my back to the wall (padded with pillows of course) to start working and was pretty comfortable a few minutes later. I assume it was the half pill of hydrocodone that did it. I replied to my coworkers and addressed their needs promptly. Then I remembered to check my watch data for last night: 6.5 hours of sleep out of 8.5 hours in bed - par for the course. After that, I got up to make breakfast. It was a quick and easy breakfast since I was in a rush. Once I finished eating I sat back down and let my food digest while I started filling out some paperwork for the PT clinic. Since two weeks had already elapsed since my release from the hospital, the payment responsibility for PT was switching from Dr. D’s office to me. It took a few minutes to fill everything out, but after that I started doing some light PT exercises and stretches so I could lengthen soon. I managed to get my morning lengthening session in the earliest that I have in over a week, even though I woke up late and had a bunch of stuff to do first. That's the power of efficiency!

The lengthening session was painless and I felt minimal aftereffects so afterwards my focus immediately went back to my work laptop and I made sure that everything was good there. Once I was in the clear, I called an Uber to go to the PT clinic. They are only open in the morning today, so I couldn’t get my usual afternoon appointment and had to do a morning session. Honestly I’m already kind of used to being tired and in a bit of pain during PT, so I suppose I didn't mind scheduling one early in the morning. I went inside, checked in, and handed all the paperwork to the front desk. Today the head PT was not in, and I got started on the stationary bike for 10 minutes. It was just as bad as before due to my left knee, so I went at a pretty slow speed. The trick was sitting as far back as I could from the left pedal, as my knee wouldn’t have to bend as much during each revolution.

One thing I noticed recently is that I have duck ass (or at least I’m pretty sure I do.) I also think that it’s the exact same thing as anterior pelvic tilt, which I knew about before because I had a slight tilt already. Now after getting CLL it has become more pronounced than before, especially when I tried to straighten my legs all the way. If I straighten my legs and put my back against a wall, I can’t even touch part of my back to the wall no matter how hard I try. I was planning to ask the PT if they had any ideas to help manage this, since I imagine that it will only get worse over the course of lengthening. However, I didn’t get to see any PTs today, just the PT assistant. I will remember to ask the next time I see the head PT.

One complaint I have about PT today is that it took forever. Although I had a 9am appointment and arrived early, three people had checked in already and were waiting in line ahead of me. I didn’t get started until almost 9:30 and the PT assistant was so busy juggling patients, that it took an hour and a half to do all the exercises and get the hot towel. I spent two hours in PT doing one hours worth of training - talk about a waste of time. At least I had my phone on me though, so I was able to reply to emails and stuff. Finally I finished and immediately took an Uber back to the Airbnb. This time my driver was almost 80 years old! I can’t believe he was willing to drive during the pandemic. Calling an Uber in Vegas is like gambling, you never know what kind of driver you're going to get. ;) Like every other driver, this guy asked about my injury. He said was a retired podiatrist so I figured I couldn’t easily BS him. I just remained vague about everything, and even though he kept asking questions about my legs, I didn’t reveal the true nature of my injury.

Once I got back I was relieved. My legs were actually in quite a bit of pain from being at the PT clinic for so long and it had been a bit difficult to walk. I took an acetaminophen pill right away, and then sat on the bed and relaxed for a moment. Soon I felt pretty comfortable, and I figured I’d get some work in before lunch. I had a bowl of blueberries as a snack, but was still hungry by lunchtime since I wasn’t on any opioids. I heated up the leftover chicken and devoured it. I still had an hour or two before the second lengthening session of the day, so I cleaned my hands and then went back to work.

Work must have been really exciting, because I think I dozed off at some point... Eventually it was a bit past 2pm so it was time to lengthen. I decided to try lengthening without any painkillers since I wasn’t feeling any worse than before. I did my PT exercises, which was no problem. I stretched as well, and then ran the ERC on each leg. There was a small aftereffect, but I did some long quad stretches lying on my stomach afterwards and it fixed the uncomfortable feeling right away. I ate some more snacks and got back to work. Most of my coworkers were wrapping up for the day already, but I wanted to catch up on some work that I probably should have done earlier. I was able to focus for a while, but then I encountered the same issue as before. My legs were uncomfortable in the sitting position on the bed, even though they were in 0/10 pain. The best way to describe it is this feeling of knowing that my range of motion is limited, even when I’m not trying to achieve a greater range of motion. Somehow this makes my leg uncomfortable even when it’s not in pain. The thought of my legs was just stuck in my head. I think acetaminophen has been helping with this, as it is able to somehow make me not think about my legs as much after taking it. However, I didn’t take one in the early afternoon since I had taken one right after getting back from PT.

A couple of hours later I decided to wrap up work for the day, though it was early and I had absolutely no plans for the night. My legs kept bothering me more and more as the night went on, so I succumbed and took another acetaminophen pill. I watched some YouTube videos and ate dinner, then after dinner I played some games on my cell phone, which really made time fly by. I kept adjusting between sitting with my legs straight and legs bent, so they wouldn't get too stiff (though they got stiff anyway.) Next thing I knew it was almost 10pm. I had to get my last lengthening in. I took half a hydrocodone pill and a cyclobenzaprine. Although I didn't have muscle spasms, I figured I was going to bed soon, and the last two nights I had muscle pains, so maybe taking cyclobenzaprine before going to sleep would help. After the pills, I immediately started my exercises before anything even kicked in. The exercises weren't what was causing me pain anyway; walking on my left knee was. After I finished a full set of exercises, I ran the ERC on both legs as usual. Again there was no aftereffect, so I definitely haven't hit any tightness or nerve issues yet (knock on wood.) Afterwards, I did the heavy stretch laying on my stomach. After that, I was feeling pretty comfortable so I rested for a while on my stomach. I found that I could crawl pretty easily on the bed, so I actually have some mobility facing down. I crawled backwards until I was about to fall off the bed, then straightened my legs, put them on the ground, and stood up. That was the first time getting up from laying face down. I was pretty happy with the increased mobility, but that was short-lived because as I started walking, I noticed that my knee pain was back to what it was earlier. I had taken hydrocodone less than an hour ago, and its effects had already worn off (at least on the knee.)

I went to the bathroom and got ready to go to bed. After returning from the bathroom I lay in bed and edited this journal entry. I think right now my legs are still somewhat uncomfortable, though some of it might actually have to do with the knee in pain. I hope that having three full days of rest without PT will be enough for my left knee to heal, but who knows. I might even try MS Contin tomorrow morning to see if that will help any. This left knee pain is seriously interfering with both my mobility and comfort. It isn't interfering with lengthening, but it could easily start doing that at any time. If it doesn't go away by the time I go to PT again on Monday, I will definitely reach out to Dr. D's office to see if they have any solutions. I was definitely walking better a couple of days ago before my left knee started hurting, so I would say that my walk has regressed (though my right leg is still improving every day.) Time to go to bed again, with hopes of getting another good night of rest. If I wake up anytime after 3am and need to use the bathroom I plan to take an acetaminophen pill.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: L8GrowthSpurt on December 05, 2020, 06:56:01 PM
Hey BTM - Great diary! I am following your journey and rooting for you; I’m hopeful that I will replicate your successful journey in early 2021.  Stay strong 💪
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: readyprecisestryde on December 05, 2020, 07:19:32 PM
Please ask your physical therapist for Astym treatment or dry needling for your knee pain. Most physical therapy offices offer it included with the treatment and they usually don't charge extra for it.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on December 05, 2020, 11:31:49 PM
Quote from: L8GowthSpurt on December 05, 2020, 06:56:01 PM
Hey BTM - Great diary! I am following your journey and rooting for you; I’m hopeful that I will replicate your successful journey in early 2021.  Stay strong 💪
Welcome to the forum and thanks for your encouragement!

Quote from: readyprecisestryde on December 05, 2020, 07:19:32 PM
Please ask your physical therapist for Astym treatment or dry needling for your knee pain. Most physical therapy offices offer it included with the treatment and they usually don't charge extra for it.
I know the PT in Las Vegas offers dry needling, but I saw that being on blood thinners might make it more dangerous. Not familiar with ASTYM treatment. I actually found a solution my knee pain for now, but if it gets worse later on I will definitely look into those.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on December 06, 2020, 06:36:11 AM
Surgery Day +19, Lengthening Day 16 (+1mm, 16.66mm total)

For the first time in a while I can say that I got a good night of sleep, and not because of the quantity of sleep, but rather the quality of it. I went to sleep quite a bit later than usual since I was browsing the web on my laptop last night. I woke up naturally at 7am and didn’t remember waking up once before then. I lay in bed for a moment trying to fall back asleep, but my legs were tight and stiff and the uncomfortable feeling was too pronounced for me to fall asleep. I got up to go to the bathroom, and as I walked I noticed my left knee area was still in quite a bit of pain. I would actually rate the pain a 5-6/10 since it was a sharp pain every time I lifted my left leg to take a step and it makes walking very difficult. When I got back to bed, I sat down and started selecting pills for the morning. Xarelto, just like every morning, then half a hydrocodone to get me ready for the first exercises of the day. Since nothing else was fixing the knee pain, I decided to try an MS Contin, since it had been a while since I used it, and maybe it would work on my knee pain. Also, I took a laxative to counter out the impact of MS Contin on my digestive system.

Now that I was fully awake, I checked my sleep data. I got 6.3 hours of sleep out of 6.7 hours in bed. That’s actually more sleep than I’ve gotten on some nights with over 8 hours in bed. According to the watch I only woke up twice last night (neither of which I remembered) and I didn’t need to go to the bathroom either time. Scrolling back on the data, it looked like the last time I got this quality of sleep was 6 nights ago. Since the painkillers hadn’t kicked in yet I felt a little hungry and I got up to make breakfast. I feel like this is usually the best meal of my day unless I order out, since my kitchenette doesn’t have a stove but it does have a toaster and microwave, so breakfast always feels legit. After standing in the kitchen and eating I walked back to the bed with some more knee pain and checked the morning news on my phone. As I sat for a bit, my legs had already warmed up a bit and weren’t feeling as tight as they did first thing in the morning. At this point, the painkillers should have kicked in already, but when I got up to test my left knee there was not even the slightest reduction in pain. Looks like MS Contin was not going to solve the problem, so I will go back to not taking it at all.

At this point it was time to start my exercises before the first lengthening of the day. I made the bed and lay on top with all my exercise “equipment”. I did all my PT exercises and stretches, after which my legs felt pretty good. It’s still strange to me that none of the PT exercises trigger the left knee pain that I get from walking. Afterwards I grabbed the ERC and ran it on both legs. I felt no aftereffects, so everything was great. Since my legs weren’t distracting me at all, I decided to try and catch up on some work since I wasn’t all that productive yesterday. I got my work laptop out, found a comfortable position and started working. I got about 30 minutes of work in before I got bored and started playing games on my phone. I was playing really well and went on a big win streak and before I realized it, it was almost 2pm. Also, I had eaten about 600 calories worth of fruit snacks, so I got up and stretched a bit and then decided that I should take a walk today. The weather was really nice outside and I figured I could try walking outside with the cane. I planned to return the walker and wheelchair to Dr. D’s office before leaving Las Vegas since I don’t have any way to transport them on the plane and I don’t need either of them.

Since my left knee was still in pain, I decided to try something new - two acetaminophen 500mg pills at once, which is the max dose for a 6 hour period. I had no idea if it was going to help or not, but after taking the pills and also some bone supplements I headed outside with just the cane. As soon as I stepped outside, the scent of fresh air hit me along with the warm desert sun. My mood immediately improved. I started walking down the driveway to the sidewalk one slow step at a time. I used the cane in my right hand to assist my left leg with weight bearing. My right leg was fine on its own. I felt like I was actually walking relatively quickly with this method. As I walked along the sidewalk I realized that the pain in my left knee was actually tolerable. Maybe the acetaminophen worked, or walking outside psychologically suppressed the pain. Either way, I had absolutely no trouble walking at all, which amazed me since I struggled to go from the bed to the bathroom this morning. I kept going and when I got to the stopping point from my previous walks, I felt good enough to keep going. I turned right into the next neighborhood and kept walking along the sidewalk. This sidewalk was uneven with a 10 degree slope from left to right. I was able to keep balance and continue walking forward with my cane.

Eventually when my watch showed 0.25 miles walked I figured it was a good stopping point and I turned around. As I was walking back toward the Airbnb, I focused on my gait and tried to keep my legs close together. Although my walk is not normal at all, my hip sway has greatly diminished from when I was using the walker. As I got closer to the Airbnb, my legs got more and more tired, but not to the point where I was worried about not being able to make it back. I could still walk, but I couldn’t walk with a controlled gait as I was limping a bit. When I finally got back to the Airbnb I remembered to take out the trash since I already had my shoes on. Then I went inside and changed into flip flops. My watch showed that I walked half a mile in under 20 minutes, at about a 37 min/mi pace. I can’t believe how much my legs have improved since last week! I literally wrote that my left leg had regressed in the last journal entry, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. All I can say is that it seems like taking walks and getting lots of steps in is incredibly important when lengthening with Stryde. Just one day ago I thought that I would need to take a 3 day break for my left knee pain to heal, but two acetaminophen pills later I could walk half a mile! I suppose technically I am on MS Contin as well, so I can’t write that off yet. Next time I have knee pain I will try the double acetaminophen without MS Contin to see if that works.

While my legs were feeling good, I went into the kitchen to clean the dirty dishes. I was already in a 7/10 good mood before my walk (which is why I even had the motivation to take that walk.) After the walk I would say I was in a 10/10 good mood, and feeling strongly optimistic for the first time since surgery. Less than a day ago I had replied to someone on this forum that I would be okay with doing 5cm, but I think part of it may have been from my constant left knee pain. I was just not confident that I could lengthen the whole 8cm so maybe I was really trying to convince myself ahead of time so I could accept it. Now I certainly have the confidence that I will have a great shot at getting all 8cm! Once I finished cleaning the dishes, I took a sip of Gatorade from an ice cold bottle that I got out of the mini-fridge and sighed with contentment. I thought about taking a video of my walk today, but I didn’t have a tripod so I’m not sure how I would have recorded it. I will definitely try to record a walking video before I leave Las Vegas though.

Since it was early afternoon, it was time for the second lengthening of the day. I figured it would be easy while my legs were fully warmed up, so I started stretching right away. Stretches were easy even though I didn’t do any exercises beforehand. That’s the power of walking! Lengthening was easy as well with no aftereffect. At this point I was pretty comfortable, and since I hadn’t gotten much work done in the morning I pulled my work laptop back out and started working. I had to bend and straighten my legs every 10 or 15 minutes to keep them from getting stiff, but I was actually pretty productive and worked all the way until I was hungry. Unfortunately, since I had eaten so much candy in the morning that I wasn’t hungry until pretty late. I got up and went into the kitchen to make food. The first thing I noticed was my left knee wasn’t that bad, maybe a 2/10 pain when walking. The second thing I noticed was that my tailbone area was a little numb, probably because I had just sat for hours without getting up.

As I wandered into the kitchen, I noticed that I still had quite a bit of food in the pantry, so I will have to try and eat most of it before I leave Las Vegas so it doesn’t go to waste. I’m still here for over a week though, so I should be able to get through most of it. I heated up some salmon risotto, leftover corn, chips and salsa, and some sliced ham. I also had a protein bar and blueberries for dessert. I was pretty stuffed, and after I cleaned up my meal I walked back to the bed. This time my left knee pain shot up to a 4-5/10 and I actually felt weak even putting weight on it. It’s amazing how fast things turn, CLL is really a roller coaster ride of pain. Since the tailbone area of my butt was still a little uncomfortable, I decided to lay in bed on my stomach, and I put a pillow under my chest, which propped me up a little so I could use my laptop. At this point my legs were starting to get stiff again, but it was too early to do the last lengthening of the day and go to bed. I watched YouTube for a while in this position and of course my neck started hurting a bit because I was craning my head to see the laptop screen.

Finally, it was late enough for the last lengthening session. I hadn’t taken any pills for over seven hours but I was not in pain as long as I was stationary. I sat on the edge of the bed and took one acetaminophen pill and one cyclobenzaprine pill. Then I leaned back into position to start doing PT exercises. It was a bit rougher than normal, maybe because I was tired from all the physical activity today, but I did just enough to warm my legs up and then I did a full set of stretches. Finally, I hopped off the bed and grabbed the ERC. I ran it on each leg and only feel slightly uncomfortable afterwards. Doing some long quad stretches helped with that. At this point I don't expect to feel anything bad after lengthening yet, and I hope that lasts as long as possible. I went to the bathroom to get ready to go to bed, then came back and turned off all the lights. I was originally planning to accumulate a couple of entries before posting since I didn’t think anything exciting was going to happen, but since today was so positive overall that I decided to post this entry by itself. Now I’m going to sleep. Good night!
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on December 07, 2020, 07:06:58 AM
Surgery Day +20, Lengthening Day 17 (+1mm, 17.66mm total)

Last night I started feeling uncomfortable in my legs before I managed to fall asleep. I would describe it as general stiffness and restlessness. It was difficult to fall asleep, but I did manage to eventually. I woke up to my alarm and snoozed it twice before actually getting up as I was quite tired. Data from my watch showed that I woke up 7 times last night, but I didn’t remember waking up at all. I had slept for 7.3 hours out of the 8.1 hours I was in bed. My legs felt uncomfortable as soon as I woke up but as long as I didn’t move them it was tolerable. I sat up in bed and felt a bit light headed and woozy. I was also hungry, which was surprising because I ate a lot for dinner the night before, and pretty late at night as well. I got off the bed and started walking toward the bathroom. I had to support myself with both the cane and random furniture as my legs felt extremely weak and putting weight on my left leg was a bit painful. In the bathroom I did my morning routine, and splashed some cold water on my face as well to help wake me up and shock away the dizziness. It only helped a little.

I walked back to the main room and sat down on the bed. I took a Xarelto and half a hydrocodone pill. Then I adjusted my position and leaned back into some pillows to rest for a bit, hoping that the hydrocodone would kick in and make me feel better. As I was reading the morning news on my laptop, 30 minutes had passed and my legs did feel a little better, though they were certainly still tight. I got up to eat breakfast though it turned out that even though my stomach was growling I wasn’t all that hungry. I ate a bit of food, but less than I thought I could. In general I felt very slow all morning. After breakfast I made the bed and climbed on top with all my exercise gear. I usually start with clamshells and then exercise my quads, hamstrings, and glutes. After those I did long stretches on both my quads and hamstrings, then I stretched some of my smaller side muscles as well. I also decided to work out my upper body a little. I did some dips on the walker and some crunches in bed. I wasn’t sure if I could do push-ups, but I’ll ask the doctor at the next appointment. Working out was easier than last night, but still a bit tiring.

Now it was time for the lengthening session of the day. I turned on the ERC and it told me that the battery was low and to plug it in. It was showing 2/5 bars, so I assume the ERC requires a certain voltage to operate and that the battery had fallen below that threshold. I plugged the ERC in the power outlet for the first time since I got it. Then I ran it on each leg while it was plugged in. The charging cable is pretty long so I was able to lengthen normally in my usual spot. Humans are creatures of ritual, and I have a dedicated lengthening corner on the bed (heh.) Interestingly, after lengthening the ERC said to keep the device plugged in and powered on. Normally, after lengthening it just reminds me to power it down. My legs felt good after lengthening, with no aftereffect. I probably wasn’t going to be able to keep my legs warmed up all the way until my early afternoon walk though.

Now that lengthening was out of the way, I sat back and watched a new episode of a TV show that I was following. Once that finished, I got my work laptop out and started working. If I manage to be productive today then I will have more time to stretch and lengthen during the week instead of scrambling to get both work and lengthening done. I managed to work for a couple of hours until my late lunchtime. I wasn’t too hungry at first but when I heated up my food and smelled it from the microwave, I had a much bigger appetite. I ended up eating a lot and of course that meant after lunch I had to go #2. I will note that it was a perfect 4 on the Bristol scale for the first time since surgery, which means I’m managing my laxative usage and fiber intake well. After that I figured it would be a good time to take my daily walk. My left leg was feeling a bit better but it still hurts when walking on it. I took two acetaminophen pills again and did some standing leg stretches while waiting for the painkillers to kick in. Then I realized it would be a good time to record a walking video before my outdoor walk made my legs really tired. I changed into my LL video clothes, cleared out a walking path in the Airbnb, and then took the following video on my phone:

https://youtu.be/AeBGxEjnad8
I think my walking looks okay for three weeks after surgery. Compared to the last video my post-surgery swelling is completely gone, my stride length has increased, and my hip sway has gone down a bit. I still have a lot of work to do on flexibility and stamina though.

Now it was about time to go outside. It was a bit cloudy and chillier than yesterday, so changing to the long sleeves and pants worked out well. I put on my sneakers and mask and started tracking the walk on my watch. Then I stepped outside and walked down the driveway. The sky was mostly blue, but the sun was hidden behind the clouds so it didn’t feel very warm. I feel like the pain in my left knee area decreased as soon as I started walking outside, so maybe the pain is really somehow associated with walking indoors. Maybe it was only being triggered when I’m walking slowly and meticulously around a room. Regardless, I couldn’t tell if the acetaminophen was actually helping with anything. Maybe next time I could try the walk with one less acetaminophen pill, though with all the PT I had scheduled for next week I’m not sure when my next chance for an outdoor walk would be.

As I walked I focused on my gait and stride length. I feel like my current stride length is still quite a bit shorter than what it was before surgery, mostly because my flexibility isn’t great yet. I also don’t have the muscle strength to lift my legs high enough to push against the limits of my flexibility while walking normally. Keeping my legs close was not too difficult, but it did require some effort. Walking with a better gait takes quite a bit more effort than walking in the way that is most natural in my current state and even with putting in all this effort I still don’t have a perfect gait, it’s merely better than hobbling around. I wasn’t feeling as good as yesterday, so I turned around at the 0.15 mile mark. I walked back at a pace that felt brisk as I didn’t care as much about my gait anymore since my legs were feeling pretty tired. Upon returning, I saw that my overall pace was about 40 min/mile.

I changed back into indoor clothing and then rearranged everything back to the way it was before I cleared out a path for the video. I sat on the bed and did a full set of stretches, and then it was time to lengthen. I noticed that the ERC had turned itself off after fully charging, so I unplugged it and brought it over to the bed. After lengthening each leg I felt no aftereffects, so I returned the ERC to the table it was on, then hopped back onto the bed and sat down to relax for a bit. I was texting with some friends and I had a football game on in the background, and I eventually dozed off. I guess I wasn’t caught up on sleep. I’m the type of person who can survive on 6 hours of sleep a night during weeknights and then sleep in on the weekend. However, if I’m sleeping for 6 hours on average every night, then I’m going to be tired during the day.

It wasn’t that long before I woke up though, since I fell asleep in a sitting position. My legs weren’t in pain, but they were feeling slightly uncomfortable at this point, no matter what position I sat in. The best way to describe it is that my upper legs felt swollen, but in reality they were not swollen at all so it was just a phantom feeling. However, it was making me uncomfortable. The only thing that I could try was to lay down and see if that would help. I tried several positions, even laying on my stomach and stretching, but nothing could get rid of the feeling. I checked the time, and it was only two and a half hours since I had taken the acetaminophen. I figured that I should probably wait another hour and a half until I took any hydrocodone since that had some acetaminophen in it as well. I stood up and walked around, and that did help a bit on the swollen feeling, but walking around inside causes knee pain. I wasn’t sure what else I could do.

The only thing I had left to try now was to distract myself. I got some more fruit snacks and loaded up a game on my phone and put on some music on my laptop. If I couldn’t get rid of the feeling, then I would just have to try and make myself forget it. Amazingly it actually worked. One match in and I had lost focus on my legs. Afterwards it was nearly the arbitrary time I had set to take my hydrocodone. However, since my legs weren’t feeling bad anymore, I didn’t need to take any drugs at all. I guess what I was suffering wasn't really pain, so painkillers may or may not have helped with it anyway. I got up to use the bathroom and then sat back down in bed. At this point I remembered that I was going to order delivery tonight. I excitedly went online to search for a place to order from. I was in the mood for Chinese food today and found a place with good reviews that was close to the Airbnb in hopes that delivery would be faster. I placed my order and then picked up my work laptop to try and get some more work done before dinner.

My food arrived less than 30 minutes after I ordered. I have been tipping a bit more than usual since I feel bad for delivery drivers working during the pandemic, so maybe that helped. I had ordered about three meals worth of food, so I would have plenty of leftovers that I could just heat up later for a quick meal. The food smelled so good I was salivating before I even got a chance to try it. Unfortunately they did not give me any chopsticks, so I had to use a fork from the Airbnb to eat. Fortunately the food tasted as good as it smelled and I was able to do a little bit more work while I was eating. I ate too much though and I felt stuffed after dinner. I surely could have fallen asleep at this point if I didn’t have to wait another hour or two for the final lengthening session of the day. Instead I begrudgingly continued to do more work while I waited out my lengthening countdown.

Finally it was nearing 10pm, so I took my cyclobenzaprine and acetaminophen. I might try not taking cyclobenzaprine tomorrow night and see if I still have muscle spasms at night. I can always take it if I wake up in the middle of the night with them. I did a full set of PT exercises and stretches, which actually takes a while, as the physical therapist has shown me more and more exercises over the weeks. I felt pretty good during the workout, definitely better than I felt last night around the same time. Afterwards I ran the ERC on both legs. I did feel a bit of an uncomfortable aftereffect, and stretching didn't really help with it. I sat in bed for a while and it faded a bit. Then I had to use the bathroom again. After I came out of the bathroom the uncomfortable feeling had more or less subsided. Now I can post this and finally go to bed!
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: Froggy on December 08, 2020, 11:12:04 PM
Your gait looks great. Congrats on the various positive developments!
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: itseasy on December 09, 2020, 10:24:16 AM
I did femurs with Dr D a few months ago too. Let’s me tell you, for me it was a smooth ride right up to 5cm. After that the tightness came in like a bat out of hell and you’ll need gabapentin for nerves stretch pain at the shins.

I got a couple more weeks and should hit 8cm. I take some days where I only do 1 or 2 sessions ERC sessions. But keep pushing. You’ll knees start to bend and hamstrings will feel like they are in contracture mode, but get to your goal so you can enjoy getting rid of the ERC machine and let the body start getting back to how it used to be.

The last 2cm is where all the fun starts and pain pills and other meds will be needed for pain management. Sleep will be hell during the last 2 cm, but don’t worry. All will be well when the ERC machine will go bye bye.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on December 12, 2020, 07:31:57 AM
Quote from: Froggy on December 08, 2020, 11:12:04 PM
Your gait looks great. Congrats on the various positive developments!
Thanks! It looks okay but I feel like a walking zombie.

Quote from: itseasy on December 09, 2020, 10:24:16 AM
I did femurs with Dr D a few months ago too. Let’s me tell you, for me it was a smooth ride right up to 5cm. After that the tightness came in like a bat out of hell and you’ll need gabapentin for nerves stretch pain at the shins.

I got a couple more weeks and should hit 8cm. I take some days where I only do 1 or 2 sessions ERC sessions. But keep pushing. You’ll knees start to bend and hamstrings will feel like they are in contracture mode, but get to your goal so you can enjoy getting rid of the ERC machine and let the body start getting back to how it used to be.

The last 2cm is where all the fun starts and pain pills and other meds will be needed for pain management. Sleep will be hell during the last 2 cm, but don’t worry. All will be well when the ERC machine will go bye bye.
Got your first post hah. Yeah, the lengthening part hasn't been too bad for me yet, I'm sure I've got a lot of struggles to look forward to. I have some extra time planned out so I can reduce lengthening speed at the end if necessary.

Surgery Day +21, Lengthening Day 18 (+1mm, 18.66mm total)

After posting last night’s entry but before falling asleep I noticed a weird feeling on my skin, slightly painful on both feet, just above my heels. When I touched the area I realized I had a red rash there. It was partially covered by my leg hair but there were several red bumps on both legs, just above the heel. It seemed odd to me that something on my skin could appear on both legs at the same time but what do I know. It didn’t hurt much but was uncomfortable to touch. Also, I noticed that I was still bruised on the left side of my right foot and I have had this big bruise since surgery. I was too tired to deal with these though, so I just tried to go to sleep.

I woke up many times last night so I know my sleep was terrible. My legs were super stiff and it was hard to sleep. I woke up to my alarm, hit snooze, then turned off the alarm when it went off again and fell back asleep. Then I awakened to a meeting reminder on my work laptop. I had almost forgotten that I was hosting an early morning meeting. This shocked me awake and I went to the bathroom to get ready, returning with a few minutes to spare. I took all my morning pills and sat on the bed with my legs still a little uncomfortable and dialed into the meeting. While I had to do most of the talking during the meeting, I managed to sneak in breakfast while other people were talking. Afterwards, I checked my sleep data. I had gotten about 5.7 hours of sleep out of 7.6 hours in bed. It’s not great, but I could try taking a nap after PT today if I was tired. I then started doing exercises and stretches to get ready for the first lengthening of the day. Everything went smoothly and I had no uncomfortable feelings post-lengthening. I then returned my focus to work.

Just before noon I had a short break and heated up some leftovers. I was pretty hungry so I wolfed those down pretty quickly. Even though I had been sitting in bed all morning, my legs weren’t that stiff when I got up for lunch. However, I would still have to sit down for a few more hours in the afternoon to do more work so I’m not sure if my legs would continue to feel fine. I got pulled into a few extra meetings in the afternoon, including during my planned time for the second lengthening session. However, I wasn’t going to interrupt my lengthening timing for a last minute meeting when I can just multitask - that’s what earbuds are for. At this point my legs really didn’t feel that bad so I didn’t take any painkillers before I started. I did a light set of exercises and stretches since I didn’t want to work out too hard just before PT. Lengthening was okay, and while I felt a mild aftereffect, it went away fairly quickly. I stayed on the phone and continued to work all the way until it was time to head to PT.

I called an Uber and quickly took half a Norco and an acetaminophen pill so I would be at 100% at the PT clinic. I left the Airbnb with just my cane again. Getting in and out of cars is much easier with the cane than the walker since the driver doesn’t have to get out of the car to help me put the walker in the trunk. I arrived slightly early, and got started on the stationary bike. I was expecting my left knee to be in pain on the bike as usual, but surprisingly it wasn’t bad at all. At first it felt like my left knee would almost pop with every rotation of the pedals but it didn’t. After about two minutes I was warmed up and I actually was able to pedal at a normal speed, like how fast I would pedal casually if I was riding a bike. I don’t think I could go any faster with my legs currently, but I was pedaling at least 100 rpm, which is way faster than I could last week. It’s always good to be surprised by positive recovery stats. Next, I did a couple of the standard PT exercises with the PT assistant.

Eventually the head PT came over and checked on me. I told him that my left knee up through the quad was still giving me a bit of pain. He poked my quad a bunch of times and said it did feel very tight and was possibly knotted. So he went to get one of those massage rollers things and proceeded to use it on my left quad. He was using a decent amount of pressure and it tickled and hurt at the same time. However, it was also somehow relieving my soreness, so I just tried to endure it. After he finished with my leg, he told me not to do any leg lifts for a day or two. Then he checked my flexibility and said that I was very flexible at this point in my recovery. My knee flexion has indeed been improving even though I’m adding length every day, because I haven’t actually lengthened that much yet and my original flexibility has been slowly returning post-surgery. I can almost touch my heels to my butt again. I’m sure at some point when I lengthen more, the lengthened amount will make me less flexible until the consolidation phase.

Afterwards I did a bunch of other exercises, nothing was too hard except the last one where I needed to stand up from a sitting position without using my hands. I could do it, but my legs were tired from all the other exercises, so it was a bit difficult and painful to finish the full set. However, it was satisfying to get it done. As I was leaving the PT clinic, the head PT pointed out to me that my cane was set way too high and adjusted it down to the correct height for me. Apparently my arms have been tired when using the cane because I’ve been supporting my body weight with my arm bent instead of straight down. Hopefully this will help me take longer outdoor walks going forward. I called another Uber to get back to the Airbnb but this driver was kind of annoying and kept talking even though I wasn’t engaging him in conversation. It felt extra peaceful and quiet in the Airbnb by myself when I finally got back. It wasn’t that late at night yet, but I was hungry enough to eat dinner. I heated up some leftovers and watched football highlights from Sunday while I was eating. After that I had more work to do so I worked all the way until the last lengthening of the day.

Since I had been sitting down for a couple of hours, my legs were a bit stiff. Fortunately, it didn’t hinder me from doing my exercises or stretches. After finishing those I did the final lengthening session of the day. There was a minor uncomfortable feeling afterwards, but I figured it would go away after going to the bathroom and doing my night routine to get ready for bed. This was indeed the case and I went to bed feeling okay in my legs. I hadn’t taken any medication since right before PT and I didn’t feel like I needed any. I was planning to take half a Norco tonight though if I woke up with leg pain and couldn’t fall asleep. I know sleep is supposed to not be as good on opioids compared to normal sleep, but sleep on opioids is probably better than laying in bed with perpetually stiff legs and being unable to fall asleep. I had to get up pretty early the next day, so I turned off the lights and went to sleep.

Surgery Day +22, Lengthening Day 19 (+1mm, 19.66mm total)

I remember waking up once last night, and only an hour or two after I went to sleep. I couldn’t fall back asleep so I took half a Norco like I had planned to. I eventually fell asleep again. I woke up to my alarm and snoozed it twice. I managed to get up after the second snooze since I had an early morning meeting to attend. My watch data showed 6.6 hours of sleep out of 7.2 hours in bed, which is a good ratio. Aside from the time I remember waking up, the data also showed that I woke up once around 4am. I got up and went through my morning routine, including taking Xarelto and acetaminophen, and started working. My legs weren’t tight at all sitting in bed so I worked for about an hour, then I had a chance to take a break to eat breakfast and lengthen.

Doing PT exercises was okay. It was a bit cold in the room so working out actually helped me warm up. Lengthening was also routine. I didn’t feel any aftereffect so things are still going well as I slowly gain my millimeters. I continued to work all the way until lunch. I didn’t eat much and ate quickly since I was pretty busy with work. Finally, after my last meeting I had time to take a break and do the second lengthening of the day. Again, I didn’t exercise too hard since I wanted to give my legs a chance to rest. I did my full set of stretches before lengthening though. The lengthening process itself went smoothly again, so no comments there. After lengthening, I lay on my stomach to do the hard quad stretch and upon finishing that I closed my eyes for a second in a position that was far too comfortable. Next thing I knew 20 minutes had passed by. Since I was still technically supposed to be working, I flipped around back into a sitting position feeling a bit refreshed from my nap and continued to work until dinnertime.

As I was working I wasn’t focused on my legs, but as I got ready to heat up my dinner I realized that my legs were actually at 1-2/10 pain just sitting there in bed, probably for sitting too long without doing anything. I hadn’t taken any painkillers today except that acetaminophen in the morning and almost 12 hours had passed already. I didn’t see a reason to restrict myself on acetaminophen, so I took another one without thinking too much about it. While eating dinner I noticed some of the last remaining bandages over my incisions were loose. I used a pair of small scissors to trim down the loose parts. I also went outside to dump the garbage, which was the only time I went outside today.

For the rest of the evening I just worked, and occasionally got up for snacks or to stretch. I also alternated between sitting on the bed and laying on my stomach so I wouldn’t be stuck in one position for too long. I probably didn’t take too many steps today, but I think I’ll have plenty of opportunities to get more in for the rest of the week. As usual, I did the last lengthening session of the day right before going to bed. Again, I didn’t feel a strong aftereffect, so I basically went straight to bed afterwards.

Surgery Day +23, Lengthening Day 20 (+1mm, 20.66mm total)

When I got up this morning, I was 99% sure that last night would be the worst sleep I’ve had since surgery. Somehow my watch showed 6.4 hours of sleep out of 7.6 hours in bed. I remembered waking up during the 12am hour, the 1am hour, and the 2am hour for an extended period each time and feeling miserable not being able to fall asleep. The second time I woke up I took half a Norco but that only got me 45 minutes of sleep until my legs woke me up again. Fortunately after the third time I didn’t wake up again until my alarm went off. I snoozed it three times, and quickly fell asleep after each time, but then I had to get up for an early morning meeting. I’m sure I could have slept an extra hour or two if I didn’t have to get up for work. With over 6 hours of sleep though, I wasn’t missing out on too much, so I got up and got my day started.

I took my Xarelto and acetaminophen and my legs started feeling better about 15 minutes later. In another 15 minutes my legs felt great, with 0/10 pain and stiffness as long as I didn’t move. After my first meeting and addressing some early morning requests, I got up to make breakfast. I’m finally starting to run out of food in the pantry and fridge, which is great since I’m leaving Vegas soon. Although I wasn’t that hungry in the morning, once I started eating my appetite warmed up as well. After breakfast it was time to lengthen. I was determined to lengthen earlier today, not just because I had to get my second session in before PT in the afternoon, but I wanted to try lengthening earlier at night as well. It could be that I had trouble sleeping because I’m sleeping right after lengthening. I wanted to test that theory at least. I did a light set of PT exercises and then all my stretches. It was a little bit more difficult than most mornings, so my legs were definitely not feeling it. My right leg also was a little sore around the bone break area. Somehow my left knee wasn't really feeling all that bad though. At least lengthening was quick and easy, and I hit the 2cm mark!

Time moves fast sometimes and slow at other times, but lengthening is certainly moving along each day. I suppose 20 days of lengthening is nothing in the grand scheme of things, but with broken legs days really drag on and on. I’ll be honest, I don’t feel the slightest bit taller yet. It could be because the lengthened amount is too small, or it could be because of my bad posture (APT), or it could be that I’m in the Airbnb day in and day out so there’s no way to possibly notice the incremental difference between each day. Based on my experience so far though, I find it simply incredible that anyone would consider doing this for just 3 or 4cm of height. I’ll be just past the one inch mark when I go home and I hope to notice a difference then because I haven’t been home for over a month so everything at home should feel an inch lower than it did before. On the other hand, I have noticed that my thighs are longer than they used to be. However, since I feel like my original thighs were too short and thick, I definitely don’t mind the longer, thinner look. Three inches will probably be too long in terms of the thigh proportion though, but I need every cm of height I can get and I’m definitely not doing my tibias if I get anywhere close to my goal on femurs. Worst case scenario I’ll just wear my pants lower. If by some miracle the next 6cm is as easy as the first 2cm then this will have physically been a really easy process. I don’t anticipate that this will be the case though, as I will eventually have to deal with more soft tissue stretching issues, at which point I hope slowing down will help.

After lengthening, I got back to work, and continued working all the way to lunch time. I got up to make some food and my legs were very tight. My legs were also still hurting a bit in the same areas as they were in the morning. I didn’t take any more painkillers though. I was planning on taking something strong before PT today, and it was already past noon, so I needed to hold out until 3:30 or so.

After eating I needed to use the bathroom. As I was standing still in front of the sink and washing my hands, I heard a light popping sound in my left femur and felt something move. This obviously scared the living crap out of me, but nothing seemed to be wrong as I slowly tested my leg function. I could still walk, lift my leg up and down, and twist it a little left and right. My leg didn’t make any other popping sounds when I moved around. I immediately walked back to the bed, then sat down and texted Dr. D’s team. They got back to me right away and Dr. D said it shouldn’t be an issue as long as there was no pain and everything was functioning normally. We could wait for the x-ray on my next appointment since it was coming soon. Since I really didn’t feel any different and I wasn’t on any painkillers I don’t think anything bad happened to my hardware. It doesn’t seem like the nail bent or broke since I would definitely feel that and the popping sound wasn’t very loud and the movement I felt wasn’t very big. My biggest fear is that the lengthening mechanism somehow broke, in which case I probably wouldn’t feel any different in my leg, but this would be a huge obstacle in my path forward. Best case scenario it was only my hip (or maybe knee) popping and I just happened to feel it in my femur. I will continue forward normally, and if there is something wrong then I should physically be able to tell.

At this point, I decided to do a light set of stretches since I figured it shouldn’t hurt me if the popping sound was nothing important. Nothing felt abnormal during my stretches, and I didn’t hold back on them either. I realized that it was actually almost time for the second lengthening session, so I figured I’d just do it now since I was stretched anyway. No issues from lengthening, and everything felt the same as this morning. I had spent a lot of time on this problem at this point, so I sat back down on the bed and continued to work until it was time for PT. I set a reminder for all business day PT sessions on my work calendar so I would definitely see it and not miss my appointment. When it finally came time for PT, I called an Uber and popped half a Norco and an acetaminophen. I grabbed my jacket since it would be cold after dark, and went outside with my cane to wait for the car.

I arrived at PT a little early, as usual. The painkillers had not kicked in as I struggled to walk into the clinic and had to support my body weight with both hands on my cane while waiting in line to check in. I got started on the stationary bike, and at first it was a little rougher than last time. My left knee kept wanting to crack but couldn’t, so eventually I thought to cover it with my hand which finally made it crack. After that pedaling was comfortable for the remainder of the time on the bike. After riding the bike I was warmed up, and walking was a lot easier. Now strangely enough I stopped having extra pain in my left knee area, but my bone cut site on both legs seemed to be in a little pain, and the pain was on all sides as well, with the quads, hamstring and outer skin (incision side) all feeling a little bit. The right side was a little worse than the left side, but both sides were feeling some pain, especially when stretching my quads.

Fortunately that didn’t impact my training for the day. I was able to do everything that the PT assistant threw at me, though my weighted leg extensions were a bit weaker than before on my left leg. For my last exercise, I was not able to do all the sit-to-stands from the chair though. I felt much more pain using my full leg power to stand up than last time, but I pushed through to do five reps. I was also afraid of any lingering issue with my left nail, so I didn’t want to put too much weight on it. I can always increase my training load after I get another set of x-rays. Finally, I got a chance to meet with the head PT. He said that my post-surgical pain should be mostly gone by now since it has been over 3 weeks since surgery. It’s definitely possible to feel some pain around the site of the bone cut, though it was probably a mix between that and muscular pain. He used the roller on both of my quads at that center spot where the bone was cut, and it did relieve some of the pain. We also did a new exercise for the hip, and I laid on my side for the first time. Surprisingly it was not painful since the surface of the training table was harder than a bed, and I usually feel a little bit of pain on the side of my leg when I’m rolling over to lay on my stomach. I think I will try to lay on my side for a longer period when I get back to the Airbnb. It would definitely be nice to be able to sleep on my side.

I called a car to get back to the Airbnb and tried to order food on the ride back. Unfortunately the driver was not the smoothest driver and I started to get carsick while reading menus on my phone. I put my phone down and partially rolled down the window to get some fresh air. Somehow even when I got out of the car, I remained a little bit nauseated. I tried sitting down and then laying in bed and I still needed to order food, but every time I looked at the computer screen I would feel more nauseated, so I didn’t know what to do. I tried to close my eyes to rest but it didn’t really help. I lay down and pulled the blanket over myself so I could take a nap. I didn’t set an alarm or anything, I would just wait until I awakened naturally. I managed to fall asleep for about 30 minutes, after which I felt a bit better. While I still had some lingering nausea, I was able to order some sushi. I figured something light would probably be best right now, and hopefully getting some food in my stomach would solve the problem.

The food arrived super fast again (maybe delivery drivers in Las Vegas are just really good.) I got everything out and ate near the kitchen sink just in case I wanted to throw up. Fortunately as soon as I started eating, the nausea went away and I finally felt better. After eating and putting the leftovers in the fridge, I went back to sit down on the bed. There was still a tiny bit of lingering nausea (like it wasn’t really there, but I could somehow still feel it.) It wasn’t preventing me from using the computer though, so I watched a little bit of YouTube to relax. Afterwards, I went back to work to try and catch up on some of the things I didn’t do since I had lost focus during a big part of the day. My focus still wasn’t that great, but I was at least able to power through some of my work. The nausea finally went away sometime while I was working since I realized it was gone afterwards. Since I had planned to lengthen early today and give myself some extra time to rest my legs after lengthening and before going to sleep, I started stretching before 9pm. I did not take any additional painkillers since I took some before PT. After a long and stressful day and a hard PT session, I didn’t have the energy to push very hard before my last lengthening of the day. However, I got all the basic stretches done, and my legs felt somewhat loose.

I ran the ERC on each leg and felt okay afterwards. I have switched to using the ERC with my knees straight and my legs fully on the bed, whereas for the first few weeks I had been running it with my knees bent and legs dangling off the bed. I think lengthening with legs straight has been better since dangling actually makes my legs uncomfortable after a few minutes (and I had previously even thought it was due to the lengthening process.) With my legs straight I pretty much don’t feel anything after running the ERC. And yes, I’m pretty sure I’m lengthening correctly in this position since I still have my “X” stickers on my leg and the ERC is showing the green check mark which means it detects the nail. I’ll be getting x-rays in less than half a centimeter anyway, so if anything went wrong (knock on wood) I’ll find out soon.

Now that I was done lengthening early and since it wasn’t time for bed yet, I planned to do something that I needed to do pretty badly but had not done yet - that is to take a real shower. I ran out of bath wipes recently, which I had been using to clean my body of sweat when necessary. However, I didn’t use them on my face and my hair was super oily and needed a shampoo badly. However, the Airbnb didn’t have handicap bars in the shower. In fact, there is nothing for me to hold onto at all standing up, and even the side of the tub was hard to hold onto because of the glass shower door frame. The showerhead was not removable either, which would have been helpful. At least there was an anti-slip mat on the floor of the shower so that should help a tiny bit. I decided the safe solution was to take a shower sitting down. With the tub drain open, water wouldn’t collect and turn into a bath, and if I was sitting down I wouldn’t be at risk of slipping. I could also shampoo my hair, which was the biggest reason I wanted to shower. Dr. D had cleared me to take a shower on my last office visit, but since the bandages over my incisions were still partially intact, I wasn’t sure I wanted to shower since they would probably fall off and I didn’t know if I should let them naturally fall off (while dry) or let them get soaked and fall off because they were wet. I could also take a picture of my incisions and send it to Dr. D’s team to see if I could get cleared to take a bath, but I don’t really want to soak in the Airbnb bathtub either, for obvious reasons.

I realize I just wrote an entire paragraph theorizing how to take a shower, and I really did think through all that right before going into the bathroom, but here’s what actually happened once I stepped into the shower to test how difficult it would be to use. It was very easy to lift my leg over the tub wall. I noted that the anti slip mat was very secure and my feet definitely weren’t going to slip. Then I realized I could use the top of the shower door metal frame to support myself if I needed to move. (A benefit of being slightly taller hah.) So I decided then and there to just turn the shower on. The shower was fine, and I actually ended up spending over 30 minutes in there. Not just because I was super grimy, but also when my remaining incision bandages got soaked just from the shower pressure they all started losing stickiness and peeling off (which is not surprising.) Therefore, I had to spend a lot of time carefully peeling each bandage off without painfully yanking on the surgical sutures or pulling off my leg hairs as well. Standing for over 30 minutes nonstop was not a problem and I enjoyed the hot water coursing over my skin.

After showering I felt super fresh and in a good mood. The hot water helped calm my legs, but I was a little hot so after I dried off I went into the fridge and chugged half an ice cold Gatorade. Of course I immediately got a brain freeze and regretted it. Then I walked over to the bed and hopped on. I feel like my legs weren’t all that stiff, so fingers crossed for a good night’s sleep. Since my hair was still a bit wet I didn’t want to put my head on the pillow right away so I browsed the web on my phone for a bit. Eventually I got sleepy and my hair was probably dry enough so I slid down from a partial sitting position into a lying down position on the bed. I feel like I definitely needed some extra sleep after last night. If not then I hope I can catch up on some sleep over the weekend. Either way my eyelids started feeling heavy and I drifted off.

Surgery Day +24, Lengthening Day 21 (+1mm, 21.66mm total)

Shortly after I fell asleep I awakened. This was going to be another night just like last night and lengthening early did not help at all, so there goes that theory. My legs were very tight and I couldn’t sleep because I could feel my legs and they were just so distracting. I fell asleep briefly then woke up again. I took half a Norco and when it kicked in I got a little more sleep, but I still woke up a few more times. Finally, I fell asleep for a while but I was trapped in a weird dream. Then I realized the dream was a dream and suddenly woke up. It was almost dawn. I drifted in and out of sleep (mostly out) for the next two hours, trying so many different positions, but not being able to fall asleep consistently. Finally, almost 30 minutes before my alarm was set to go off, I gave up on sleeping and decided to get up so I turned off all my alarms. My sleep data showed that I got 5.4 hours of sleep out of 7.5 hours in bed. It definitely felt like I slept much less than that, and the quality of my sleep was terrible. My watch showed that I woke up over a dozen times last night, which corresponds to my experience as well. If I sleep like this every night for the next 3-4 months, it would be the worst experience of my life by far. I really hope I can figure out a way to get more sleep.

I got up and went to the bathroom for my morning routine, and splashed some cold water on my face. I was awake enough to start the day, though I was definitely hoping to be able to take a nap later. I came back to the main room feeling cold with my stomach growling too. Since I have been eating a big dinner every night and getting completely full, I’m always surprised that I’m so hungry in the morning. It could definitely be related to bone growth. I quickly got dressed and went into the kitchen to make breakfast. Warm food made me feel a lot better, though my legs were still tired and my bone break spot still hurt a bit on my right hamstring side. Around the time my alarm was supposed to go off I sat back onto the bed and took my morning medication. I finished the Vitamin D (weekly doses) so I got to throw away my first empty pill container. After that I signed onto my work laptop. While I was going to be busy today, it didn’t look like I had anything urgent scheduled for the morning. Therefore I decided to do my lengthening session a bit early.

I figured that exercising would also help me warm up my legs a bit, since they weren’t feeling that great even though I had taken acetaminophen. I started with bicycle kicks as a warmup, lately I’ve been doing that as the first thing before my PT exercises. I didn’t want to work any specific muscle group too hard since I had PT in the afternoon, but I did a set of all of my PT exercises. Then I did a full set of stretches and got the ERC ready. Lengthening was quick and easy, and I didn’t feel anything afterwards. After I set the ERC machine back in its place I started working for a bit. It would be a while until lunchtime and I had a lot to do. My legs eventually settled down a bit and I felt better sitting in bed.

When lunchtime arrived, I excitedly went into the kitchen to get my leftovers ready for consumption. I think food has been the highlight of my day lately since sleep is absolutely terrible and makes me miserable. It probably doesn’t help that my Airbnb isn’t very warm. I planned to try sleeping with pajamas to see if that could help a little. When I got up, my legs immediately reminded me that they were still stiff and in pain. Although I had gotten some work done in the morning, I was certainly not as productive as I could have been if my mind were fully focused. The uncomfortableness in my legs is persistent and always noticeable. I ate standing up in the kitchen to give my legs a bit of work since they were stiff from sitting for too long. Afterwards I hopped back onto the bed and returned to work as I would be busy until it was time to leave for PT.

As the work day winded down, I suddenly realized that I hadn’t done my second lengthening of the day yet and it was only an hour until I had to be at the PT clinic. If I wasn’t careful, I could potentially be feeling the aftereffects of lengthening during PT, which could make PT more difficult. I immediately started my stretches and did all of them quickly, though since I had to hold them for a certain amount of time, it wasn’t really possible to do them that much quicker. Then I grabbed the ERC and ran it on each leg. Afterwards I did feel a mild effect and it was almost time to call a ride to the PT clinic. I decided to do some more stretches first though in hopes that it would help me. I also took my usual pre-PT painkillers as I’m sure I would need it this time around. I’m not sure if stretching actually helped, but walking to the car and riding over I felt the exact same as it did normally.

When I arrived at PT, things were a little different. Both the PT assistant and the receptionist had changed so I had to do a double take to make sure I was in the right place. After I checked in at the front desk, I sat down and waited for the new PT assistant to get me started on the stationary bike. Now that I had a couple of tricks up my sleeves, I had no fear of the bike anymore. After the ride I did not feel as warmed up as I did the day before. However, I could walk around without too much stiffness. The PT clinic was busy with a lot of people. The new PT assistant was trying to keep up, but I basically ended up doing all the exercises by myself, with a little help getting all the bands and weights and stuff. While exercising, I noticed that my incision sites were bigger and redder than before. I googled it and it didn’t seem like it was an infection or anything like that. Since I had taken a shower yesterday, maybe there was a risk of getting my incisions dirty somehow. (Later on when I had returned to the Airbnb, the incisions looked normal to me again. I think it was just the fluorescent lighting at the PT clinic that made my incisions look bigger and redder than usual.)

I was a lot more warmed up after the exercises and I could walk around with no problems. I talked to the head PT briefly, and he showed me a new exercise, which was just walking from side-to-side for a longer distance, which I had no trouble doing since I was warmed up. He also told me that sleep is very important for recovery and if I was having trouble sleeping, then maybe a Norco before bedtime could help me get at least 4 hours of continuous sleep. Getting continuous sleep for long enough to enter deep sleep is just as important as the total hours of sleep in a night. I could try taking something before bed, though I don’t know how different it would be from taking it at 1 or 2am. Finally I got the heat pad for 10 minutes and ultimately left the clinic about 30 minutes later than I should have. Fortunately I wasn’t in a rush or anything like that. Only one more PT session in Las Vegas and I’ll be going home! I’m looking forward to it, though I think I will miss this little PT clinic since it has definitely been one of the highlights of my time here.

When I got back to the Airbnb I heated up my remaining leftovers and devoured them. I feel like my appetite is getting bigger, which is probably good since people keep saying on the forum that you easily need 4000+ calories a day to even maintain body weight while your new bone is growing. After eating, I cleaned up and sat back down on the bed. I had some work I needed to get done before tomorrow morning, so I started on that. My legs were feeling good, as they usually do after PT, so I was actually able to focus okay, though I felt quite tired at this point due to the lack of sleep. If I didn’t have work, I might have been able to take an evening nap, but who knows how that would affect my sleep. One other thing I could try is working out a bit more before going to sleep, and possibly having legs that are a little more limber before going to bed, though I feel like the process of going to bed (maybe laying down or sleeping) somehow tightens my legs, so I don’t know how well it would work. Regardless, I think I would have to try something different tonight to get better quality sleep.

I was still working when I noticed it was time for my last lengthening. I took a break from my work laptop and started my pre-lengthening stretches. I noticed that my right foot was now having that weird feeling that I had at the start of surgery where if I shifted or wobbled it left or right it would feel like there was something moving inside my foot or leg. It wasn’t painful or anything, just really weird. I also realized that I did not have this feeling at all in my left foot anymore. I think it may have to do with the IT band cut or something to do with weakened muscles after the surgery. I don’t think it’s a skeletal issue. Anyway, I wasn’t too concerned about it since it went away on my left foot so I’m sure it would go away in my right foot too. My right leg was still hurting more than my left leg in the hamstring side of the area of the bone cut. I actually don’t really care about this kind of pain, it’s like barely 1-2/10 pain but it’s actual pain so I can deal with it without even taking painkillers. What I can’t deal with is the stuffiness, tightness, and tiredness that I feel in my upper legs when I try to sleep at night. It’s not really so much pain as it is just this super uncomfortable feeling that forces me to think about my legs constantly and makes it nearly impossible to focus on anything else. I think it’s much worse than pain, and it’s probably what makes limb lengtheners suffer the most. Of course, I haven’t reached the latter part of the distraction phase yet, so I’m sure it will get worse, and I don’t think there is any way to prepare for it.

Anyway, aside from thinking about pain and weird leg stuff, I didn’t have any issues doing all the stretches, though I did not feel as flexible as I did during PT. I finished up the stretches and then ran the ERC on both legs. I didn’t have any post-lengthening issues either, so I started working again. I only managed to get about 30 more minutes of work in before I was too tired to continue. I would have to finish in the morning. At this point while I was sitting on the bed my legs didn’t feel bad at all. Like the PT told me to, right before going to bed I took half a Norco so hopefully that will help me finally get a solid night of sleep, which I probably need badly to focus on work and my leg workouts. Oh yeah, and I wore pajamas to bed to see if that would help as well (not quite the compression pants that other people mentioned, but worth a shot.)

Surgery Day +25, Lengthening Day 22 (+1mm, 22.66mm total)

Sleep was about the same as last night. I had a little bit of trouble falling asleep at first, but eventually managed to drift off. The first block of sleep was the best, which I’m guessing is because I took Norco right before going to bed. Then I woke up a bunch of times from 3-4am but was eventually able to fall back asleep and get another 90 minute block of sleep in. That’s when the troubles started. From about 5:30 I was no longer able to sleep. My legs were feeling stuffy and stiff no matter what position I was in. Eventually I couldn’t think of what else to do, so I did a full set of my PT exercises and stretches in hopes that would loosen up my legs. It actually worked a little, and my legs didn’t feel as tight as they did before. After tossing and turning a bunch, I managed to fall in and out of sleep for another hour or so. I woke up 10 minutes before my alarm was going to go off and I added 30 minutes to the alarm and tried to sleep again. Finally I woke up 20 minutes later and decided to give up on trying to sleep and got up. My health data showed 5.3 hours of sleep out of 6.7 hours in bed. I really hope I get a chance to catch up on some sleep over the weekend.

I needed to figure out what exactly was happening every morning that makes my legs feel tolerable. When I first wake up, my legs feel so stiff and tight, but by the time I’m sitting on the bed and working, they don’t feel that bad or distracting anymore. It could be from standing up for a while, it could be from eating breakfast, it could be from sitting instead of laying down, and it could be from taking acetaminophen in the morning. It could also be a combination of the above, but I just don’t know what exactly was making my legs feel okay in the morning. If I could figure it out and then apply it when I can’t fall asleep at night to get more sleep, it would definitely help me a ton with this process.

I had a very early meeting, so I did my morning routine and got ready very quickly. I wanted to do my first lengthening session beforehand but didn’t have enough time. However, I was able to start my exercises and stretching during the call. I went through everything and then ran the ERC. I had no problems yet even though I hadn’t taken any acetaminophen this morning. Standing up and returning the ERC to the opposite side of the room, my legs actually felt pretty good since they were fully warmed up. I took an acetaminophen afterwards anyway, just to see what the effect would be. I felt pretty normal and continued working until lunchtime. There was no tightness in my legs as long as I wasn’t moving so I was pretty focused. I’m still not sure why I feel so much better during the day than at night. I wonder if it would make sense to try and take naps during the day when my legs don't feel as bad.

For lunch I ate some more of my food in the pantry. I’m almost done clearing it out, and I’m proud of estimating the exact amount of food I’d need for my month in Vegas so nothing would go to waste! I only had a short break planned for lunch today since I was very busy at work today with meetings throughout most of the day. I continued to work until it was time for my midday lengthening, when I took another short break and got started on PT exercises and stretches right away. I finished all the exercises and the lengthening process in under 30 minutes and then I continued to work. Finally, after a few more hours it was about time to sign off since everyone else was offline by now. I still had some more work leftover that I still needed to get done, but I could work on it over the weekend under no pressure.

Next I decided to order some delivery, and I really wanted some Indian food (garlic naan plus some kind of curry) but then I thought I might not want to eat something too spicy after surgery, so I refrained. I ended up getting Japanese food again, sushi + some entrees, since it was delicious and easy to reheat later. Then I watched random videos on my phone and texted with some friends while I was waiting for the delivery to arrive. Sometimes I think about how crazy the world is right now; it’s perfectly normal for me to avoid seeing anyone I know and just communicate with them digitally without arousing any suspicion. I’m literally growing taller under their noses, but everything about me seems normal to them. We’re all working from home and bored out of our minds. My 5’9” and 5’10” friends may be in for a shock in a couple of months! I’m certainly not going to say I’m taller and I’ll act like nothing happened. I can’t imagine that they would have the slightest clue what I did. I plan to continue to work out my upper body as well and try to return to my peak physical shape since I still have a few months. If they say I look different, I’ll just say I got bigger, which will be true, just not in the way they think. Anyway, right now I’m really looking forward to the future, not just because I will finally be the height that I always pictured myself as, but I also want to be able to sleep normally again and not feel like my legs are constantly uncomfortable. Also, the concept of going out with a group of friends on Friday night seems so appealing to me right now, and not just because I’m stuck inside lengthening.

My food arrived fairly quickly and I whipped out my laptop and decided to start watching a movie while eating. I could finally take a break from work tonight. Honestly, my life isn’t much different than if I wasn’t lengthening. Once I get home and start cooking again, I think everything will feel normal, especially if I can start getting decent sleep again. I can’t imagine lengthening will impact my daily activities during the pandemic when I’m home all day. I suppose I will actually go outside more than before since I need to see a physical therapist a few times each week. I also plan to look into massage therapy and see if that has the potential to help me recover, though that’s not as important as PT.

After finishing the movie it wasn’t that late, so I still needed something to do for the rest of the night before the last lengthening. I definitely did not feel like doing any work and it’s not like I could go out anywhere for many reasons. I got my phone out and played some games on it, which burned an hour. Then I remembered that I had a bunch of journal entries to check and post, so I spent the rest of the evening working on that. It worked out well, because it's pretty late now and I'm pretty tired and I just finished editing all the entries for the week. So I'm posting it now and going to bed. Good night!
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on December 13, 2020, 08:34:03 AM
Surgery Day +26, Lengthening Day 23 (+1mm, 23.66mm total)

Sleep was not great last night, but okay. Since I really wanted to try and catch up on sleep I took a full Norco right before bed. I think it actually helped me a ton. I briefly woke up about three hours after I fell asleep and then stayed asleep until dawn. While I was only in bed for 6 hours total, I feel like I was asleep most of the time and didn’t really remember waking up and struggling to sleep. However, when I got up to use the restroom and drank some water I realized that I wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep. Of course, I was tired and hungry, but I just didn’t feel sleepy at all. Since 6 hours had passed since I last took a Norco, I decided to take another one to see if it would help me get a little more sleep. After taking it nothing happened for a while. I just sat in bed and talked to people on my phone, though I felt a little dizzy. Then about an hour later it kicked in. I was so sleepy that all I could do was lie down and pass out. I slept for almost two hours. Then I awakened again, though a bit groggy. I didn’t really have the energy to do anything at this point, though it was about time for my first ERC session. I continued to lay in bed awake, not sleepy but still tired, browsing the web and chatting with people on my phone. Finally, I decided to get up since I thought I might also be dizzy and tired because I was hungry and I hadn't eaten anything yet. I went to the kitchen and made some breakfast, though at this point it might be better called brunch. Don’t be me and don’t take Norco on an empty stomach.

After eating, I started my PT exercises hoping that it would help kickstart my day. My legs felt okay, and that’s probably because I was still on Norco. In fact, the bone cut site pain on my right leg was completely gone, which made sense since opioids would be able to address this kind of pain. My legs were generally just feeling a little dull but not having any pain at all. The exercises were easy, though stretching afterwards was just as hard as usual. I don’t mind though, since that means I’m actually getting a good stretch in, just becoming less and less flexible. Then I ran the ERC on each leg and felt absolutely no aftereffect. Now I wasn’t sure what to do so I sat on the bed and browsed the web some more on my laptop. I could feel like I was getting sleepy again, so maybe I could try to take another nap. I closed my eyes while sitting on the bed and leaned back into the pillows. I’m not sure if I fell asleep but I think so since I started daydreaming. I was awakened or at least startled by my phone when I got a notification. Now that I was awake again, I realized that I didn’t feel so good, mostly due to being dizzy/nauseated. I guess I should not have taken a full Norco both last night and this morning. Hopefully it wears off soon, though it was at least tolerable while I was sitting in bed.

I decided to lay down for a while and get some rest, regardless if I could fall asleep and take a nap or not. I dozed off briefly for about 20 minutes. I was awakened by a call from the pharmacist. I was getting the drugs delivered to Dr. D’s office to pick up during my office visit next week and the pharmacy needed payment. Fortunately it cost less than last month since I didn’t need to refill everything, but the Xarelto isn’t cheap. After hanging up I noticed that I wasn’t feeling as bad as before, but I was still a little bit nauseated, though not quite as dizzy. It was past noon, so I could eat lunch. Hopefully filling my stomach would help as well. When I got up from the bed my legs reminded me that I was not on any painkillers anymore and that I had been sitting or laying in bed all morning. I was stiff and sore, and I probably should have done some stretches before standing up. Since I was already up though, I heated up my leftovers and ate everything quickly since I was quite hungry. I checked the time and the warmest point of the day would be in about two hours, so I could do my outdoor walk then. For now, I sat back down on the bed and decided to distract myself so I could feel better using an old trick - gaming on my phone. It can’t be just some casual puzzle game or something, it has to be a competitive and real-time game against other players and I have to want to win so that I have 100% focus on the game, but it really works for me as a distraction from my legs. After two matches I no longer felt any nausea from this morning, or any pain in my legs when sitting still.

Now that I was feeling better and I still had a little bit of time to burn, I got my laptop out and checked to see if any of the shows I was following had updated for the week yet, and two of them did. I had enough time to watch one before my outdoor walk. Afterwards I checked the weather and I still had a little bit of time before the daytime high temperature, so I decided to try and warm up my legs a bit by doing some light exercises and stretches before going outside. I also popped an acetaminophen pill. Then I changed into outdoor clothes, put on my shoes, grabbed my phone and keys, and stepped outside. I tossed out a bag of garbage that I had brought out with me, then proceeded to walk to the front of the house with my cane. I found a spot by the garage door that I could set my phone down to record a video. Here is the video of me walking down the driveway and back. The driveway has a slight incline, but no more than 5 or 10 degrees.

https://youtu.be/QtwIvjZH4t8

I definitely walk a little worse if the ground isn’t perfectly flat, but I’ve walked down this driveway so many times that I’m also kind of used to it. Next, I proceeded to follow my old path along the sidewalk to the next neighborhood down. Since my legs didn’t feel tired at all I kept going. The late afternoon sun was shining on my face and it felt great. I proceeded down the sidewalk all the way until it ended and I would have had to cross a street to continue. I figured I had already gone a bit further than my previous longest walk, so I turned around and headed back. I wasn’t tired at all on the way back, so I was still able to focus on keeping a better gait and walking with my legs closer to each other. I also tried walking without any support from the cane. Since I was only using the cane to support my left leg, and my left leg wasn’t really weaker, in more pain, or worse at walking than my right leg I guess I didn’t actually need to support my weight with the cane while walking, except for general safety reasons. So for a good part of the walk back, I did it fully weight bearing on both legs with the cane hovering just above the ground in case I slipped or needed support.

When I got back inside I checked my watch and I had walked a total of 0.75 miles (or 1.2km.) I was sure that I could have walked over a mile if I wanted to, but no reason to push myself too hard. As soon as I got inside and stopped walking my legs decided that they were tired again. I think they have a mind of their own since my body must be able to subconsciously differentiate between when I am walking indoors with the bed nearby and when I am walking outside and need to move forward just to survive. I changed into my indoor clothes and hopped onto the bed. I started chatting with people on the phone and then suddenly realized I was supposed to lengthen after the walk while my legs were still warmed up. Fortunately, my legs were still feeling okay so I stretched lightly and then grabbed the ERC to do my midday lengthening. I felt great after lengthening, so I just stayed in bed for a little while longer and then it was dark. During this time of the year it gets dark so early! It wasn’t even 5pm yet so I wanted to wait a little longer before ordering dinner. I played a couple more rounds of my favorite phone game to pass some time and then put in an order for food. Since I didn’t want to get interrupted in the middle of a match, I switched to watching YouTube while waiting for my delivery.

When the food arrived and I got off the bed to pick it up, my legs were surprisingly still not too stiff. I guess doing a long distance walk has its perks. I’m sure my legs would be stiff by the end of the night though and make me feel terrible when I try to sleep, but what can you do? After eating I put the leftovers in the fridge. Hopefully I have enough for the next day or two so I don't have to order out again. After dinner I felt much better in general. I wasn’t hungry, tired, or in pain, which is a lot to ask for during the distraction phase. I debated if I wanted to try and get some work done or if I wanted to consume some more empty entertainment and opted for the latter. I still had that other episode of TV to watch, then I browsed the web and played more games. I tried to enjoy Saturday like anyone else would while stuck indoors during the pandemic.

Finally I noticed it was kind of late, and ended up lengthening around 11pm, after doing exercises and stretches. I stayed up for a while though, and while I was sitting on the bed browsing the web, I realized that my legs were actually feeling an uncomfortable aftereffect after the lengthening session. It went away after about an hour, but I hadn't felt that in a while, so hopefully it doesn't mean I'm hitting any kind of limit. I was getting pretty tired, but I remembered to finish writing and post this entry. Now it's really time to go to bed since I still need to keep some kind of semblance of a daily schedule since I still have work on Monday. Before going to sleep, I plan to pop a Norco and do a set of stretches. Hopefully I get good sleep tonight and I manage to sleep in since it's the weekend.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: Froggy on December 13, 2020, 09:18:24 PM
Thanks for the update. I feel ya on the discomfort after lengthening sessions. Keep up the energy and dedication!
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: L8GrowthSpurt on December 15, 2020, 02:18:56 AM
Hey BTM - Thanks for the detailed diary.  Very helpful. You go back home and work already? Your gait on the last vid looked pretty damn good! Hope you’re doing well. Stay strong 💪
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: edsvkg on December 15, 2020, 03:55:39 PM
Hey BTM, I am following your diary and I can say that it is a great collaboration for this forum, especially for me that I am planning to perform LL in a few years with Dr. Debiparshad, I hope you have a good recovery and that everything will go well by the end of the process. ;)
I would like to emphasize that your videos are great for us to know how your LL process is going.

I'm sorry for my english from google translator, i will improve it. ;D
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on December 17, 2020, 05:25:01 AM
Quote from: Froggy on December 13, 2020, 09:18:24 PM
Thanks for the update. I feel ya on the discomfort after lengthening sessions. Keep up the energy and dedication!
Thanks, you keep pushing too!

Quote from: L8GrowthSpurt on December 15, 2020, 02:18:56 AM
Hey BTM - Thanks for the detailed diary.  Very helpful. You go back home and work already? Your gait on the last vid looked pretty damn good! Hope you’re doing well. Stay strong
I've been working since week 3 and I just got home.

Quote from: edsvkg on December 15, 2020, 03:55:39 PM
Hey BTM, I am following your diary and I can say that it is a great collaboration for this forum, especially for me that I am planning to perform LL in a few years with Dr. Debiparshad, I hope you have a good recovery and that everything will go well by the end of the process. ;)
I would like to emphasize that your videos are great for us to know how your LL process is going.
Good luck with everything. I will try and post videos when I feel like there's something interesting to show. I don't know if I'm going to improve my gait much over the next two months though tbh.

Surgery Day +27, Lengthening Day 24 (+1mm, 24.66mm total)

Sleep was so bad last night that I simply gave up on sleeping after just four hours in bed. Even though I took a Norco right before going to bed, I basically woke up once every single hour and after four hours I was fully awake, hungry, and still super tired. I felt like I spent the whole night tossing and turning, trying to sleep in every single position but not being able to get rid of the pain no matter what. After getting up and going to the bathroom, I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep, so I did my morning routine then returned and sat on the bed. My brain wasn’t functioning very quickly, so all I could do is consume some mindless entertainment, and hoping that I would be tired enough to want to take a nap at some point. After the fiasco yesterday with the second Norco pill, I was not going to try taking a second pill again today. After watching TV for an hour and still feeling like crap in my legs, I decided to take an acetaminophen and eat breakfast. Sometimes I feel like the distraction phase is just one giant experiment with different pain medications.

After breakfast I was feeling a bit better. I watched some more TV to distract myself, but it didn’t really work. After a short while I was ready to do my first lengthening session of the day. I did a full set of PT exercises and stretches. Surprisingly all of the previous pain I had when exercising is gone now. My original left knee area pain has been gone for days, and today the pain I was feeling around the bone cut area over the last few days is gone as well. I can do all of my exercises normally, although everything is a little tighter than before. I do have one new type of pain, but it only happens when I do the quad stretch too far on my left side. I think my knee has a little bit of pain when that happens, though it feels quite different than the previous knee pain (pain from using my muscles before vs pain from stretching now.) I didn’t have a lot of energy while doing the exercises and stretching, but I got them done.

Next I used the ERC on each leg. I felt a bit tired even holding the ERC over my quad. I didn’t feel anything in my legs immediately after using the ERC, but after I had walked around a bit and set the ERC down, I noticed that I was feeling a little bit of the uncomfortable lengthening aftereffect. I sat down on the bed and massaged my legs, though it didn’t help much. I was hoping that it would just go away soon. I played some music on my laptop, but that didn’t help my mood much. I did start to get a little sleepy though, and I repositioned my pillow so I was in more of a reclining position. That made me fall asleep for just over an hour, which was nice. Unfortunately I wasn’t really any more refreshed when I woke up, and my legs had the exact same level of stiffness and uncomfortableness that they did just before I fell asleep. I would have to try my old trick - playing games.

Fortunately this worked well. I was distracted and forgot all about my pain and it lasted past when I stopped playing. At this point it was barely noon and I was already starving even though I ate a big breakfast. I think lengthening and building new bones definitely uses more calories than normal, and this is definitely something I can observe from my diet. However, painkillers and being in pain definitely affects my appetite and mood as well. Since I was hungry, I got up to use the bathroom and heat up some food. While walking around the Airbnb I felt pretty good even though I didn’t have any painkillers and my legs weren’t really warmed up. I thought about taking a walk outside later. Today’s high was in the single digits Celsius (~40 F) so it would be pretty cold, but I figured it wouldn’t be a problem to take a walk anyway since I could just wear my jacket out. It’s still warmer than it would be back home and I don’t know how much public walking I’m willing to do in a densely populated area where I might run into someone I know. Also, if it hasn’t already snowed back home, I’m sure the snow will accumulate soon. It’s one thing to fully weight-bear on the Stryde nails, but I don’t think any doctor would recommend walking outdoors as exercise on icy sidewalks lol.

After lunch I decided to try and get some work done. I didn’t do any work at all yesterday, so I would have to try and do some today so next week won’t be that hectic, especially with a mid-week flight. First though, I would stretch a little. I don’t think it would hurt to increase my daily stretching. I’m not sure if I currently am stretching too little, but I do feel like it’s getting harder to stretch my hamstrings as far as I used to be able to. Fortunately I can still get a good angle, but I think I can barely hook my fingers over my toes now. While stretching I realized I could watch some football, so I turned the TV on and let it play in the background while I finished my stretches, then continued to work a bit. Unfortunately, the whole time I was trying to work I was distracted. My legs were very uncomfortable, in the same way that I feel an aftereffect from lengthening. Pretty much nothing was able to get rid of the feeling so I just suffered and worked and I was kind of tired and sleepy too, but didn’t feel like going to sleep.

Eventually I decided to do another set of stretches, take acetaminophen, and then do my outdoor walk. Since my legs didn’t feel as good today as they did yesterday (both indoors and outdoors) I realized I wouldn’t be able to walk as far, so I focused on my gait instead. I did two shorter laps on the main sidewalk without going into the next neighborhood down. One interesting thing I noticed was that my left leg was indeed still weaker than my right leg. The main reason I didn’t notice it before was because I could walk on it without the cane and it felt about the same as my right leg. However, when I was practicing my gait, I found that my entire body swung to the left when I was fully weight bearing on my left leg, but when I was partially supporting the weight on my cane, my body didn’t swing because I was counterbalancing the weakness with the cane. My body was distributing the weight so well I didn’t even notice. I think if I didn’t notice this and continued only using the cane on my left leg, I would eventually have an even bigger difference between my left and right leg. Therefore, for part of the walk I used the cane on my right side, and on my left side I would put my weight down while trying not to sway.

My left leg got tired pretty quickly though, which is good. I think what I’m doing probably beats out exercising in terms of workout efficiency and I know that fixing this issue will improve my gait. After that I just walked back to the Airbnb sloppily since I didn’t have enough muscle strength left to walk with a proper gait. Overall, I was much more tired than yesterday the whole time. I don’t know if it’s my legs that are weak or if I lack sleep, or one of the many other reasons that I could be weaker today, but regardless of the reason I pushed a bit and ended up walking half a mile (800m) in just under 20 minutes, so a 40 minute per mile pace. I walked my fastest yesterday (about 36 minutes per mile) even including slanted sidewalks and a longer distance, so both in terms of feelings and objective stats, I was weaker today.

When I got back inside I changed back into indoor clothing. The TV was still on so I did some stretches on the bed while watching football and then used the ERC on each leg. My legs still felt uncomfortable after the lengthening, but not to the point of pain. Still, the noise in the background was a great distraction. After that I lay in bed trying to get some work done while managing the pain in my legs. I planned to take a hot shower at night as a form of pain management. Then I began to feel very sleepy. Even though it was dinnertime, here was my chance to take a nap. I draped a towel over my legs as a blanket and then closed my eyes. As I had already started feeling it, I passed out quickly. I woke up a few times to adjust my legs, but I basically got a nap that was over two hours long. In fact, when I got up I was still sleepy and could have probably continued to sleep for a while, but I didn’t because I didn’t want to mess up my sleep routine too badly. My legs were very stiff, stuffy and uncomfortable when I woke up. Why is it that I can fall asleep with legs like this right now, but not in the middle of the night? My sleep was so solid that I had what felt like a continuous dream over the entire two hours.

As I got up, I hobbled over to the bathroom and then to the kitchenette. It was a bit late for dinner, but I was hungry so I heated up a ton of leftovers. I find it a bit crazy how hungry I have been every few hours, given how much I feel like I’m eating with every meal. But it also means that my food prep back at home was correct. I have a ton of healthy calories stored in my pantry and freezer back at home waiting for me to go back and enjoy without having to go outside. I think cooking will put me in a better mood as well, as I like to make my own food (since I work out.) After waking up from my overall grogginess, I did feel quite refreshed with that nap. Combined with my few hours of sleep last night and the nap earlier in the day I think I almost have a full day's worth of sleep. I’m not sure the biological recovery is the same as actually getting 8 hours of sleep, but it’s better than sleeping sporadically for 3 or 4 hours last night and not taking any naps.

While eating and watching YouTube, I realized that my legs weren’t as painful as when I had just woken up. It was almost like every morning, when my legs would be quite stiff when I had just awakened, but somehow always felt better after I had been up for a bit. I wasn’t going to complain about my legs feeling better though, but I had another lengthening to do before going to bed, which might tighten my legs up again. It was getting a bit late, so I decided to take a shower. The second shower was much easier than the first and I didn’t even really think much of it. My legs got tired sooner than last time, but I did go out for a walk today so that’s probably why. After drying off and changing into pajamas, I did a set of stretches on the bed. Surprisingly I thought that after taking a hot shower that I would be more limber and flexible, but this was not the case. I’m honestly feeling like I’m getting less and less flexible each day, which might be due to the lengthening, even though I’m not even at one inch yet. One inch of growth is probably worth more than one inch of loss in flexibility.

I finished the stretches, even though it was a little difficult. Then I lengthened each leg and put away the ERC. I felt a light aftereffect, but only on the left leg this time. I’m still assuming the right leg successfully lengthened though, since I don’t always get the aftereffect every time I lengthen. However, before this if I felt the uncomfortable aftereffect of lengthening at all it would have been on both legs. This is actually the first time I only felt it on one leg. At this point I figured I could go to bed. Even though it was late, if I slept now I would probably wake up way early the next morning, which is fine since the weekend kind of just flew by and I still need to catch up on work somehow. I took a Norco and then went to bed.

Surgery Day +28, Lengthening Day 25 (+1mm, 25.66mm total)

Last night when I went to bed I wasn’t tired or sleepy. I tossed and turned for a bit since my legs felt stiff and at one point I was on my stomach and I lifted my left leg up but the blanket was stuck and it hurt my knee a bunch. I felt like the Norco I took wasn’t doing anything since I was in pain from that. Fortunately it wasn’t like this for too long since I somehow managed to fall asleep shortly afterwards. I remember waking up once in the middle of the night and looking at my watch, but aside from that I slept very well until my alarm went off. My watch data shows that my total sleep time was just shy of 6 hours out of 6.4 hours in bed and that I woke up only twice last night and both times were very brief. That's probably the best ratio I’ve had in quite a while. When I woke up I turned off the alarm and lay in bed for about the length of a snooze. I wasn’t tired or sleepy, but my legs were a bit stiff as usual and I was thinking that I could have slept more if my alarm didn’t go off. However, it was time to get up and start working.

I got up and walked to the bathroom or my morning routine. The first few steps were weak, but my legs quickly regained their strength as I got to the bathroom and stood for a while. I came back to the main room and I was already feeling okay in my legs. The Wifi was down in the Airbnb, but I tethered my work laptop to my phone and signed on. It didn’t look like anyone was looking for me yet, though I knew it would get very busy today so I needed to get a few things completed before then. I took my morning Xarelto, but no painkillers since I didn’t feel like I needed any yet. Then I proceeded to make and eat a dinner-sized breakfast, then got ready to start my exercise and stretch routines. After doing those, I lengthened both legs with the ERC. I didn’t really feel an aftereffect immediately in either leg, so I proceeded to focus on work for the rest of the morning.

About an hour later I realized that my legs were actually kind of feeling the lengthening aftereffect a little bit. They weren’t in pain, but uncomfortable enough to distract my focus. I decided to take an acetaminophen since it was still pretty early in the morning and I wouldn’t be going to PT until later in the afternoon and I would be clear to take more painkillers by then. I continued to work all morning, only taking a break when Ronnie from Dr. D’s office came to pick up the wheelchair and walker I borrowed from the office, which I was really thankful for since I did not have a rental car or an easy way to return them before leaving Las Vegas. I actually only used the wheelchair once to go like 10 feet the night I got out of the hospital, so I don’t I actually needed the wheelchair. The walker I did use for quite a while though, even when I was perfectly capable of just using the cane, since I felt safer with the walker.

While working all day, I occasionally took bathroom and snack breaks and each time I got up I felt a bit stiff, but while sitting in bed working my legs didn’t really feel that bad. I took an extra long break to do some exercises and the midday lengthening session. Everything was normal for this session, though I feel like half an hour after lengthening, the area in the back of my legs (opposite of the knee, between hamstrings and calves) was feeling a little tight. Sitting with my knees bent made that feeling go away, but I think I need to do more hamstring stretches in general to continue lengthening, or I will quickly lose flexibility. Finally, after a full day of meetings and trying to get work done at the same time, I had to sign off and get to PT on time. I took my painkillers and called a car and headed over quickly. This was my last day of PT in Vegas, so it was time to say goodbye to all the staff that have been working with me over the last month.

I entered PT and checked in at the front desk. Another new PT assistant was working today, but overall the place wasn’t as busy as last time, so he was able to help with all of the equipment I needed and I got through all my exercises pretty efficiently. I actually did many of them with more weight or resistance. For PT, I feel like I am much stronger than last week so I’m definitely gaining some more access to my leg muscles. Even when standing up from a sitting position, I was able to stand up from a very low bench, where my knees were bent 90 degrees while sitting. I don’t think I can do anything resembling a squat yet, but I also haven’t needed to do that. Overall I left PT in a good mood and feeling like I was improving. I was determined to walk to the pizza place nearby and order a pizza for takeout. However, I walked about 200 meters and then realized that I left my phone at PT, so I had to walk back and get it, then walk all the way to the pizza place. The pizza place was in the same direction as the 7-Eleven that I visited earlier in my journal, but a bit further of a walk. In total since I had to turn around I walked 0.6 miles (about 1km) when I should have walked 0.35 miles (600 meters.)

I arrived at the pizza place and the door was almost too heavy for me to pull open. However, I managed it and then went to the front to place an order. I got a large specialty pizza since it seemed pretty big. That way I should have some leftovers to eat for breakfast or lunch tomorrow. It took about 15 minutes for my pizza to finish cooking and then I called a car and waited another 5 or so minutes for that. While I was leaving I actually couldn’t push the front door all the way open with my cane in one hand and pizza in the other, but fortunately a waitress was nearby and rushed over to help me. That was probably the single moment that I needed the most help in public since the surgery. After that it was smooth sailing to get back to the Airbnb. Upon arriving and getting ready to eat I realized that the pizza I ordered was a thin crust. No wonder it seemed so light given the size of the box. Sadly I would not have any leftovers for tomorrow. I devoured the entire large pizza in about 10 minutes and honestly I’m not even 100% sure I was full, but I knew I probably wouldn’t need to eat for the rest of the night at least.

Afterwards, I got up to use the bathroom and realized that my legs were kind of dead. After resting for a few minutes and then eating, my legs finally stopped having to work hard, so they must have decided to go stiff. Maybe stiff legs aren’t as painful when resting. Regardless I wasn’t planning on doing much physical activity for the rest of the night except for the last lengthening. At this point I remembered that I still had quite a bit of work to catch up on since I would be very busy tomorrow and probably wouldn’t get any work done at all. I had a few hours so I continued to work. The Airbnb host had some friends over for some kind of party and they were playing a game that sounded like they needed to shuffle tiles every so often so it was quite loud when they did. I don’t think it’s Mahjong because they were speaking Spanish, but it sure sounded like it was. I just played some music to drown out their noise in my room. It wasn’t distracting to the point where I would lose focus on work, and even in that case it’s probably better to be distracted by noise than leg pain.

Finally, it was time for the last lengthening of the day on my last night in Las Vegas. I did a light set of exercises and a full set of stretches. The stretches felt extra hard, but I was in no rush so I waited a little longer between stretches. After that I lengthened each leg past the one inch mark. Time has passed by slowly, but it has also passed quickly. I can’t believe I’m at the one inch mark now! I feel like I should notice a difference in my height, and sometimes I think I do, but not to the point where I’m sure I’m taller. Maybe that will change when I return to a familiar environment, but I won’t know until I do. Both my legs were uncomfortable after lengthening, but I tried to relax for a little bit before it was time to go to bed. Eventually I popped a Norco and got ready to go to bed. Dr D’s office had called earlier and moved my appointment to first thing in the morning, so I would definitely have to wake up early. Since I’ve been waking up super early for work, it shouldn’t be a problem. I returned from the bathroom and turned off all the lights and went to sleep thinking excitedly about how I was finally about to go home.

Surgery Day +29, Lengthening Day 26 (+1mm, 26.66mm total)

When I woke up I actually didn’t remember too much from how I slept the night before, but I did remember that sleep wasn’t too great. I was still pretty tired, but had been tossing and turning for the last 15 minutes fully conscious. When I checked my watch data, I saw that it took forever to fall asleep, I woke up for a while in the middle, and then when I last woke up just before 5:30 I couldn’t fall asleep again. In total for 5.1 hours in bed I slept for 4.4 hours. I got up to use the bathroom and decided to stay awake. I would actually have quite a few chances to nap later today. Unfortunately, I had some work to do and I didn’t want to take my Xarelto before 7am, so I worked for a while pre-dawn with no painkillers. It wasn’t too bad, since the act of waking up and sitting makes my legs less stiff somehow. Then my alarm for 7am went off and I took a Xarelto and acetaminophen.

I proceeded to do my leg exercises and stretching to get ready for an early lengthening. I felt okay with the workout, especially given how bad my rest was last night. I proceeded to run the ERC on each leg and hit the 26 mm mark. I then had some snacks and water, and browsed the morning news since I had a tiny bit of time to burn before heading to Dr. D’s office. Once it was time I called a car to head over to the clinic. I assumed the waiting area should be relatively empty today since it was so early in the morning and this was indeed the case. Everything was kind of like clockwork now, I went in and got my height and weight measured. I lost about 5 pounds in the last two weeks and it looked like I was a bit above 5’7” on the stadiometer, though I have some APT so I definitely am not able to stand at my full height. Next came the full set of x-rays, which were easier to take than last time. It’s not easy to stand or lay down and hold a certain position for the machine without feeling any pain. After that and answering all the basic questions, it was time to meet with the doctor.

Dr. D inspected my incisions and my gait. It looks like my incisions are healing up very nicely, but he was concerned about pigmentation in the scars and recommended a bleaching cream to try when I was further along in the scarring phase. He told me to avoid the sun on my scars the best I can since it can cause hyperpigmentation. He also cleared me for swimming, hot tubs, baths, etc. which I was very happy about since I have heard hot baths help a lot during the lengthening phase, especially when your knees are in pain. As for my gait, he also noticed that I swayed more when weight bearing on my left foot and said I needed to strengthen my hip abductors to reduce sway. Walking with the cane and compensating for the sway with the cane wouldn’t make it go away by itself. Aside from that, he said I was making good progress on my walk, but there were definitely other lengtheners who had better gait than me at this point. He also pointed out that I was taking less painkillers than the average lengthener at this point, but that I didn’t necessarily need to avoid taking painkillers, especially if I was feeling pain at PT, for example. He also said that I needed to be stretching constantly if I could, like doing reps with the resistance band while working, for example. He said that’s what the people who had the best gait did.

Next, for the x-rays they came out perfectly again. For the full leg x-ray, both sides were lengthened by exactly the same amount on the measuring tool. Both the front and lateral thigh x-rays showed callus growth on both sides, so I have clean growth on all four sides of both bones. The rate of callus growth is also good. Not so slow that I would have to slow lengthening and take more bone supplements, but not so fast that I’m at risk of premature consolidation. Really there’s nothing to complain about here. He mentioned that most people do not slow down after the first inch, but slowing down actually makes the process less painful since your soft tissue has more time to stretch and catch up with the bone growth. Slowing down costs time though, which is a valuable resource as well. I wonder if there is some point between 4-6 months after surgery, where both a fast lengthener and slow lengthener would be in the consolidation phase, that the slow lengthener catches up to the fast lengthener? Since consolidation by itself seems to make recovery faster. Who would actually be further along with consolidation and who would be more flexible? I would think that slowing down the rate of lengthening would slow you down on getting to consolidation, but lengthening slowly, you might be more flexible at the point of reaching 8cm than someone who lengthened fast, but maybe the person who lengthened fast would catch up on flexibility at some point further along when both people are the same number of days out from surgery.

For my lack of sleep, Dr. D said he could change my muscle relaxant to Valium and I could try Ambien as well. He also didn’t seem to be concerned about me taking Norco before sleeping. I just needed to send him a pharmacy back home to send the prescription to. I didn’t ask about any alternative forms of sleep therapy, and at this point I’m certainly willing to try what the doctor recommends. I will definitely be trying other methods to sleep though because not sleeping is just not going to work for me. Hopefully just being home would help my sleep, but I’m willing to take whatever helps me sleep. Also, I had completely forgotten to ask Dr. D if there was anything showing in the X-ray that might be reflective of the popping sound in my left femur, but he actually remembered this himself and told me that he looked closely at the left nail and there did not seem to be anything wrong with it. Since I had perfectly equal lengthening on both sides, that also means both nails should certainly be working correctly.

I also picked up the drugs that I ordered for the second month from the office. For my next set of x-rays, I got an x-ray order from Dr. D's team that I could bring into any radiology center to get the correct x-rays sent to the office, though apparently some places only take the order if it is directly faxed from the doctor. Also, there is no need to specifically find an EOS machine or worry about radiation apparently. EOS machines tend to be in children’s hospitals anyway, since they are more affected by X-ray radiation. For PT, I already had an idea of which PT I wanted to go to, so I would text that to Dr. D’s team later and they would also send that PT a referral and an order with all the exercise and stretch information that they needed to treat me. Dr. D said that getting massages was fine as well, so I plan to go to a licensed massage therapist once a week and PT at least 3 times a week once I get home, depending on how my schedule looks. Finally, I asked about flying and he said being on Xarelto makes flying a lot safer and that I didn’t need to move around constantly, but I should still move my legs if I remember to (and it’s something I would do even if I didn’t have CLL.) I felt better knowing that I could take a nap on the plane if I wanted to, because I definitely planned to try and sleep on the plane if I could. When I was leaving I did not schedule an appointment for my next visit since I wanted to check my early January schedule and flight prices, but I would probably schedule soon so I could save on travel costs. Everything is pretty much on track, so I left the doctor’s office quite content.

When I got back to the Airbnb from Dr. D’s office, I realized I was very hungry and hadn’t eaten anything yet. I didn’t have any leftovers, but I heated up two cans of soup in the microwave to tide me over until I could get to the airport food court. I consumed my soup quickly, along with some snacks and water. My Airbnb host texted me asking when I planned to check-out time and said I could check out later than usual if I needed to. I did plan to try and get another lengthening session completed before leaving the Airbnb since I would be checking the ERC in as soon as I reached the airport. First though, I needed to do some work. I proceeded to work for almost two hours even though I took the day off.

Finally it was time to pack my bags. I should at least try and get out of the Airbnb quickly since it was past check-out time. I mixed my old Xarelto pills into the new Xarelto bottle, and my old Norco pills into the new Norco bottle so I could toss two more pill containers and save some space in my bags. The expiration date on both is a year from now, so I don’t think mixing them really matters. I was going back with a little more stuff than I came with, so I would have to pack intelligently. Most of my clothes were in the dirty laundry bag, so I’d have to just stuff that in my luggage with as much air pushed out as I could. All the rest of my clothes I folded up and fit into my checked bag as well. I grabbed all the stuff in the bathroom and shoved it into my checked bag. All the stuff on the nightstand went into my backpack. I put my work laptop in my backpack in case I get bored at the airport and stuffed my personal laptop into my checked bag so I wouldn’t have to carry so much weight in my backpack. Not having to put the cane in my checked bag saved a little space as well. Overall I felt like my backpack was pretty light and wouldn’t put any extra strain on my nails, especially if I was walking with the cane.

Now it was time to do one last lengthening before leaving the Airbnb. I started my PT exercises and stretching. My legs actually still felt a bit tired, possibly from going to the doctor’s office earlier in the morning. It’s pretty sad when I can’t even handle a 90 minute appointment without being tired later in the day. I think it will definitely be a while before I physically recover from everything I’ve gone through. I managed to get through all the exercises and stretches though, and lengthened each leg. Although it had only been four hours since my first lengthening of the day, I surprisingly didn’t feel bad at all. Now came a moment of truth that I had been waiting for. I had come to Las Vegas with a pair of 30 inseam jeans that I wear often, but are normally a bit too long for me, and the bottom of the jeans covers the top part of my sneakers. Now I could see if I fit into these pants perfectly with my slightly longer legs. I took off my gym shorts and changed into the jeans. They went to my ankles instead of almost to my heels. I didn’t feel all that excited though, since it felt more like my pants shrank than my legs grew! I'm pretty sure I won't be able to wear these jeans with another two inches on my legs though! I then packed the ERC into it’s luggage container.

Finally, there was nothing left to do in the Airbnb except call a car to go to the airport. When my car almost got here, I texted the host that I was leaving and brought my stuff outside one item at a time. My checked bag was significantly heavier than the ERC, but it also had more wheels. Hopefully I wouldn’t need to lift the bag at any point, but if I did, I should be okay as long as both my feet are firmly planted on the ground. My ride arrived shortly after, and helped me load my bags into the trunk. I took a picture of the outside of the Airbnb that I lived in for a month with broken legs as a memory. Then we proceeded to head to the airport. This driver had actually picked me up before from Dr. D's office three weeks ago. I guess Vegas is a small enough place to get the same Uber driver twice. He actually remembered me since I had a walker last time and he said it looks like I’ve improved since I switched to the cane.

We arrived at the airport departures area next to a curbside check-in. The driver helped me unload my baggage at the side of the road, wished me well, and then drove off. The curbside check-in counter was empty as expected. I didn’t see anyone in sight that could help me. The ERC had two wheels and my checked luggage had four wheels. I basically used my luggage as a walker and pulled the ERC behind me and slowly made it to the baggage check area. I tagged both bags myself and then dropped them off with the airline staff. They didn’t even bother to check if my second checked bag was a medical device. I guess it looked close enough from the outside? The person checking my bags looked at my ticket and ID but didn’t look anything up on the computer or call me the wheelchair service.

I figured I was feeling pretty good at the moment so I could probably walk to the airport lounge and take a break there and then walk to the gate. I had quite a bit of time before my flight so I needed somewhere comfortable to sit, preferably with the ability to rest my feet on something. I didn’t really want to get wheeled around in a wheelchair anyway with the attention it would draw. I walked about 100 feet before starting to regret my decision. The first pre-check security gate was not open, I had to walk twice as far to get to the next open security gate. Going through security was interesting. It looked like they wanted me to go through the metal detector but then asked me if I had any metal in my body, to which I responded yes, so I had to go through the regular body scanner. They gave me a wooden cane and ran my metal one through the x-ray machine as well. Even after going through the body scanner they had to pat down my lower legs for some reason. At least it wasn’t my upper legs.

Once I got out of security I headed toward the airport lounge. Both it and my gate were in a different terminal, so I had to take two escalators and a tram to get to the right gate. At first I was nervous getting on the escalator, but I had enough speed to match the escalator when getting on and off. The tram ride was really short but I took one of the handicap seats since I really needed to sit down for a bit. On the other side I had to take a giant escalator up to the gates, which by this point I was an expert at already. When I got to the entrance of the concourse I took a look at the map. The lounge was not in the same branch as my departure gate, but I had plenty of time before my flight. I walked toward the lounge. Right outside the lounge there was a sub shop. I was pretty hungry so I ordered a giant sub and chomped it down, sitting in their socially distant seating area. Then I walked over to the entrance of the lounge only to see a tiny sheet of paper on the door that said the airport lounge was closed. I probably should have checked online. Unfortunately I had walked an extra few hundred meters for nothing.

I had nothing else to do here, so I walked over to my departure gate. I was so early that it was still “full” from all the people waiting for the flight departing before mine from the same gate. I found somewhere to sit down and unfortunately there would be nowhere to rest my feet so I tried to endure the pain. I wasn’t very successful. I tried a couple of different positions putting different amounts of pressure on my butt and feet, and bending my knees at various angles. Nothing was too comfortable. I think this is one thing that pre-LLers won’t understand until they experience it. Every single one of these sitting positions would have been fine before LL. I wouldn’t have to think twice about any of them before since no matter how I sat my baseline level of pain would always be 0/10. Now it basically varied from 2-4/10 depending on how I sat, and I couldn’t even stay in one position for too long either. The airport WiFi was fast so I tried to play a game on my phone. I could hardly focus and the screen literally felt like it was too far away for me to see things 100% clearly, even though it was the same distance I normally held my phone at. I think the phone felt further away because I was so focused on my legs. I did not get any benefit from the game and did not lose focus on my legs for even a second.

I had planned to get some work done while sitting on a comfortable couch in the airport lounge, but instead here I was suffering in the general boarding area where the chairs are basically designed to be uncomfortable. There was no way I could work right now. I didn’t even bother getting my laptop out. I saw a “laptop workstation” by the gate that had chargers and small tables to work on, but all the chairs were high stools, so I think those would have been even more uncomfortable than the gate seats. I eventually found some weird positions that I could tolerate. The first one was sitting on the edge of the seat and holding both armrests with my legs out straight in front of me. I looked like I was about to fall out of the chair, but this position allowed my legs to feel comfortable when they needed to be straight. However, when my knees needed to bend the best position was leaning forward with my knees as far back under the chair as possible and my elbows on the armrests. In fact this position worked so well that I actually dozed off for a bit, though it must have looked very weird to others when I was napping in that position (also lookalike like I was about to fall forward off of the chair.)

Finally it was around time to board the flight. I walked over to the restroom at the pace of a snail so I could go before boarding the plane. In the bathroom there was a row of guys at the urinals. Naturally when I lined up, my height dysphoria still kicked in since I realized I was the second shortest out of over 10 guys. My lengthening and hard work hadn’t really done anything yet, and the only guy shorter than me was clearly shorter than my original height. I really hope that the second and third inch do a lot more than the first one. I do think being another two inches taller here would have muddied the heights enough that I wouldn’t be able to tell if a good chunk of the guys were a little taller than me or the same height. Anyway, I quickly forgot about it and returned to the gate. An airline worker actually called me over and she said that she thought I would be here with a wheelchair. I said that I didn’t end up needing one but I would like them to get one ready for me at the destination. My home airport is huge and I was not planning to walk around over there. I already had over 5000 steps today and Dr. D said I should be averaging 2500/day during week five. Obviously my legs were already very tired.

Right when I sat back down, the flight actually started boarding. An airline employee found me in the gate area and asked If I wanted to board first and if I needed any help. I got onto the plane and I only had my light backpack on me so I was flying barebones, which is ideal. I put my backpack in the overhead bin since I was in the front row and didn’t have a seat in front of me to put it under. The flight attendant also said I had to put my cane in the overhead bin, which was reasonable. I didn’t want to hold onto it for the whole flight anyway. Plus the lavatory was right next to me so I didn’t need the cane even if I had to use the restroom. After everyone else boarded I remembered that I was planning to take a Norco for the flight, so I got my backpack back out of the overhead bin so I could pop the pill. The flight attendants hadn't given me any water yet, so I did the only thing I could, which is accumulate enough saliva to swallow the whole pill. It’s not a small pill by any means either. I managed to succeed by sticking a starburst candy under my tongue which produced a decent amount of saliva. Then I swallowed the pill, which was already a little bitter since I’m sure it was starting to dissolve in my saliva. I think the painkiller helped a bit as my legs hurt a bit less, though they were still constantly uncomfortable in the aircraft seat.

The flight itself wasn’t too bad. It was actually not packed at all on board, or at least I didn’t see too many people around me. I was able to stream movies onboard so I watched the new Harley Quinn movie, which was a perfect braindead action movie where I wouldn’t need to think about the plot at all. The whole time during the movie I would just switch my legs from straight and pushing off the wall in front of me to knees bent. Neither position was super comfortable, but the act of changing positions generally helped with pain. It was like at night when I have to keep changing positions to find a comfortable one, but I wasn't actively trying to fall asleep. After the first movie I still had time to watch at least part of a second one, so I watched Mulan. This one shows the crippled dad multiple times in the beginning, which immediately made me think of my own legs. At first I thought at least my impairment is only temporary unlike this character, but then I remember the character is just an actor who isn't actually crippled. I didn’t get a chance to finish the movie before the plane landed, but the couple of hours I was in the air were definitely tolerable. However, the thought of doing it two more times roundtrip before the end of the distraction phase made me shudder though.

I was one of the first to get off the plane, and there was a guy standing behind a wheelchair just outside the plane holding a sign with my name. I greeted him and sat down on the wheelchair and put my backpack on my lap. He pushed me to the baggage claim and my bags came out pretty quickly. Fortunately the ERC was still there. Even though I have like one or two grand worth of electronics in my other bag, the ERC would have cost me way more if I lost it. After grabbing both checked bags, he put the ERC under the wheelchair and pushed me with one hand while pulling my luggage in the other hand. We went to the rideshare pickup area in the airport. I had called a car as soon as he helped grab my luggage and it was waiting already. It’s much more expensive here than in Las Vegas because the airport is further out from the city, but I wasn’t exactly planning to take public transportation home. It was very cold outside and I only had a light jacket, but both the wheelchair pusher and the Uber driver were friendly and got me and my luggage into the car asap. I tipped the wheelchair guy and then headed out of the airport.

We took the highway into the city, which was not as congested as usual. When I finally got home it was almost midnight local time. Even though everything had gone perfectly smoothly and the plane even landed early, I still got back very late. The driver was even nice enough to bring my luggage into the front lobby of my building. When I entered my front door I realized that my place had a little musty smell, like no one had lived there for over a month. At least the lights still worked! It was cold since I had turned the heat to the minimum when I left, so I turned the heat back to a livable temperature and then I proceeded to unload just the basics from my luggage, which were my toiletries and chargers for my electronics. Then I went back out and grabbed the mail since I was pretty sure the mailbox was full. After I got back inside I looked around and disappointedly realized that I wasn’t any taller than before. I went over to the doorframe where I notched the wall at 169.5cm and 168cm for my morning and night heights. I took a measurement. I was barely over 170cm. I guess I’m only at 26mm right now, so that shouldn’t be surprising for my night height. Plus I have some APT, which is making it hard to straighten my back out perfectly and is surely reducing my height measurement. Nevertheless, the amount of height I had right this moment over my morning height was imperceivable, which led to a slight sense of disappointment. I can see now why many say the second and third inches make a much bigger difference in perception.

I heated up some food, then grabbed my laptop and took some notes down for my journal so I wouldn’t forget what to write about for today. While I was eating and writing I thought about all the stuff I could do now that I was at home, but I still needed to do my last lengthening of the day and then get some rest, so I’d basically have to push everything off to tomorrow. I can’t believe I still had enough energy to keep going at this point even though I didn’t take a nap during the day and barely slept last night. I laid out a yoga mat on the floor and started doing some PT exercises. I realized that I may or may not even be able to get up off the ground, but I’d deal with that later. First, exercises and stretching. Doing it on the ground was actually a bit easier than doing it on the bed at the Airbnb. Since the bed would move around and had no resistance it was actually harder to balance while doing some of the exercises. Once I finished my full set of everything I sat down on the couch with my feet on the ottoman to lengthen. This was probably the most comfortable I had been since I left the Airbnb this morning. Lengthening went great, and afterwards I immediately went to the bathroom to do my nighttime routine. Then I went to my bedroom, set an extra alarm, took a Norco, and tried to pass out quickly.

Surgery Day +30, Lengthening Day 27 (+1mm, 27.66mm total)

It’s true that there’s nowhere like home. My bed was much more comfortable than the one in the Airbnb. I don’t like the bed slipping around on hardwood when I move and the one in the Airbnb was on wheels. I had to constantly push it back against the wall, which was annoying. My own bed has a nice frame and backboard, and anti-slip pads under the feet so I don’t ever have to worry about it moving around no matter how much I move around on it. Somehow it was much more comfortable in my own bed in every single position compared to the Airbnb. I don’t know if it’s the type of mattress, or that I’m just used to it, or that the heat is turned to the exact temperature I want, but regardless of the reason, even when I woke up with stiff legs in the middle of the night, it felt better. It was almost to the point of questioning whether I should have returned after the first office visit instead of the second one. However, I would have had a much harder time getting around the airport at the two week mark as opposed to the four week mark. I did wake up at one point in the night with my whole body shivering. I don't think it was that cold in my room, so I'm just going to blame the Norco. I remember warming up quickly and falling back asleep though.

I woke up before my alarm, as usual in the past few weeks. I decided to get up so I turned off all my alarms. I checked my sleep data and saw that I got 5.5 hours of sleep out of 6 hours in bed, including a solid block of almost four hours. Not bad at all! Considering how late I slept due to the late flight and having a change in time zones, and walking so much yesterday, I think it was good sleep all things considered. Normally I should be able to stay in bed for eight hours trying to sleep. I also noticed my final step count for yesterday was over 7300, which I think is pretty crazy at the 1 month mark. Even over the last few days when I’ve been doing long walks outside every day, I’m only in the 3000-4000 range. That means I probably walked the equivalent of two miles over the course of yesterday! I’m very curious to see how my recovery progresses over the next few months. After going to the bathroom and doing my morning routine I checked my work email and I was immediately bombarded with urgent requests. It certainly felt like a Monday since I took yesterday off, but the amount of work I have in front of me also makes it feel like a Monday.

I made some breakfast quickly and then started working. I marked an empty spot on my calendar after my first meeting to lengthen. Since it was only a 15 minute block, I wouldn’t even have time to do a full PT and stretch set. I did the following: bicycle kicks, quad lifts, Thomas stretch, towel quad stretch, butterfly stretch, and a hip adductor exercise. Those added up to about 12 minutes, and I saved the last three minutes to run the ERC. This was the most rushed lengthening session I’ve had. I didn’t have time to stretch afterwards either, and immediately called into my next meeting and continued to work for the rest of the morning. Like Dr. D suggested yesterday, I tried to get in some hip exercises and other stretches while working if I could. I think it actually helped a decent amount because I was 99% sure that my workstation at home would be uncomfortable to use since my chair was pretty high, but I realized that there were two metal bars under my desk that were perfect for resting my legs on, or even doing exercises with. It guess it’s like one of those treadmill desks for normal people, except for LL patients hah.

I got a chance to take a break at lunch, where I spent a little more time heating up food to eat. Since it was cold out, hot food definitely uplifts my mood. After eating it I was back to work, but I was pretty sure I could get to a good spot and wrap everything up for the day before it was time for my next lengthening session. For the rest of the afternoon I ended up working partly on my desk and partly on the couch when I needed to rest my legs while they are extended with full support. Fortunately I did manage to finish up relatively early today and started exercising right afterwards. I did a medium set of PT exercises and stretches in anticipation of the next lengthening session. I feel like my hamstrings are falling behind a bit, so I need to focus on hamstrings, but they are the most painful as well (which sounds about right since they are the tightest big muscle for me.) Afterwards, I lengthened in my new dedicated lengthening spot on the couch. Haven’t really felt any aftereffects yet when lengthening at home, but I think I’m definitely a little bit tighter overall than a few days ago.

After my second lengthening I was a tiny bit sweaty from exercising, though not really that much since it was kind of cold even with the heat on. It was time to do what I was looking forward to quite a bit - take a bath. I got into the tub first before filling it with hot water because my tub walls are pretty high and I didn’t want to try getting in there with water. At my current flexibility level I was barely able to get over the edge since I had to bend my knee more than 90 degrees. I sat down and once the hot water covered my legs completely, I realized why hot baths had such a good rep on these forums. I really didn’t feel any pain in my legs in the bath and my skin felt really good as well. Unfortunately I was a little uncomfortable in my tailbone area since my butt has basically disappeared since the surgery and leaning back just a little bit made that bone push into the tub floor. Overall it was okay though, and if I bent my knees and lowered my body into the water it wouldn’t hurt there anymore, and if I really wanted to I'm sure I could find something soft to sit on. I soaked in the bath for way too long while thinking about life, CLL, and how I got here. Before the operation I would often sit in the tub with my feet about three inches away from the wall to feel how much further out of the water I would be if I was three inches taller. It always felt like a big difference and I would feel like the bathtub would become too small if I was taller. Of course, in reality this isn't the case. At just over an inch, when I sat with my feet flush against the tub wall I didn’t feel a thing. Even with my feet two inches from the tub wall, I still didn’t feel a thing. So far I haven’t felt any impact from lengthening yet. I really hope that changes after I cross 5cm. I definitely haven’t reached the point where I can say “this was worth it” yet and I’ve been working at it for a full month. I'm still running on projections and hope.

After my bath I showered as well to actually clean myself, then dried off and went to make dinner. I still wasn’t in the mood to cook, but I had plenty of microwavable food including protein sources, so I continued to heat up easy food to eat. I plan to start cooking by this weekend at the latest. I ate slowly on my desk and realized that my legs were in a little bit of pain, no matter if my knees were bent or straight. I hadn’t taken any painkillers today except for one acetaminophen first thing in the morning, so I probably didn’t have anything in me right now. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to take anything for the last lengthening, but I still had a few hours before then. Now that I actually had some free time, there were a few things that I needed to get done that I couldn’t in Las Vegas now that I was at home. I also had a ton of chores to do and I haven't even unpacked everything from my trip yet. Therefore I stayed pretty busy until late at night when it was time to do my last lengthening.

Also, after dinner I noticed that the local PT office that I had selected was closed already. Dr. D’s team had forwarded a referral and instructions to them this morning. However, they didn’t contact me at all today. I guess I will call in tomorrow to see when I can start scheduling PT since I didn’t want to fall too far behind. I’m definitely one of those people who needs the extra push from PT for stretching, especially if there is pain involved. Before LL when I was trying to lift heavy in the gym, the type of pain I would feel if I was doing the lift correctly is nothing compared to LL pains. When I push myself hard at PT, there is no "good pain". There are only two levels of pain: 1) “don’t feel it with the painkiller, keep going” pain and 2) “hurts even with the painkiller, make it stop” pain. I don't want to deal with the pain on my own so I'm basically outsourcing some of the suffering to the PT, who will have to hear me shout and complain. I also haven’t asked Dr D’s office for the prescription sleep aid yet. I want to try a few things and see if I can fall asleep without taking Valium, Ambien, or even an OTC antihistamine. Given that I had a relatively good night of sleep on my first night back home, I have some hope still. I haven’t given any thought as to where I was going to get my x-ray in two weeks, but I should probably schedule it soon. Knowing how slow some things happen in the medical world I might need to schedule it now to even get it in two weeks.

Finally, it was the end of the day and time to lengthen. I got all my tools and put them next to the yoga mat. I would do some upper body exercise as well since I didn’t want my non-leg muscles to atrophy as well. Of course that means I would need to eat more to maintain everything, but I should be able to pull that off. I worked out and stretched for over 30 minutes, which is a pretty long session for me at home. My legs were tired and in a little bit of pain, but working out made them less stiff and my whole workout was tolerable. Afterwards I lengthened and then got ready to go to bed. Instead of taking Norco before bed, I had something different to try - a chocolate edible. I know these worked pretty well in the past and made me very sleepy, and other lengtheners have given good reviews on it as well so it was worth a shot. After eating it and drinking a bunch of water, I sat in bed and got ready to sleep, though first I checked the forum and posted my backlog of journal entries. Now I’m going to go read something boring while I wait for my sleep aid to kick in. Good night, forum.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: InFullStryde on December 17, 2020, 03:39:15 PM
Incredible diary.  The details are so helpful to both prospect and current, CLL'ers.  You're doing great, buddy.  Keep fighting the good fight!

All the best,

IFS
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: L8GrowthSpurt on December 18, 2020, 04:48:36 AM
Thanks for the details; very helpful and appreciated! Stay strong, brutha 💪
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on December 21, 2020, 04:42:00 AM
Quote from: InFullStryde on December 17, 2020, 03:39:15 PM
Incredible diary.  The details are so helpful to both prospect and current, CLL'ers.  You're doing great, buddy.  Keep fighting the good fight!

All the best,

IFS
Thanks for the support, IFS!

Quote from: L8GrowthSpurt on December 18, 2020, 04:48:36 AM
Thanks for the details; very helpful and appreciated! Stay strong, brutha
Glad you find it helpful!

Surgery Day +31, Lengthening Day 28 (+1mm, 28.66mm total)

I think I ate the edible too late last night. It took about two hours to kick in, at which point I was pain free, but not really sleepy. After another 30-60 minutes I was finally sleepy enough to fall asleep. I’m not sure if the edible made me sleepy or if it was just really late at night. Next time I definitely need to take it earlier in the night. I remember waking up a few times in the middle of the night, and I was awake enough to check the time once. However, when I looked at my watch data in the morning, I had woken up many times last night so the sleep quality wasn’t that good. Regardless, I had 5.9 hours of sleep out of 7.1 hours in bed, which is tolerable. I actually didn’t wake up until my alarm went off and I was still a little reluctant to get out of bed, and I think I could have gone back to sleep, so those are good signs that things are getting better with sleep.

While I was making breakfast my phone rang with an out of area number. I assumed it was spam and didn’t pick it up. However, I got a voicemail saying it was the local physical therapist that I picked and they left me a local callback number. It was strange, but after eating I called them back to schedule. They had all my information from Dr. D already so they just asked a few basic questions about the procedure, but ultimately were unable to schedule me until Monday, and even then they only had availability while I would be working. That’s fine with me though, no one is going to notice me missing for an hour or two around lunch on a holiday week when half the office is on vacation. Some PT is definitely better than no PT, and the place is a five minute drive from where I live. After that, I called the biggest hospital in my city to schedule an X-ray since I know they are in network with my insurance. They told me that X-rays can be done during a walk-in and if I had my doctor’s orders then I could just bring them when I walked in. I need to get an X-ray the week between Christmas and New Years so hopefully it’s not too busy at the hospital. I won’t be very busy at work, so I plan to go in the middle of the day. I also scheduled my next appointment with Dr. D. During the last visit he had suggested a weekend appointment so I wouldn’t have to take time off work, but he wasn’t available on the weekend closest to my 8-week checkup, so I scheduled a regular weekday appointment. I have tons of vacation time anyway, so I don’t mind taking off a day or two.

I had enough time to lengthen before my first meeting of the day, so I set my exercise area up with all my equipment. I have noticed that it’s getting harder to keep my legs together when they are straight, though I can still do it. Most surprising to me is my hamstrings. I have been stretching them pretty consistently, but I have lost significant flexibility there. Before surgery I could basically touch my toes with my wrist. After surgery I could barely touch my toes, but as I recovered I was able to touch with my second knuckle. So basically I’m assuming I lost about 4 inches of flexibility from the surgery itself that I would be able to recover later. However, at this point with just 28mm in, I can’t even get close to touching my toes with my fingers, I’m maybe 4 inches away. I’ve lost these 4 inches of flexibility over the last week or so, so in total I have lost maybe 8 inches of flexibility in my hamstring stretch, and I’m barely over 1 inch in lengthening. Something seems a bit off, and maybe it’s even related to my APT, but I just need to try and maintain everything until Monday so I can see the new PT and hopefully they can solve all my flexibility problems.

Afterwards I worked until lunchtime. I still wasn’t yet in the mood to cook, and my frozen chicken that I put in the fridge still hadn’t thawed yet, so I microwaved some convenient food and chowed it down. I might order out over the weekend so I have some more variety, but I feel like I need to cook at least once soon so I get in the habit and so I don’t get too lazy. I had a decent amount of work to do for the afternoon, so I planned to grind through all of it and then do my second lengthening of the day. Unfortunately my plan didn’t work because my pain started becoming intolerable by the early afternoon. I had basically been at 1-3/10 pain all day because it was hard to find a comfortable position to stand in. I had an important meeting coming up and just 30 minutes beforehand I had zero focus, so I took a full Norco. I lay in bed and waited for it to kick in. Just before the meeting I started feeling much better, which worked out perfectly. After the meeting I was still feeling no pain so I did a pre-lengthening workout and stretch session and then ran the ERC. Lately I still haven’t been feeling any post-lengthening pains, but I am getting more and more concerned about my hamstrings. It’s definitely getting hard for me to stand with my legs together and I’m not even at 3cm yet. I’ve had APT the whole time as well. I decided that I was going to try and stretch my hamstrings every 1-3 hours going forward as long as I remembered.

I decided to cook dinner since it was still early in the evening and I was quite hungry. I’m surprised the Norco I took didn’t make me lose my appetite, but that’s good because I’d prefer to eat a lot right now, especially if it’s healthy food. Neither standing by the stove for an extended duration nor carrying the giant pan full of food gave me any trouble. I remembered that before the surgery when I was preparing everything at home I wasn’t even sure if I’d be able to carry a pan full of food from the stove to the counter. I really had no concept of what I’d be physically capable of at this point, even what I’d be like at all, but I’m way stronger and more capable that I thought I would be one month after surgery. While eating, I remembered that I wanted to finish the Mulan movie since I had watched part of it on the plane, so I put it on TV. Honestly the lengthening life is really not that different from regular quarantine life, the main difference is just that I have to spend a lot of time stretching and managing my pain throughout the day. The rest of the time I am just doing what I would be doing anyway. While I haven’t had the chance to appreciate any height gain yet, I am certainly glad that I’m lengthening at a time when everyone else is stuck at home too. I’m pretty sure the lives of my friends are just as boring as mine right now based on their complaints. I suppose they aren’t in pain like me, but they’re also not growing!

With so much more stuff to do at home than when traveling, the night passed by quickly and it was time to take another sleep aid - the same one as last night. This time I took it over an hour earlier since it took so long to kick in last night. I had over an hour to exercise and do the last lengthening of the day and then I would be in bed and ready to go to sleep early by the time it kicked in. I actually spent about two hours doing stuff and it never kicked in. I proceeded to stretch and do some exercises and the last lengthening. One thing I’ve definitely noticed now is that my legs are swollen again. I think the reason is because I walked around too much on the day I flew back. I think it is impacting how flexible I am, though my hamstring could just be losing flexibility. I also think my IT band is also tight around the knee. Hopefully the swelling goes down soon. I went to bed after lengthening and the edible never kicked in. I just went to sleep normally.

Surgery Day +32, Lengthening Day 29 (+1mm, 29.66mm total)

I woke up many times overnight, and I was very stiff each time so it was hard to fall back asleep. I also had to get up and go to the bathroom twice, and making that quick walk was difficult each time. My sleep data matched what I felt, I got 5.8 hours of sleep out of 8.6 hours in bed, which is a pretty bad ratio. I also woke up 17 times in the night and didn’t get any solid blocks of sleep that lasted more than one hour without waking up. I was sleepy and tired when I got up, but my alarm had gone off so it was time to start the day. I was also in 3/10 pain laying in bed, and I was hoping that the act of getting up would help with that. I could try to take a nap later in the afternoon. I made breakfast quickly, then I had to call into a meeting. Fortunately I wasn’t presenting anything, so I was able to eat while listening in on the call. Afterwards I wanted to get ready for lengthening, but I was very tired still, and my legs were swollen. I had no energy to do PT exercises. I lay down in bed and elevated my legs with pillows. In that position I fell asleep for a bit.

I was awakened by another alert on my work laptop and I got up. I had a little bit of time to lengthen now, so I forced myself to start exercising. Again, I had zero energy or motivation to lengthen and every action was a struggle. I got through my exercises and stretches one at a time. I feel like my hamstring stretch was another 1-2 inches worse than yesterday. It must be related to the swelling because I don’t think I should be randomly losing flexibility. When I finally got through everything I sat down in my lengthening spot on the couch and felt a bit of relief. Lengthening itself wasn’t painful and had no aftereffect. I think my biggest problem these next few days is going to be the swelling, so hopefully there’s a way to get rid of it quickly. I really didn’t expect that my legs would get swollen again. I really should have taken the wheelchair service at the Las Vegas airport earlier in the week. I’m also certain all that walking plus a flight is the reason that my legs are swollen. Fortunately my fridge at home can make ice, so with some ziploc bags and towels I could make some ice packs to use later.

I was still a bit busy with work and I had to eat lunch as well, so I didn’t plan on icing my legs until later in the day. In the afternoon I brought my work laptop to my bed and sat in bed working instead of at my desk. It definitely helped a bit to keep my legs comfortable since they weren’t doing that well in a sitting position with my knees bent (3/10 pain from the swelling/stiffness.) I think if I maintained a sitting position I would probably have to take a Norco sooner or later. I planned on taking half a Norco later to help me get through the middle lengthening of the day though. When I finally signed off work, I went to lay down with my legs elevated for a bit to help with swelling. Unfortunately my legs hurt, so it wasn’t easy to position them. I think I will need to use the help of painkillers to get me through the swelling. I did some more research on swelling and it does seem like flying is a contributing factor as well as working out too hard. However, to reduce swelling I need to drink more water to get fluids moving and improve my circulation. Raising my thighs above my heart level could help as well as icing them and massaging them.

I took half a Norco pill after work (though honestly it might have been better to take it earlier to improve my focus at work.) I browsed the web and ate some snacks while waiting for it to kick in. I gave it 30 minutes and then started my PT exercises and stretching. I selected exercises that would both help my strength and flexibility, and would help improve blood flow and reduce swelling in my legs. My flexibility was still absurdly bad with the hamstrings, but I’ll be more concerned if it stays this bad after the swelling goes down. Afterwards I lengthened both sides and then it was time to make dinner. I did the dishes and watched some TV while waiting for my pan to dry so I could cook on it again. Overall, my legs are okay post-Norco, but I’m still having some trouble sitting in a chair unless my feet are flat on the ground. Standing actually feels better, but if I straighten my legs too hard, it puts some pressure on my IT bands, though that might be good since I think I’d be stretching them.

After cooking and eating dinner, I figured it would be a good chance to ice my legs. Since my freezer hadn’t made enough ice for me to use yet, I decided to take an “ice bath” on my legs. I wasn’t sure how well I would be able to handle an ice bath during the winter, but I really needed to fight back against the excessive swelling. The water felt pretty cold, but I’m pretty sure it was at least 10 degrees above freezing. It was actually harder to keep my legs flush against the bottom of the tub than it was to endure the cold. I stayed in there for 15 minutes and then mixed in some hot water so the tub would be warm at least. Afterwards I elevated my legs above my heart level and played on my phone until I got bored. Of course my legs weren’t elevated the whole time, I still had to move them around to keep them comfortable. After I got out of the tub I ate another edible. I’m fairly certain it’s going to do absolutely nothing because I’m pretty sure the batch I’m eating is expired. I could go shopping for more tomorrow. I sat in bed for a while reading and then later at night it was time to do the last lengthening.

I wasn’t feeling great, but somehow I still had a little more energy than I did in the morning. I did my exercises and stretches half heartedly and then ran the ERC on each leg. I felt no lengthening aftereffect but I did another set of stretches afterwards just to try and push myself a little. Finally it was time to go to bed. Indeed I did not feel anything from the edible even hours later, so I would be going to bed with no painkillers again. Hopefully I manage to get better sleep, and if not at least there’s no reason to wake up early tomorrow.

Surgery Day +33, Lengthening Day 30 (+1mm, 30.66mm total)

I remember waking up many times last night. My sleep data showed 6.2 hours asleep out of 8.1 hours in bed. I woke up a total of 12 times but at least got a block of over 2 hours of consecutive sleep. As bad as it was, it’s still better than the night before. I got up pretty early considering my alarm was set to noon. I think sleeping in during the weekend is impossible anyway when you wake up stiff and in 3/10 pain and completely unable to fall back asleep. I got up and went to the bathroom for my morning routine. I took a Xarelto and Tylenol as my morning pills. Then I ate breakfast to fully wake myself up. At this point I wasn’t really feeling any pain anymore so I started preparing for my first lengthening. Once I got it out of the way I would have lots of other stuff to do today. While exercising I still felt completely out of it, though I managed to push a little harder than last night. I noticed that my swelling had actually gone down a bit since yesterday since I can actually tell where my knee ends and thigh starts whereas yesterday It was all one giant blob. Maybe the cold water bath worked. I could try soaking for 15 minutes in the cold tub again today. As long as it can get rid of my swelling the suffering will be worth it. The swelling makes it extra hard to lengthen because I don’t know if my pain and tightness are from swelling or lengthening.

After finishing my stretches, I ran the ERC on each leg. I just hit the 3cm mark but it doesn’t really feel that special. I didn’t notice anything at an inch and I still don’t notice anything now. At least things are still moving along, and reduced swelling today is a good sign as well. I should certainly hit the 4cm mark before the end of 2020. It looks like half my lengthening will happen in 2020 and half in 2021. I’m not sure when, or if I will need to slow down my lengthening rate, but so far my legs have been okay overall. I can feel like it’s getting harder to keep my legs together when walking, I can also feel that I’m losing some flexibility in my hamstrings, but it hasn’t affected me keeping my legs straight. My quads are the most flexible, and I have no problem bending my knees. I can feel my IT band stretch when I stand super straight and push my knees backward, but I’m hoping that they haven’t fully healed yet and can still be stretched. I hope that any reduced flexibility right now is still due to my thighs being swollen. I am a bit concerned about swelling being caused by flying, so I plan to take the wheelchair service next time even if I can walk better than I did on my first visit to the airport.

Now that I was done lengthening it was time to run some errands. I planned to drive for the first time and I didn’t have any painkillers in me, so I was ready to go out. Driving was no problem, especially since I was going to a lot of places not too far from each other so I could alternate between sitting in the car and walking around. My first stop was the bank since I needed to get some cash. After that I went to the local dispensary. I’m sure they up-sold me since it cost way more than I remember, though it has been years since I last bought any. I asked for a sleep aid and pain relief and got a pack of each to try. If it works I will come back for more. Next, I stopped by a drive through for lunch and then realized I was completely out of gas. Too bad I can’t reach across time and slap my pre-surgery self for leaving a car with an empty fuel tank for my currently crippled self. Fortunately it wasn’t that hard to fill up the car and honestly I feel like I can do most of the things that I need to do by myself. After that I went home with all my goodies.

When I got home, my legs were quite tired from walking around. It wasn’t late enough to start the second lengthening session of the day and I didn’t want to take any pain medication. I changed into indoor clothes and sat on my bed and watched TV for a while. My legs were pretty comfortable and I stretched my hamstrings occasionally. When it was about dark out I started exercising and did my second lengthening of the day. I have noticed that I’m at my strongest around the time of the second lengthening of the day. I’m not sure why this is, but it’s easier to do reps and stretch at this point in the day. I’m weaker in the morning and right before going to bed. Nothing too special about this lengthening session. Afterwards I sat in bed and watched some more TV and then when I started getting hungry I went to the kitchen to make dinner.

After dinner it was time for my ice bath. I plan to keep taking them until my thighs are no longer swollen. I plan to record a stair climbing video for you guys as well once my legs are not swollen anymore. I just really dislike the fat thighs look. Fifteen minutes in the cold water was easier today than yesterday and I think the water was actually a bit colder. Maybe my body is already adapting to this, heh. Again, after the cold water part I filled the tub up to warm water and then elevated my legs and played with my phone while soaking for a bit. When I was about to get out of the tub I took one of the sleeping edibles that I bought today. It said it could take up to 2-4 hours to take effect so I figured I would need to take it early for it to kick in when I needed to sleep. I planned to workout and do the last lengthening about an hour or so after eating the edible. If I was lucky then the painkiller effect would have kicked in but not the sleepiness. I dried off and went back to my bedroom to relax for a bit.

The time came quickly for me to do the last lengthening of the day. I started doing my PT exercises and I’m pretty sure in the middle of them my edible kicked in (much earlier than expected.) I went from struggling to sit down onto the yoga mat to having more than enough energy to do all the exercises and stretches. After I finished lengthening, I drank a bunch of water and then went straight to bed.

Surgery Day +34, Lengthening Day 31 (+1mm, 31.66mm total)

I think I took the edible too early last night. I did fall asleep fairly quickly, but I usually don’t have trouble falling asleep. I have the most trouble staying asleep for a longer duration. My sleep data showed 5.6 hours asleep out of 8.1 hours in bed, waking up 16 times and no single block of sleep over 2 hours without waking up. The worst period was between 5am and 6am, where I was awake for much longer than I was asleep. I remember not being able to sleep during this period last night as well and thinking that I might have to get up and start my day early. I’m not sure what else I can do for sleep at this point, other than to just sleep normally and then take something if and when I wake up in the middle of the night. I’m quite envious of the lengtheners who are getting 7-8 hours of actual sleep, or at least are able to sleep for long blocks of time. I’m sure they are more effective and focused when working than I am. I got up, went to the bathroom and started my day.

The first thing to do was to take my pills of course. I’ve been taking a Tylenol in the morning with my Xarelto, but I’m not sure I feel anything at all from acetaminophen anymore. Maybe the type of pain I’m experiencing isn’t really impacted by acetaminophen or maybe I’m too used to it and it has no effect on me. Regardless, I think it still has some sort of placebo effect because I’m not sure if I feel better or not after taking it. I made breakfast and ate it while watching some internet videos. I definitely feel very low energy today. Working out did not help at all. I did manage to finish a full set of exercises and stretches before my first lengthening though. Afterwards I sat down on the bed for a while and played with my laptop and phone. I really didn’t have the energy to go anywhere, do anything, or even think about anything. I’m glad I went outside yesterday when I actually had some energy because I don’t think I’d be able to today.

The morning passed by quickly and I made lunch and ate it. I decided to try and get some work done ahead of time to reduce my stress during the upcoming work week. Although I didn’t think I could focus I figured I could at least test my capability of focusing, and possibly take a painkiller to address it. Like I’ve said before, the distraction phase is all about finding painkillers that work for you. When I’m in 0/10 pain and focused, I can see how people say they can easily work during the distraction phase. When I’m at a baseline pain level of more than 0 and I can’t focus well, I can also understand all the people who took a break from work for the entire lengthening period. I think I’m somewhere in the middle. My job is flexible enough that I have been able to get away with it so far, but if I kept this level of job performance for an extended period it would definitely not look good on me.

I was actually able to focus for a little bit and get work done without any painkillers. I sat on the couch with my work laptop on my legs. I don’t think I could have done any work on my desk though since my legs are still pretty sensitive in certain sitting positions. After about half an hour I started feeling a bit uncomfortable in my legs, so I took half a Norco and then my focus went to 100%. It kicked in about 30 minutes later and I was feeling no pain in my legs, but amusingly I started noticing little things that I don’t feel when I’m in pain, like my incision sites and some of the skin near my knees itching. Anyway, I took a 20 minute break from work to exercise and lengthen, where I was full of energy and got through all my exercises and stretches enthusiastically. I guess painkillers still make a huge difference. Aside from my lengthening break I completed nearly 3 hours of uninterrupted work and cleared out much of my inbox. I should be able to slack off a bit next week if nothing urgent comes up :D

Next it was time to make dinner. As soon as I got up from the couch, I realized that the Norco had pretty much worn off already. However, I wasn’t really in that much pain, just back to my uncomfortable baseline. I cleaned the dishes by hand and then waited a little bit for them to dry. Once the cutting board dried I started preparing my meal. I think cooking during the lengthening phase is both good exercise and uplifting to the spirit. When you’re in pain, stiff, and uncomfortable most of each day, every happy distraction is welcome. Once dinner was ready I sat down in front of the TV to watch while I ate. It’s times like this that make me feel like having broken legs during LL is not that different than usual, but each time I wake up in the middle of the night I am reminded how different going through LL is than just being holed up in the middle of the pandemic. Of course, from the outside no one knows. My friends all think I’m going through the same things that they are, but I’m really taking biding my time during the pandemic to another level.

After finishing dinner and a couple of TV episodes it was getting a bit late so I decided not to take an ice bath today. While my swelling has definitely gone down a bit in the last two days, if I had more time tonight I would have taken another ice bath. I’m not sure if I can attribute all of the improvement to the ice baths, but I’m sure it’s helping, along with elevating my legs and massaging them in the direction of my body. I haven’t really noticed an improvement in my hamstring stretch though as my swelling has gone down, so I’ll definitely bring that up with the PT when I finally get a chance to go tomorrow. One other problem I have on flexibility is that my left leg can no longer do the butterfly stretch. It just starts hurting when I try - not even when I stretch too far but as soon as I stretch a tiny bit I get a burning feeling. I’ve been doing this stretch on my own as no PT has told me to do it so I don’t know if it’s even necessary, but it’s still a little concerning to suddenly not be able to do the stretch since it's technically a thigh stretch. I guess most lengtheners are more concerned about not being able to keep their legs together as opposed to worry about not being able to separate them. I also started doing a new IT band stretch in the last few days. I feel the stretch the most around the butt area, but it has actually greatly improved my ability to stand straight without feeling any pressure from the IT band around my knee area. I guess the whole body is interconnected so something that might not seem helpful can actually be helpful. Hopefully I find something similar that helps my hamstrings.

I decided to do my last lengthening session of the day just to get it over with so I could go to bed and rest even if I didn't fall asleep right away. Since I had already been stretching while I was watching TV I didn’t have to work out too hard before lengthening. My energy level was actually okay considering I hadn’t taken any painkillers. After lengthening I took another one of those sleep aid edibles. I brushed my teeth, drank some water, and went straight to bed without waiting for it to kick in. Hopefully I can fall asleep quickly and have the effects of the edible help me stay asleep for a few hours.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: Froggy on December 21, 2020, 08:07:42 PM
Great Journal entries as usual. I can’t imagine flying in my current state. I noticed the same thing with my hamstring and butterfly stretch recently. I’m right around where you were at the 1 inch mark. It hopefully won’t regress much further. Hang in there. Almost halfway done!
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: L8GrowthSpurt on December 23, 2020, 04:58:14 AM
BTM - dude you’re like 1/2 way through distraction, right? How goes the battle? Stay strong, you got this. 💪
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on December 27, 2020, 03:19:01 PM
Quote from: Froggy on December 21, 2020, 08:07:42 PM
Great Journal entries as usual. I can’t imagine flying in my current state. I noticed the same thing with my hamstring and butterfly stretch recently. I’m right around where you were at the 1 inch mark. It hopefully won’t regress much further. Hang in there. Almost halfway done!
It's good to know that someone is in the exact same stage as me - makes me feel less alone doing this! How are you doing now?

Quote from: L8GrowthSpurt on December 23, 2020, 04:58:14 AM
BTM - dude you’re like 1/2 way through distraction, right? How goes the battle? Stay strong, you got this.
Not quite halfway yet, but I will be before the end of the year. Thanks for the encouragement!

Surgery Day +35, Lengthening Day 32 (+1mm, 32.66mm total)

Another morning, another sleep report. I got about 5.5 hours of sleep out of 7.4 hours in bed. I woke up 14 times in the middle of the night but almost got a 2 hour solid block of sleep. I was super tired, but I got up and took my medicine including a Tylenol. My legs were actually in 3/10 pain walking around in the morning (which is a good bit worse than usual.) I sat back down in bed and got out my laptop. As I was using it, I dozed off. I woke up 20 minutes later and rearranged everything so I was in a laying down position and I took a one hour nap. After that I felt a bit better rested. It wasn’t that early in the morning anymore but at least I was more refreshed. I got up again and went to make breakfast and start my first lengthening of the day. I wanted some rest between lengthening and PT so I wouldn’t feel any aftereffects from lengthening while I was at PT.

While exercising and stretching I noticed that my energy level was pretty low, but I was able to get through my full routine. I lengthened (with no aftereffect) and then worked for a little bit. Shortly after that it was time to go to my new PT clinic. I took a Norco and quickly headed over. I showed up 20 minutes early to get my paperwork, insurance, and payment set up. When everything was ready, I went into the facility and met with the PT who I would be working with. She seemed very nice and asked me a bunch of questions about the procedure. She also tested my strength and flexibility in a bunch of different positions. Finally we spent some time doing PT exercises which were similar to the ones I’ve done before. She also used a massage roller on the outside of my thighs, which I thought would hurt since it was over my incisions and femur screws, but it was actually okay and helped loosen up my IT band a bit. Before leaving I scheduled PT sessions all the way out until the end of next month. I actually feel a lot better having a physical therapist that I can talk to, since it feels like I have someone supporting me through the lengthening phase. In the 6 days that I didn’t have any PT, I was just stretching by myself at home and it definitely felt a lot more like I was doing this all alone.

The PT center is in a strip mall so there are a ton of food options nearby. I grabbed some food to go before heading home. When I got home, I sat at my desk and worked for a while without feeling uncomfortable in my legs. Doing PT helps my legs feel more comfortable for a while even after the session, though I suppose the Norco I took before PT was probably doing its job as well. I continued to work for the remainder of the afternoon, though I took a lot of breaks so I would be moving around and not just sitting in one place the whole time. The afternoon wasn’t too busy and after I signed off work I started doing more PT exercises to get ready for the second lengthening session of the day. Now that I think about it, I’m not sure how much my PT actually knows about the procedure. I should probably bring it up to her tomorrow to see exactly what Dr. D’s office told the PT clinic. I want to be sure that she knows that I’m still lengthening and that I will get less and less flexible. She might think that I’m already done lengthening and am just trying to recover, which would probably result in a different treatment. After my exercises and stretches, I ran the ERC on each leg, again with no aftereffect. I’m starting to think that I’m in that middle phase where lengthening isn’t too bad and I don’t really have any surgical pains anymore. Hopefully it stays this way for a while.

After lengthening I wasn’t hungry enough to eat a big dinner yet, so I decided it would be a good time to take that ice bath that I missed out on yesterday. I actually brought a thermometer into the bathroom this time to see what temperature the water was at. It’s a cooking thermometer so I don’t know how well it reads low temperatures, but the water coming out of the faucet was 7C (45F) but it was warming up once it came out of the faucet due to ambient temperature, body heat, etc. After five minutes the equilibrium temperature of the bath water was 15C (59F) so that’s probably why it gets pretty easy for me to tolerate. I’m not sure I could keep it colder unless I actually dumped ice cubes into the bath, but for the purposes of reducing swelling in my thighs I think a 15 minute soak at this temperature is fine.

After the cold bath and a lukewarm shower I was still not hungry. I took a Norco earlier today, so maybe that affected my appetite, but I’m really just not that hungry overall, especially given how many extra calories I’m supposed to eat every day. I’m sure I’m losing weight as we speak, but it’s really hard to be motivated to eat when you’re not hungry, let alone cook, eat, and do dishes as well. For future lengtheners I would definitely plan to eat out more or have someone cook for you if you want to try and maintain a high caloric intake. At this point my legs were actually in 3/10 pain. I’m not sure what caused it, but it was there. I tried sitting down in bed with my laptop and distracting myself, but it didn’t reduce the pain at all. I kept changing positions with my legs, and eventually, after maybe 20 minutes or so, the pain finally went away. I wonder if it’s like this in the middle of the night when I wake up - 20 minutes of pain keeping me awake and then falling back asleep when it goes away. I’m usually too tired and sleepy to be able to tell what the problem is when I wake up in the middle of the night since I’m just focused on trying to fall back asleep.

Finally it was getting kind of late, so if I didn’t cook dinner now I would end up not eating dinner or just eating snacks. Sure, my brain isn’t hungry, but I need that protein and other nutrients to fuel my body’s bone regeneration. I cooked a meal and ate it quickly and then started getting ready for the last lengthening. I ate an edible sleep aid as well since I figured it would kick in shortly after running the ERC. Of course nothing went to plan. Halfway through my exercises, the edible kicked in and I lost all motivation to finish them. I half heartedly did a couple more stretches and then ran the ERC on each leg. Fortunately I had no uncomfortable aftereffect, otherwise I don’t know if I would have had the energy to try and do more stretches to counteract it. At this point I was super ready to go to sleep and quickly got ready to do so. I collapsed into bed and immediately passed out.

Surgery Day +36, Lengthening Day 33 (+1mm, 33.66mm total)

For the past six nights I still haven’t managed to get a good night's sleep. I’m sure it’s affecting me negatively, but I’m not sure how much I can do about it. I got 5.8 hours of sleep out of 7.4 hours in bed waking up 13 times with no single block of sleep over 90 minutes. When I got up I struggled to walk to the bathroom. My legs were in 3-4/10 pain just from standing and walking. The pain didn’t go away for the 10 minutes or so while I was doing my morning routine. I took my morning pills of Tylenol and Xarelto and sat back down in bed dressed up. I waited a while for the Tylenol to kick in and hopefully return me to a baseline pain level of 0/10. I don’t think I was as sleepy as the previous morning where I was able to take a nap shortly after getting up. Fortunately the Tylenol worked after a bit and I wasn’t in pain even when just sitting in the bed and not moving.

My stomach was growling at this point and I went to make breakfast. I should probably try to somehow better distribute my calories across the day since I was too full to finish my meal last night, yet very hungry first thing in the morning today. After breakfast I felt a bit better in my legs, but I had some stuff to do for work. I got it done as quickly as possible so I could start my first lengthening session of the day. I was definitely feeling low energy at this point, but I did a couple of exercises and then lengthened. Afterwards, I finished the rest of my exercises and stretches slowly. I think the sensitivity of my left leg to butterfly stretches is getting worse. Although I haven’t done any butterfly stretches recently, there are a lot of ways for my leg to accidentally stretch in that way whether I’m sitting or laying down and the pain is no good. It is a very different kind of pain than anything else I’ve experienced since surgery.

After my exercises I lay down on the couch briefly while working off of my phone. Before I knew it I had dozed off. I slept on and off until almost noon. I felt much better when I got up and I decided to make lunch, but my legs were still stiff, and in a bit of pain walking around. I tried to eat my lunch over the countertop in the kitchen but halfway through the meal my legs got too tired and I had to take a break and sit on the couch for a few minutes. The last few days haven’t been all that great in terms of lengthening, today included. I got up and finished my meal, and then worked for a little bit. It was almost time to go to PT so I popped a Norco and changed into my gym clothes. By the time I got everything ready it was time to head out, so I got into my car and drove over to PT. As usual, I didn’t feel anything from the Norco until after PT started, and based on how they’re pushing me, I definitely think I need it.

The PT facility was pretty empty when I got there. I suppose early afternoon on a weekday isn’t exactly primetime. I got on the stationary bike to warm up, and it’s pretty trivial for me to pedal compared to the first first few weeks out of surgery. At resistance level 3 I rode 1.19 miles in 10 minutes. It’s sad to think that I used to be able to run faster than that. Then I got on one of the tables and started doing PT exercises. There was a different PT today who was training me. I’m still not sure if this PT knew exactly what my surgical procedure was, but he definitely seemed to know that I have metal rods in my legs attached by screws. He also used the foam roller on the outside of my thighs, which was slightly painful but helped loosen up the IT band. We did the same exercises as I did with the other PT yesterday, and a couple of new ones which were kind of tough. He then did some range of motion tests and helped me stretch my hamstrings, then used the foam roller on my hamstrings as well. Overall I would say I came out of PT feeling much better than I did going in. I’m sure part of it is the exercise I’m getting and part of it may just be the timing of when I take Norco. I suppose it’s possible for someone to lengthen at home doing all the necessary exercises and stretches, but for me it definitely helps to have an outside party assisting with this even if it costs money.

This PT facility has a lot of mirrors and two of the exercises I did toward the end were standing exercises, so I got a good look at my current proportions. From about 15 feet away I couldn’t really tell if my legs were any longer yet, which is not surprising at only 3cm lengthened. My upper body is still in pretty good shape, and I think I look better overall than before, with a longer thinner look from waist down. I’m not sure how the other 5cm will affect my look, but at 3cm I can definitely say my proportions are more pleasing to the eye than before. When I got home I was still thinking about my height gained and I took a look at my starting mark on the wall. My current eye level is about two inches below that mark. Therefore, if I can hit 8cm then my new eye level will be approximately where the top of my head started out at. If that’s not a big perspective change, then I don’t know what is. Before lengthening I would be basically eye-to-eye with a 5’6” girl in flats. Going from that to looking at the top of her head is a huge difference. If she wears heels we’d be the same height instead of me being shorter. I think I’m finally starting to see and feel some solid evidence that I’m growing, but again it’s not to the point where I can confidently say that CLL is worth it yet.

I ate some snacks and then decided to lengthen right after I got back from PT since I was already fully warmed up. I did some minor stretches while waiting for the ERC to power on and then ran it on each leg once it was ready. I felt no lengthening aftereffect and I didn’t expect to feel anything because my legs were doing great. After that I worked for a couple of hours in the afternoon with no problems since my legs were doing good. After I signed off work, I sat on the couch and played games for a while - probably too long since my butt got a little numb from sitting in one position. I had to recharge my phone and laptop, so I did some stretching in the meantime. As before, I’m really not that hungry in the early evening, but I don’t want to wait until too late to eat because it throws off my schedule. I decided to cook something and I could relax and watch some TV at night and do some casual stretching. I guess I would be skipping the ice bath today. I don’t think my thigh swelling has fully gone away, but it’s not so bad now that it’s making my legs feel significantly worse.

I decided to try the high CBD content edible tonight. Who knows, maybe it would help me sleep better than the other one. I wasn’t planning to let it get in the way of my PT exercises though, so I made sure to warm up first and get ready to lengthen before ingesting anything. Since I had been stretching while watching TV I was already feeling good before starting my PT exercises. Once I was fully warmed up, I ran the ERC on each leg with no aftereffects. The ERC reminded me to charge it again, so it looks like you can get about 2-3 weeks of use out of each charge. Finally it was time to go to bed. I went to the restroom to do my nighttime routine and then hopped into bed before the edible kicked in. Fingers crossed for getting a better night of sleep! Lack of sleep definitely impacts how I feel and I actually think the last week in Vegas felt like it passed by quicker than this first full week that I’ve been home. Just need to hold out for one more week and I’ll be at the halfway point. It certainly hasn’t been easy and the pain that I feel tests my resolve every day, but I’m still holding on for that greater payoff in the near future.

Surgery Day +37, Lengthening Day 34 (+1mm, 34.66mm total)

The edible kicked in last night before I fell asleep. Since I was already laying down and sleepy I didn’t really notice it. It looks like I fell asleep about 30 minutes after laying down. I slept for 5.8 hours out of 7.8 hours in bed, waking up 12 times. Two of the times I woke up were for over 30 minutes each. I remember waking up both times and not being able to fall back asleep. When I got up in the morning it was quite early, but I was ready to get out of bed since I didn’t think I’d be able to fall back asleep. Based on the last two days I could probably take a nap later in the morning if I got tired. I got up to do my morning routine, then took a Tylenol and Xarelto. I sat back down on my bed because my legs were hurting a bit. I would say again I woke up with 3/10 pain in my thighs, which is exacerbated by walking around. Hopefully the Tylenol could help a bit but in the meantime I didn’t want to put any extra pressure on my legs.

I eventually got a little sleepy, but I hadn’t eaten breakfast so I didn’t want to take a nap. I got up to make and eat breakfast and then I started doing some work. Before I knew it half the morning had passed by. I had to lengthen soon otherwise it might interfere with PT, which I had around lunchtime today. Since I had PT I didn’t want to push myself too hard for the hour or two beforehand, so I half heartedly did my exercises and stretches, then ran the ERC. Fortunately I didn’t feel a lengthening aftereffect, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I did given how poorly I’ve been stretching lately. I continued to work for a bit and then headed to PT a bit early. I didn’t want to be late again so I gave myself some extra driving time.

I’m starting to get used to PT here and I did 10 minutes on the stationary bike as a warmup. I pushed myself very hard today, averaging over 100rpm on the bike at resistance level 2. I went 1.53 miles in 10 minutes according to the bike, which is still not as fast as my top running speed, but getting pretty close. Even the PT commented that I was going very fast on the bike. I actually managed to push my heart rate up to almost 160 during the bike ride, so I think this is actually the first time that I’ve really done any cardio since the surgery. I don’t believe I’ve gone over 130 bpm with any exercise before, and that’s with a post-surgery RHR of 90 or so. (My RHR back when I was doing distance running was around 54.) After the bike ride, I had to do a bunch of standing exercises, the most painful of which was a calf stretch. Apparently on the back of my leg it’s not just the hamstring that is excessively tight, my calf is very tight as well. This would explain why my sit and reach is so bad - in fact maybe my back is tight too. I’m still not 100% sure how lengthening my femur has made all these other muscle groups tighter by so much more than what I’ve lengthened so far. After the standing exercises, I lay on a table and did a set of PT exercises lying down. Afterwards the PT worked on my range of motion (including my hip adductor) and then rolled my IT band again.

After PT I got some takeout at one of the nearby food joints and then headed home. It was around this point that I realized that I had completely forgotten to take Norco before heading to PT. I wasn’t in pain at any point up until now, but as soon as I realized I didn’t have any Norco in me, I felt like I was in a bit of pain with every step I took. That goes to show that there’s certainly a psychological aspect with the pain. I got home and ate my lunch, then worked for a bit, though I think I was quite distracted because my legs legitimately were in a bit of pain for a while. About two hours after I got home I decided to take a Norco for some relief, and also because I would be doing the midday lengthening session soon, and I should be able to exercise better with the Norco in me. I sat down in bed with my work laptop and continued to work for a bit. Of course, I got a bit sleepy after a while since I hadn’t taken a nap yet. I didn’t want to sleep right before lengthening and get stiff, so I tried to stay awake. However, I still dozed off for a few minutes. Fortunately a coworker messaged me and woke me up. By this point my legs were feeling great again. As much as I try to avoid taking Norco, it really does work wonders on me. Maybe part of the reason it still works so well is because I’ve been limiting my intake so my body doesn’t really have a chance to build any tolerance to it.

I got out of bed and started doing more PT exercises. My life is currently centered around PT exercises and stretching for sure. Everything else is just a distraction to get time to pass by until the next lengthening session. Since the painkiller was working well, I pushed myself a bit harder on stretches. I didn’t increase the number of reps or duration for any exercise though. After that I ran the ERC on both legs with minimal aftereffect. I will say I am starting to feel a little uncomfortable on my left shin after lengthening, but it’s not numbness or a shocking pain, so it probably isn’t an issue with my nerves, but it could be an early sign of nerve issues so probably something I should check with Dr. D’s team. After the lengthening session I worked for a bit to wrap things up for the day. After that I decided to relax for a bit and played some games on my phone, but I didn’t get very far when a bunch of friends randomly messaged me (independently.) I spent the rest of the evening just chatting with people. I probably spend too much time isolated right now and having some social interaction outside of talking to coworkers is pretty nice.

It was getting pretty late and I hadn’t done anything in the evening except drain my phone battery. I quickly started making dinner - something simple and quick. I also thought through which exercises and stretches I needed to do before my last lengthening. I ate my light dinner quickly, then took an edible as a sleep aid, and finally started doing my pre-lengthening exercises. I got through everything fairly quickly since I did one less set of each exercise, but I did each stretch for its full duration. I ran the ERC on each leg afterwards and there were no issues post-lengthening, except for my left shin still. I wonder how often nerve pain comes only in one leg, would I have to slow down both legs if only one was in pain? I’m thinking yes, but it would be interesting to finish on one leg first while the other one slowly catches up. You could start consolidation on the finished leg and it would be comfortable and able to support you while the other leg was still recovering. Anyway, I had nothing else to do for the night, so I went to bed. It wasn’t that late yet, and nothing had kicked in, so I didn’t fall asleep right away. I pulled my laptop out and browsed the web for a bit. The edible kicked in and I slid down into a sleeping position and passed out.

Surgery Day +38, Lengthening Day 35 (+0.66mm, 35.32mm total)

When I woke up I figured I got decent sleep since I only remembered waking up once last night to go to the bathroom. However, my sleep data only showed 5.2 hours of sleep out of 6.9 hours in bed and waking up 11 times, which is not so great. I got up and did my morning routine, then ate my pills and breakfast. Overall I would say I was in 2/10 pain walking around first thing in the morning, so a tiny bit better than the last few days, but it’s still not great to be in pain while walking around right after getting out of bed. I signed onto my work computer and started working for a bit, planning to take a break for lengthening sometime in the morning. After about an hour I felt like I was not in pain anymore, so I figured it would be a good time to lengthen. The sun was also fully up and it seemed to be a nice sunny day (even though it was very cold outside) which boosted my mood a bit. I ran through the full set of exercises and stretches and then lengthened with the ERC. I didn’t feel too uncomfortable in my left shin this morning, so hopefully I’m still staying ahead of any flexibility issues at 1mm/day.

After that I continued to work until it was time for PT. Since it was an early afternoon PT session I skipped lunch and had some snacks instead. I figured that I could just get some takeout nearby after PT. This time I remembered to take my Norco before PT. Since I know the PT is going to push me (as they have every other day this week) it’s probably still better to go in with Norco. When I got to PT I started with 10 minutes on the bike. I went back up to resistance level 3 and I definitely didn’t have as much energy as yesterday, so I only rode for 1.21 miles in 10 minutes, and generated less wattage than yesterday. Afterwards, I did some standing stretches and exercises, and some laying on the table. The PT manually stretched out my hamstrings and hip afterwards, and then rolled my IT band. I also found out that my copay for this PT facility is actually cheaper than what I had to pay in Las Vegas (though only by 10%.) Since I will be going to quite a bit of PT here, the savings will still add up I suppose.

After PT I got some food nearby and then headed home. When I got back, I ate quickly while standing around (didn’t want to rest yet) and then did a lengthening session since I was still warmed up. I felt okay immediately afterwards, but after a while my left shin started hurting again. I don’t think what I’m feeling is nerve damage, but since it has been recurring I messaged Dr. D’s team with a description of my issue. Dr. D said I could reduce lengthening to 0.66mm/day for five days to see how my body reacts to that. I suppose I’m okay with slowing down this early in the distraction phase if it’s temporary. Five days of reduced lengthening is 1.7 extra days of distraction added on at the end. I’ll still pass the halfway mark before the new year and with a reduced number of PT sessions over the holidays a corresponding break with lengthening is okay with me as well. However, since I had already lengthened twice early in the day today, I figured I would start at the reduced speed tomorrow.

I was already off work and the sun was setting at 4pm so it was dark and dreary out even though it didn’t feel that late. I considered taking a nap, but I still had a bunch of stuff I needed to get done so I kept myself busy for a while. I wasn’t hungry at dinner time since I had stuffed myself with a late lunch, so I didn’t eat again until pretty late. I took a bath in the early evening, though not an ice bath as my thighs were not that swollen anymore. I took a hot bath instead, though unfortunately it didn’t really help that much with pain. I couldn’t stay in the bath for too long since my legs were uncomfortable, and after getting out of the tub my legs were in 3/10 pain while walking around and feeling both tight and stiff. I still wasn’t sure if I wanted to skip the last lengthening session of the day, or finish at 1mm today and reduce my lengthening speed tomorrow. On one hand my leg pain definitely pointed to giving myself some rest today, but on the other hand my second lengthening session was early enough in the day that I would have over 8 hours of rest before the last session.

The decision was made for me when I was lounging around in bed around 10pm and simply fell asleep. It would have been good to do an extra exercise and stretch session even if I didn’t do an extra lengthening, but I can’t do any of that if I’m asleep. Sleep is very important as well during lengthening since it’s hard to come by. This is actually the first time I’ve fallen asleep without preemptively taking a painkiller in weeks. I woke up quite a few times but managed to stay partially asleep until about 2:30am. I got up to use the bathroom and just walking around I was in 4/10 pain. I took a Norco and then sat in bed watching YouTube videos and trying to find a comfortable position while waiting for it to kick in. Once it did, I felt pretty good, but I wasn’t sleepy at all anymore. However, I figured if I didn’t fall asleep before it wore off I wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep at all, so I turned off all the lights and lay there, and eventually I fell asleep again.

Surgery Day +39, Lengthening Day 36 (+0.66mm, 35.98mm total)

Apparently my sleep wasn’t too great after taking the Norco. I remember staying asleep for a solid hour or so and then waking up to realize that the painkiller had worn off. I struggled to sleep for a while, but then it looks like I got two solid chunks of sleep in and didn’t get up again until dawn. In total my sleep data shows 6.1 hours of sleep out of 8.9 hours in bed. However, if you don’t count the 90 or so minutes I was awake watching YouTube in the middle of the night, then the ratio looks a bit better. When I got up I didn’t get out of bed right away. I sat up and replied to messages on my phone since I had a ton of them. By the time I got up to start my morning routine, my legs were at 0-1/10 pain, which is much better than any of the previous mornings this week. I only had a protein bar for breakfast since I planned to eat a huge lunch.

Next I thought about lengthening in general. Slowing down my lengthening speed, while a little sad for a few reasons including having to spend more time in the distraction phase and seeing my progress slow down as well, I think overall it’s still going to be beneficial for me. I get to test how my body reacts to slowing down to see how good of a tool it will be later on. I can also lengthen once in the morning and once in the evening without having to try and fit one in mid-day, which is usually the hardest one to do. I think ultimately slow and steady wins this race, and I went into this fully prepared to slow down and add more time to the distraction phase. Between my left shin and the inside of my left thigh I think there’s definitely some tightness/pain that could use a little bit of rest. I will continue to stretch at least as much as I did when I was lengthening at full speed though. After a few days I will return to normal lengthening speed and hopefully by then my flexibility will have caught up a bit to my current length.

As long as there is no risk of premature consolidation, the biggest drawback from slowing down is just spending more time in the distraction phase (the loss of time itself is not so bad compared to the extra suffering experienced during that time.) However, I wonder if in the long term it really makes a difference or not. If I spend an extra 10 days lengthening will it take 10 more days to recover my walking gait? I don’t think so because either way the soft tissue has had the same amount of time to grow. It might not even slow down bone consolidation since the bone is constantly growing even while lengthening. Anyway, I’m probably just trying to internally justify slowing down or psychologically convince myself that it is good. We’ll find out in a few days how helpful it is, and I certainly do hope it makes things easier for a while.

It was late in the morning and I actually had to do the lengthening session. While I wasn’t in pain, I was still relatively low energy today. I have been relying on PT for energy boosts, but I can’t expect PT to be open on a holiday so I would have to motivate myself to do the exercises and stretches. I did an extra long workout session (over 30 minutes of actually working out) and then I was ready to do the first lengthening of the day, after a long break from yesterday’s last session. Running the ERC was no problem and I didn’t really feel any aftereffects. That’s a good sign, and I’m definitely continuing to look out for any issues with my shin or inner thigh. I had a lot of stuff to do after lengthening, and everything I do takes longer than normal. For example, taking out the garbage and recyclables would have taken one trip with working legs, but in my current state it takes three trips. I stayed busy until lunchtime, at which point I ate a ton. After that I continued to go through my to do list.

I did another stretching session for over 30 minutes in the late afternoon, even though I wasn’t going to lengthen. I think I need every stretch I can get, even at the reduced lengthening rate. Although it isn’t easy to motivate myself to do anything, let alone painful stretches, I know I have to continue with it. I can feel that the second half of the distraction phase is actually going to be harder than the first half so while I’m not really looking forward to it. However, I am very much looking forward to being completely done with this so I need to use that as motivation to keep driving myself forward. Unfortunately after my stretching session my legs were in about 3/10 pain when I was walking around inside so I took a Norco. I figured once it kicked in I could stretch some more. I didn’t have too much energy though, and I also didn’t feel the Norco kick in as hard as last night. I’m always fearful of building up a tolerance so I try to save my Norco for a rainy day. I ended up only doing a few light stretches after resting for a bit.

I decided to take a bath to heat up my legs and body as I felt like all my extremities were a bit cold. (Nothing to do with lengthening, just a cold day.) I can still only barely lift my legs high enough to get into the tub, so I consider it a risky maneuver, but I have a chair right next to the tub that I’ve been using for support. It’s also a great place to put my phone when I’m not using it. Anyway, in the tub I noticed that my butt was even flatter than before (due to both muscle and fat loss) and it’s getting harder for me to sit down on a hard surface. I’ve also been doing my exercises/stretches on the couch and in bed instead of on the ground on my yoga mat because it’s just too painful whenever I roll over my tailbone. Because of this, I ordered a full body bath pillow online. Once it gets here I will let everyone know how useful it is. I feel like being able to lay down comfortably in the bath where your legs feel very light due to buoyancy should be very good for pain. Since I can’t sit or lay down too comfortably in the bathtub I have to soak in weird positions which makes it harder for my legs to stay comfortable as well. As I got out of the tub I noticed that my toenails were quite long since I hadn’t clipped them since before my surgery. At first I wasn’t sure if I would be flexible enough to do it myself, but I sat on my chair next to the bathtub and put my feet on the side of the tub and it was very easy to reach.

Normally at this point in the day I should have been getting hungry, but the Norco I took earlier was probably suppressing my hunger. I did eat a big lunch earlier, but that’s still only one meal. If I didn’t get hungry before bedtime, I would have to try and eat something before going to sleep. Although yesterday I somehow managed to fall asleep without taking a preemptive sleep aid, I wasn’t planning to let sleep come naturally tonight. I spent most of the evening talking with family, and before I knew it, it was well past 9pm and I realized that I still had zero hunger, so I prepared a meal purely for the sake of nutrition intake. I’m sure the Norco had already worn off by this point so I’m not sure why my appetite was still so bad. I was not in pain walking around though, so maybe it’s still lingering in my bloodstream. One thing I’ve started trying to do (when I remember) is to march instead of walk. I think deliberately exaggerating a proper walking gait might do more to stretch and train the correct muscles for walking than limping around with my cane and walking in the way that is currently the most comfortable for me. While I was eating I thought about other things that I could do to increase the amount of stretching I was doing, but all I could think of is that I need to somehow get a lot more motivation.

After dinner, I ate an edible and then raced against the clock to finish my workout and second lengthening before it kicked in. I did a fairly long workout, but even so I didn’t expect the edible to kick in so quickly. I suddenly felt it right when I was about to start running the ERC. Fortunately I had already finished exercising because it hit me pretty hard. I was barely able to operate the ERC correctly, and after I finished lengthening I drank some water and then immediately went to bed and passed out.

Surgery Day +40, Lengthening Day 37 (+0.66mm, 36.64mm total)

I really don’t like the way the Apple Watch sends sleep data to the phone. If you wake up earlier than your alarm and turn off the alarm, it doesn’t seem to detect that you woke up half the time and then deletes your sleep tracking data, which is just terrible. I have no sleep data from last night, but based on what I remember waking up in the middle of the night and how tired I was this morning I don’t think my sleep was any different than any of the past nights this week. I was not sure if I would be able to take a nap at some point during the day, but that would probably be beneficial for me. I got up to use the restroom, with 3/10 pain in my legs walking over, though the process of walking was still okay for me. I took my morning medication and then grabbed a protein bar and hopped back into bed to eat it. I played on my phone and laptop for a bit before deciding to get up and start the first lengthening session of the day. I was at 0/10 pain when not moving so I wasn’t planning to take any additional painkillers. I might stop taking Tylenol first thing in the morning because it doesn’t seem to actually do anything for me.

For my first round of PT exercises in the morning my energy level was medium, but my motivation was super low. I just couldn’t seem to force myself to do anything. I half heartedly did my stretches, and even fell asleep for 10 minutes in the middle of stretching. I finally finished my stretches and ran the ERC. After that I did some extra stretches of my hamstrings and quads. Of course, things just can’t go without a hitch so after stretching my left quad I had some knee pain, so I had to stop. I kept myself busy for a little while longer and then it was time to eat lunch. I ate a ton for lunch, and after lunch I was feeling okay (left knee pain gone) so I decided to record a video for the journal. Here it is:

https://youtu.be/cwWvAq-NX50

I’m still a little bit swollen in the thighs right now so that’s my excuse for my legs looking fat. My APT is also getting worse, so that makes me look a little fatter than normal along with the baggy clothes. I think I’m okay on the stairs given that it was actually my first time going up and down them. It feels much easier to go up the stairs than down them. As for walking I don’t think my gait is that good right now. I definitely feel like things are harder than they were earlier on in lengthening. I also took this video with a zoom lens instead of ultrawide, so there might be some differences from that as well. My step distance definitely seems shorter in this video.

Making the video burned a bit of time, but it was still only the early afternoon and I didn’t really have much to do for the rest of the day. I guess the only thing to do was waste the afternoon on TV shows. I could still occasionally stretch while watching TV and try to find positions that were comfortable for me. While I was watching TV it got dark outside. Around 7pm I decided to do a lengthening session. It would be under 12 hours from the first lengthening, but I figured I’d need to get my body used to lengthening with less than 12 hours of rest in between otherwise it would be hard to switch back to 1mm/day. I did my exercises pretty efficiently and then ran the ERC. Everything was great and I decided to eat a CBD edible and then take a bath.

The edible didn’t kick in right away and I was playing on my phone while enjoying the hot water (though my tailbone was so uncomfortable I don’t want to take any more baths until my bath mattress gets here.) I put my phone down and within a few minutes I felt super comfortable and drowsy. I knew that the edible had kicked in and I really enjoyed soaking in the water for a bit, but of course I was way too comfortable like this and fell asleep. I don’t even remember how long I slept because I was so out of it when I woke up that I didn’t remember to look at the time. All I knew was that I was shivering because the water was cold already. I started draining the tub and stood up. Fortunately the pain relieving effects of the edible were still in effect and although my legs were a little weak I was able to stand in the tub. I dried myself off quickly, which warmed me up and then I got out of the tub and limped into my bedroom. I changed into sleeping clothes, but then realized I was incredibly hungry (I wonder why?) While I hadn’t eaten dinner I was in absolutely no condition to cook. I stood in the kitchen and ate/drank about 800 calories worth of snacks and called it a meal. Then I went to bed with a smile on my face because I could tell that I was going to fall asleep very quickly the second that my head hit the pillow.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: L8GrowthSpurt on December 28, 2020, 03:34:32 AM
BTM - Thanks for the update and video; I’m trying to plan for stairs which I’ll have to deal with lots during recovery.  You looked like you handled them well. Did you have increased pain when navigating the stairs? How’d that compare to baseline? Also, the edibles seem to me to be a great idea to try and ameliorate the low grade constant type pain and help with sleep. Any observations about their utility? Stay strong 💪; before you know it you’ll be there
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: Froggy on December 28, 2020, 05:35:22 AM
Hey BTM, great entry as usual. Glad to see you making steady progress towards your goal. I’ve tried reduced lengthening on occasion and they seem to help tremendously in terms of letting the soft tissues catch up and not feel as tight. Curious to see if you observe and feel the same during the 5 days of reduced lengthening.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: Stryde2021 on December 28, 2020, 11:56:37 PM
Great diary BTM, but it would be really nice to get a concise summary post on your progress for your next entry.  No offense--your entries are just a LOT to read to find the substantive info!

For example, where are you at on:
-Pain meds--what are you still taking?
-Mobility:  how far can you go with the cane?  Can you do any meaningful distance unassisted?
-Stretching routine:  how often?
-How tight?
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on December 30, 2020, 04:06:04 AM
Quote from: L8GrowthSpurt on December 28, 2020, 03:34:32 AM
BTM - Thanks for the update and video; I’m trying to plan for stairs which I’ll have to deal with lots during recovery.  You looked like you handled them well. Did you have increased pain when navigating the stairs? How’d that compare to baseline? Also, the edibles seem to me to be a great idea to try and ameliorate the low grade constant type pain and help with sleep. Any observations about their utility? Stay strong; before you know it you’ll be there
I haven’t tried stairs until now, but I think they should be doable pretty early on in the process as long as you have the guardrail in one hand and a crutch or cane in the other hand. Edibles are okay, but I don’t think they are the magic sleep pill that some other lengtheners have called them. I do think it’s at least as effective as Norco for helping me with sleep though. I plan to try CBD without THC when I get a chance to see if CBD by itself can help with sleep.

Quote from: Froggy on December 28, 2020, 05:35:22 AM
Hey BTM, great entry as usual. Glad to see you making steady progress towards your goal. I’ve tried reduced lengthening on occasion and they seem to help tremendously in terms of letting the soft tissues catch up and not feel as tight. Curious to see if you observe and feel the same during the 5 days of reduced lengthening.
Hey Froggy, slowing down these five days has definitely helped with soft tissue tightness. I think that it greatly reduced the pain in my left shin and the inside of my left thigh. I’m afraid that as soon as I go back to 1mm/day all the early nerve pain signs will return though. I guess we’ll find out soon!

Quote from: Stryde2021 on December 28, 2020, 11:56:37 PM
Great diary BTM, but it would be really nice to get a concise summary post on your progress for your next entry.  No offense--your entries are just a LOT to read to find the substantive info!

For example, where are you at on:
-Pain meds--what are you still taking?
-Mobility:  how far can you go with the cane?  Can you do any meaningful distance unassisted?
-Stretching routine:  how often?
-How tight?

What you consider to be substantive information right now will likely change once you start the LL process. The things you listed are going to vary a lot from patient to patient and doctor to doctor. You should be listening to your doctor’s advice for what to do regarding these and not some random person on the internet.

Surgery Day +41, Lengthening Day 38 (+0.66mm, 37.30mm total)

I woke up a few times last night and once again I couldn't fall back asleep after dawn. I think I finally figured out the best way to turn my alarm off early without losing my sleep data. It is to just set the alarm to the next few minutes and then let it go off. According to my sleep data I got 7.5 hours of sleep out of 8.3 hours in bed. I’m not sure how I slept so much and so efficiently, but I’ll take it! I only woke up 5 times last night, though the fifth time was for almost half an hour. I got nearly two 3-hour chunks of solid sleep as well and I actually remember dreaming, though not what I dreamed about. Hopefully I can figure out how to replicate this sleep success, because this morning I have more energy than I had any other morning this last week. I haven’t slept this well in over 10 days. I got up and did my morning routine. My legs were at 3/10 pain walking around, but I only took Xarelto and skipped the Tylenol since I wanted to see if it was actually doing anything in the morning (and I don’t think it does.) Next, I sat in bed for a while and worked on this journal and my log keeping for LL since I was so out of it last night that I didn’t write anything down.

After about an hour I got out of bed to make breakfast. I had been pretty hungry, but I was comfortable and making good progress on my journal so I didn’t want to move around yet. After breakfast I sat back in bed and continued to work on my laptop. I wanted to do my first lengthening fairly early today, but not so early that I wouldn’t be mentally ready for it. After another hour or so my legs were still a little uncomfortable, though not in any pain while sitting in bed, and I decided to just take a Tylenol. I still can't tell if the Tylenol has any pain relieving effect or if I was just distracted by other things but eventually I felt a little better. I got out of bed and started doing PT exercises and stretches to prepare for lengthening. My energy level was still pretty good and I was motivated enough to do full sets of even the harder stretches. I lengthened afterwards with no problems. After that I sat back in bed with my laptop for a bit. Around lunchtime I ordered takeout since the meat I had taken out of the freezer yesterday hadn’t finished defrosting yet. Since I figured it wouldn’t hurt to get some fresh air, I drove over to the restaurant to pick my food up in person.

When I got back I ate a ton for lunch, but still had plenty of leftovers. Then I kept busy with some errands and chatted with people for most of the afternoon. Towards the end of the afternoon I also decided to go to my building gym and try out the stationary bike. While it’s not completely safe to go to any gym during the pandemic, I was looking at the schedule for my gym and not a lot of people were signed up, especially over the holidays, so I think the risk is pretty low right now. I took a Norco right before heading down to the gym. When I peeked into the gym entrance, there was only one other person there and he ultimately ended up leaving about 10 minutes into my workout. I got on the Peloton bike and did a 20 minute beginner course. I scored in the bottom 14th percentile of males 30-39 with a weak 40kJ of output. While I’ve never scored in the bottom 14%ile on anything (except height) I didn’t actually feel bad about my biking score because I was too busy feeling bad for the ~4,000 people that I beat, because I’m pretty sure they did the course without any broken femurs (lol.)

One very important side note about biking during lengthening - the bikes that I was using at both the Vegas PT and my local PT were the kind that you could sit on comfortably and even lean back while pedaling. The Peloton was designed like a road bike, with an uncomfortable but aerodynamic seat. I was wearing regular gym shorts, I didn’t want to put too much weight on my legs, and my butt doesn’t provide a lot of padding right now, so it was extremely uncomfortable for me to sit on that bike seat and after I got off my perineum was slightly numb (awkward.) Fortunately, I have a pair of biking shorts from my triathlon days, so I will definitely remember to wear that the next time I use the Peloton. Keep that in mind if the bike you have access to is similar to mine. I still had about 15 minutes left in my allotted gym time, so I got a pair of 15 pound dumbbells to test out what I could safely do with my upper body. I carried the dumbbells one at a time to the bench and when I was using them I made sure not to put any extra weight or pressure on my legs. I hit my biceps and triceps, and also did multiple shoulder exercises. After doing a few sets of each lift, I felt really good (or the Norco finally kicked in.) My muscles were tired as I haven’t lifted anything with my upper body for a long time but it was the kind of soreness that makes you feel really satisfied. I was in an optimistic mood for the first time in a week or two, and I think I will be scheduling a lot more sessions in the gym, especially on days that I don’t have PT. Maybe if I improve my upper body build significantly while lengthening then I can just tell people that I got the Captain America treatment (and I’m only half joking.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F020aNi0wS0

After that I left the gym and went home. I put a football game on in the background and started stretching for a lengthening session. Stretching was a lot easier after a workout and I spent about 15 minutes hitting all the usual stretches and then I lengthened with no issues, though I did feel a bit of pain on my left knee while stretching. It was definitely being dampened by the Norco because I’ve had the same pain before and it was a lot worse last time. I wasn’t hungry at all, and it wasn’t late yet. I tried to get some work done in the evening. As usual, it would help reduce my workload during the week so I could go offline in the middle of the day to go to PT and stuff. I was fairly productive for a while and I reached a good spot in preparation for the upcoming work week. At this point it was time to try the same sleep strategy as last night since it had worked so well. I took a CBD edible and finished watching the rest of the football game. I wasn’t going to take a bath and risk falling asleep in there again, but I did need to take a shower since I went to the gym today. After my shower I was hungry again and fortunately I had leftovers so I heated those up and ate them quickly. Then I went to bed feeling very good and anticipating that I should be able to fall asleep quickly.

Surgery Day +42, Lengthening Day 39 (+0.66mm, 37.96mm total)

I really don’t remember too much about last night, except that while I was half asleep I tried to stretch my left inner thigh (butterfly stretch) and it actually didn’t hurt that much since my pain was suppressed. I also remember waking up for a good 20 minutes around 2am and not being able to fall back asleep. During that time I got up to take a Norco and then immediately went back to bed. According to my watch, I slept for a total of 6.2 out of 7.6 hours in bed and woke up 8 times, but got nearly two 2-hour blocks of solid sleep. That’s about an average night for me during lengthening. However, I felt pretty refreshed this morning so I think I actually fell asleep before my watch started tracking my sleep. (Like I said before, the Apple Watch isn’t actually good at tracking sleep if you sleep before/after when the sleep start time is set or wake up before the alarm goes off.) I also think I fell into a relatively deep sleep last night because I remembered dreaming again. I don’t remember too many details about the dream, only that my hair was really messed up in it. Anyway, since I don’t feel tired at all I think I will continue my current sleep strategy.

I got out of bed to do my morning routine and take my pills, then grabbed my work laptop and sat back down in bed. After working in bed for about an hour, I realized that I was incredibly hungry and had completely forgotten to eat breakfast. I got up to make and eat breakfast, then I figured it would be best to lengthen early in the day. Today is the last of five consecutive days of lengthening at 2 sessions per day (0.66mm/day) so tomorrow I’m going back to full speed (1mm/day.) I planned to lengthen twice relatively early in the day today and then “skip” the last session; this way my body is at least used to two lengthenings relatively close to each other. I started doing my PT exercises and stretches, but didn’t overload myself since I had to actually go to PT today. After doing a set of everything I ran the ERC on each leg. I think slowing down has definitely helped me with overall pain, tightness, and stiffness as I feel less of all of it. However, it’s hard to quantify how much slowing down has helped though, because while less of something that’s tolerable is helpful, it may or may not be necessary. It is definitely helpful that both my left shin and left inner thigh hurt less than they did before, so I suppose slowing down has definitely helped with potential nerve issues.

I returned to work for the rest of the morning all the way until it was time to leave for PT. I headed over quite early since I needed to leave PT early and hoped that they would allow me to get started early so I wouldn’t miss out on too many exercises. Right when I drove out of the garage I realized that I had forgotten to take Norco before leaving, but it was too late already. However, since I had gone through PT a couple of times without any painkillers in the past it would probably be fine. I arrived at PT about 15 minutes early and they were ready to get me started, so I rode the stationary bike for 10 minutes. I got 1.32 miles at resistance level 3, so a bit of an improvement over last time, especially since I wasn’t trying very hard today. Although the PT I had been working with most of last week was present, I actually had a different PT working with me today. She had me lay down on the table and rolled out my hamstrings, then my IT bands. I felt a bit sore wherever the roller touched, but it was not the painful kind of sore, more like the sore feeling you get after working out. The roller was also relieving the soreness at the same time it was causing it, so maybe the soreness was already there. For some reason I got very ticklish when she rolled over my upper femur screws, I flinched but managed to stifle my laugh. After that I did a series of PT exercises on the table, and then a bunch of standing exercises and stretches. I finished up the last exercise right when I needed to leave, bid farewell to everyone at the PT facility, and rushed out to my car.

I immediately drove back to my place after PT and while I was in the building elevator I subconsciously leaned back onto the handrail (which I have been avoiding since the start of the pandemic) and suddenly realized that I had grown relative to the handrail. The handrail used to touch me at the hip level so it felt like it was just in the way when I leaned against it. Now it felt like I could almost sit on it and I’m sure once I’m done lengthening, it’ll actually be at a sitting height for me. It’s always good to get these tiny reminders that I’m taller, because I don’t really have that huge perspective shift yet (the one where I feel like everything looks lower than before because I’m taller.) I really hope to get that shift in perspective at some point during the distraction phase, because I think that’s what makes everyone so adamant that CLL is worth every penny. Anyway, I got home and called into a meeting and then after that continued to work for a bit. I ate the remaining leftovers in the fridge while I was working. I initially felt okay after PT, though as my legs got stiffer over time they were not as comfortable as before. Eventually, I had to take a Norco and I planned to keep working while I waited for it to kick in. However, right after I sat down I got distracted by a message from a friend and we talked for a while and I didn’t even notice when the Norco kicked in. It was already early evening so I just signed off my work computer and started my workout.

It was much easier to do PT exercises with a painkiller. Even though I was able to do them at the PT facility without a painkiller, I would not be able to do them all over again pain-free just 2-3 hours later without taking a painkiller. I got through a full set of everything since I wasn’t sure how much stretching I was going to do later in the night. Then I lengthened each side with minimal aftereffects (slight pain in the left knee.) I have felt pretty good physically while lengthening at 0.66 mm/day so I did some quick math on lengthening rates. Even if I stuck with 0.66 mm/day all the way to 8cm, I would still be done before the end of February 2021. If I lengthened at 1 mm/day every day, I still wouldn’t be done until the second week of February. The difference is less than 3 weeks, so if nothing goes wrong with my nails, I’m going to be done with distraction at some point in February no matter what speed I go at! Of course, I suppose things could get so bad that I would have to slow down to 0.33 mm/day, but let’s not think about that for now (or hopefully at all lol.)

After lengthening, I had a couple of TV shows to catch up on. I ate lunch pretty late so I wasn’t hungry yet, but I planned to cook dinner later. While I was watching TV I reminded myself again that even though I was suffering and bored every day, my life is actually not worse off than most people during the pandemic. The timing of everything should work out too, since I should be decently recovered by the time all the vaccines are massively available. I did some light stretching as well while I was watching TV, though I’m a bit lazy so I always have to remind myself to stretch when I’m doing passive activities. Time passed by pretty quickly and it was about time to cook dinner. I made a delicious meal out of my giant stash of frozen and canned food and ate it along with my CBD sleep aid. I quickly took a shower before the edible kicked in, and then got ready to go to sleep. Everything worked out perfectly timing-wise and I got into bed and browsed the web for a bit on my laptop. Once I got the smallest hint of being sleepy I immediately turned off the lights and passed out.

Surgery Day +43, Lengthening Day 40 (+1mm, 38.96mm total)

I guess going to bed early has its perks. I slept for 7.6 hours out of 8.6 hours spent in bed. However I woke up 9 times split up pretty evenly throughout the night, so I didn’t get any single block of sleep over 90 minutes. Still, I’m not too tired today, so I guess that counts for something. I got up pretty early in the morning and I did my morning routine and took my meds. I might need a refill of Xarelto before my next visit to the doctor, so I probably need to count the pills when I get a chance. I sat in bed trying to be productive for a while, but realized that I was very hungry. I always forget to eat breakfast when I wake up until I suddenly realize I'm hungry. I went to the kitchen to make and eat breakfast, which made me feel much better. I actually needed to lengthen early in the day today since I’m back to three sessions a day. I am bad at timing my lengthenings since I’m a hardcore procrastinator, so I had to just start for the first one. I did a set of PT exercises and stretches and then it was time to run the ERC. While it was quite early in the morning, it was more than half a day after the last lengthening so I didn’t expect it to be too difficult and it wasn’t.

After lengthening I got busy with work all the way until it was time for PT. While working I was in just enough pain that I had to sit in bed instead of at my desk and my focus was not really that great. I managed to get a bit of work done though. When it was time to leave for PT I remembered to take Norco today. I drove over to PT, which was pretty packed today, though most of the people present were there for OT. I started on the bike and did 1.66 miles in 10 minutes at resistance level 3, which is nearly a 90 watt output (not bad at all.) I think I will be able to score much higher on the Peloton when I get a chance to try again. Next I got onto one of the tables and the same PT as yesterday worked with me. She rolled my hamstrings and IT bands, then manually stretched my hip and quads. Since I took a painkiller earlier, none of the movements generated any pain at all (though I don't think it would hurt even if I didn't take a painkiller.) After that I did all my PT exercises, with additional weights, bands, and reps on each one. I feel like the PT can tell when I am able to do an exercise easily and just makes it harder. I don’t mind though, because the harder I train, the better my legs will get.

After the last exercise I left PT and went to a supplement store that was in the same strip mall. I had seen a sign on their door earlier that they sold CBD, so I thought they might have some CBD pills without THC that I could try for sleep, but it turns out that they only had topical products. They did have quite a variety of sleep aids though, so I picked one up that seems to help with staying asleep. I left and went home and then realized that I should probably check with the doctor before taking anything new, even if it's not a prescription drug. I’m planning to get X-rays tomorrow, so maybe I can bring it up when I send those over. On the other hand, I actually feel like my sleep is tolerable right now, so if it ain’t broke, don’t mess with it, right? No reason to try a new sleep aid if what I have works. After I got home I ate a bunch of snacks, though I didn’t have a proper lunch so I would need to eat a big dinner tonight. As soon as I got the chance, I ran the ERC on both legs. Since I was already 100% loose and still on Norco it was the best time of the day to get my middle lengthening session in. After lengthening, I felt no negative aftereffects, so I got back to work as I had a lot to do. I also remembered that I recently got a bill from a radiologist contracted by the hospital I had my surgery in for $70. I checked with Dr. D’s office and it is indeed not covered by the hospital fee, because the biller is not affiliated with the hospital. I still think it’s kind of ridiculous how that works, but that’s the U.S. healthcare system for you.

I wrapped up at work and started going through my personal to do list and the next thing I knew it was dark outside. My legs were feeling a little more in pain, but still at a tolerable level. I decided to cook dinner next. After eating and watching TV I took a shower and started doing my laundry. At this point I figured it was late enough at night to lengthen. I did another set of PT exercises, though these were the hardest of the day since my legs were tired and I had already done so many. I finished the exercises and stretched as well, then ran the ERC. I have no issues yet from going back to 1mm/day yet, but this is only the first day. I took a sleep aid (non-CBD) edible and went to bed.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: L8GrowthSpurt on December 30, 2020, 03:22:59 PM
Thanks for the update, BTM. Good to hear the lengthening adjustment is helping with the pain side effects.  February will be here before you know it! 👍
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: DreamerLL on January 02, 2021, 12:11:42 AM
LoL I feel the same "Captain American treatment" while I was doing lengthening .
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on January 02, 2021, 04:45:20 AM
Quote from: L8GrowthSpurt on December 30, 2020, 03:22:59 PM
Thanks for the update, BTM. Good to hear the lengthening adjustment is helping with the pain side effects.  February will be here before you know it!
Yeah, all I can do is take it one day at a time!

Quote from: DreamerLL on January 02, 2021, 12:11:42 AM
LoL I feel the same "Captain American treatment" while I was doing lengthening .
He probably lengthened 20cm in a minute! Definitely worth it even at 10/10 pain the whole time :P

Surgery Day +44, Lengthening Day 41 (+0.66mm, 39.62mm total)

I slept well last night. I woke up at 3:30 and took a Norco pill, but aside from that I was asleep for most of the night. I got 7.8 hours of sleep out of 8.8 hours in bed. I woke up 5 times total and got some pretty big blocks of sleep. I don’t remember dreaming though. I was sleeping so well that I actually hit the snooze button for the first time in weeks. Normally I can’t fall asleep after dawn and I get up and turn off my alarm before it even goes off, but today I slept until my alarm went off. I got up after one snooze though, since I needed to be efficient today with a lot of stuff to do. While walking around first thing in the morning, I actually didn’t feel that stiff and my legs were only in 1/10 pain, which are both very good signs. I did my morning routine and took Xarelto, but didn’t take Tylenol since I didn’t need it at all. I made breakfast before I got hungry and ate it. Then I started doing PT exercises in preparation for lengthening. Lengthening itself went smoothly with no aftereffects so I ended up working all morning until it was time for PT.

I forgot to take Norco before leaving for PT again, but this time I was only 10 steps out the door when I realized it, so I went back inside to take one. Then I drove over to the PT facility. Everything was pretty standard today. In my 10 minutes on the bike I did 1.42 miles at resistance level 3, but I wasn’t pushing that hard (nor did I have the energy to) so I definitely was feeling a bit more tired than yesterday, but I had enough energy to get through PT. I started with standing PT exercises and stretches, then exercises where I was laying on the table. Finally, the PT wanted to roll my quads. I thought she was going to get the foam roller, but instead she got this small rod that looked like a metal rolling pin and started rolling it up and down my quads. At first it was a little ticklish, but that quickly turned to severe pain, like easily 7/10 pain (on Norco!) I’m pretty sure it hurt more than any LL related pain I’ve experienced since surgery. It took all I could muster to not shout out in pain. I told the PT that it hurt two times on each leg, but even with her reducing the pressure it was still terrible. Afterwards I had a couple more degrees of flexibility when bending my knee, but I don’t think it was worth it at all.

Fortunately the pain didn’t last beyond the rolling session. I left PT without any additional pain and got into my car. I drove straight to the hospital to get my two-week X-ray. I had Dr. D’s orders with me so hopefully everything would go smoothly. When I arrived at the hospital and parked, I realized that the hospital was huge so I would be walking around a lot today. I asked for directions to radiology and headed over there. I talked to a receptionist and handed her the X-ray orders. She grabbed my ID and insurance and told me to sit down while she filled out some paperwork. That took at least 30 minutes, but eventually she called me back and gave me a waiting number. A few minutes later a hospital worker called my number and I went into the waiting room. I sat in here for a good 15 minutes twiddling my thumbs and finally an X-ray technician came and brought me to the X-ray room. We discussed the orders and I made sure that she did the front and lateral femur shots. I’m not sure if they would be able to do the floor to pelvis shot. Actually taking the X-rays was quick, though I had to pose in eight different positions. After that they tried to get in contact with Dr. D regarding the optional X-ray, but the receptionist said he was in surgery, so I said to forget it and just give me the disk with the images they already took. That took another 30 minutes while I was just laying on the X-ray bed waiting. I finally got the disks, which were literally CD-ROMs. I was hoping that I would be able to see the X-rays myself, but I don’t own any computers old enough to have a CD drive in them. In total I spent almost two hours at the hospital, and I left quickly once everything was ready. I didn’t have to pay anything on the spot, but I expect a hefty bill from them in my mailbox in a month or two.

I figured I should send out the disks to Dr. D’s office as soon as possible, so when I got home I printed out a shipping label and boxed everything up. I planned to drop it off at the post office after PT tomorrow. I was hoping to do my second lengthening session for the day while I was still warmed up from PT, but my legs had gotten stiff from sitting around at the hospital for so long. After a couple of stretches I was a bit warmed up and I just ran the ERC on each leg. One note of concern is while I was doing stretches I noticed that my left shin was just a tiny bit numb. It is hardly noticeable, but if I rub both my left and right shin at the same time, my left shin clearly has a little less sensation. I reached out to Dr. D’s team about it, and tried to mentally prepare myself for 0.66mm/day until the end of February. Even though I keep saying that I’m okay with slowing down, I really really don’t want another eight weeks of being stuck in the distraction phase if I can get done in five and I was really hoping that my body could tolerate 1mm/day for a longer period of time. I also don’t know how my callus has been growing over the last two weeks and wouldn’t know until Dr. D’s team gets the X-ray CDs in hand.

At this point it was almost time to sign off work, but since I had been outside pretty much all afternoon, I felt bad and tried to get some more work done. It didn’t last long though. I had no focus since I was worried about having to slow down lengthening again, worried about premature consolidation, and worried about nerve issues showing up only one day after I returned to a 1mm/day lengthening rate. I realized that I hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast and I was starving. Fortunately I had done the dishes last night, so I could start cooking right away. I made a ton of food and then sat down on the couch to eat, watch TV, and try to forget about all my troubles. Unfortunately, after I finished eating I realized that my legs were getting more and more uncomfortable. I wasn’t feeling great in my right shin or my legs in general. It was getting kind of late, so I figured I needed a painkiller. I didn’t want to take Norco since I would probably have to take it in the middle of the night so I took a CBD gummy. I was tired and I figured I’d lay in the tub and soak for a bit. Clearly I had forgotten how painful it was to sit on my tailbone and couldn’t wait one more day for my bath mattress to arrive.

I figured since I took the edible on a very full stomach it wouldn’t kick in for a while. I was quite wrong as it kicked in after 30 minutes and I fell asleep in the tub again. I woke up shivering and got out quickly and dried myself. I stumbled over to my bed and lay down. At this point I checked my left shin and it still had a little bit less sensation than my right shin. I had the ERC right next to my bed and I wanted to run it, but I was not feeling very good at all. I was totally out of it and had no energy or focus to stretch or do any PT exercises. All I could really do was lay back, so I ultimately decided to just go to sleep. I closed my eyes and quickly fell asleep.

Surgery Day +45, Lengthening Day 42 (+1mm, 40.62mm total)

I woke up a couple of times at night, but was able to fall back asleep relatively quickly. My sleep data showed that I got 8.1 hours of sleep out of 9.2 hours in bed, woke up 7 times, and had one solid 3-hour block of sleep. I suppose the first time I slept for over 8 hours since surgery is an achievement in itself. I got up to take my pills and make breakfast. My legs were in 2-3/10 pain but it was tolerable. After eating, I sat down in bed with my laptop for a while to work on things. I noticed at some point that both of my shins felt about the same sensation when I ran my hands up and down them. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem like both were normal, but rather it felt like both were slightly desensitized to touch. Now I’m wondering if that painful rolling on my quad that the PT did yesterday somehow impacted my femoral nerve and stretched it out too quickly or something. I suppose all I can do for now is continue monitoring my shins.

Next, it was time to do my exercises and stretches. I got in a decent 20 minute pre-lengthening workout. After running the ERC on each leg I’m happy to say that I’m now at the halfway mark (well technically I’m still 0.05mm short but we can round up.) I’m glad that I’ve made it to this point and even though I’ve been tight and stiff on many days, frequently uncomfortable in the legs, and often lacking sleep, this milestone still feels bigger than any of the earlier ones that I’ve achieved. Although I still don’t have that shift in perspective yet, I hope that it comes soon. After all, I can’t just keep growing and not feel any taller, right? That just wouldn’t make any sense, regardless of whether the growth was natural or artificial! I’m also glad that I reached this point before the end of 2020, so that I can say that half my lengthening journey was in 2020 and half will be in 2021.

After lengthening, I had to work all the way until PT. My shins were feeling okay, but not flawless like they were just a few days ago. Dr. D got back to me on the shin numbness and told me to keep an eye on it but to keep lengthening at 1mm/day. Maybe the numbness is not a big deal or maybe he doesn’t want me to slow down until he can see my bone growth from my latest X-rays. Unfortunately those X-ray discs are still sitting in my room and I wouldn’t get a chance to drop them off until after PT today. Dr. D’s office probably wouldn’t get them until early next week as well, so it looks like I have no choice but to keep lengthening at 1mm/day and hope for the best with nerve pain over the next few days. Finally, it was time for PT. I took a Norco and headed over to the facility.

The PT center was packed today, with around 15 patients when I arrived. I think there were only 4 or 5 PTs working as well. There was someone on the bike that I normally use so I had to use an upright bike (like the Peloton in my gym) but on first glance it had a wide and soft looking seat so I wasn’t too concerned. However, the second I got on the bike I realized that no matter how soft the seat was, putting my entire body weight on my perineum when I have no butt fat or glutes is not going to be a good time. Fortunately it was a lot more tolerable than the Peloton, and I only had to ride for 10 minutes. The PT assistant made me go up to 3.5 resistance level and I only got 1.34 miles. I think it’s mostly because I was so uncomfortable that I couldn’t ride fast at all. I wonder if that’s the reason I did poorly on the Peloton as well last week. I suppose tomorrow I’ll get a chance to try the Peloton again with the biking shorts to see if that makes a difference. After riding the stationary bike, I did a ton of different standing and walking exercises and stretches for the next 45 minutes. The PT didn’t have me do any table or sitting exercise today. After all my exercises I was actually quite tired. The PT had me lay on the table and manually stretched out my hip and quads, then rolled my IT band (with the foam roller fortunately.)

After that I headed out and went to pick up a chicken sandwich at a nearby spot in the same strip mall. It took almost 20 minutes for them to make the sandwich, which is really sad, and they also didn’t have any indoor seating due to the pandemic, so I had to stand the whole time, which was quite tiring right after PT. After getting my sandwich, I went to the post office to mail my X-ray CDs to Dr. D’s office. Somehow I don’t think the discs are going to arrive until next week even though I shipped via 2-day Priority Mail since packages often get delayed at this time of the year. After that I went home and ate my chicken sandwich. Then I stretched for about 10 minutes since we had skipped all those stretches at PT today, and then ran the ERC on each leg. About 15 minutes after lengthening, my left shin was numb, and quite a bit more so than yesterday. This was slightly surprising to me since it seemed like my shins were doing okay the whole morning. This feeling lasted for almost two hours, at which point my left shin became only slightly numb like it was this morning. It’s not a great sign, but I’ll continue to lengthen at 1mm/day and see what happens. I’m not too concerned if it doesn’t get any worse than this, but if it does get worse than this, then we’re going to have some problems. I really hope that my callus growth in the X-rays I sent out today is slow enough that I can slow down lengthening if needed.

At this point I was already off work and I got a notification that my bath mattress had arrived. I went down to the lobby to pick it up and figured now was as good of a time as any to try it out. It was shorter than I thought, but long enough to cover most of the tub. I set it up, filled the tub, then got in. It was at least half an inch thick so more than padding to comfortably sit on. I noticed that I still had to change my leg position every few minutes though, since keeping my legs straight or keeping them bent for too long would make them uncomfortable. I soaked for a while and the water was probably too hot since I was sweating, so I drained it and got out. I wasn’t hungry yet (usually not hungry at night) so I decided to watch some TV and stretch. If I stretched well enough I could just lengthen right away and if I didn’t then I could turn off the TV and do a focused stretching session. Fortunately I was able to concentrate pretty well on stretching while watching TV, in fact probably too well because I was more distracted by how numb my left shin was getting when I was doing quad stretches than what was on TV. I spent the entire hour stretching, though my stretches were relatively light and long in duration. At this point I felt like my shins were very numb and that they would get even more numb if I lengthened and I wasn’t sure if I could even lengthen. However, I got out the ERC and forced myself to do the lengthening process and got through it with no problem.

After lengthening my shins were actually not any more numb than they were before. In fact, after a while the numbness went down a bit as I was walking around. I was far too lazy to do the dishes and cook dinner, so I made a quick and easy meal instead. I still think anyone who is going through the process should order out as much as possible if no one else is cooking because you never know how much energy or motivation you’ll have at any given point to get things done. I took a sleep aid edible as well once I finished eating. After my late dinner, I got into bed and suddenly I was very sleepy. Maybe it was the edible or maybe it was food coma, but regardless I couldn’t keep my eyes open. Even though I was still concerned about numbness and constantly checking my shins, I passed out pretty quickly.

Surgery Day +46, Lengthening Day 43 (+1mm, 41.62mm total)

I woke up once in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. It was nearly 6am though, so I didn’t take a Norco since I didn’t expect to sleep for that much longer. I was correct and woke up not too long after that. I’m using a new sleep tracking app called AutoSleep that GHKid recommended. It should be more accurate than the default sleep app. Out of 8.2 hours in bed, the default app shows that I got 7.7 hours of sleep, but the AutoSleep app shows that I got 7.2 hours of sleep. The default app shows that I got a 4 hour block of continuous sleep, but the AutoSleep app shows that I got zero minutes of deep sleep. Either way, sleeping is still about the same as the last few days - not as good as before the surgery, but more than enough to keep me going. I got up for my morning routine, walked around in 2-3/10 pain for a bit, and then sat back down in bed.

It was barely light out and a cloudy day, so quite dreary. I figured I should probably get my first lengthening of the day done as soon as possible, but I didn’t have any energy to do it yet. I watched YouTube videos and distracted myself for a while, and suddenly it was almost noon. I had to lengthen soon, otherwise there would be no way to get three sessions in today. By the time I finished all my PT exercises and stretched it was already past noon and I finally lengthened. I felt like my shin was more numb while stretching my quads than after lengthening, which makes sense to me since lengthening is only stretching my nerve by 0.33mm (albeit permanently) while the act of stretching is going to stretch the nerve for much more than that temporarily. I think as long as I don’t feel extreme pain during the stretching session, then I should be able to run the ERC afterwards with no problem. After lengthening I felt a bit of pain on my left shin, maybe in the muscle or bone area, while simultaneously being numb on the skin above it. LL is truly a weird beast.

Now I had a few hours to spare, so I did the dishes and some other errands around the house while waiting for the time slot I signed up for at the gym. Before going down to the gym I changed into padded biking shorts (then wore my gym shorts over those so I’d have pockets) and took a Norco pill. I headed to the gym ready to bump up my score on the Peloton and defeat more “able legged people” and hoping that the gym wouldn’t be full of New Years resolutioners. When I arrived the gym was completely empty so I had everything to myself. I got on the bike and noticed the extra padding immediately. Unfortunately it was still a little bit uncomfortable, which goes to show just how flat my butt is right now. I did the same 20 minute workout as last time to see how much I’ve improved in one week, and boy did I improve. I increased my output from 40kJ last weekend to 60kJ today! I also realized that the 14th percentile I calculated last week was for the general population, not males 30-39. With this ride I climbed up to the 24th percentile of the general population and 13th percentile for males 30-39. Some of the top guys in my age bracket are outputting 150+kJ in 20 minutes, so I still have a long way to go to catch up. I feel like I’m operating near my personal peak capacity in my current condition though. My heart rate went all the way up to 167 during the ride and my leg power was being limited by the lactic acid that my quadriceps were producing (and of course my limited mobility.) It still feels good to be riding faster than nearly a quarter of all Peloton users with two broken femurs though :D

After the bike ride I found that my perineum was a bit numb again, so I think while the extra padding helps, I need to somehow put more weight on my feet while riding rather than my butt if possible. I haven’t decided if I want to ride the Peloton again tomorrow or take a break for my legs since I’m already signed up to ride two days from now. I’m also slightly afraid of my quads recovering too fast and getting too strong and thus increasing the difficulty of lengthening. After the bike ride I did a couple of sets of arm and shoulder exercises with my remaining allotted time. Right before leaving the gym I also wanted to see how many proper pull-ups I could still do, and the answer is sadly only three. When I touched the pull-up bar though, I noticed again that I was taller than before, because I could easily grip the pull-up bar with my feet flat on the ground, whereas before lengthening if my feet were flat I could barely touch it with the tip of my fingers. When I got home I was feeling great. I didn’t notice my left shin numbness at all (though it was definitely there) and I had 0/10 pain walking around or doing anything, really. I wanted to lengthen right away, but I decided to give it another 30 minutes since my first lengthening of the day was less than three hours ago. I sat on my bed to take a rest and browsed the web for a while. I didn’t want to sit around too long though, so I went to stretch for a bit before running the ERC.

It’s always easier to stretch after riding a bike, which is probably why riding the stationary bike is the first thing I’m supposed to do at PT every day. I got through all my major stretches and just ignored my left shin numbness. Afterwards I ran the ERC and continued my day with no additional aftereffects. I sat in bed for quite a while and watched random mindless stuff on YouTube and eventually I noticed it was dark out and I remembered that I hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast, so I made a pretty big meal and devoured it. At this point it wasn’t even that early anymore and it had been a few hours since my last lengthening, so I decided to start a long stretching session since I was watching TV anyway. Then I could lengthen at the end of it. This worked out pretty well and I stretched quite efficiently as well, hitting all the big and small muscle groups for the full target duration. I ran the ERC on each leg with no immediate issues, and afterwards I did two additional hip stretches that I couldn’t do on the couch - a standing TFL stretch and a hip flexor stretch laying on my stomach. Although my quadriceps started hurting a little bit afterwards, it wasn’t anything intolerable. My left shin has not increased in numbness at all today so I feel much better about continuing to lengthen at 1mm/day.

After lengthening, I took a strong CBD gummy since I hadn’t had any painkillers since my early afternoon Norco before biking. I drank some water and ate some snacks, then got ready to go to bed. I hopped into bed with my laptop and rushed to finish this post before the edible kicked in and it looks like I have succeeded. It is time to pass out now. Good night, forum. Happy New Year! I hope that 2021 will be a great year for everyone.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on January 04, 2021, 04:36:51 AM
Surgery Day +47, Lengthening Day 44 (+0.66mm, 42.28mm total)

I remember either having some trouble falling asleep or waking up early in the night from pain in my right shin. I don’t remember exactly how painful it was, but I do remember it was not only numb but I think I had shooting pains as well. I also remember waking up at 6am to go to the bathroom and drink some water. I managed to fall asleep after that all the way until my alarm went off. The new app showed that I slept for 7.9 hours out of 8.8 hours in bed, with about 30 minutes of deep sleep. I got up and did my morning routine, ate my pills and breakfast, having 3/10 pain the whole time as most mornings. It took quite a while for my legs to warm up this morning but they eventually did as I sat in bed resting. Eventually I noticed that my legs were finally in 0/10 pain while sitting, so I decided to get started with my first lengthening session of the day. Hopefully the issue with my right shin was just a one-off or I was dreaming about the pain because I didn’t feel anything when I woke up or at any point in the morning.

I started a stretching session making sure to hit my quads hard so I could see what the effect on my shin nerves would be. As I was stretching I noticed that the skin on the inner side of my left calf was a bit numb as well as sometimes feeling small shooting pains underneath the skin there, most notably when I was sitting with my legs dangling over the side of the couch but not touching the floor with my feet. I didn’t really notice anything with the numb part of my right shin though. I stretched pretty thoroughly for over 30 minutes and then ran the ERC. I didn’t feel anything from lengthening and I did a couple of additional hip stretches afterwards. I’m not really sure if it’s better to go at 1mm/day or 0.66mm/day at this point, and I really hope Dr. D can review my X-rays early next week and let me know if I at least have the option of slowing down. Looking at the tracking info on my package the X-ray CDs have left my city and are heading toward Las Vegas now.

While I was stretching I also noticed that my thighs were swollen again. I’ve been measuring the amount of swelling by wrapping my thumb and middle finger on both hands around my thigh near the knee to see how tight it feels. If I can barely close the circle then it’s swollen. If I can close the circle with some slack then it’s not that swollen. I would not be surprised at all if my swelling today was because I pushed myself too hard on the bike yesterday. Therefore, I planned to skip the bike ride today and just use my allotted gym time on upper body lifts. I also planned to take a cold water bath after working out to hopefully reduce some of the swelling.

It was almost lunchtime so I ordered takeout from a nearby restaurant. Last time they prepared it very fast, so I changed and got ready to go outside right away. Sure enough, by the time I was ready to head out I already got a text saying my food was ready for pickup. I drove over to the restaurant and realized that all the roads and sidewalks were icy. I parked in a relatively clean spot and carefully walked over and got the food and then went straight home. Fortunately I did not slip or fall. I ate my lunch while multitasking some other things I wanted to get done before it was time to go to the gym. I ordered enough food to have leftovers for the rest of the weekend so I wouldn’t have to cook. I put all the remaining food in the refrigerator, then went back to my computer and stayed busy until it was about time to go to the gym. I had texted Dr. D’s team earlier in the day about the shooting nerve pain in my left shin and Dr. D said I could go back to 0.66mm/day, which was a huge relief to me. Right now I can handle two sessions a day much better than three. Hopefully the bone callus growth in my X-rays supports slowing down because I don’t think my nerves are doing a very good job stretching beyond the 4cm mark. I think I need to psychologically prepare for the end of February as my target date for finishing the consolidation phase. If I somehow manage to get in a few more 1mm days and finish early, then that’s great, but I need to think of that as a bonus and not a given.

I then headed to the gym without taking any Norco. Since I wasn’t doing any leg exercises I didn’t think I needed a painkiller and I wasn’t going to lengthen after getting back from the gym now that I’m only doing two sessions a day. I’m still taking that ice bath when I get back though, because slowing down isn’t going to impact my swelling. One thing I need to get better at now is stretching three or more times a day even though I’m only doing two lengthening sessions. I still need the extra stretching even though I’m slowing down because my flexibility won’t improve if I reduce my stretching at the same time as slowing down lengthening. I’m glad that I’m doing PT at a facility and not just training at home because I personally feel like I am more productive in my hour at PT than I would be stretching for an hour at home.

Once I entered the gym I actually wanted to try a five minute bike ride to see if I could make the seat more comfortable if I lowered it. It didn’t really feel more comfortable since I didn’t have biking shorts on, but I think it actually was since I was able to ride fairly easily for five minutes. After the quick bike ride I worked out my upper body for over half an hour and then left the gym. Once I got home I didn’t have much to do so I decided to take that ice bath. I snuck in a pain-killing edible to see if I could get away with taking no Norco today. The ice bath felt pretty cold since I hadn’t taken one in a while, but I lasted the whole 15 minutes I set on the timer. After that I warmed up the water and soaked for a while and of course I fell asleep. I didn’t nap for too long though since the water wasn’t cold when I woke up. Surprisingly I don’t think the edible actually hit me at any point. I got out of the tub and dried off. As I was sitting on the edge of my bed putting clothes on, I made some wrong move with my left leg while it was off the ground and immediately got hit by multiple shooting pains in my left shin and on the inside of my left calf. It hurt very badly (7/10) and is definitely an indication that I should probably slow down lengthening. I will need to be a lot more careful when sitting down and moving my left leg around.

At this point I was hungry so I got up and heated my dinner up. I ate quickly and then went back to sit in bed because I was tired and my left lower leg was still in pain. However, I think even though the edible never kicked in, the CBD was making me quite sleepy, and I fell asleep while sitting in bed. I actually slept for a few hours until almost bedtime and then I realized I would have to get up and lengthen soon if I wanted to complete a second session today. I did a decent 20+ minute stretch routine which hit every muscle group a few times and then ran the ERC. I felt no aftereffects from lengthening but wouldn’t be surprised if I felt something later. I was now being careful not to trigger the shooting pains in my left leg when possible, but it’s difficult to avoid it 100% when moving my legs around to get up. I hopped back into bed and I still felt a little tired. While sitting, I was in 0/10 pain, though my left leg felt like it could “go off” at any time, which made me nervous anytime I changed positions. I got ready to sleep again and I’m guessing I’ll probably wake up pretty early in the morning.

Surgery Day +48, Lengthening Day 45 (+0.66mm, 42.94mm total)

After I went to bed last night I had trouble sleeping for about two hours. I drifted in and out of sleep, but kept triggering the shooting nerve pain in my left leg. At about 1:30am I got up and took a Norco and went back to bed. After that I slept well until about 5am, when I woke up and couldn’t fall back asleep. I checked my sleep data at this point and it showed that I slept for 5.4 hours last night out of 6 hours in bed, with over 60 minutes of deep sleep. I remembered having a couple of strange dreams as well. I had slept for about 2.5 hours during the evening yesterday, but it counted as yesterday’s sleep in the sleep tracker. It was also very shallow sleep, but technically I had slept for 8 hours so I stopped trying to fall asleep again. I think that overall my sleep efficiency has gone up in the last week, but I still need chemical assistance to sleep properly. CBD definitely helps me sleep for hours past when I take the edible, but doesn’t get me any deep sleep. Norco helps me sleep as well and doesn’t prevent me from getting deep sleep, but it doesn’t last very long.

I sat in bed with my laptop for a while since I was awake but pretty bored. So far my legs were in 0/10 pain as long as I didn’t move them and I was being extra careful not to trigger any nerve pain in my left leg. Finally, the sun came up and it was time to get out of bed and start my morning routine. I was walking around in 0/10 pain since I had already been awake for awhile and constantly adjusted my legs while I was sitting in bed. However, my left leg kept feeling like I was going to get nerve pains as I was walking around and sitting in a chair, but I never did. Still, it was very distracting since nerve pain is very uncomfortable (like worse than sharp pain imo) and I kept thinking it was going to hit me. After eating breakfast and using the computer all morning, I remembered that I still had to lengthen. I started exercising and got distracted by messages from a friend. I ended up stretching half heartedly while doing other stuff for almost 90 minutes, and kept accidentally triggering the nerve pain in my left leg. Finally, I finished stretching and ran the ERC. I haven’t had any issues from running the ERC lately, but I’m too distracted by the nerve pain in my left leg to notice any problems anyway.

After lengthening I heated up my lunch and ate it. I had a bit of time until it was time to go to the gym, and I had a couple of things to do, so I stayed busy. When it was time to head to the gym I took Norco and changed into biking shorts since I planned to ride the Peloton today. The gym was empty again when I arrived and I hopped onto the bike after wiping it down. I planned to do the 10 minute “easy ride” but after I started I quickly found out that “easy” was actually much harder than “beginner”. I struggled to keep up on the ride, but I did manage to output 42kJ of energy in 10 minutes, which is more than I output in 20 minutes just one week ago. It’s always good to see an improvement, though I only scored in the bottom 22nd percentile for the general population. Unfortunately even though it was only 10 minutes, the bike ride drained me and I was only able to half-heartedly do a couple of sets of upper body exercises. I had been hitting the same muscles with the dumbbells for 3 days in a row, so they were kind of sore already as well.

After I got back from the gym, I put on a football game and started stretching on the couch. Although I had done a bike ride and taken Norco, I feel like by the time I had started stretching all of that had worn off already, so it was like starting to stretch with stiff legs. The game was long though, so I had plenty of time to do light stretches the whole time. If I sat with my left leg at certain angles though, the shooting nerve pain would trigger, which was very unpleasant. Fortunately I figured out that if I wrapped my left calf tightly in a towel (which I was using to help with certain stretches) it would prevent the pain from being triggered. The towel wasn’t tight to the point where it was cutting off circulation, but it was tight enough to feel tight against my leg. With this newfound knowledge, I was able to enjoy watching the rest of the game without any nerve pain.

After the game ended I went to take an ice bath as I had planned. However, since I had long cooled down after returning from the gym, I decided to take only a short ice bath. I didn’t set a timer, but I’ve done this enough times to know that the skin on my thighs gets red after about 5 minutes in the water. I figured this was long enough for my blood vessels and lymph nodes to constrict. I ended up sitting in the cold water for 5-10 minutes, massaging my thighs. Then I replaced the cold water with hot water so my blood vessels and lymph nodes would expand and continued to massage my thighs toward my body while my legs were elevated above my heart level. I sat in the hot bath briefly, then took a shower. When I got back to my room, I decided to try wearing compression pants to see if that would provide enough pressure on my left lower leg to stop the nerve pain. Unfortunately it was not enough, so I would have to continue the towel wrapping strategy.

I made dinner and ate it quickly, and then spent a bit of time preparing for the following work week. I wanted to go to bed early, but I also didn’t want to lengthen too early. It was late enough to start stretching for the second lengthening session though. I spent about 20 minutes stretching and then ran the ERC on each leg. After that I took a CBD edible and now I'm getting ready to go to bed.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on January 04, 2021, 04:51:19 AM
I want to let everyone know that I’ve decided to take a break from journaling. I’m writing this post so people don’t think I just disappeared or something. This newfound nerve pain and the idea of drastically slowing down lengthening are hitting me pretty hard. Although I’ve lengthened over half the maximum of the nail, I’m almost certain that I’m less than halfway to hitting 8cm in terms of time spent, and I’m not very confident I can even hit 8cm.

It takes a lot of energy and motivation to write and I just don’t have much of either to spare anymore. Work is going to get a bit busier for me with the new year and I have other stuff to deal with too. Just stretching a few times a day and doing two lengthening sessions feels like a lot to me right now. Time is passing by incredibly slowly in my head and I can’t see or feel the end of lengthening as I’m nowhere near it. Lengthening is definitely a process with ups and downs and I’m feeling pretty down right now.

I can definitely see why people disappear and leave the forum entirely at various stages of the LL process. Reading any section of this forum except patient experiences is the opposite of therapeutic for anyone going through this process or having completed it. I’m glad there are those who have the patience to stay on here to answer questions even after they are completely done with LL, but I know I’m not one of those people. Best of luck, everyone.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: small on January 04, 2021, 05:04:32 AM
Stay strong man, it's a very tough journey but will be worth it in the end. I'll be praying that you reach your goal. Thanks a lot for actually explaining your situation rather than just vanishing which would've left us all wondering what happened. I'm sure it's tough documenting every step of the process on this forum along with balancing everything else going on in life. Especially since your journal is very detailed. If you do decide to come back you can always provide quick updates instead of long detailed posts since I'm sure they can take a lot of time and effort. Quick updates would still be very helpful. Good luck on the rest of this journey and work as well!
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: L8GrowthSpurt on January 04, 2021, 05:29:36 AM
BTM - Thanks for the note.  Many who have chosen this path have described the roller coaster of ups and downs.  It will all be worth it in the end. It’s a marathon and this is just another hill. Take a break; climb that next hill but don’t forget to come back and tell us all you conquered that hill after you’ve done it. Stay strong my brotha 💪; I and others are rooting for you!! And will continue to do so...
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: Froggy on January 05, 2021, 05:33:41 AM
Really appreciate the journaling you’ve done. I can totally relate to how you’re feeling. I’m dealing with nerve issues as well, and it’s really draining both physically and mentally. I hope you’ll be able to hit your goal and have a good recovery, BTM. Stay strong.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: 10cmOnTibiaOrGTFO on January 05, 2021, 05:51:37 PM
one of the better diaries. i wish leg lengthening would not take so much fkin time coz it fks u over careerwise
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: itseasy on January 06, 2021, 07:59:39 PM
BTM, I know the nerve pains and slowing down are hitting you hard, but I want you to know that time flys. Just look how fast 2020 went by, even with covid. The extra days added will be ok, don’t worry too much about a secure deadline. Just take it nice and easy and you’ll soon look back and be talking about how you’ve been through it and you don’t regret it.

Now I I would ask Dr D for gabapentin, it really does remove the shooting nerve pains. Numbness may be there, but that will resolve as well. Just give it time. Also, If you are taking the Valium or Oxy, I remember that at times it made me feel depressed at times and every little thing like the constant dull pains or uncomfort drove me nuts and I would get all sad.

Get the gabapentin, you’ll be happy to rid those nerve pains. I like your long detailed reads, it’s nice and enjoyable to see how it’s going.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: LegSGo! on January 09, 2021, 06:11:50 PM
@itseasy,

Would you please provide your stats and date you had the procedure? Just a little more information on your experience with LL? Thanks!
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on January 19, 2021, 12:42:12 AM
Quote from: small on January 04, 2021, 05:04:32 AM
Stay strong man, it's a very tough journey but will be worth it in the end. I'll be praying that you reach your goal. Thanks a lot for actually explaining your situation rather than just vanishing which would've left us all wondering what happened. I'm sure it's tough documenting every step of the process on this forum along with balancing everything else going on in life. Especially since your journal is very detailed. If you do decide to come back you can always provide quick updates instead of long detailed posts since I'm sure they can take a lot of time and effort. Quick updates would still be very helpful. Good luck on the rest of this journey and work as well!
Thanks for the support. I'm feeling a lot better now and will resume updating my journal.

Quote from: L8GrowthSpurt on January 04, 2021, 05:29:36 AM
BTM - Thanks for the note.  Many who have chosen this path have described the roller coaster of ups and downs.  It will all be worth it in the end. It’s a marathon and this is just another hill. Take a break; climb that next hill but don’t forget to come back and tell us all you conquered that hill after you’ve done it. Stay strong my brotha; I and others are rooting for you!! And will continue to do so...
I passed the last hill and I'm back!

Quote from: Froggy on January 05, 2021, 05:33:41 AM
Really appreciate the journaling you’ve done. I can totally relate to how you’re feeling. I’m dealing with nerve issues as well, and it’s really draining both physically and mentally. I hope you’ll be able to hit your goal and have a good recovery, BTM. Stay strong.
Hi Froggy, how are you doing now? Has your nerve pain gotten more manageable?

Quote from: 10cmOnTibiaOrGTFO on January 05, 2021, 05:51:37 PM
one of the better diaries. i wish leg lengthening would not take so much fkin time coz it fks u over careerwise
I agree that it takes a ridiculous amount of time, especially now that I'm going at 0.5 mm/day. At least during COVID I'm working from home every day and there is no impact on my career.

Quote from: itseasy on January 06, 2021, 07:59:39 PM
BTM, I know the nerve pains and slowing down are hitting you hard, but I want you to know that time flys. Just look how fast 2020 went by, even with covid. The extra days added will be ok, don’t worry too much about a secure deadline. Just take it nice and easy and you’ll soon look back and be talking about how you’ve been through it and you don’t regret it.

Now I I would ask Dr D for gabapentin, it really does remove the shooting nerve pains. Numbness may be there, but that will resolve as well. Just give it time. Also, If you are taking the Valium or Oxy, I remember that at times it made me feel depressed at times and every little thing like the constant dull pains or uncomfort drove me nuts and I would get all sad.

Get the gabapentin, you’ll be happy to rid those nerve pains. I like your long detailed reads, it’s nice and enjoyable to see how it’s going.
Thanks for the tips! The only opioid I take is Norco, and I average only 3-4 a week for PT/gym, so it shouldn't be affecting my mood. Gabapentin has been working, but I'm starting to build a tolerance to it. Fortunately, my nerve pain has mostly subsided so I don't really need it right now. The thought of lengthening for two more months is the toughest part right now, but I suppose it'll soon pass.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: L8GrowthSpurt on January 19, 2021, 02:47:46 AM
BTM - welcome back!! Good to hear things are looking better. You got this, bruh. Finish that nail and keep us posted 😁.  Stay strong, brutha 💪
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on January 19, 2021, 03:08:01 AM
Surgery Day +49, Lengthening Day 46 (+0.66mm, 43.60mm total)

I slept almost exactly 8 hours, with 90 min of deep sleep which is not bad. Morning pain of 1-3/10 plus stiffness and nerve pain in my left shin. Was able to stretch lightly and lengthen before work. At PT I rode 1.57 miles on the bike in 10 min at resistance level 4. I did 57.5 lbs on the leg press machine 30x. I bought some Tylenol and Ibuprofen after PT since I ran out of OTC painkillers, but I’ll only take Ibuprofen if the doctor wants me to (to slow bone growth as a NSAID.) I lengthened again right before going to sleep and it triggered my left shin nerve pain :( With nerve pain in my left shin all day, it was hard to focus and I’m contemplating if I want to take Gabapentin.

Surgery Day +50, Lengthening Day 47 (+0.66mm, 44.26mm total)

I had nerve pain all night and struggled to sleep so I think I really need to take Gabapentin. Hopefully I won’t have any of the scary side effects. My left shin nerve pain continued into the morning and I had very low energy today. I slept for just under 8 hours with 30 minutes of deep sleep. The first lengthening in the morning did not trigger any nerve pain. I got a massage today. It was very painful because the masseuse found that the trigger point for my left shin nerve pain somewhere in my hamstring and kept trying to loosen it or something. I actually felt pretty good after the massage though, with reduced triggering of nerve pain for the rest of the day. During my second lengthening of the day I felt a weird feeling in my left shin nerve, though I wouldn’t call it pain.

Surgery Day +51, Lengthening Day 48 (+0.66mm, 44.92mm total)

I didn’t take an edible or painkillers last night and only got 5.8 hours of sleep out of the 7.8 hours in bed, but at least I got over 1.5 hours of deep sleep. I woke up with 2/10 pain and pretty low energy. Nerve pain wasn’t too bad in the morning. I probably still need to take some type of sleep aid. Overall I’m pretty low energy, but my motivation level was okay so I got it my first lengthening done. At PT I rode 1.43 miles on the bike at resistance level 4.5 and did 65 lbs 30 times on the leg press. I filled my Gabapentin script after PT today. It was only $12 amazingly. I will start taking it tomorrow morning. I got a one hour nap in during the late afternoon. I found out there are apparently nerve stretches that I can do, so I will try to do some for the femoral nerve later. Up through the second lengthening I didn’t have much nerve pain today. I took CBD late at night, then raced to finish dinner and my second lengthening before it kicked in.

Surgery Day +52, Lengthening Day 49 (+0.66mm, 45.58mm total)

I got 6.6 hours of sleep out of 7.3 hours in bed with 47 minutes of deep sleep. This was my first weekday without having to go outside in a while. I didn’t have any reason to leave the house today except to take out the trash. I didn’t stretch too hard before the first lengthening since I was distracted, but lengthening didn’t trigger any nerve pain. Gabapentin seems pretty effective so far, it gets rid of most of the nerve pain, though I still feel numbness or other tingling sensations where there was pain before, so the nerve might still be feeling something. I’m not sure if there are side effects but I don’t feel any yet. I spent most of the day working so I didn’t have a chance to do a mid-day stretch. Tomorrow will be even busier, and I’ll need to go out twice during work hours. I lengthened again right before bed. I had low energy, but managed to get through all the stretches, though I did one fewer set of each than normal. I took no sleep aid before bed, but I need to take Gabapentin before sleeping so maybe that will help a little.

Surgery Day +53, Lengthening Day 50 (+0.66mm, 46.24mm total)

I slept for 6.2 hours out of 7.2 hours in bed and got nearly 80 min of deep sleep. This was better than the previous night actually. In the shower this morning I noticed that my swelling had gone down. I really like the look of my long thighs right now. I always thought they were short and stubby before, but now they look great. Even though I haven’t noticed myself getting taller, I’ve definitely noticed my thighs getting longer. I’m not sure what another 3.4cm will do to the appearance and hopefully it won’t look too long. At PT I biked for 1.54 miles at resistance level 5 and maintained a 120W output for the last two minutes, so I think I’m definitely getting stronger in the legs. My leg press went up to 70 pounds for both legs 30 times and I also did 50 pounds on each leg 30 times. I lengthened right after PT when I was fully warmed up, so no problems there at all. I was super busy at work and forgot to eat until dinnertime.

I got an exam at the massage place, which is actually a chiropractic facility. They told me that they could bill massages to my insurance after this. Unfortunately their schedule is ridiculously packed so I can’t even get another massage until two weeks from my first one. I got a bill from my physical therapy center in the mail and it looks like my sessions cost up to $176, which is absolutely ridiculous. It’s more than three times as much as they told me it would cost or the cost of my Vegas PT. After doing some research on the internet it looks like it’s possible that my insurer treated the claim as out of network, which wouldn’t make sense, so I’m trying to get that rectified. I lengthened very late, but I had a medium energy level so I got my stretches done beforehand. My left leg had nerve pain most of the time I was trying to do my pre-lengthening stretches. It was greatly dampened by the Gabapentin, but I could still feel a lot of action in those nerves.

Surgery Day +54, Lengthening Day 51 (+0.66mm, 46.90mm total)

This morning the Gabapentin wasn’t working for a brief period. I was suffering for a bit, and my usual “fix the nerve pain” stretch position wasn’t working for me either. I found that if I lay on my side it would help a bit, though that causes pain in my legs from the screws and nails themselves, but that type of pain hurts way less than the nerve pain. I actually slept in for the first time since surgery today. I got up to take my medicine at 8am and then went back to sleep fighting through the nerve pain. I was able to sleep for quite a while. I woke up with full bars of sleep in my tracker app for the first time ever since I was in bed for so long.

My first lengthening was pretty late today and it has been hard to force myself to stretch with such low energy and motivation. I found out that the PT bill is legitimate and my insurance company must just have a really bad contract with them and they are billing me a ton even after the insurance discount. I may have to switch PTs, but given that I’m going to hit my deductible pretty early this year I actually need to do some math to see if it’s worth it to change. Now that I think about it, no wonder my PT wanted to put me on 3 days a week instead of 5 days a week because she was concerned my insurance company might limit the number of visits covered. I do like my therapist, the facility, and the PT routine that I’m doing right now, it’s just not worth $150+ per session.

Other than that I think my mood was a little better today since it’s the weekend but unfortunately I have to work most of this weekend. I at least have less stress and pressure to get lengthening sessions completed at a certain time of the day during the weekend, but I can’t delay it by too much. I can also watch some NFL playoff games while I’m working which makes it feel less like work. I did my second lengthening pretty late as well today and went to sleep after.

Surgery Day +55, Lengthening Day 52 (+0.66mm, 47.56mm total)

I woke up with continuous nerve pain today. I tried to sleep in again, but I couldn’t since my nerve pain kept triggering randomly. Every time it hit me it would be 5-7/10 pain and I would have to immediately do a quad stretch to alleviate some of the pain. Even though I took Gabapentin at 8am, for the next three hours I kept feeling nerve pain. When I got up I had been in bed for just over 8 hours, but I barely got 5 hours of sleep. I will ask the doctor why I’m having nerve pain again even though I’ve continually been taking gabapentin.

I planned to order some delicious takeout today to improve my mood. I would have to work most of today and I need to have better focus than yesterday so I would be able to watch any NFL games while I’m working today. I am also planning to skip my usual weekend gym session, even though it’s been a week since I rode the Peloton and I want to do a ride to get an estimate of my improvement in leg power. However, I don’t have a lot of energy today so I want to save it for stretching and lengthening. Sitting in bed all day working wasn’t great for my legs. I tried to get up a couple of times to walk around and do stuff, but I could only exercise and stretch a little. I wanted to pick up my takeout order but ended up getting it delivered to save some time, which was the only time I even got close to going outside today.

I actually ended up working until the middle of the night. I was a bit sleepy right after midnight, but I took a break to stretch and lengthen and then pushed through. By the time I finished my work to the point of satisfaction I wasn’t as sleepy anymore. However, when I lay down and closed my eyes I fell asleep fairly quickly.

Surgery Day +56, Lengthening Day 53 (+0.00mm, 47.56mm total)

According to my sleep data I slept for 3.6 hours out of 3.6 hours in bed and got over an hour of deep sleep. I’m quite behind on sleep now due to the last two days. I’m going to have to try and sleep earlier and/or take a nap and hopefully I can figure out how to manage the pain so I can sleep more. I think that I am able to sleep better if I’m tired, so hopefully that’s the case tonight. I planned to do a lengthening before PT today. I definitely feel a lot of stress right now. My nerve pain is only semi-manageable by Gabapentin, I have tons of work to do, and I’m really lacking sleep. I have no energy or motivation to lengthen and any lengthening sessions I do only happen because I force myself to do it through the last bit of willpower I have. There are many personal things I need to get done outside of work as well and I’ve just been ignoring all of it because I have no energy to deal with it right now.

I guess I can try and look at the bright side. I’ve somehow been lengthening on schedule through all of the nerve pain and overall I have been doing a little bit better with stretching, and somehow I’ve managed to stay somewhat caught up at work. It’s really a lot for me to handle though. While I’m living alone and I can’t compare to other lengtheners who might have family around, I’m not sure having other people around would actually make things any easier for me. Having a dog around sure would though, but I definitely can’t take care of one in my current state, as great of a stress mitigator as one might be.

I reached out to Dr. D’s team about the continuous nerve pain even with Gabapentin and they said that I needed to take a break from lengthening until my next office visit. They do not want me to increase my dosage of Gabapentin. That’s three full days of not lengthening! I asked about premature consolidation and they said it was very unlikely for me. I asked if I could take some Ibuprofen to help stop bone growth and they said sure. I don’t know if Ibuprofen will actually do anything, but it makes me feel a little more in control of the whole situation. I guess I’m about to find out if resting my legs is going to help my nerve pain or not, and if not lengthening for three days is going to cause premature consolidation. It’s probably not great for my 8cm prospects if I have to take such a big break at this point in the process and it’s probably going to extend my distraction phase into March, but if my leg feels better and I can lengthen at a reasonable speed of 0.66mm/day afterwards until I finish out the nails then I can certainly live with it. I am also supposed to stretch a lot more these next few days, so I will try and see if that helps as well.

I was planning to talk to the PT today about their ridiculous prices today. I picked a national PT chain with a decent brand name and really good reviews so I’m surprised that their business practices are this bad, though I’m not actually sure what my PT can actually do about billing since it seems pretty hands off for them. I did the math with my insurance benefits and switching PTs at this point won’t actually save me that much money, especially since I’m slowing down on lengthening and there will be a lot of additional things hitting my deductible. Of course I won’t tell them this; I want to voice my dissatisfaction with their prices and business practices. However, when I got to PT I just didn’t have the heart to confront any of them since they are so nice to me. I guess I’ll just have to complain to the person on the phone in the billing department again when I call their customer support number next time. I’m sure if I complain enough I can get a discount.

Anyway, I rode the bike for just 5 minutes and then walked on the treadmill for about 6 or 7 minutes while trying to reduce my hip sway. I found that bending my left knee helped a bit with that. I think I’ll try and record a gait and stairs video in a few days. I think I’m getting pretty good at doing step ups and step downs at PT, and the PTs keep saying my gait is improving, so maybe it is? Aside from my nerve pain, everything else seems to be going decently well. On the leg press I went up to 77.5 lbs on both legs 30 times and 57.5 lbs on each individual leg 30 times.

After I got home I worked until ridiculously late in the evening again and when I finally got off work and I wanted to take a nap, I wasn’t tired enough. I didn’t even end up sleeping that early, but what can you do about it? If you’re not tired it’s just not easy to sleep.

Surgery Day +57, Lengthening Day 54 (+0.00mm, 47.56mm total)

Today is my second day of no lengthening. After 24 hours free from the ERC, my left leg still has nerve pain unfortunately. It’s mostly manageable with Gabapentin, but if it went away I would feel a lot better about this break from lengthening since it would have proven to be effective. I got 7 hours of sleep last night and I was in bed for barely more than that, and I got a lot of deep sleep so overall sleep was not terrible, though far from “catching up” on sleep since my app says I’m behind. I didn’t have any morning meetings today so I wanted to go back to sleep for a bit after eating my morning pills, but I was too awake already and even though I was tired I wasn’t able to fall back asleep. My stomach was growling a bit so I got up to make breakfast.

I was pretty busy with lots of work today. Unfortunately that meant I wasn’t able to exercise my legs or stretch as much as I wanted to. I tried to get up a lot and walk around without my cane, but it’s not the same as actively exercising and going to PT. I had a lot of random nerve pain today as well. It seems like stopping lengthening hasn’t helped with nerve pain after 36 hours. I do feel like stretching is helping a little with the nerve pain though, so maybe I really do just need to stretch more. I wish the nerve pain would just go away.

Surgery Day +58, Lengthening Day 55 (+0.00mm, 47.56mm total)

Last night’s sleep was bad. I had constant nerve pain at night easily 4-6/10 coming and going with no trigger. I literally had to get up and stretch for a few minutes every hour or two and then try and go back to sleep. I somehow got 5.5 hours of sleep out of 6.75 hours in bed and 45 min of deep sleep. I think I will have a chance to catch up on sleep over the next few days though. Work is finally a bit lighter, which is nice. I think my left shin was a little less numb than normal this morning, which is the first sign of improvement I’ve had on the left side with any nerve related issues.

Today should be my last day of no lengthening. I’m seeing Dr. D tomorrow so fingers crossed for good news! I’m flying out to Vegas and I booked a cheap ticket, so no extra leg space. Honestly last time sitting in the front row only helped a bit, but I still couldn’t stretch my legs out all the way since there was a wall in front of me. I got aisle seats both ways this time, and I think it should help a bit since I can just turn sideways or step into the aisle if I need to stretch out. I don’t plan on getting wheelchair service since I think I need extra walking and exercise right now and I have no luggage except a small backpack. I was originally not going to rent a car since I don’t have anywhere to go except Dr. D’s office and the hotel. However, the car rental is actually cheaper than 2 Uber rides, so I went with it. I guess I can drive somewhere to get dinner tonight. Eating out usually makes me feel better.

PT was pretty standard today. I didn’t take Norco beforehand because I wanted to take one for the plane ride instead. I felt a bit low energy at first and on the stationary bike ride, my right quad was sore and tight around the knee area. I’m pretty sure it’s from the ridiculous amount of quad stretching I did in the middle of the night last night. I rode 1.44 miles at resistance level 4.5, so a bit weak compared to last time. After the PT rolled out my quads I did all the other standing exercises, which were doable but quite tiring. The last exercise was the leg press, and I did 30 reps of 85 lbs on both legs, and 30 reps of 65 lbs on each leg individually. The individual leg press is definitely closer to my current strength limit because I was barely able to finish 30 on either leg. I’m really not sure why the PT has the individual leg press weight set at so much more than half of the weight for both legs. Maybe she didn’t do the math :P

I got some takeout nearby when I left PT since I wasn’t sure if I’d have enough time at the airport to buy food. I got home, ate and continued to work, then signed off work early and headed to the airport. It didn’t take long to pack since I was traveling light. The Uber ride to the airport cost more than my car rental in Las Vegas. Parking at the airport would be even more expensive and I’d have to walk from the parking lot to the terminal, so that’s not an option. When I got to the airport I was feeling good so I didn’t even consider the wheelchair. There was no line at pre-check so I got to my gate within 15 minutes and that’s with me walking at a snail’s pace. People were starting to line up for boarding, so I didn’t have time to get food, but I did have enough time to get a bottled drink (learned the hard way last time when I had no water to take my pills with.) Boarding was just starting right as I walked up, and the worker doing the check-in saw me limping over with a cane so she said I could board right away so I followed the two people in wheelchairs getting pushed through the special boarding lane onto the plane.

I took a Norco before the flight, but I don’t think it did anything because I don’t have any pain aside from nerve pain, and Norco doesn’t do anything for that. Initially I felt okay, but I experienced frequent nerve pain randomly throughout the flight, and tried my best to stretch and relieve it in my cramped space. I watched one and a half movies during the flight, which helped distract me from the pain, but it was definitely persistent even while I was focused on the screen. After I landed I walked to the shuttle bus which took me to the rental car facility. I picked up my car, drove to a Chick-fil-A near my hotel to get dinner, then checked into the hotel. For the rest of the night I just played on my phone and stretched a bit and tried to go to sleep a bit early.

Surgery Day +59, Lengthening Day 55 (+0.33mm, 47.89mm total)

The next morning I ate breakfast at the hotel and then drove over to Dr D’s office, which was only a few blocks away. I got my measurements and X-rays taken by Ronnie, and then waited for Dr. D for the checkup. He came in and showed me perfect X-rays again. Both sides have been lengthened the exact same amount and I have no loose screws or any bending in the nails. Callus growth is slightly above average and even on all sides of both bones. We spent most of the time talking about nerve pain since I don’t have any other type of pain or major flexibility issues. He had me walk around a bit and said that I definitely looked taller to him. Regarding nerve pain, there are a few solutions. The best one is to just slow down, but I have already slowed down and I just took a three day break from lengthening without the nerve pain going away, so that didn’t seem to help that much. I think I’ve already started building a tolerance to Gabapentin, which Dr. D. said most people do. I could switch to Lyrica later on and there were some other drug-based solutions we could try (I think he mentioned a steroid but I forgot what it was called.) Dr. D. said I should increase my volume of stretching, to which I agreed that I probably haven’t been stretching as much as I could. For now I’m going to try and stretch a lot more, and we’re going to restart lengthening at 0.5mm/day. While my nerve pain hasn’t gone away, it hasn’t gotten worse either. I’m just going to alternate between 0.33mm days and 0.66mm days so we don’t need the Nuvasive rep to reprogram the ERC for 0.25mm/session. I’m going to carefully observe the nerve pain and it’s frequency and then report back in one week (or sooner if the nerve pain gets worse.)

I also got my prescriptions and the X-ray orders for my local hospital to perform in two weeks and then I left and went straight to the rental car return place. After dropping off the car and shuttling back to the airport, I went through a zero-person pre-check line again and was at my gate fairly quickly. Since I still had about 45 minutes before boarding I ordered a sub and ate it. I totally zoned out when they were calling to board my flight so I ended up boarding at the end, which worked out in my favor because I have more pain in the airplane seat than anywhere else. I thought I had booked an aisle seat for the return flight, but it turns out I remembered wrong and I had a window seat. There were people in both of the other seats next to me, so I crammed into my little corner. Fortunately the seat in front of me was designed perfectly for my situation as there was a vertical metal bar right above the space under the seat for luggage, so I could use it to stretch my hamstring or quad and I used it frequently with my left leg to relieve my nerve pain. This made the flight back home much more tolerable than the flight to Vegas. I ended up finishing the movie I watched half of on the way over, and then I had exactly enough time to watch two additional movies. I don’t know if those movies just had a short runtime or if the flight time was longer, but either way I was adequately distracted until the plane landed.

I had a bit of trouble walking around the airport as I was trying to keep pace with the foot traffic but I can’t actually walk that fast, so after my legs got tired (which was pretty quick) I slowed down and just let people avoid and pass me. The funny thing is when I was at this airport heading to Vegas I felt like I wasn’t very tall compared to the average person, but somehow after returning from Vegas I felt much taller relative to the average person. Maybe it’s a different batch of people in the airport, or maybe how tall I perceive myself is all in my head. Anyway, I walked quite a bit to get to the rideshare pickup area and then took an Uber home. I unpacked right away when I got home and then changed into comfortable clothes. I noticed that both my shins were pretty numb, though I wasn’t getting any shooting nerve pain at least. I made some food and browsed the web and wrote down some notes for my journal, which I planned to update later.

I tried to stretch more frequently than before; every so often when I remembered I would do my calf, hamstring, and quad stretches. Doing the standing variant of these stretches is actually better for me and it also prevents me from doing the stretch lazily like I can when doing the laying down version of the stretch. I lengthened for the first time in almost 90 hours and I didn’t feel any aftereffects. I noticed that my thighs were very swollen again, which is not surprising given that I took two decently long flights within a period of 24 hours. I also racked up almost 7,000 steps of walking each day for the last two days, which is the equivalent of nearly three miles each day. I decided to take an ice bath to hopefully help a bit with the swelling. After 15 minutes in ice I switched it to warm water and of course I managed to fall asleep in the tub again. I woke up shivering, got out quickly and dried off, then took my nighttime pills and went to bed for real.

Surgery Day +60, Lengthening Day 56 (+0.66mm, 48.55mm total)

My sleep tracker showed less than 6 hours of sleep, but if we count the time I was asleep in the tub it would be nearly 7 I think. I dreamed about one of the movies that I watched on the plane. I guess it had a deep impression on me and my brain was still trying to figure out the complicated plot. When I woke up, both of my shins were tingling, which is one step up from just being numb. I don’t think I’ve had that before, but it doesn’t hurt unlike the shooting pains in my left calf that I’m much more concerned about. Fortunately I didn’t have any of the shooting nerve pain while I was in bed. I got up to do my morning routine and noticed my thighs were still very swollen and my left knee hurt a bit when I walked. I believe it's from all the walking I did over the last few days. I think I’m going to have to take Norco before PT today. I had some errands to run this morning, so I got dressed, ate quickly, and went outside. As I was walking around outside, I noticed that I wasn’t feeling as much of the nerve issues in my shin. I think the nerve stuff is still present, just not noticeable when I’m outside. Walking definitely helps with some types of pain, but unfortunately my left knee still hadn’t warmed up enough so I was limping a little more than usual on the left side.

I got back from my errands with a few hours to spare before PT and I wanted to get my first lengthening session done before PT. I did all my stretches and then lengthened. It was pretty straightforward with no issues from lengthening yet. Before going to PT I remembered to take Norco. At PT I rode the bike for 1.5 miles at resistance level 5 for 10 minutes and my quads felt very sore while biking like this, though at least it is an improvement over last time. Afterwards, the PT rolled my quads out and then I did all of my exercises, which were mostly standing. She increased all the weights and used tighter resistance bands for me, and I actually felt lightheaded during one of the workouts for my core/obliques. I finished with the leg press at 90 lbs for both legs and 70 pounds for each leg. I did 30 reps of each exercise. Afterwards I asked them to ice my legs since they were swollen and I thought that it might help, but their ice pad was really not that cold (especially for someone used to ice baths) so I won’t bother next time. I’ll just keep taking ice baths, elevating my legs and massaging them. I got some takeout and went home.

After I got back I ate and then I had a few more errands to run, and before I knew it hours had passed and I was hungry again. My legs were pretty tired and my shins were tingling really hard, possibly to the point where I could call it 2/10 pain. It was certainly uncomfortable at least, but nowhere near as bad as the shooting pain. I made dinner and then watched some TV while continuing to stretch. Before it got too late, I did my second lengthening of the day and then I thought about taking an ice bath. I wasn’t in the mood though, and ice baths are definitely something you have to be in the mood for. My legs haven’t felt anything bad from restarting lengthening so far, unless you count the additional tingling on my shins. I’m sure I’ll find out if that turns into something worse or not soon enough. It was getting late and I was behind on sleep so I went to bed.

Surgery Day +61, Lengthening Day 57 (+0.33mm, 48.88mm total)

I got up at 8am to take my morning pills and then tried to go to bed again. It took a while, but I managed to fall back asleep and slept in for a bit. I slept for a total of 8.7 hours out of 9.5 spent in bed, but only managed to get 60 minutes of deep sleep. After I got up I sat in bed for a while with my laptop and ate breakfast. Then I decided to do a morning stretching session. Even though I was only lengthening once today, I need to keep up on regular stretching to stay ahead of my nerve pain. I still don’t have any shooting nerve pain in my left calf which is a very good sign, but both of my shins are extra numb with pins and needles still. Walking definitely helps suppress the bad feelings in my shins, though the numbness is ever persistent. I think I’m still a little weak in the left knee but hopefully that goes away once the swelling subsides.

I did my second stretching session in the early afternoon, then lengthened. I had some slight tingling in my left shin after lengthening, but nothing painful. I felt like I was weaker walking around after lengthening, but that could also be because I was sitting on the bed for a while doing nothing after lengthening. Later in the afternoon I watched some NFL playoff games and then it was time to make dinner. After dinner I did a stretching session and then I had a bunch of other stuff to do. Before I knew it, it was time for bed.

Surgery Day +62, Lengthening Day 58 (+0.66mm, 49.54mm total)

I woke up naturally at 8am and got up to take my morning pills. Since it was still the weekend I turned off my alarm and tried to go back to bed and sleep in. It took a bit of time to fall back asleep but I succeeded. I got a total of 8.4 hours of sleep out of 9.1 hours in bed, and got 1.6 hours of deep sleep. Overall I think my sleep has been pretty good these few days. Having a five day weekend definitely helps me relax psychologically. This morning I got a hint of the nerve tingling leading up to shooting pain in my right calf on the inside near the heel. I was careful though and didn’t trigger any actual nerve pain. This feeling makes me nervous though, since it feels like the terrible shooting pain could come back at any time. I have been doing a couple of quad stretches every time I get up in the night to prevent nerve pain. Overall, I would say for the last 2.5 days I have been in 0-2/10 pain all day every day. The only pain is from when my shins tingle really hard and it’s quite uncomfortable, but it’s nowhere near the 7/10 shooting pain that instantly becomes my focus when it occurs.

I got out of bed and ate breakfast, then watched some TV and next thing I knew it was almost noon. I did a very efficient and focused 20 minutes of stretching and hit every major muscle group needed, then lengthened with no problems. I kept busy for a couple more hours until my allotted gym time. I went down to the gym and rode the Peloton for 30 minutes. I don’t know why I thought riding for 30 minutes would be a good idea, but there was a beginner 30 minute ride on the main menu and I just loaded it. I was quite tired afterwards, and the seat made me very uncomfortable even with biking shorts, but I managed to output 107 kJ in 30 minutes, which is a solid output compared to my prior rides. I feel like I should be able to hit almost 80 kJ in a 20 min ride, which is probably my next goal on the Peloton. I was only in the bottom 17th percentile for this ride though, overall. I can feel the limitations to my maximum flexibility and power when I push my hardest. My heartbeat went over 170 bpm a couple of times, so I’m definitely nearing my cardiovascular limit, though I think these bike rides are probably helping me improve that as well. I can tell that my legs are getting stronger and have more endurance, which is good. However, I don’t think that riding a bike is going to help me with my gait though so I still need to work on walking. I keep thinking that it’s snowy and icy outside, but it’s really not. My PT has suggested that I go for some outdoor walks, and I probably should. I had a few minutes of gym time left so I did a couple of quick upper body reps with dumbbells and then went back home.

At this point it wasn’t late enough to cook dinner yet, so I stretched for a bit and watched some football. I fell asleep for about an hour and then got up and played some games on my phone. Then I cooked dinner and ate while watching more football. I was chatting with some friends and it was getting quite late, so I had to start my second lengthening session. I did another very efficient stretching session, hitting all the stretches I wanted in just 20 minutes, then I ran the ERC with no aftereffects. So far so good at the 0.5mm/day rate. As it was getting late, I got ready to go to bed and went to sleep after taking my nighttime pills.

Surgery Day +63, Lengthening Day 59 (+0.33mm, 49.87mm total)

I woke up very early in the morning and couldn’t fall back asleep. I got 5.5 out of 5.8 hours of sleep with 45 minutes of deep sleep. I would just have to somehow make it up later. At 8am I got up and stumbled over to the kitchen to take my morning pills. I also did my morning routine, and then went back to bed where it was warm and cozy. I browsed the web on my laptop in bed and didn’t want to move or do anything. I should have done a morning stretching session before PT, but I couldn’t make it happen.

Although I had the day off work for the holiday, my PT did not. I headed over to PT in the late morning. I rode the stationary bike hard, getting my heart rate to almost 180. I rode 1.61 miles at resistance level 5.5, which is the best I’ve done so far. I averaged around 90 watts of output throughout the ride. Next the PT rolled out my quads and IT bands, then I did some single legged bridges and then my standing stretches. My calf flexibility is very good now, maybe even as good as pre-surgery. Considering how bad it got a few weeks ago, the improvement is really amazing to me. I can lean forward quite a bit standing on a slant board with my body completely straight, forming a 45 degree angle with my foot and leg, feeling a very tolerable stretch on my calf. My hamstring flexibility has improved as well, though it’s nowhere near what it was before. I did a couple of other exercises, then on the leg press I did 30 reps at 97.5 pounds with both legs, and 30 reps of 77.5 pounds for each leg individually. The single leg press is getting really hard at this weight and I’m sure with a couple more pounds I won’t be able to do 30 reps anymore. I also want to note that while I was working out in the PT facility, I frequently observed myself in the mirror to make sure I was doing my exercises with the right form. This also means that I’m constantly looking at my new proportions. I was wearing invisible socks today, and with a regular workout shirt and gym shorts I feel like I have amazing proportions now. I’m extremely happy with my current proportions and I’m not sure if adding another 3cm will help or not. My legs look kind of long already, and I think from a distance I probably look taller than I actually am right now. My longer femur to tibia ratio with clothes on is definitely not noticeable at all right now. It looks great in the mirror, regardless of what the actual ratio is right now. I no longer feel like I have short and stubby thighs, so continuing to lengthen will purely be for additional height, possibly at the cost of ideal proportions.

I rushed home after PT and I had about 20 minutes to lengthen, change clothes, and eat a snack before heading back out to my scheduled massage. I did a hip stretch and a quad stretch since I didn’t stretch those at PT, and then ran the ERC on each leg. I’m still technically not at 5cm yet, but I’m close enough that I’m just going to call it 5cm and make this my 5cm journal update. I now plan to update my journal once per centimeter. However, I’m not sure how many more centimeters I’m going to get though. The slow lengthening rate and the process dragging on and on makes me want to stop early. I’m also concerned about proportions, especially after talking to some other lengtheners who are also noticing the increased femur to tibia ratio in the mirror. It took me 19 days to go from 4cm to 5cm, unlike the 10 day/cm rate I was doing for the first 3cm and almost 4cm. It really feels like a snail’s pace right now, but what can I do? I will say that at this moment I feel much better than I did two weeks ago when I last updated the journal. At that point I wasn’t sure how much longer I could even continue lengthening, but now I have the confidence to go to at least 6cm, maybe even 6.5cm (which would take another month at my current rate!) My flexibility is not an issue at all right now. I don’t feel that tight at all, even in the hamstrings, which is amazing. My only weakness is nerve pain; it’s a terrible weakness, especially when it manifests nonstop. There’s a lot to think about, but I also have a lot of time to think about it.

After eating a snack, I put on regular clothes and headed back outside to get my massage. My biggest fear here is the masseuse triggering my shooting nerve pain since I don’t have any shooting pains right now, and if it gets triggered it might not go away so easily. I’m going to try and make sure that it doesn’t happen by being more vocal during the massage. Other than that I could certainly use some extra work on my quads right now, they are quite sore after that tough bike ride and heavy leg press. On the massage table I started out face down and got a lot of work done on my hamstrings and calves. The focus was primarily on my legs. I ran into a major issue though; while my left calf was getting a strong massage, my right shin started to hurt a ton in the area that was numb/tingling. The pain was in the form of a painful tingle. I don’t know how else to describe it, but it was 6-7/10 pain and I was desperately trying to move my right leg around to find a position to relieve the pain. I don’t think it was anything the masseuse did, but whatever position I was in was generating the pain, and at a level just below the threshold where I would have to shout out in pain. I was clenching my teeth and trying to focus away the pain, and I even had the masseuse switch legs and push my right leg into a bent knee position to alleviate the pain, which helped a little. Fortunately, at this point the end of the massage was near and I just had to continue bearing it for a bit. After the masseuse left the room I got off the table and did some quad stretches. It immediately reduced the pain to about a 3-4/10 which was tolerable. It got better as I walked out and by the time I left the building and drove off, the pain was down to 0/10. I don’t really understand how that pain came about because I lay on my stomach in bed all the time and I don’t get nerve pain from that position. I’m reluctant to get another massage now because that was a terrible experience. After the massage my legs felt really good, but it’s definitely not worth the pain that I felt during the massage. My feet were super cold and the masseuse warming them up should have felt really good, but the pain in my shin ruined all of that. For my next massage I will probably go to a different massage place where I can get a foot massage sitting down to improve my circulation.

When I got home I ate another snack. Sadly I haven’t had a meal yet today, but I was going grocery shopping and I figured I would eat a ton after getting back from that. I kept myself busy for 30 minutes while waiting for the timer on my pills. As soon as I ate the pills I headed out to go to the store. I was going grocery shopping for the first time since I returned from Las Vegas last month. I still have about a month's worth of frozen and canned foods that I can cook, so I don't necessarily need to go shopping right now, but I figured it would be good to have fresh food to eat. I didn’t know at all what my capabilities would be before surgery, so I really stocked up on a lot of food in case I couldn’t even go outside at all. However, since I can easily drive and I can easily walk around (albeit with a funny gait) I should have no problems with grocery shopping. I picked a grocery store a bit further from home instead of the one I usually go to and drove over. This way I’m less likely to bump into someone I know. I walked into the store from the parking lot with my cane, but once I grabbed a cart I could use that like a walker for balance and just put my cane in the cart. After that I was really shopping like a normal person, except not being able to walk nearly as fast while pushing the cart. Pushing the cart itself was not a problem, even as it got heavier with more food. I picked up a lot of mood uplifting food like ribeye steaks, ice cream, and chips and salsa (for next weekend's football games.) Hopefully I can eat my way to happiness while suffering from issues related to soft tissue elongation. After picking everything up I checked out and pushed the cart back to my car, loaded my stuff in the trunk and drove home. It took quite a few trips back and forth to my car to get everything inside since I didn’t want to carry a lot of weight at once. Once I put all the food in the pantry and fridge I finally didn’t have any more reasons to go outside for the rest of the day.

I took a shower and changed into my LL video clothes. I actually feel the most “normal” right now that I have felt at any point since surgery day, so I figured it would be a good time to take a video. I had my cane nearby but didn’t shoot any video with the cane because that’s boring! Here I am walking around and going up and down stairs nine weeks after surgery at a hair under 5cm lengthened.

https://youtu.be/g_l8Z5e9XII

After reviewing this footage I think my gait in the video doesn’t look that great because I am swaying hard to the left when I put weight on my left leg. This video was taken after I walked over 5,000 steps today, so I didn’t have a ton of strength left in my legs. When my legs are fresh I can focus on my hip muscles to reduce sway while walking. At least I am able to walk relatively fast compared to before, so that’s an improvement. I think the LL process is very individualized and you can’t look at someone’s video and think that you’ll be at the same point after the same number of days post-op, or that you’ll completely recover by a certain date. I started out very flexible, but lost most of it quickly as I lengthened. I also had nerve pain very early on in the distraction phase compared to others. There’s no way to know how fast your bone growth will be, how fast your soft tissue growth will be, and how that all interacts with the other factors of lengthening until you actually start the process. You can theorize all you want, but when you actually get LL, something you weren’t expecting will definitely smack you right in the face.

After taking that video I cooked dinner and ate. Then the pace of the remainder of the evening was very relaxed as I didn’t have another lengthening to do today. I did a full stretching session to make sure that I’m staying ahead on that. I don’t really have anything else important to do tonight, so I’m on the LL forum posting this update. Every time I remember that my life would be pretty much the exact same right now (due to the pandemic) even if I wasn't getting LL helps a lot. In fact, with LL I'm actually going outside more since I have to frequently go to PT and visit Dr. D haha. I will probably go to bed very early tonight and try to improve my sleep quality for next week. Expect another update at 6cm!
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: L8GrowthSpurt on January 19, 2021, 03:29:32 AM
Wow! Thanks for more great diary work, BTM.  Much appreciated.  I’m behind ya and am learning a lot from your experiences. I too wil have to juggle work after a month off, which concerns me but I’ll deal.  Keep up the good work and hope that nerve pin disappears. Now, go get that last 3cm! 😁
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: Vibes on January 20, 2021, 03:04:03 AM
Do you complete any exercises for your hip abductors to strengthen them? I have spoken with several PT on their recommendations for rehab after surgery (including those at Paley institute) and they recommend to do clam shell exercise to reduce the hip sway. Maybe it can help you just an idea  :)
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: Stryde2021 on January 26, 2021, 03:15:41 PM
BTM would you mind giving some specifics on how Dr. D approached your nerve issue?  I don't think there are a lot of diaries on the board where nerve problems force a stop/slow down.    Was there some threshold at which he said "Ok, now it's time to stop/slow down?"  For example, did it start off as intermittent/brief nerve pain episodes that he thought were OK to push through, and then it reached the stopping point only later--i.e., once the pain become more frequent/consistent?

Thanks!
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on January 26, 2021, 08:48:32 PM
Quote from: Stryde2021 on January 26, 2021, 03:15:41 PM
BTM would you mind giving some specifics on how Dr. D approached your nerve issue?  I don't think there are a lot of diaries on the board where nerve problems force a stop/slow down.    Was there some threshold at which he said "Ok, now it's time to stop/slow down?"  For example, did it start off as intermittent/brief nerve pain episodes that he thought were OK to push through, and then it reached the stopping point only later--i.e., once the pain become more frequent/consistent?

Thanks!

Yeah, numbness in the shins is fairly normal and doesn't force a slowdown. Shooting or burning pains would. Stopping is for when the pain is consistent and not controllable with stretching, medications, etc. I think it's really a case by case basis and you'd have to consider pain tolerance, callus growth, etc.

Also, I've been having more nerve issues and will probably update my journal around this weekend or so.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: Vibes on January 26, 2021, 11:55:36 PM
Quote from: BelowTheMean on January 26, 2021, 08:48:32 PM
Yeah, numbness in the shins is fairly normal and doesn't force a slowdown. Shooting or burning pains would. Stopping is for when the pain is consistent and not controllable with stretching, medications, etc. I think it's really a case by case basis and you'd have to consider pain tolerance, callus growth, etc.

Also, I've been having more nerve issues and will probably update my journal around this weekend or so.

There is numbness in the shins even for lengthening the femurs? I guess it is the peroneal nerve irritation causing this?
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on January 27, 2021, 02:15:29 AM
Quote from: Vibes on January 26, 2021, 11:55:36 PM
There is numbness in the shins even for lengthening the femurs? I guess it is the peroneal nerve irritation causing this?

I believe the perineal nerve is just part of the sciatic nerve. The entire sciatic nerve gets stretched and causes nerve issues in the lower leg.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on February 01, 2021, 12:54:05 AM
Surgery Day +64, Lengthening Day 60 (+0.66mm, 50.53mm total)

I was charging my watch before bedtime last night and forgot to put it back on so I don’t have any sleep data today. I would estimate that I slept between 6.5 and 7 hours since I only remember waking up once briefly before being awakened by my alarm. When I got up I ate my morning pills and then did my morning routine. After my shower I applied scar gel on all my LL scars. This is supposed to make them smaller or less noticeable. I’ve only used it twice so far, but if it works I’ll definitely make it known in my journal. I had to wait until the gel dried before getting dressed, but it dries pretty quickly. I ate breakfast, which was better than usual since I just went shopping. I then had to call into a morning meeting. I squeezed a stretching session and lengthening into a 30 minute gap this morning, but otherwise was busy working all day.

I got a call from the chiropractic facility that I’m getting my messages from, asking me to pay a copay for the exam I got earlier. I’m not sure if the overall math will work out in my favor, but it does look like they are charging me less than they billed the insurance company. If I was paying the same amount as my EOB stated I would be quite upset since they quoted me a lot less for the visit. I probably have to do at least 3-5 massages here billed to my insurance to have saved money on massages compared to just paying with cash. I don’t plan to visit them until I get my first massage EOB and after my shin nerve tingling is gone because I don’t want to experience another nerve pain attack on the massage bed again. While I was dealing with medical costs I also called the PT billing customer service line to complain again, but the rep said that their system was down, so I guess they don’t want my money yet.

In the early afternoon I did another full stretching session. I’m trying to do 3-4 of these every day, hitting every muscle group necessary but it’s not easy. These sessions are definitely not as intense as PT, but I think my stretching at home is pretty effective. If I sit in bed with my legs straight for a while, then my shin tingling turns into a bit of nerve pain. It’s not the shooting type of nerve pain; it’s more that it’s tingling really hard to the point of pain. I don’t know how else to describe it. I completely forgot to eat my afternoon meds and didn’t realize it until after dinnertime, but I wasn’t feeling any major pain so I decided to just wait until bedtime to take my nighttime meds. Later at night I did another full PT workout and stretching session and lengthened and then went to bed.

Surgery Day +65, Lengthening Day 61 (+0.33mm, 50.86mm total)

I woke up to my alarm this morning to take my morning meds. I’m starting to think I should just set a later alarm so I can get a bit of extra sleep, but it probably makes more sense for me to go to bed earlier. As soon as I got up I knew I wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep. I checked my stats and I had 7 hours of sleep out of 7.2 hours in bed, with 90 minutes of deep sleep. I think that’s enough to not feel tired in the morning. I got up and did my morning routine, then ate breakfast. I had an early morning meeting to start the day, but otherwise had a pretty big chunk of free time in the middle of the day. I managed to complete a full stretching session this morning before PT, which clearly means I have some energy today. I noticed today that my insurance company actually paid for my Xarelto this month. That doesn’t make any sense to me since I haven’t met my 2021 deductible yet. I’m not going to argue with it though. Gotta love the American healthcare system where you’re more surprised when a claim gets paid than when it doesn’t. I took a Norco and headed over to PT.

When I entered the PT facility it was very quiet. There was only one other patient and they just happened to be riding on the stationary bike so I couldn’t use it to warm up. I was going to suggest warming up on the treadmill, but my PT told me to get on the table instead and that she would work on me first. After she rolled my quads and IT bands, I did some exercises while lying down, and then all my standing leg stretches. The PT increased the height of the footrest for my hamstring stretches, which made them a bit harder. I hope that means my flexibility is getting a little better. After a few standing exercises it was time for the leg press. I moved up to 30 reps of 105 pounds for both legs, which wasn’t that hard. Then I had to do 30 reps of 85 pounds on each leg. I split it into sets of 10 alternating between legs and I was barely able to finish it. However, this is more than half my body weight, so that means in theory I should be able to do a full body weight squat with both legs now. I’m not going to try it though. I also did sit-to-stands on a regular chair and had no problems with that. Finally, the PT told me to ride the bike for 10 minutes as a cooldown. Since it was a cooldown I tried to keep my heart rate under 150 bpm the whole time and ended up going only 1.32 miles at resistance level 4.5. It looks like if I maintain a 50 watt output, my heart rate will pass 150 bpm. It’s interesting to track these things to see how strong my legs are getting and how efficient my cardiovascular output is. It would be pretty amusing if I ended the distraction phase with better cardiovascular health than pre-surgery, but it looks like that’s what's actually going to happen.

After PT I got some takeout and went home. I ate first before remembering that I had to lengthen. Fortunately my legs were still decently warmed up, so I just did a quad stretch and hip stretch and then ran the ERC on both legs. I felt a few clicks on my right leg while I was running it, which makes me nervous about preconsolidation, but based on my last x-rays it doesn’t seem like my bone growth is fast enough to make Dr D. concerned about preconsolidation at my current rate of lengthening. After lengthening I casually stretched a bit and then I had to call into a meeting. I remained busy at work for the rest of the day. Later in the evening I cooked dinner, but without a big appetite I wasn’t able to finish. I got one more half hearted stretching session in at night before going to bed.

Surgery Day +66, Lengthening Day 62 (+0.66mm, 51.52mm total)

I woke up this morning to my alarm and instantly hit snooze even though it was set 30 minutes later than usual. When it went off again I was a little groggy but got up to start the day. I remember feeling some nerve pain in my leg overnight - the tingly type of pain that I’ve been feeling in my shin sometimes. I don’t think the nerve pain interrupted my sleep too bad though, because I got a 99% rating in the sleep app. That’s 8.2 hours of sleep out of 8.5 hours in bed with 2.2 hours of deep sleep. I got up and did my morning routine, then sat back down in bed. I had no meetings early in the morning and work was not busy otherwise so I spent some time browsing the web and eating until it was time to do my morning lengthening. I don’t have any additional problems aside from the occasional nerve pain in my shin right now, but I’m not sure if speeding up lengthening will increase my pain. I’m not that tight in my legs right now, and I can lay down with my legs perfectly straight and next to each other hardly feeling a stretch. I spent about 25 minutes stretching as I added a couple of new exercises (hip abduction for my bad gait) and then lengthened with no issues.

I spent the rest of the afternoon working. By the time I finished with work it was time for dinner. I heated up my leftovers from last night and some other foods. I need to get better at eating more nutritious foods during lengthening, but it’s hard since I have less energy than I would normally (and that’s saying a lot during the pandemic.) Somehow I’m gaining weight while everyone else is losing weight during lengthening. I thought it was just swelling at first, but my thighs are not swollen right now and I’m still 4 pounds heavier than a week ago! After dinner, I had a bunch of other things to do so I kept busy until late at night when I had to do a stretching session and lengthen. It was a full 30 minute stretching session, which is usually my target. I was sufficiently tired at this point and decided to try and go to sleep.

Surgery Day +67, Lengthening Day 63 (+0.33mm, 51.85mm total)

I had a ton of trouble falling asleep last night and didn’t end up properly going to sleep until very late. I remember waking up a couple of times in the middle of the night and also around dawn. I hit snooze on my alarm a few times until I absolutely had to get up. My sleep rating was only 70%, with 5.4 hours of sleep out of 6 hours in bed and 45 minutes of deep sleep. This morning I felt sore both bending my knees and straightening my legs. It’s a good thing that the weekend is coming soon, because I think I need some extra sleep to help with my recovery. I did my morning routine a bit later than usual, with a bit of tingling nerve pain in my shins as I walked around. Doing some light quad and hamstring stretches helped with that and I started working and getting ready for a relatively early meeting.

I wasn’t able to do a full stretching session before PT, but I did get up and do some quad and hamstring stretches every so often since those are the most needed and it helps a bit with the nerve issues in my lower leg. When I left for PT I forgot to take Norco and I also forgot my house keys. I was already in the car when I realized this so I just said screw it and drove over. At PT for the last few sessions I haven’t been using my cane. I just set it by the coat rack when I get inside and grab it when I leave. There’s a lot of stuff to grab onto if I lose my balance, but I’m pretty confident in walking normally nowadays. I’ve also stopped using the cane at home. The first exercise was a warmup on the stationary bike. I tried to push myself a bit, though I was pretty tired. I did 1.49 miles at resistance level 6. That’s probably averaging 70 watts for most of the ride, but I was able to output 150 watts for the full last minute of the ride. I was very warmed up and ready to go at this point, but the PT had me lay down on the table to work on me. After that I did some stretches and then all my leg exercises. It’s getting pretty tiring to do all the leg exercises since every session the PT increases the weights or switches to a tighter resistance band on every exercise. I can definitely say that an hour of PT right now makes my legs way more tired than an hour of PT did a month ago, and that’s with my legs being way stronger than they were a month ago. I don’t mind though, since I probably need the training. I just wish there was some way they could directly train my gait, but I think they are more focused on overall leg strength and recovery. On the leg press I did 30 reps of 110 pounds with both legs today, and then 30 reps of 90 pounds on each leg. I broke it into sets of 10 and took a 20 second break between each set and was still only barely able to do it. It took forever, but after the leg press I went home.

After I got my backup key and went inside I had a lot of work to do in the afternoon, but because I didn’t sleep enough last night I was sleepy and unproductive and even fell asleep for 30 minutes. After I woke up from my nap I was able to work for a bit more but then it was time to go to my scheduled haircut appointment. Those of you who have been following my journal know that I live alone and don’t plan to meet any friends or family until my gait has recovered. Therefore, this was actually the first time I got a chance to see someone that I was kind of familiar with before the surgery. I showed up at the salon and the first thing he said was, “Did you get hurt?” If that’s not an obvious sign that my gait is terrible then I don’t know what is. I used my ski accident excuse that I’ve been telling people and he said, “You’re not my first client that got into a ski accident this year.” I bemusedly chuckled to myself at the absurdity of the situation. Aside from gait there is also the issue of height. I was the same height as this guy before the surgery, so when I entered the salon I instantly noticed that I was very clearly taller than him, to the point where I wanted to hunch my back so it wouldn’t be so obvious. Fortunately, I don’t think he remembered how tall I was so he didn’t call me out on it and it wasn’t an issue. I guess this test with an acquaintance shows me that LL will be very obvious to anyone who knows me well from before, especially if I max out the nail. Also, I still need a lot of work on my gait, but now I’m motivated to get better and to walk more. After sitting in the barber’s chair for over 30 minutes, I had some strong nerve pain in my right shin just like I did on the massage table. I feel like maybe it’s being caused by staying in a position where I can’t move my legs the way I want to. It was fortunately right before the end of my haircut so I just had to bear it for a minute or two before I got a chance to stand up. As soon as I stood up, the pain went away.

After the haircut I went home feeling refreshed since my hair was getting really wild and I finally got a chance to clean up my look. It was dinnertime and I had to cook the ribeye steak that I bought earlier otherwise it might go bad and I don’t like wasting money. However, my grill is on the balcony and it was dark already and the temperature was well below freezing outside. I forced myself to weather the elements and grill the steak with only a hoodie on and when it was finally done, I quickly retreated indoors to eat. After I ate I kept myself busy for the rest of the evening, then got ready to go to bed. I did an extra stretching session before going to bed because both my numb shins were hurting a bit. My left shin was also pulsating from just above the ankle into my leg, which felt like an early sign for shooting nerve pains. The stretching session helped a bit, but I still feel like I’m always on edge for heavy nerve pain to come back at any time. I went to bed at a reasonable time after a long and tiring day.

Surgery Day +68, Lengthening Day 64 (+0.66mm, 52.51mm total)

Last night I turned off all my alarms before going to bed. I was determined to get a full night's sleep. I would just have to take my meds whenever I woke up naturally. I remember randomly waking up throughout the night when my shins hurt from tingling nerve pain, but not to the point where it was significantly disturbing my sleep. I also woke up once after dawn and saw that it wasn’t even 7am yet so I passed back out quickly. When I finally got up I checked my sleep app and I got a 100% rating with 8.9 hours asleep out of 9 in bed and 2.5 hours of deep sleep. Now that’s what I call sleeping in! I got up for my morning routine and meds, and noticed while walking that my left knee hurt slightly when I put weight on it. For once I don’t think it’s related to nerve pain (which I was also feeling in my shins of course.) The ibuprofen helped with the knee pain and after eating breakfast it was already time to lengthen.

I did a proper 30 minute stretching session with full reps of every stretch, then I ran the ERC. No problems with lengthening as usual, though I’m sure I’ll feel some aftereffect in my shins later. After lengthening I remembered to call the customer service line for PT billing. I felt a bit bad for having gone to PT for over a month and not paying anything yet except a couple of paltry copays, even if they have been billing me ridiculous amounts. They had an automated voice message saying that their systems are still down and to try calling back on Monday. Their IT department must be terrible, but that’s not my problem. I had a lot of other errands to do at home that I’ve been putting off for a week so I quickly got busy. I ended up walking around for a good hour or two. At one point when I was walking around the living room my right foot started feeling nerve pain in the shin, up near the knee, which is a first. I sat down for a bit and then did a quad stretch and it seemed to resolve the issue.

By the time I got everything done, it was late in the afternoon already. I skipped my mid-day stretching session and just did a couple of quad and hamstring stretches instead since I walked around so much I didn’t feel like I needed it. I was planning to get some work done this weekend, since I would have to sneak out a lot next week during work hours to go to PT and get X-rays. I ate some snacks and planned to work until I was hungry enough to cook dinner. I was quite focused and ended up working until pretty late. I then cooked dinner, ate, and then did another full 30 minute stretching session. Afterwards I lengthened, and then it was about time to go to bed.

Surgery Day +69, Lengthening Day 65 (+0.66mm, 53.17mm total)

I couldn’t fall asleep again and was browsing the web until I finally got sleepy and passed out. I woke up a bit later than usual, but not to the point where it was sleeping in. I got a 86% on my sleep rating with 7.4 hours asleep out of 7.5 hours in bed and 1 hour of deep sleep. I got up and did my morning routine. Aside from a little stiffness in my legs, I surprisingly did not have any pain anywhere this morning. My shins were still numb, but only a little tingly and not really painful. After breakfast I sat on my computer for a bit, but realized I had to lengthen soon. Today would be my first time lengthening 0.66mm for two consecutive days in what feels like a really long time, but has only actually been two weeks. I did a 30 minute stretching session and then lengthened. I felt a little weird in my left thigh while lengthening, but the feeling went away as soon as I stood up.

I spent most of the afternoon working and watching football. I had some random nerve pains in my shins while sitting on the couch, and had to get up and do some quad stretching, which only partially relieved the pain. At one point I did a full set of hamstring and calf stretches as well. In the evening I cooked a ton of food and somehow managed to finish it all. I scooped out a giant bowl of ice cream for dessert and drew a hot bath to eat it in. I noticed that today (and maybe even the last few days) I’ve been feeling a lot more emotionally sensitive to random things. Like I’ll laugh hard at YouTube videos that are only kind of funny and I’ll feel sad watching clips that are only a little sad. I feel nostalgic about the past and uncertain about the future and frequently find myself lost in my thoughts. I think this long distraction phase is impacting how I perceive the world and my place in it due to how isolated I am. I think that doing LL during the pandemic is killing two birds with one stone, but at the same time the psychological impact of yearning for normalcy in both my legs and the ability to socialize in person/travel is a double whammy and I probably feel like I miss “the good days” twice as much as someone who is merely trapped inside due to the pandemic.

Anyway, after my bath I continued to work until almost bedtime. I did another 30 minute stretching session and then lengthened. This time I didn’t feel any weirdness in my left leg which is a good sign. One of my teeth had been hurting for the last hour or so and I had already taken Ibuprofen and it didn’t do anything, so I took an Acetaminophen as well. I wouldn’t be able to sleep in tomorrow and I was a little tired already, so after that I went straight to sleep.

Surgery Day +70, Lengthening Day 66 (+0.00mm, 53.17mm total)

Last night and this morning I woke up a few times before my alarm. Each time I woke up I felt like I wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep again, but each time I somehow managed to fall asleep. I got a 91% sleep rating for last night, with 7.7 hours of sleep out of 8.1 hours in bed and 1.5 hours of deep sleep. I got up and did my morning routine, then ate a small breakfast. I hopped back in bed to do some work and everything was normal for about an hour, but then everything went to  . At this point, completely out of the blue my left leg started experiencing severe nerve pain. This pain was different than anything I have felt before. It was not the shooting nerve pain or the burning nerve pain. I don’t even know how to describe it other than it was just there. It was easily a 7/10 pain emanating from my left ankle into my calf along the inside of my leg. I was not able to focus on anything else and I was grimacing and clenching my teeth. The little bit of control I still had is the only reason I wouldn’t rate it an 8 or higher. It was so bad though, that it made me want to end the distraction phase right then and there. I don’t know what’s wrong with my nerves, but they are really bad at lengthening. I have absolutely no other soft tissue problems like tightness or pain, but my nerve issues are making the distraction phase a continuous nightmare.

About 30 minutes into the pain, it was still showing no signs of stopping so I took a Norco just to see if it would help. I’m still on gabapentin right now, so in theory nerve pain should be dampened or stopped, but this pain didn’t care one bit about gabapentin. Every single stretch I tried was unable to alleviate the pain, which is also why I think it’s a new form of pain. At least stretching didn’t increase the pain either. All my previous nerve pain could be relieved at least somewhat by quad stretching and bending the knee joint as hard as I could. Also, this pain was enhanced by impact. When I’m trying to walk with the pain, I have to be extra careful when putting my left foot down. If my foot hits the ground too quickly, the vibration increases the nerve pain briefly. Also, just touching any part of my shin would make the pain increase. At this point I even considered how long I would wait for this non-stop pain to go on before going to the ER. While waiting for the Norco to kick in, I called the PT office and told them that I wouldn’t be able to make it today due to severe acute nerve pain that came up an hour ago and wasn’t going away. The PT said if I could make it in then they could try working on my piriformis muscle and see if that would help relieve the pain. I told her there was no way I could safely drive over at the moment even if it’s less than a mile away. She then said that I could use a tennis ball and roll it up and down my butt to try and roll out my piriformis muscle myself. Doing it against the wall or on a hard chair would be the most effective.

After getting off the phone with the PT, I did exactly what she told me to, and it did absolutely nothing for my pain. I went back to sit in bed, since I figured if I was going to suffer non-stop like this, I could at least suffer in a comfortable sitting position not making any movements that could potentially trigger more pain. After sitting down for about 15 minutes, I noticed that the pain was starting to decrease. Maybe it was the Norco, or maybe it was the tennis ball rolling, or maybe it just happened to go away now. Regardless, soon I was not feeling anymore pain when my leg is still, and just a little bit of pain when I moved my foot or leg. After another 15 minutes I felt no more pain at all even when moving. I also felt a little lightheaded/high from the Norco, so I think that may have helped a little with tolerating the pain, if not reducing it. The last two hours was a terrible experience, and by far the worst pain I’ve felt since my surgery. I’m glad I wasn’t busy at work this morning, because I did absolutely no work.

At this point my left shin started hurting a bit with the burning nerve pain. This type of nerve pain I’m familiar with as I usually get it from sitting in one position for too long. It can be alleviated by a quick quad stretch, which I did. I also realized I was kind of hungry, so I got up, stretched quickly, and made a simple lunch. I was able to walk around with no pain. When I got back to bed I lay on my stomach and rolled my butt (piriformis muscle) some more with the tennis ball. Oh, and of course while I was in severe nerve pain I was complaining to Dr. D’s team the whole time. I think he was in surgery though since it’s Monday morning, so all I could do is leave them with as much information as possible so Dr. D could read it when he was available. Since I didn’t have any more pain and I had eaten lunch, I started working. I had no more nerve pain for the next few hours and felt pretty comfortable sitting in bed. Dr. D got back to me and told me to take a 48 hour break from lengthening. I would skip today and tomorrow. I planned to get an X-ray on Wednesday so again, hopefully my bone growth rate compared to my lengthening rate is manageable with all these breaks.

Of course good things can’t seem to last for me when it comes to nerve pain, so in the late afternoon I started getting more nerve pain. This time it started on my right leg, with a 3/10 burning pain in my shin. I stretched a little bit to hopefully alleviate it, but the stretching did nothing. Then, just minutes later, my left shin started hurting, but not the burning pain. I was feeling the same pain that I felt this morning inside my left calf. Over the next few minutes, the pain grew more and more intense, all the way up to an 8/10. This was ongoing pain and it was worse than during the morning. I was grunting, panting hard, grabbing my bedsheets, and squeezing the tennis ball as a stress ball. It was nearly unbearable pain and I couldn’t do anything about it. Since it had been a couple of hours since I took meds, I limped over to the kitchen and took everything I could: Norco, gabapentin, ibuprofen, acetaminophen. Maybe something would work. I was barely able to walk, as every time I put weight on my left leg it would trigger the nerve pain even more. I went back to my room and tried rolling my piriformis muscle with the tennis ball in different positions, and tried every stretch in the book to no avail. Nothing was working at all and it was just nonstop intense suffering. This is not what I signed up for. I would trade this for tightness and terrible flexibility anyday. I sat in bed as the nerve in my left leg throbbed and pulsated, sometimes so hard that my leg would twitch by itself. If I closed my eyes and focused hard enough, I could briefly get the pain down to a 6/10, but the next time the nerve pulsed it would go back to 8/10.

The lightheaded feeling from the Norco kicked in so I knew it was working, but the pain was still there so it wasn’t doing anything for the nerve pain. I lay down on my side and curled into a fetal position. The medications I took were making me drowsy and it felt really good laying in the fetal position even with my leg in pain. I drifted into sleep from the severe drowsiness but then quickly woke up again from the nerve pain. This happened again and again for about half an hour. However, what I was feeling during this process was much more tolerable than the intense initial pain. I sat back up on the bed and moved my feet and legs around. I still had about 3-4/10 non-stop nerve pain on the left side, but that felt like absolutely nothing compared to the start of the episode. I hoped that it would go away soon and leave me feeling okay again just like this morning. I was still quite lightheaded from the medications, though my mini nap had cleared out the drowsy feeling. It was around time to sign off work, but since I didn’t do much work today, I tried to get a little more done so I wouldn’t have wasted the whole day. I really hope I don’t have any more of these nerve pain attacks. I don’t know how much more of this I can handle.

I didn’t end up working that much, and ended up talking to people on my phone as I tried to eat a light dinner. However, late at night before it was time to go to bed, I unfortunately had another nerve pain episode. Again, it started at 8/10 pain with me clenching my teeth and panting hard just to bear it. Nothing I did could make the pain go away. I messaged Dr. D’s team again and told them this was the worst pain I’ve experienced in my life (which is completely true.) This time Dr. D said that he wants me to contract the nail by 4mm and that they’ve already reached out to the Nuvasive rep, who would call to reprogram my ERC tomorrow. For now there wasn’t much I could do. I asked if I could increase my Gabapentin dosage at least for now while I was having these nerve pain episodes and they said I could go up to 600mg 3x a day. I took 600mg of Gabapentin, 400mg of Ibuprofen and a Norco pill, chased it down with some fatty foods, then limped back to sit in bed again. I continued chatting on my phone for a while and it was mildly distracting and the pain slowly went down to a 6/10, which I consider to be tolerable compared to the initial pain. Then it eventually went down to 0/10. The whole process took well over an hour again, maybe closer to two hours. After this it was definitely time to go to bed since I was not in pain anymore. Who knows how much sleep I would be getting if I was awakened by another episode of this pain. I realized I was a bit woozy; I’m not sure if it was from the Gabapentin, Norco, or maybe both. Regardless, I fell asleep pretty quickly.

Surgery Day +71, Lengthening Day 67 (-2.00mm, 51.17mm total)

I woke up many times last night, but fortunately none of it was due to the type of nerve pain episode that I was having yesterday. I did have some pain in my right leg, but each time it was only about 2/10 and I just rolled to my side and fell back asleep. I’m so glad that I can sleep on my side now. It makes sleeping so much better every night. Still, last night was not good at all, with a 61% sleep rating; I got 6.7 hours of sleep out of 7 hours in bed and 15 minutes of deep sleep. I got up for my morning routine and took my pills, with double Gabapentin again. My legs were pretty tired and stiff since I didn’t stretch or exercise yesterday, but there’s not much I could do about that. I had an early morning meeting to call into so I sat in bed working.

After a while, the Nuvasive rep texted me to set up a call, and I said I was free, so he called and we programmed my ERC to do -1mm per session twice a day for two days. It’s sad to think about shrinking in height but I have to do this if I want to grow over the next few weeks or maybe even months. After everything was set up I decided to do my first session right away. It took over 3 minutes for the machine to shrink each nail by 1mm, and I was sad the whole time as I was literally making myself shorter. One that finished I was busy with work and then I had to go to PT.

At PT they knew that I was suffering from nerve issues since I had cancelled yesterday, so they tried to go light on me. I did the bike warmup weakly at 1.34 miles on resistance level 4. The PT spent more time working on me today. After rolling my quads and iT bands, she also manually stretched my hips and knees. She did not roll my piriformis muscle though, which might have been helpful. After that I did my regular stretches and standing exercises. At the end I did the leg press with the same weight as last time (110 for both legs and 90 for each individual leg) I was able to do 30 reps of each, but I barely made it through the single leg pushes. After that I got some takeout and went home.

Once I got home I ate while watching some YouTube; had no problems sitting in a relatively high chair. Then I had to call into a meeting and get some work done in the afternoon. I was mostly productive in the afternoon and before I knew it, it was dark out. I still wasn’t in the mood to cook so I just ate some healthy snacks for dinner. I was fairly confident that I wouldn’t have anymore nerve pain today. Throughout the day I had been getting random nerve pulses in both my left and right legs, in the shins and near the ankle on the left side. Each time it would make me very nervous that I would have severe nerve pain but up through this point in the day I hadn’t had any nerve pain. I think the shortening of my nail definitely helped my nerve issues already since both my shins were noticeably less numb than before.

At this point I figured I needed some rest and relaxation so I decided to take a warm bath and watch a TV show in the bath. After the trauma from yesterday I could definitely use it. After my bath I ate some snacks and went into my room. I did a mini-stretching session of the main three leg muscles and then ran the ERC. Again, losing another millimeter made me sad, especially since the ERC ran for over 3 minutes on each leg with the negative mm count ticking up so I could watch my femur shrink slowly. :( After that I did a couple of hip stretches and then rolled out my peroneal nerve with the tennis ball, which I still kept right by my bed. After that I was going to go to sleep, but ended up watching funny YouTube videos for a while, which was a total waste of time and I slept very late.

Surgery Day +72, Lengthening Day 68 (-2.00mm, 49.17mm total)

The first time I remember waking up was to my alarm this morning, so sleep couldn’t have been that bad. I also remembered that I had an incredibly weird dream last night. After I turned off my alarm, I fell asleep for over an hour. Fortunately I didn’t have any morning meetings to miss. My sleep rating was 92%, with 7.3 hours of sleep out of 7.4 in bed and 1.5 hours of deep sleep. This was not bad considering how late I went to bed. I’m glad that my sleep has gone back to normal. I wonder if later on in the process I’ll have difficulty sleeping again. I think most of the journals I’ve read can continuously sleep well once they stop having trouble sleeping in the first place. I got up for my morning routine and pills. Then I hopped back in bed and checked my work email. I remembered that I needed to shrink my nail early today, so I could get the second session in before going for X-rays. I ran the ERC on each leg and then ate breakfast. I went back to work for a while until it was time to go to PT. Unfortunately, I got dragged into something at work and wasn’t able to head out until 20 minutes after I wanted to. Right when I got to the PT parking lot, they called me and asked me to reschedule to tomorrow instead.

I picked up some extra ibuprofen at a nearby drugstore and got some takeout and then went home. I continued to try and get work done since I needed to leave early to go to the hospital for X-rays. Before heading to the hospital, I did my 4th and final shortening for the last two days. As I shortened, I thought about how difficult it was to get those last 4 millimeters and how they’ve now disappeared in such a short period of time. I really hope it’s easier to lengthen back to where I was the second time around and even beyond that. Who knows what will really happen though, with how terribly my nerves are reacting to LL. After lengthening it was about time to head to the hospital.

I left home with my X-ray orders in one hand and cell phone in the other. As I drove out of the garage I realized that I didn’t bring my cane with me. However, since I didn’t do PT today and my legs weren’t tired I decided I decided not to go home and get it. I might have to do a bit of walking around the hospital, but I don’t think it would be too hard. Plus a limping person is not going to look out of place in a hospital. I arrived and didn’t look too hard for a parking spot, so the one I got was not very close to the elevator. I was walking down the ramp toward the elevator, which felt like going on a treadmill that was slightly too fast in my current state. I got into the elevator and went straight to radiology since I already knew where it was. I gave them my orders and they set everything up quickly since I was already in the system. This time I got charged upfront, about the same as a month of Xarelto. Ouch! Good thing I’m hitting my deductible soon, because these medical costs are insane.

They eventually called my number and I went inside for the X-rays. It was the same tech as last time, but I don’t think she remembers me. Maybe that means she’s taken X-rays for many other people with IM rods in their legs in the last month. Anyway, after the X-rays she tried to get me to leave immediately, but I said I wasn’t leaving without a CD, so she had me wait in the waiting room again while she was making the CD. She came back with the CD and said she didn’t want to make one at first because the MRI people were hogging the machine. With the X-ray CD in hand I went straight home afterwards. When I got back, I picked up the CD drive I had ordered earlier from the mailroom. I went home and plugged it into the computer and tried to load the X-rays onto my computer. Of course my Windows computer couldn’t find drivers for the CD drive, and my Mac couldn’t open the executable to view the X-rays. I ended up making a copy of the CD on my Mac and then virtually mounting it on my PC to open up the program. I couldn’t figure out how to export an image in the program, so I just did a print screen and made a copy of all the X-rays in case I needed them. Then I went back out to mail the CD to Dr D’s office.

I also texted them to give them an update on everything. Dr. D then asked for a copy of the X-rays since the CD might not arrive in the mail until Monday. I sent them the screenshots I had taken, which were pretty high resolution. It was getting pretty late when I sent them this so I’m assuming Dr. D will take a look at it tomorrow morning. My ERC is currently not even programmed, so I can’t lengthen until the Nuvasive rep calls me to set up a new lengthening program. If my callus growth isn’t putting me at risk for preconsolidation, then I don’t mind resting for another day or two before resuming, but I definitely want to resume soon since the distraction phase is taking way longer than I thought was possible. Aside from that, nothing else interested LL-related today except that while I was at the hospital very self conscious about my gait, I noticed the movement of my reflection in a glass window and realized that I’m actually swaying pretty hard on both sides, not just the left side. I looked up some videos on improving gait through hip strength, and found a couple of exercises, which I will add to my routine.

Surgery Day +73, Lengthening Day 69 (+0.00mm, 49.17mm total)

Last night I slept fairly late and I got up a bit later than usual as well this morning. My tracker showed 7.8 hours of sleep out of 8 hours in bed, but only 75 minutes of deep sleep, for an 89% rating. I realized this morning that I was finally able to subconsciously roll around in bed. It probably has been happening for a while since my sleep has been good overall, but it seems like I can roll to my side in the middle of the night without waking up now. Also, when I lay on my side for a long time, my legs don’t hurt from the position anymore. I’m not sure if it’ll get worse again as I lengthen more, but for now it’s a great improvement in feeling normal again. I got up for my morning routine and then signed into my work computer. I had a very busy day today with a lot of meetings.

I stayed busy until it was time to go to PT, at which point I drove over to the clinic. When I got inside the PT asked me if I wanted to warm up on the bike or treadmill today. I elected the treadmill because I had noticed how bad my gait was while walking around the hospital yesterday. I walked a bit on the treadmill and the PT reviewed my gait and gave me some pointers. I tried to practice a proper walking gait on the treadmill and slowly walked 400m in 13 minutes. I think it actually helped a ton because even after I got off the treadmill I was able to walk without as much hip sway. I guess gait is psychological as well as learnt in addition to muscle function. I plan to film my gait again for my next journal update in a few days. After that I lay on the table and the PT worked on me for a bit. The knee bends actually felt really good for once. In fact, I would say almost every exercise felt pretty good. This is probably what things would feel like four days post-consolidation. The only exercise that I struggled on was the squat. I was given a 15 pound dumbbell to hold onto on one end and I needed to squat with my butt back the best I could until the bottom of the dumbbell hit a footrest that was about one foot high off the ground. I could barely touch the footrest with the dumbbell when I was coming down. I haven’t learned how to balance my squat with longer femurs yet, so it was a struggle. The tendon connecting my knee to my quads hurt on both legs when I was squatting, at maybe a 3-4/10 at the peak of the stretch. I can handle any pain that’s not nerve pain though. The PT also had me do a bunch of gait improving hip exercises and I didn’t have to do the leg press today. I got takeout after PT and went home.

During PT, I had received a bunch of texts from Dr. D’s team and the Nuvasive rep. Dr. D had reviewed my X-rays and wanted me to rest for today and restart the next day at the previous rate that I was going at. I contacted the Nuvasive rep and he called to set up the ERC. My new program was basically the same as my old one, but maxing out at 28.83mm, which means someone somewhere failed on the math. It should be 30.83mm to get me to 80mm. I’m not too worried about it right now though since I’m not very confident in getting anywhere near 8cm. When my ERC was previously showing 52.17/79.00mm, the 79mm felt really far away. Now that it says 28.83mm, it really does not feel as hard to achieve even though it’s really the same thing. I guess that’s the psychological difference of smaller numbers. Since I didn’t have to lengthen today, I put the ERC away and finished my lunch, and then went back to work. I worked quite late until after dark, and then got my personal laptop out and was reading the news and watching some YouTube videos. At this point I realized that I could be stretching at the same time as watching videos to increase my productivity. I was also feeling a little sporadic tingling in my inner ankle nerves, which didn’t hurt, but was making me a little nervous, so I got up to get some movement in.

Nothing else too interesting to report related to LL today. I have been using the scar gel fairly consistently, but have not seen any results yet. I don’t mind fixing the scar with the gel only to reopen it again with nail removal because at least I’ll know that the scar gel works. I think the scars are kind of dark against my skin, but I’m very happy with how small and flat they are (not bumpy or indented.) I went to bed a little earlier than yesterday so hopefully I can get a decent amount of sleep tonight.

Surgery Day +74, Lengthening Day 70 (+0.33mm, 49.50mm total)

I ended up watching YouTube videos in bed again for quite a while and I went to sleep very late. I got up and checked my work computer and an important morning meeting had been cancelled so I slept for a bit longer. In total I somehow ended with a 92% sleep rating with only 6.4 hours asleep out of 6.7 hours in bed, but I guess I got 2 hours of deep sleep, which seems about right since I had a ton of weird dreams. I got up for my morning routine, then took my meds and ate a protein bar. I had gotten up so late that it was almost time to go to PT.

I rushed over to the PT clinic, which was very quiet today. The PT gave me the choice of warming up on the stationary bike or treadmill again today. I chose the treadmill to work on my gait, though the stationary bike is a much better warmup and cardiovascular exercise. I could always ride the Peloton at my own gym instead of PT, though I could also use the treadmill at the gym as well. After walking for 10 minutes at a slightly faster pace than yesterday, I realized that my gait was best after warming up, but before my legs got too tired. It would probably be smart to walk at least that much every day while focusing on my gait. The PT stretched me out manually on the table and then we did a bunch of standing stretches and exercises. The focus was on my hips and improving my abduction for a more stable gait. Unfortunately I had to do the leg press today, with increased weight. I did 30 reps of 117.5 lbs with both legs, and 20 reps of 97.5 pounds on each leg. The PT wanted me to do 30 of the single leg presses, but after I got to 20, my legs were so sore that I was certain I couldn’t do 10 more on either leg. As usual, after PT I got takeout and headed home.

When I got home I did a quick session on the ERC before eating. I felt absolutely nothing when running the ERC on either leg, which is probably what one would expect after shrinking the nail and resting for days. However, it made me a little nervous since I have grown so used to the uncomfortable aftereffect of tightness and nerve issues that not feeling anything makes me fearful that the IM nails aren’t working! After I ate lunch I had to focus on work for the rest of the afternoon. In the evening I wasn’t hungry since I ate so much for lunch, and I spent a lot of it just watching YouTube videos and stretching a bit. I’m still trying to stay in the habit of stretching, but it’s not easy to remember to stretch when I’m not feeling tight at all. I know I need to stretch my nerves but I’m nervous about triggering nerve pain as well. I still get random pulses occasionally in both my left and right legs between the inside of the ankle and the calf. It’s not painful at all, but it’s a reminder that my nerves are still very sensitive.

I also wanted to point out that I noticed I was taller than pre-surgery a couple of times today. This is a little amusing since I’m technically shorter than I was a few days ago. The first time was in the morning when I was brushing my teeth. Instead of the bare skin of my stomach touching the stone countertop of the vanity, it was the top of my boxers. It’s a subtle but clear difference not feeling the coldness on my skin. The second time was when I was walking back to my car from PT. When I was standing next to my car, I realized I could see all the dirty spots on my moonroof from the snowfall earlier this week. I was looking down at the roof instead of across it, so the spots on the glass were much more noticeable. I also noticed that I can’t see the reflection of my eyes in the microwave anymore. My eye level used to be the same as the glass part of the microwave door so I could always see my face in it. Now that my eye level is at the level of the metal above the glass, I can only see half my face in the reflection when I walk around the kitchen. None of these things have an actual impact on my life, but they are clear indicators that I’m growing!

Surgery Day +75, Lengthening Day 71 (+0.66mm, 50.16mm total)

Last night I ended up watching YouTube videos on my laptop before going to sleep yet again. I think it’s getting to be a bad habit, heh. I went to sleep very late, but I also slept in pretty hard, so I got 8.5 hours of sleep out of 8.6 hours in bed, and with an amazing 3 hours of deep sleep. This gave me a 100%+ sleep rating in the app. I awakened feeling pretty groggy and stretched my legs in bed. Now that I sleep on my side a lot I can sleep better, but I find that just straightening my legs in the morning is a stretch. However, once I complete the stretch, stiffness is greatly reduced and I can sit or lay down with straight legs and not feel tightness. I got up for my morning routine and while walking around my left knee was in a little bit of pain again. Nothing too serious and I’ve felt this before; it usually just goes away once I do a little workout session or take my morning pills. After eating a light breakfast I sat back down in bed to use my laptop and phone for a bit to catch up with the outside world.

I remembered that I had to do two lengthening sessions today, which my body should tolerate after the break I took, but I’m still a bit nervous about it. I guess I don’t yet have the confidence to lengthen very quickly at the moment. I started my PT exercises and stretches to get ready for lengthening. I did a full 30 minute workout since I had plenty of time to spare. I ran the ERC afterwards and felt a little weird in my left shin while I was lengthening, but no other problems otherwise. In the afternoon I kept myself busy and cooked dinner in the evening. After dinner I did some light stretching to keep my legs from getting too stiff. I kept busy for the rest of the night and finally, before bedtime I did another full 30 minute stretching session before lengthening. I ran the ERC on each leg again, and again felt a tiny bit of tingling in my left shin, making me very nervous. However, lately when I’ve been walking around it’s actually the nerve on my right leg that feels tighter. I don’t know which side’s nerve will start hurting first, but I really hope it’s neither!

So now, twelve days after I last reached the 5cm mark, here I am reaching it again. When I last updated my journal I would never have dreamt that I would have made zero progress in nearly two weeks (and I’m sure none of you could have guessed either) but here we are. I will say I’m in a much better position in terms of flexibility and nerve issues than I was two weeks ago. I don’t feel tight in any of my muscles (though I’m sure my quads and calves are clinically tight and I don’t really notice since I’m so used to it by now) and I haven’t had any nerve pain since day 1 of my most recent break from lengthening. However, in terms of consolidation I’m certain that I’m in a much “worse” position in terms of bone growth as I have more callus than I did 12 days ago, especially with the boomerang maneuver (shortening and then lengthening the nail) which is actually one of the methods that doctors use to promote bone growth in the case of slow growth or non-union. Although I’m taking Ibuprofen right now, if I run into more nerve issues down the line I don't know how many more lengthening breaks or nail shrinkages my femurs can handle before consolidating. I’ll have to think a lot about what conditions I would consider stopping the distraction phase early, though I may not even get to make that choice depending on how things go.

Surgery Day +76, Lengthening Day 72 (+0.33mm, 50.49mm total)

Last night I finally went to bed earlier than I have been lately, although only slightly earlier. I slept in again and I remembered having a really weird dream where I bought a ton of overpriced and ugly limited edition sneakers. On the app I had a 100% sleep rating with 8.8 hours of sleep out of 9 hours in bed and 2.3 hours of deep sleep. I also had the lowest resting heart rate I’ve had since surgery, which hopefully means my body is recovering well. I got up since any more sleep would probably make me more groggy. After my morning routine, I planned out the day. I only had one lengthening to do, which is nice. However, I also have some work to catch up on, so today would probably be pretty busy and boring.

I was feeling a little stiff walking around this morning, so I did a full stretching session. After that I tried to get some work done before going to the gym. My gym alarm went off and I headed down to the gym. I walked on the treadmill for 20 minutes focusing on good gait to warm up. Then I spent the rest of my allotted time working my upper body with dumbbells. After I left the gym I set up my tripod in the hallway to record the following walking video:

https://youtu.be/TUAA5VzTYTs

I think my gait is a tiny bit better than last time, but still not that great. Any random observer can still easily tell that something is wrong. However, at least it’s pretty easy to walk around right now, I can go grocery shopping or walk around indoors without really feeling like I’m struggling to walk.

Since I was warmed up already when I got home, I did a few light stretches and then ran the ERC. I didn’t feel anything weird on either leg this time. After that I had some snacks and then worked for the rest of the afternoon, only taking a break to cook dinner. After uploading this entry I’m going to go take a hot bath and relax, then probably work until it’s time to go to bed, though I should be able to fit in a stretching session too. I'm trying to stay optimistic, though it's not easy. All I can really do is continue taking this one day at a time and hope that my body allows me to lengthen some more.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: permanentlybanned on February 01, 2021, 01:53:02 AM
Sad that 5cm reached twice and all that deleted progress and suffering. Things are looking up though. gait is 👌. Let's go man
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: Vibes on February 01, 2021, 02:02:25 AM
Quote from: BelowTheMean on January 27, 2021, 02:15:29 AM
I believe the perineal nerve is just part of the sciatic nerve. The entire sciatic nerve gets stretched and causes nerve issues in the lower leg.

Ok thanks. Gait looking good!
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on February 19, 2021, 02:41:05 AM
Wow, it's been so long since I posted that my thread fell to the second page! Here is my update:

Surgery Day +77, Lengthening Day 73 (+0.66mm, 51.15mm total)

I went to sleep early last night and got up pretty early for a morning meeting. I was still very tired when I woke up, even though I felt like I had slept well. The app showed a 75% sleep rating. Even though I got just over 7.5 hours of sleep, I only had 30 minutes of deep sleep. I got up for my morning routine. As I was stretching my leg a bit I realized that both of my legs were feeling some light nerve activity when my legs were straightened. Now that I can sleep on my side with my knees bent, maybe I’m not keeping my legs straight for enough of the night to stretch everything out. It feels like my nerves are getting more and more stretched out even though I’ve only lengthened four times since my break. I really don’t know what else I can do about these nerve issues other than hope for the best.

I spent some time researching stretches and PT exercises for sciatica. Although I don’t have that, the sciatic nerve does all the way down to my lower legs, so maybe the same treatments could address my issues. However, it seems like the exercises and stretches I’m doing right now at PT and at home already cover most of the stretches I found online, so maybe it’s not a stretching issue. I also checked my insurance website and I saw that I finally got billed by the hospital for my X-ray at the end of December. Apparently with that I hit my deductible last year, so I only owed a small amount. I continued to work for a bit in the morning, and then I headed to PT.

When I arrived at the clinic there was someone on the stationary bike already. We were the only two patients at this time. He looked like an injured athlete. I went on the treadmill for my warmup and worked on my walking gait. As I was walking, the guy stood up from the bike and it turns out that he was a giant. He was taller than me while I was standing on the treadmill, which was at least 20cm off the ground. After I got off the treadmill and walked over to the table to get stretched out by the PT, I realized that this guy was more than a full head taller than me (and I’m currently at 174cm.) Most 6’7” guys are pretty lanky, but this guy was built like a football player. All the female PTs were looking at him with googly eyes. Interestingly, this didn’t actually trigger my height dysphoria at all; I guess it’s just too far out of reach. I bet this guy could trigger some insecurities in a 6’2” guy whose life circulates around being tall though.

The PT spent more time rolling my leg muscles and stretching me out today, which is nice since I figured if my problem was nerve compression stretching further than usual might help out with that. Afterwards, I did all my usual stretches on my own. After that, most of the exercises I did after that were for improving my gait. I do think my gait is improving, but given how weak my hips and glutes are, I don’t mind the extra focus on those even if it makes me quite sore. Maybe it’s possible to have a normal gait before finishing the distraction phase.

After PT I got takeout and went home. After eating I started working, and stayed super busy for the rest of the afternoon. After dinner I had to do more work, and then I realized I had to lengthen before bedtime. I did a quick 20 minute stretching session and then ran the ERC on both legs. My left ankle and shin felt a little weird with nerve activity, but I’m really not feeling any pain yet. I took my meds and went to bed and fell asleep quickly.

Surgery Day +78, Lengthening Day 74 (+0.33mm, 51.48mm total)

I was pretty tired the night before and fell asleep at a reasonable time. I got a 100% sleep rating with 8.1 hours of sleep and 2.3 hours of deep sleep. That’s a 100% sleep rating three nights out of the last four. I think I can confidently say at this point that lengthening is not interfering with my sleep at all. Now if only I could get rid of these pesky nerve issues this phase would be a breeze. I think I’m lengthening slowly enough right now not to cause any increased nerve issues though. While I still feel a bit of pulsing and tingling in both legs around the heel, inside of the calf, and on the shin, none of it can be considered painful. However, as I’ve been stretching a lot I don’t think the nerve activity has increased at all in the last few days. I really hope that it’s a sign that my nerve growth is keeping up with my lengthening rate. After I got up for my morning routine, I grabbed a snack for breakfast to eat in bed and called into my first meeting.

I was going to have a very busy day today at work today. I took breaks only for lunch, lengthening, and dinner today. I wish I had gotten a morning stretching session in, but I didn’t have time to. I was at least able to walk around a few times while I was on the phone. I did a full stretching session for the lengthening in the early afternoon and I did another full stretching session later at night. My sole lengthening session of the day went well, and I didn’t feel anything in either leg again. I think the stretching feeling of the nerve in my right leg when I straighten my leg is much less noticeable at night and when I’m walking. It’s much more noticeable in the morning right when I wake up or if I stay sitting down for too long. My fear that it’s the same feeling as nerve pain, but the nerve just isn’t stretched out enough to send pain signals yet. Who knows?

Surgery Day +79, Lengthening Day 75 (+0.66mm, 52.14mm total)

I ended up watching a bit of YouTube last night while sitting in bed, and my legs felt very stiff. It was difficult to find a good position where I was completely comfortable. I went to sleep late and I remember waking up a few times last night due to general restlessness. My sleep app thinks I got pretty good sleep though, with a 95% rating for only 7.1 hours of sleep, likely because I got 2 hours of deep sleep. This morning when I was stretching out while still laying in bed, I didn’t feel my nerves overstretching in either leg, which was a great sign. I also didn’t feel any random pulsating or twitching in my nerves either. However, after I got up, did my morning routine, and started working, I started feeling some nerve activity, so I guess it won’t go away that easily.

My first lengthening of the day was okay. I got through my pre-lengthening stretches very quickly and efficiently and ran the ERC with no problems on either leg. I ended up working all day again, and my efficiency wasn’t that great since my mind was a bit distracted with everything going on. My legs felt stiffer than usual today and my quads were plenty sore. I’m not sure if it’s from the PT workout I did on Monday or if it’s the fact that I’ve been lengthening for a few days now and my quad muscles are starting to get stretched out again. I hope it’s not the latter though, since I have literally only lengthened a few mm since my last break. I did an efficient stretching session before my last lengthening of the day as well and had no issues running the ERC on my legs. No major problems today aside from the soreness.

On the financial side, I got my second bill from the PT in the mail yesterday. It’s for a very large amount as I expected. They’ve already started calling me trying to collect now. I haven’t paid the PT company anything yet, and I’m not going to pay until I give them a “Karen call”. Their bait-and-switch pricing is a ridiculous business practice and I’m not going to just sit there and take it. I also got another bill in the mail for lab work during my inpatient stay. It’s a very small bill, but it’s for the exact same amount as another bill I got from them last month and already paid, so I think it may be a duplicate bill. It’s very annoying to get medical bills in the mail and you never know exactly how much they are for with the convoluted US insurance system. I’ve now met my deductible this year though, so I’m expecting future costs to be more manageable.

Surgery Day +80, Lengthening Day 76 (+0.33mm, 52.47mm total)

Last night I went to bed relatively early. I got a 98% sleep rating with 7.9 hours of sleep and 2 hours of deep sleep. I think I still have a bit of restlessness at night because I remember randomly waking up and having to stretch my legs a couple of times. My quads were still sore when I woke up this morning. Other than that I had a pretty uneventful morning. Although my nerves make me nervous with all the random pulsing and throbbing activity, I still haven’t experienced any nerve pain recently. I think given how much they hurt just a week or two ago, I believe that my nerves or the soft tissue surrounding them have grown a bit longer since I’m not experiencing that kind of pain at the same amount lengthened.

I went to PT at my usual time, but the usual PT wasn’t there. I trained with another PT, who was juggling two other people at the same time. I ended up staying for 90 minutes instead of the usual 60 since things were moving so slowly. I got a good workout for my hips and stability/balance and I got a pretty good amount of stretching in as well. I am a pretty big fan of manual stretching by the PT right now because it’s harder for me to get a good stretch on my own since I don’t have that much equipment at home to use for balance, etc. I guess that’s one downside to becoming more flexible, but it’s better to deal with that than tightness.

After PT I went home and called the PT billing department again. We reached an agreement of sorts, and they said I actually don’t need to pay the bill until we’re done with all my PT. It’s going to be a ginormous bill, but I see no reason not to put it off since I’m not getting charged any interest on it. I almost forgot to lengthen after PT since I was eating lunch and talking to customer support, but fortunately I was still pretty warmed up when I did lengthen since I hadn’t sat down in bed and made myself comfortable yet.

After lengthening I got busy with work and worked late into the night. Hopefully this will be the last day of being super busy at work, though I’m pretty sure I will need to work some overtime this weekend too. I’m not missing the Superbowl though! While I was working late at night, I felt some more serious tingling and pulsing in my nerves. The most concerning was in the inside of my left angle and moving up through my calf. This is where I most recently had severe nerve pain, so if the area is getting agitated again, it’s not a great sign. However, last time I didn’t have any of this leading up to it though, so I’m not sure if this is actually a good indicator that I will get nerve pain later on. After I lengthen tomorrow I’m going to be at the same point that the severe nerve pain hit last time. I really hope I can get past it without any nerve pain this time.

Surgery Day +81, Lengthening Day 77 (+0.33mm, 52.80mm total)

Today I had to wake up very early in the morning - probably the earliest since a month or two ago when I was still having trouble sleeping. I needed to go to the DMV before work, and hopefully if I showed up super early there wouldn’t be a long line. I took my pills a bit early and then headed out. Long story short, I ended up wasting two hours and went to two different DMVs and didn’t finish what I set out to do. While I was driving around (about 20 minutes at a time) my leg started hurting a bit like it has in the past (nerve pain.) Although it was tolerable, getting this kind of nerve pain again was frustrating to me. It probably means I will get more nerve pain later on. I’m not sure what to do about it - all I can do is try and get to 55mm before my next visit to Dr. D and next set of X-rays. However, with this pain I planned to skip a session today. I might try to make it up tomorrow depending on how I feel.

I got home and tried to get some work done. There’s always something urgent that needs to get done at work lately and the stress is getting to me a little. Hopefully that’s not connected to my nerve pain. I don’t think they are related though, since I have nerve pain even when I’m in a good mood. I didn’t have much time before I had to head to PT so I didn’t get much done.

At PT I rode the bike for 10 minutes at resistance level 5 for 1.29 miles. I definitely didn’t push it very hard and I was zoned out the whole time I was riding the bike. My legs have been chronically sore over the last few days. I’m not sure if it’s from the intensity of PT, from the lengthening process, from walking too much, or from some combination of the above. Given how healthy my legs felt over the last few weeks (aside from any nerve pain) it has definitely been a little difficult for me as it feels like I’m regressing a bit in terms of flexibility and muscle pain. I did a bunch of stretches and hip workouts, and then did the leg press. I managed to do 30 reps of 125 lbs on both legs, then 30 reps of 97.5 lbs on each leg. At least my quad muscles still work even if they are sore. I did some exercises on the table after that and finally the PT foam rolled my sore muscles and stretched me out good.

I rushed home after PT for a meeting and I was busy with work all afternoon. I had more work to do at night, but I was out of Gabapentin, and running low on fresh foods, so I took a dinner break to go to the pharmacy and pick up my refill, and then go to the grocery store. That way I wouldn’t have to go outside at all for the very cold weekend. I finished both errands and went home. It took some effort to get all the groceries inside, and once I did I realized my legs were super tired. After eating dinner and talking on the phone with family for a bit, it was getting a bit late. I stretched a bit and then I was debating if I wanted to take a hot bath. It was too late and I was too tired so I went straight to bed. Work could wait until tomorrow.

Surgery Day +82, Lengthening Day 78 (+0.33mm, 53.13mm total)

I slept in quite a bit last night, making up all my lost sleep from working late throughout the week. I woke up a few times in the morning but didn’t feel like getting up. Surprisingly my nerves didn’t feel tight when I was stretching in bed this morning. Maybe they only grow in my sleep so I need to sleep more. I only got a 99% rating in the sleep app because even with 9.8 hours of sleep I only got 1.7 hours of deep sleep. I got up and did my morning routine. It was late enough in the morning that if I wanted to do two sessions today I would have to do the first one immediately. I decided against it because even though my nerves feel better I’m still a bit wary of doing two 0.66 days back to back. I ate lunch and browsed the web for a bit and in the early afternoon I started stretching to prepare for lengthening. I ran the ERC with no issues again, though I feel like I’ve gotten to the point where I can prevent any uncomfortable feeling while running the ERC by shifting my legs around as necessary.

For the rest of the day I was busy with work since I still had a lot to catch up on. To anyone who wants to WFH while lengthening, keep in mind that you’ll need to have a flexible schedule to go out and do stuff during business hours and to be able to put off work until later when you are dealing with pain and other lengthening-related issues. I took a break for dinner, and finished my work early enough in the evening that I could take a hot bath before going to bed.

Surgery Day +83, Lengthening Day 79 (+0.66mm, 53.79mm total)

I woke up a few times last night with very uncomfortable shins. For the last few weeks my shins have been pretty sensitive to touch, so it’s not out of the ordinary. However, it hasn’t gotten to the point where it has woken me up before. I forgot to take my meds last night, so that might have something to do with it. It’s possible that the gabapentin is helping with some of my nerve issues. Also, even though I woke up a few times I was still able to get 8 hours of sleep and 2 hours of deep sleep for a 98% sleep rating since I slept in late again. I got up to do my morning routine and take my pills and then it was time for the first lengthening session. I can’t skip a session on all my 0.66mm days otherwise I’m going to be lengthening forever. The last week has gone by incredibly slowly, and lengthening has really been a drag.

I did a full focused 30 minute stretching session before lengthening. While I may have been uncomfortable and stiff this morning, after my workout I was definitely ready to lengthen. After running the ERC in the morning, I finally surpassed my previous maximum length! I’m back in uncharted territory and I hope this time I can keep going unimpeded. I worked a bit in the afternoon and then took a break to watch Brady destroy the Chiefs. It was pretty late after the game, but I continued working for a bit before my evening workout/stretch and lengthening. I had actually forgotten to take my medicine in the afternoon, so I took it right before my workout and lengthening session. After running the ERC again, I got back to work and continued to work into the night.

Surgery Day +84, Lengthening Day 80 (+0.33mm, 54.12mm total)

Last night I would have stayed up very late but my work computer crashed, which I took as a sign to go to sleep and wake up the next morning to work. I set an early alarm before dawn and passed out. Of course I missed the early alarm completely and woke up at a fairly normal time just before my usual alarm. I awakened very quickly and did my morning routine so I could sign onto work again. I quickly checked my sleep rating and it was an abysmal 76%, with 6.7 hours of sleep and 0.7 hours of deep sleep. Given how much I slept over the weekend though, I’m definitely still “caught up” on sleep and wasn’t the least bit tired this morning. Also, I want to note that compression pants are amazing! I slept so much better last night, with absolutely zero issues with my shins. This morning I didn’t feel any nerve issues either. My PT says it’s because the pants should be helping with the swelling. I don’t know if that’s true, but however it works it definitely makes me feel better.

At the PT clinic there was only one PT present today and she wasn’t my regular PT. There were quite a few other people scheduled as well and the clinic kept receiving phone calls, so I feel like I had to do most of the stretches and exercises on my own or I would never get out of there. I did a super lazy bike ride, only getting 1.25 miles at resistance level 5. While I was on the table, the PT used the metal rolling pin on my quads while they were stretched, which was quite painful, and she rolled pretty hard even though I told her it hurt. Fortunately the pain didn’t last past the rolling. I also did the leg press today, with 30 reps of 125 lbs on both legs again, but only 85 lbs on each individual leg. Even though the individual leg weight wasn’t as high as before, I could still only barely do 30 since I was so tired. My quads were okay, but my glutes and knees couldn’t handle the weight.

After PT, I got some food and then rushed back because I had a lot of pressing things at work. I worked while I ate and then continued to work afterwards. Suddenly I remembered that I had to lengthen, but I was in the middle of a meeting. I stretched a bit and then lengthened after the meeting. At some point in the afternoon I got a text from Dr. D’s team regarding prescriptions. The only one I’m taking right now is Xarelto, and they called it into my local pharmacy instead of pickup in Las Vegas like I had been doing before. The rest of the day was just work and more work.

Surgery Day +85, Lengthening Day 81 (+0.66mm, 54.78mm total)

I actually worked late into the night last night, but I was efficient enough to get things done without pulling an all-nighter. I got a sleep rating of 82% with 5.6 hours of sleep and 1.5 hours of deep sleep. When I woke up I immediately sat up and started working again. I took a break for my morning routine and pills and then realized that I needed to complete a lengthening session this morning. I had an important meeting in the morning, but I think I had enough time to do a few stretches before lengthening. I’d be going to PT after the meeting so I don’t need to overwork myself. I ran the ERC with no issues and then called into my meeting.

At PT they wanted to do an assessment today, which means measuring my flexibility and all that to provide a report to the doctor since I’m flying to Vegas tomorrow. I didn’t get to see the results, but I’m guessing I’m about the same or maybe a little bit more flexible than the last measurement. I rode the bike for 1.47 miles at resistance level 5, and I was taking it pretty easy until the end. I did all my usual stretches and exercises, but she keeps adding weights to everything. Fortunately I didn’t have increased weights on the leg press because that’s the one place I don’t think I can handle it. I did 30 reps of 125lbs with both legs, which was fairly easy, and then 20 reps of 97.5 lbs on each leg, which was very hard. I got my usual takeout and then went home.

After I got home I had to call into a meeting and ate while listening in. Then I was very busy with work and literally worked late into the night again. I think I’m done being super busy for a little while though, and I took a day off to fly to Las Vegas, so it’ll be nice having a break where I don’t have to think about work.

Surgery Day +86, Lengthening Day 82 (+0.33mm, 55.11mm total)

I woke up at a reasonable time given the slightly later than usual bedtime. I got a 98% sleep rating with 7.5 hours of sleep and 2.3 hours of deep sleep. After doing my morning routine, I started working. I had a lot of meetings today and quite a few things to wrap up before heading to the airport. My flight was a bit later than last time, so I wouldn’t have to leave work early again. This morning I had some random sharp 3-4/10 nerve pain in my left shin. I’ve been having some of this in my right ankle as well over the last day or two. It happens suddenly but goes away immediately. I’m not sure what to make of it yet. I’m a bit nervous flying because staying in a sitting position for hours is a very good way to aggravate any nerve issues I have. I did a full 30 minute stretching session and ran the ERC on each leg before heading to the airport.

When I got to the airport I remembered to tell the driver to drop me off all the way at the end of the terminal at the pre-check checkpoint. I got through security quickly with no line, and my gate was literally right behind the checkpoint. I had rushed out early for nothing, since it only took me 5 minutes to get from the curb to the gate. I went to a nearby store to buy some snacks and a bottle of water for the flight and then returned to the gate. After playing on my phone for a while it was time to board. The flight was jam packed and the person sitting next to me was very big. This wasn’t great since I would have absolutely nowhere to stretch my legs on the left side. I actually ended up getting up two times to go to the bathroom even though I could have held it in, just so I could get some stretching in. I did have some nerve pain on the flight because I was sitting in a cramped position for so long, but it was nowhere near as bad as either flight a month ago. I watched one movie which wasn’t very good and the airplane WiFi kept lagging because it couldn’t keep up with the completely full flight. I spent the rest of the flight just leaning back into my seat with my eyes closed and listening to music.

When I got to the Vegas airport I had to do the long walk with multiple escalators and a tram ride again. It was so much easier than the first time two months ago. I went out to the curb and walked over to the rental car shuttle stop. The line was ridiculously long and I had to wait for 5 shuttles before it was my turn to get onto one. At the rental car facility I got my car quickly and drove over to the hotel, picking up some fast food on the way. I actually ended up leaving my cane and coat in the car, since the weather was nice in Vegas and I wasn’t parked too far from the entrance. Upon entering the hotel, if the staff noticed my weird gait they certainly didn’t mention anything at all. It was nice being “normal” for once. In my room I stretched for a bit, took my meds, and then fell asleep pretty quickly. I ended up with about 5500 steps today, which is surprisingly not that much for a travel day.

Surgery Day +87, Lengthening Day 83 (+0.33mm, 55.44mm total)

I woke up once right before dawn, fell asleep again, then got up before my alarm went off. I had a weird dream the night before about the LL forum (that’s a first.) I had a 93% sleep rating with 7.6 hours of sleep and 1.8 hours of deep sleep, which isn’t bad for staying in a hotel. I got up, got ready, packed, then went down for breakfast. After breakfast I checked out and drove over to Dr. D’s office. It was so quiet in the office, I was certain that I was the first appointment and that they had just opened. They were ready for me though, and I went in for my measurements. I came in at almost 175cm on the stadiometer (yay, morning height) and just over 170 lbs on the scale. I don’t know how I keep gaining weight since I’m eating pretty lean and my body fat percentage seems okay looking in the mirror. It must be those leg press reps the PT keeps forcing me to do making my quads big. I blame either that or the swelling, which is pretty bad right now since my jeans actually feel tight around my thighs.

Anyway, I took X-rays after, then went into a patient room to wait for the doctor. Dr. D came in shortly after and showed me my X-rays. Everything looked great and I had solid callus on all sides of the gap and both legs were being lengthened perfectly evenly. Now comes the interesting part - I finally got a bit of good news. Dr. D says that he measured me well over 5.5cm in the X-ray and that I’m actually closer to 6cm lengthened. He thinks it’s because the 4mm that I tried to shorten a few weeks ago probably didn’t actually shorten the nail by that much. This means that my bone is actually consolidating somewhat quickly since the nail was not able to reverse as much as intended. Therefore, I would need to speed up again to ensure that I don’t pre-consolidate. Apparently taking Ibuprofen to slow bone growth did absolutely nothing since I still have solid bone growth. While I’m afraid of nerve pain, I really want to get this done as soon as possible so I’m down to try speeding up again. I’m going to stretch super hard this next month and to make sure the PT is aware of my objectives so she can focus on my flexibility over my gait. I suppose if in a month or two my journal suddenly jumps from 70-something mm to 80mm, that means I will have finished out the nails before the ERC signaled 80mm. Given my experience with nerve pain during the distraction phase, I certainly hope that this is the case!

While I was there we also discussed a few other questions that I had for him, including the Stryde recall issue. He says that he and the other doctors have submitted their data to Nuvasive but aside from that he can only guess exactly what Nuvasive will do or how long the nails are going to be off the market for. He’s not worried for current patients as long as we remove the nails after a year or two. Before I left, he also gave me a script for Toradol to replace Ibuprofen and X-ray orders for two weeks from now. After leaving the office, I went straight to the rental car place to drop off my car and then took the shuttle to the airport. I had to walk a lot to get to my gate this time and I stopped halfway to eat a sub. I had a window seat for the return flight and the plane was only half full, so I ended up with my own row. Since I was easily able to stretch out and stand up, I didn’t have too much nerve pain on the flight back. The WiFi was also fast so I could watch movies without any lag. After I landed I checked the price of a Uber ride back home and it was more than my plane ticket, so I said screw it, I’m feeling pretty good, and I took public transportation home. It took a bit longer than it would have by car, but it wasn’t any worse than the flight.

When I got home it was pretty late. I unpacked and then did a full stretching session and ran the ERC. I hadn’t lengthened for over 24 hours, so my body should be able to handle it easily. I was already planning to do 0.66 tomorrow anyway, so really it would be two days from now that I technically start going faster. After lengthening, I took a hot bath and played on my phone. I had taken 7500 steps today, what a long day! Of course, I fell asleep in the bathtub again. It’s so easy to fall asleep in the tub ever since I got that bath pillow. I woke up shivering so I was probably asleep for a while. I quickly got up, dried off, and took my meds, then I went straight to bed.

Surgery Day +88, Lengthening Day 84 (+0.66mm, 56.10mm total)

I woke up pretty early this morning, with a 84% sleep rating. I got 6.6 hours of sleep and 1.3 hours of deep sleep. I had to call into a meeting immediately, but fortunately it was the kind where I wouldn’t have to talk because I was barely awake at this point. I did my morning routine and ate my meds, then sat back down in bed with my work laptop and got busy. I took a break to do a 30 minute stretching and lengthening session, then I had to go to PT.

My regular PT had the day off and this time I had a brand new PT who I have never met before. She didn’t seem as friendly as the other PTs I’ve encountered so far, but she did her job. I did most of the exercises on my own anyway. I slacked off a little on the bike warmup and the leg press at the end. I did the same weights and number of reps as last time on the leg press, but I left the chair in the default position so I wouldn’t have to push my legs as far, which made the exercise much easier. I got some food and then I was going to go to Walgreens to pick up my prescriptions, but the drive thru line was 8 cars long and I knew my food was going to be cold if I waited so I just went home. I could always go back over the weekend or after PT on Monday.

After I got back and ate I had a bit more work to do. I worked until dinnertime, at which point I wasn’t that hungry so I just ate a snack and then I decided to entertain myself with some video games and TV. I actually felt quite “normal” at this point, and I was already feeling a lot less nerve stimulation than I had since flying back home, though I think I still need to stretch a lot more in general. Late at night I did another 30 minute stretching session and lengthened again. I would have to work hard and force myself to stretch and use my legs over the weekend since I wasn’t going to PT. Maybe I should try going to the gym both days. Since I was a little behind on sleep I went to bed fairly early.

Surgery Day +89, Lengthening Day 85 (+0.66mm, 56.76mm total)

I woke up pretty early today but got my full 8 hours of sleep. I also got 1.5 hours of deep sleep for a 92% sleep rating. After I got up and did my morning routine I messed around on the internet for a bit while still sitting in bed and it was quickly time to lengthen. Now that I’m back to two sessions a day I need to spend more time stretching every day and in general being more focused on the lengthening process. I did a full stretching session and lengthened. Everything went smoothly. For the rest of the day I kept myself pretty busy. I had a lot of chores to catch up on and some extra work to do. Overall, I was pretty bored today, but like I’ve said many times I would be just as bored if I wasn’t lengthening because of the pandemic.

In the evening I spent some time laying down with my legs elevated and rubbing my thighs to reduce swelling, since I think it has helped a bit in the past few days since my legs were not as swollen as before this morning. I cooked a big dinner and watched some more TV. I actually got in a few extra stretching sessions today, but I was mostly just focused on the big muscle groups. I did a full stretching session hitting all the muscles before my second lengthening of the day though. After lengthening I was pretty tired mentally and I went to bed fairly early again. I was a bit nervous as I was laying in bed since I was feeling some nerve activity, but I’m still hoping for the best and hope that the sensations don’t turn into pain.

Surgery Day +90, Lengthening Day 86 (+0.66mm, 57.42mm total)

I felt like I slept in very late this morning, but I actually got 7.9 hours of sleep out of 8.7 hours in bed. I only got 1.3 hours of deep sleep so my sleep rating was 91%. I was groggy but I got up and noticed I had a bunch of messages on my phone. I got distracted and ended up talking to people for a while and then realized that I was supposed to lengthen and that I had forgotten to take my meds or eat breakfast! I quickly did everything I was supposed to, then did my stretching session and ran the ERC. While I didn’t have any issues while lengthening, I have been feeling more nerve activity after lengthening than before. I did an extra stretching session in the early afternoon to hopefully help alleviate some issues.

In the late afternoon I went down to the gym to walk on the treadmill for a bit. This was both so that I could practice my gait and that I could get some extra steps in on a day that I wasn’t going outside at all. However, it didn’t work as intended because about 5 minutes into my walk on the treadmill, my left knee started hurting about 6/10 whenever I put weight on it at the wrong angle. I’m not sure what the exact problem was and I tried to stretch my left leg in several ways while standing on the side of the treadmill but nothing worked. The only way I could walk is if I slowed the treadmill down to under 1mph. By walking incredibly slowly, I was able to avoid the angle that caused pain in my left knee. I spent a total of 15 minutes on the treadmill and then worked out my shoulders and arms with dumbbells. It wasn’t easy even getting the dumbbells to the workout bench because I was afraid of weight bearing on my left leg, especially while carrying a dumbbell. I went super slow though and things turned out okay.

After the gym I went home. For the rest of the night while I was walking I had to walk slowly and carefully avoid putting pressure on my left knee in the wrong way because the pain trigger was still there. I cooked dinner and ate while watching some TV, then decided to take a hot bath to hopefully help with the knee. It didn’t do anything for my knee though. After my bath, I did another stretching session and then lengthening for the second time in the day. I haven’t encountered any new issues with lengthening aside from this pain in my left knee, but it’s not nerve pain so I’m actually somewhat relieved. Hopefully this is only temporary and I can sleep it off. Ibuprofen doesn’t do anything for it since I’ve been taking it all day, but I’m sure norco could dull the pain if I need to take it before PT or something. I was pretty tired and went to bed relatively early.

However, even though I was in bed I stayed up for a bit watching YouTube videos again. While I was sitting in bed my right shin hurt a bit from persistent 3/10 nerve pain for a good hour or so. The joint pain in my left knee was continually present as well. Maybe wearing compression pants would help with both of these, but I was too lazy to get up and try. Sadly, this type of pain is nothing for an LL vet and I just ignored it. When I actually lay down and got ready to sleep the pain suddenly went away. I’m not sure if it was due to changing from sitting to lying position or that enough time had simply elapsed. Regardless, I passed out quickly.

Surgery Day +91, Lengthening Day 87 (+0.66mm, 58.08mm total)

I got 7 hours of sleep and 1.7 hours of deep sleep for a 92% rating in my sleep app. I woke up feeling pretty good this morning, albeit still a bit tired. After my morning routine, I had a bunch of early meetings to call into. After my meetings I did a quick and very efficient 15 minute stretching routine and then lengthened. I was heading to PT afterwards, so I didn’t have a reason to go too hard during my warmup.

I basically drove through a blizzard to get to PT, and once I got inside I was relieved to see my usual PT. I updated her about my doctor’s appointment and my increased lengthening speed. I told her that I would be getting tighter and would need to do more stretching. I also told her about my left knee pain yesterday. I ended up getting a pretty light workload today. I slacked off on the bike, doing 1.32 miles at resistance 5, which is about a 50-60 watt output for 10 minutes. The PT had me do some extra stretches in the hips compared to usual and I didn’t have to do leg press which was great because I was already tired after doing the easy exercises. I hope that I will have more energy and strength for my next PT session.

After PT I didn’t have time to get food or pick up my prescriptions, and I went straight home to call into a meeting. I ended up working all afternoon until it was time to take my drugs. I had enough medication to last for two days, so I definitely needed to pick up my new prescriptions the next time I leave the house for PT. I cooked a slightly less than healthy dinner and ate it quickly. I didn’t have any urgent work to do in the evening, so I tried to relax for a bit. I did one last lengthening session at night, but not too late at night. I find that I’m more able to complete my stretches if I start the process before I get tired late at night. After lengthening I went straight to bed.

Surgery Day +92, Lengthening Day 86 (+0.66mm, 58.74mm total)

Even though I didn’t bring my laptop into bed last night I ended up watching YouTube on my phone for almost an hour until I was about to pass out. However, I guess I still went to sleep earlier than usual since I got a 100% sleep rating with 7.8 hours of sleep and 2.2 hours of deep sleep. I woke up pretty groggy, but I managed to sit up and boot up my work computer. After replying to a few emails I got up for my morning routine. After breakfast I prepared for a lengthening session so I could get it done before I got absorbed by work. After lengthening, I worked for the rest of the day only taking a short break for lunch.

In the evening after work wound down I ate dinner and watched some TV. I did a bit of extra stretching, though I wasn’t really in the mood for it to be honest. My legs are definitely getting more and more stiff, and I’m starting to have trouble keeping my legs together again; the natural position for them currently is over a foot apart. My gait is getting worse as well I think, as is my APT. I’ve had the left knee pain sometimes as well, but not as bad as the last time I went to the gym. Overall, although I don’t have any nerve pains I’m starting to feel more and more of the other common issues from lengthening that I didn’t feel while I was going very slowly and taking breaks. I lengthened one more time right before bed, and got my stretches in, though I didn’t have a lot of energy to do them all since it was so late. In bed I felt a lot of pulsating on both my left and right shins, but I wouldn’t quite consider it as “pain”. I managed to fall asleep fairly quickly since I was tired.

Surgery Day +93, Lengthening Day 87 (+0.66mm, 59.40mm total)

I think I woke up a few times last night with really stiff legs and tried to stretch them out. I’m not really sure though, because I had a lot of weird dreams which made things really hazy. Although I got 7.6 hours of sleep, I only had 1.5 hours of deep sleep for a 91% sleep rating. When I woke up though, my legs were very sore and stiff and I had to stretch them out in bed to straighten them. If my legs are already this tight now, I can only imagine how tight things will be if I get anywhere close to maxing out these nails. I got up for my morning routine and breakfast and then sat in bed working. I had an extremely tight schedule today, to the point where it would be hard to find time to lengthen during the day. I managed to do my stretches during a meeting that I was listening in on and then lengthened during my short break afterwards.

During lunchtime I rushed out to pick up my prescriptions and go to PT. Fortunately, there was no line at the drive through pharmacy so I arrived at PT early. They weren’t busy so it was no problem to get me started early. I did 1.42 miles on the bike at resistance level 5 going pretty easy the whole time. Then the PT rolled out my hamstrings and quads and then manually stretched me for a bit. It looks like both my hamstrings are super tight, and while both quads are very tight as well, my left quad is tighter than my right quad, just like early on in the distraction phase. The rest of the exercises weren’t too hard, but doing all of them and repeatedly working out my legs was still very tiring. I unfortunately had to do the leg press today with increased weights. Since it was with my regular PT I couldn’t cheat by moving the chair back so I wouldn’t have to move my legs as far. I managed to do 30 reps of 130 lbs on both legs, which was actually pretty easy. For each individual leg the PT wanted me to do 110 lbs, which is quite a lot for me right now. I was able to do 20 reps on my right leg without too much struggle. On my left leg I barely managed to do 20 reps, broken out into two sets of 10. I wonder if my unexpectedly fast bone growth is due to doing the leg press with heavy weights. I wouldn’t be surprised if this contributed to it.

Since I left PT early I had time to get some takeout and went home to eat while calling into a meeting. I had a lot of work to do all afternoon. In the late afternoon I had to decide if I wanted to take Ibuprofen or switch to Toradol. I’ve been reading that NSAIDs shouldn’t be taken with blood thinners, but I realized that I’ve been taking Ibuprofen with Xarelto for over a month now and I haven’t bled to death yet, so I guess Toradol shouldn’t be all that different. I was also taking Xarelto and Toradol at the same time at the hospital post-op, but obviously there were nurses checking on me frequently so I don’t think there would have been any problems there. If I go to 1mm/day I won’t be at as much of a risk for pre-consolidation, so maybe I won’t need to take Ibuprofen after I’m done with the Toradol. My insurance would only pay for 5 days worth of Toradol anyway, so I think it would be okay to take Toradol for 5 days, and then based on my X-ray next week I could ask the doctor if I should continue to take Ibuprofen or not. I decided to start Toradol tomorrow and took my Ibuprofen and Gabapentin.

In the evening I continued to be busy and while I tried to lengthen a bit earlier in the evening I ultimately failed. I ended up starting my stretches very late and lengthening right before going to bed. Somehow I still had the energy to do a full workout. I did half of it before lengthening and the other half after. I went to bed tired, but feeling satisfied for some reason. I’m looking forward to updating my journal tomorrow!

Surgery Day +94, Lengthening Day 88 (+0.66mm, 60.06mm total)

I slept a bit late last night and overslept my alarm this morning. Fortunately I woke up before my first meeting with enough time to get ready. During the call I didn’t have to talk much, so I just spent the time doing stretches and was able to lengthen immediately afterwards. I wanted to get three lengthening sessions done today. I remembered to check my sleep app and I actually got a 100% sleep rating with 8 hours of sleep and 2.3 hours of deep sleep. I ate some snacks for breakfast and then browsed the web for a few minutes and then I had to start working. I stayed busy with work for the rest of the morning and the entire afternoon, only taking a break for my meds.

In the early evening I finally finished my work and I started stretching for my second lengthening session of the day. So far things have been okay but I’m sure lengthening faster is not going to be easy on my body. I ran the ERC with no issues but decided not to do a third session later at night. I’m not confident that my legs or my nerves can handle three sessions today. After walking around for a bit to warm up, I got out my tripod to record another walking video.

https://youtu.be/vSMsShsIPQc

Although my gait still feels pretty bad and I think it’s somehow worse than it was a few days ago, in the video it actually looks better than last time, with just a tiny bit less sway in the upper body. I think right after changing directions my balance isn’t great, so my first few steps have more sway than when I’m walking in a straight line. It also looks like I can’t lift my knee as high as the last video, which makes sense since I’m a lot tighter right now. I really hope I’m a couple of mm ahead of my ERC reading like the doctor says, so I can be done sooner. I don’t know how much more tightness I can handle. I’m really looking forward to when everything looks and feels natural again!

After recording, editing, and uploading the video I made dinner and ate while watching some funny videos on YouTube. I actually feel like the last few days have gone by pretty fast since I’ve been so freaking busy, even though I'm spending more time each day thinking about my legs due to the tightness and stiffness. I’m probably going to be busy with work for the remainder of the distraction phase and that includes tonight, so I’m posting this update now and going back to work. I’m feeling some nerve activity in my shins right and I sincerely hope it doesn’t turn into nerve pain. Wish me luck!
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: permanentlybanned on February 19, 2021, 03:29:14 AM
Gait looks good

"Sadly, this type of pain is nothing for an LL vet and I just ignored it. " 😂😂

Good luck fam it's almost over
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: las vegas baby on February 19, 2021, 07:15:42 AM
This is some fine work of Kevin Debiparshad.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: L8GrowthSpurt on February 19, 2021, 10:18:25 PM
Thanks for the update, BTM! Way to hang in there through all the nerve stuff...appreciate the info since I’m planning on starting my journey - now fubar’d by the whole stryde mess.  Good luck finishing that nail! Stay strong 💪
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on March 02, 2021, 01:32:17 AM
Quote from: ifadshoifhfdaoaihjagfdggdgdgadad on February 19, 2021, 03:29:14 AM
Gait looks good

"Sadly, this type of pain is nothing for an LL vet and I just ignored it. "

Good luck fam it's almost over
Yep, pain tolerance threshold increased through LL.

Quote from: las vegas baby on February 19, 2021, 07:15:42 AM
This is some fine work of Kevin Debiparshad.
I can't complain too much.

Quote from: L8GrowthSpurt on February 19, 2021, 10:18:25 PM
Thanks for the update, BTM! Way to hang in there through all the nerve stuff...appreciate the info since I’m planning on starting my journey - now fubar’d by the whole stryde mess.  Good luck finishing that nail! Stay strong
Yeah, it really sucks that Stryde is off the market when you wanted to do your surgery :(
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on March 02, 2021, 01:34:15 AM
I’ve noticed that I messed up the count on lengthening days toward the end of my last entry, which I’ve corrected going forward. I started lengthening on day 5, so there should be a 4 day difference between the two counts. However, there have been several days where I’ve done no lengthening sessions or even negative lengthening, so I wonder if those should even count as lengthening days...

Surgery Day +95, Lengthening Day 91 (+0.66mm, 60.72mm total)

Last night I watched YouTube and slept later than I should have. The nerve sensations in my leg turned out to be nothing. I was massaging my legs a bunch with a massage gun which probably helped. The massage gun is great on my hamstrings and calves, but I’m not sure how effective it is on my quads. It could be just that my quads are atrophied so there’s not a lot of muscle to massage.

I woke up to my alarm this morning just in time to call into a very early meeting. I was unable to stretch or lengthen during the meeting but at least it ended early. I quickly did my morning routine and ate breakfast, then did my stretches and lengthened each leg with the ERC. This was the earliest I’ve managed to lengthen in over a month. Hopefully I can get 3 lengthening sessions done today. I checked my sleep app and I got a 70% sleep rating with 5.4 hours of sleep and 0.8 hours of deep sleep. However, the app seems to think that I woke up about 40 minutes before I actually woke up so maybe there was a problem with the tracking. Looking back at my sleep history, I haven’t slept restlessly even once for about 4 weeks, and I haven’t consistently slept poorly since 6 weeks ago. I guess once I got past the 8 week mark post-surgery I no longer had any issues with falling asleep or staying asleep.

After lengthening I continued to work until it was time for PT. At PT today I warmed up on the bike as usual, but I only set it to resistance level 4 and did a very lazy ride. I think my legs are probably getting a little weaker and grow tired and sore a lot easier, so I don’t want to waste too much energy on my warmup. I did all my PT stretches and a lot of exercises with resistance bands and I didn’t have to do the leg press fortunately. The PT worked on me toward the end of the session and I could really feel it when she was stretching my quads. After PT I got my usual takeout and went home. I worked for the remainder of the afternoon. In the late afternoon it was time for my second lengthening of the day. I had already grown stiff since it had been a few hours since PT so I did a full stretching session before lengthening. I had no issues with lengthening.

After that I watched some TV and then cooked and ate dinner. I took a hot bath after dinner, but I think I stayed in it for too long because my right shin started to have some tingling and pulsing to the degree that it could be considered nerve pain. It made me a bit nervous so I got out of the bath quickly and did a basic stretching session once I dried off. I felt a little better, but it was like last night at this point where I still had a bunch of nerve sensations sitting in bed. These lasted until late at night when it was time to lengthen. I did one final pre-lengthening stretching session and decided not to do a third lengthening. I have a gut feeling that the nerve pain was caused by doing two lengthenings early in the day today and that my body can’t handle one session every 8 hours. It doesn’t help that my hamstrings and quads are incredibly tight as well. I used the massage gun on my legs for a bit then went to bed. Hopefully my body can continue to handle 0.66/day. I’m not going to try 1mm/day until I’m back to zero nerve pain.

Surgery Day +96, Lengthening Day 92 (+0.66mm, 61.38mm total)

I was a little restless in my sleep last night, tossing and turning a bit and waking up a few times. I got a 76% sleep rating with 6.9 hours of sleep and 0.7 hours of deep sleep. My right shin still had some nerve activity this morning, but it was not tingling hard enough for me to consider it pain. Still, I’m glad I didn’t try to push through and do the third lengthening last night. It looks like I’m already having enough trouble with 0.66mm/day. I got up and did my morning routine, then plopped back down in bed and played on the computer for a while. When it was finally time to lengthen I started my stretching session. I did the lengthening halfway between my stretches, and did a full 30 minutes of stretches. I felt pretty good by the time I was lengthening, with no adverse nerve activity in my lower legs.

While I was stretching I noticed that the scar gel I applied last night had created a rash around one of my scars. I must have applied it too liberally and left it on there for too long without wiping it off. The scar itself was fine, but there were some red bumps around it. It’s a bit strange since none of the other scars were irritated at all and I’ve been using this gel on all of my scars for a month now. I think it’s starting to work a little and the scars look slightly more faded than before. Of course that could also just be due to the passage of time. Hopefully in the long term this helps minimize the scars. I know that I’ll have to open up the scars again during the nail removal surgery, but Dr. D says he only needs to open 3 out of the 6 scars on each leg to get the nails out. So only half my scars will be fresh after the second surgery. I had a bunch of stuff to do today and some work to catch up on, so I got busy for the afternoon.

In the late afternoon after taking my meds I went grocery shopping. I was running out of fresh food again, and I’m starting to get tired of stir frying frozen meat and canned vegetables. Walking around was surprisingly easy once I was warmed up, and I felt very natural walking while pushing the shopping cart. I don’t think anyone noticed an issue with my gait while I was using the shopping cart as a walker. After getting home and unloading my groceries I was already a bit tired. I definitely get tired more easily with any physical activity, though PT during the day doesn’t seem to drain me that much. I did some light stretches and then worked until late at night when it was time to lengthen again. I did another full stretching session before I got sleepy and ran the ERC on each leg. The nail in my left leg clicked once while I was lengthening right before the ERC hit 0.32mm. I remember the doctor said this could be related to premature consolidation. I’m not too worried since it’s the first time, but it happens again I’ll ask about it. Since I had woken up pretty early in the morning I was tired enough to go straight to bed.

While I was sleepy I decided to play with my phone for a bit in bed. That was a bad idea. I ended up sleeping very late, and when I actually tried to sleep I wasn’t sleepy at all. I did notice though that I’m 100% okay sleeping on my side now. I mean before it wasn’t bad sleeping on my side but now I really don’t feel any discomfort at all in my legs when I sleep on the side, so it feels very natural. I actually ended up using the massage gun on my legs and that somehow made me sleepy. It has an automatic shutdown timer so it’s perfect for use right before falling asleep.

Surgery Day +97, Lengthening Day 93 (+0.66mm, 62.04mm total)

I woke up a few times this morning, but managed to fall back asleep since I could sleep in. I ultimately got an 84% on the sleep app with 6.7 hours of sleep and 1.2 hours of deep sleep. When I finally got up I took my pills and then sat in bed watching some YouTube. I was supposed to lengthen already, but I didn’t really feel like it. After about 2 hours I finally mustered enough motivation to start my stretching session. I did a focused 30 minute session and ran the ERC on both legs in the middle. This time I didn’t hear any clicks on either leg fortunately. I ate lunch after that, then kept busy all afternoon.

Before I knew it, it was dinner time already. I did a mini-stretching session, then cooked dinner and after eating I went back to work for the rest of the night. I felt some minor nerve activity on my right shin while sitting in bed working, but otherwise I’m feeling okay in the legs aside from the usual tightness and stiffness. Getting up to do the occasional stretch helped a little bit. I did a full stretching session and lengthened late at night and this time my right nail made a clicking sound when the ERC hit 0.32mm. It’s strange that it has happened exactly once on both legs one day apart and I’m not sure what’s going on but I really hope it’s not premature consolidation. After lengthening I ran the massage gun on my legs for a bit and then went to sleep.

Surgery Day +98, Lengthening Day 94 (+1.00mm, 63.04mm total)

Last night I had a weird dream, but overall I slept like a log. With 7.1 hours of sleep and 1.8 hours of deep sleep I got a 93% sleep rating. I woke up just in time to do my morning routine and eat breakfast before my first meeting. The call ended early so I started a stretching session right away since I had a short break before my next meeting. After 20 minutes of stretching I ran the ERC on each leg and then I followed-up with some additional stretches. This time the right nail clicked when the ERC hit 0.29mm. I suppose I’m getting X-rays soon so I hope it doesn’t show signs of even more accelerated bone growth. After that I continued working until it was time for PT.

At PT I warmed up on the treadmill. I walked about 0.3 miles in 11 minutes and then went on to do stretches. After that I did some strength training with elastic bands and some balancing exercises. Overall it was a pretty light day. At the end, the PT manually stretched me and could tell that I was noticeably tighter than before. The stretches were a bit painful, but I don’t mind since I need the extra stretching. She also rolled out my quads with the painful rolling pin thing; it was bad enough that I wanted ice packs on my thighs after. After leaving PT I got some food and then went home.

I ate and then worked for the rest of the afternoon. I also reached out to Dr. D’s office regarding the clicking in the nails and it seems like they are also concerned about the risk of premature consolidation. While just a few days ago I was unable to increase my lengthening rate to 1mm, now that I heard the words “premature consolidation” I think I can overpower whatever pain comes my way to make sure that I can keep growing and finishing out these nails.

In the late afternoon I started stretching to get ready for a second lengthening session. This time, on my left leg the nail clicked three times when the ERC hit 0.19mm and a fourth time when the nail hit 0.32mm. On my right leg, the nail clicked two times when I hit 0.29mm. All of this clicking is making me quite nervous. Unless I have extreme nerve pain later tonight I’m definitely doing a third lengthening today. I’m also going to go to the hospital to get X-rays tomorrow. Hopefully nothing has consolidated yet and if it’s close to consolidating I hope increasing to 1mm/day is enough to open the bone gap again. For now I can only take things one step at a time.

In the evening I ate, watched some TV, worked for a bit, did some light stretches, and played some video games. However, I was very distracted the whole time and kept thinking about the clicking feeling in my leg that happens sometimes while the ERC is running. I know it can’t just happen spontaneously and only happens when I’m running the ERC, and that it has no detrimental effect on my leg, but I can’t help but cringe when I think about it due to the unpleasant nature of the sound and the vibrating feeling in my thigh when it happens. It’s also a clear reminder that there are mechanical things implanted inside my legs, which is not something I have felt before this.

Before going to bed I did a full stretching session and ran the ERC on each leg again. This time the left nail did not click at all while I lengthened, but my right nail was a completely different story. It clicked once at 0.16mm on the ERC, then clicked almost continuously from 0.21mm to the end. I counted a total of 16 clicks. It seems like a clear indication to me that the nail is torquing out when trying to lengthen. Could this be an indication that I have gone from no signs of preconsolidated bone to not being able to lengthen anymore in the course of two days? Also the drastic difference between my two legs is concerning as well. There’s some light nerve activity in my lower legs as I write this, but I’m so concerned about premature consolidation that it’s just an afterthought. If it doesn’t get worse I can completely ignore it. There’s not much I can do about any of this in the middle of the night, so for now all I can do is go to sleep.

Surgery Day +99, Lengthening Day 95 (+1.00mm, 64.04mm total)

I fell asleep quickly last night and woke up before my alarm this morning. After I woke up I immediately knew I wouldn’t be able to fall asleep again. I had gotten enough sleep though, so I got up, did my morning routine, then ate breakfast. I wasn’t able to finish my breakfast because I was feeling a little excited and nervous. I haven’t felt this way about LL since just before the surgery. I checked my sleep tracker and I had gotten 7 hours of sleep and 2 hours of deep sleep for a 95% sleep rating. After breakfast I had 30 minutes before my first meeting, so it was perfect timing for a stretching and lengthening session. This time my left leg had zero clicks again, so it seems like that leg is in the clear for now. My right leg clicked 12 times starting from the 0.16mm mark, it wasn’t as consistent as last night, but that’s still a lot of clicks. Hopefully the fact that there’s less clicks means that the nail is still working and that I still have a chance to outpace the bone growth. I felt a little bit of nerve activity in both legs, though I think it was a little worse on the right side.

I stretched a bit more during my call when I wasn’t talking and after the meeting I immediately headed out to the hospital to do a walk-in X-ray. Apparently hospitals are ridiculously busy on weekday mornings. I could barely find a parking spot and had to park far from the elevator. I think my gait is getting better because no one was staring at me when I was walking through the hospital today. Last time there were lots of people staring at me as I walked through the lobby and all the waiting areas on my way to radiology. When I got to the radiology area the line was longer than usual. However, they got through it quickly and I think I may have had a shorter wait because my X-rays were probably relatively quick and simple compared to the imaging needs of some of the other patients. I waited a bit longer for them to burn me a CD with a copy of the X-rays and then headed home. In all it took about two hours.

On the car ride home from the hospital my right leg felt a bit of nerve pain, so it’s not something that has gone away completely. I’m still a bit wary of lengthening 1mm/day, but at this point it seems like I have to if I want to finish lengthening this nail. When I got home I loaded the CD and took screenshots of all the views and sent them to Dr. D’s team. They got back to me and said that the bone formation was not to the extent that I was having premature consolidation and that the nail should still be lengthening. Therefore, I still don’t know what’s going on with the clicking sounds or if the right nail is lengthening slower than the left nail. All the instructions I have at this point are to just keep going at 1mm/day.

I had to call into another meeting, but after that I rushed to the post office. I had already printed an overnight shipping label, so I just needed to get a flat rate envelope to ship the disc out. Dr. D should be able to measure the amount of lengthening on each leg based on the data contained in the CDs. After that I went home and resumed my day. I had more meetings before the end of the day but I tried to stretch whenever I didn’t have to talk during the meetings. After my last meeting it was time for my second lengthening of the day, so I started a timed 30 minute stretching session.

After stretching I ran the ERC on both legs. This time the number of clicks was ridiculous. I got two on my left leg and 48(!) on my right leg. That’s more magnet spins with clicking than without clicking. I don’t know what’s going on, but I reported it to Dr. D’s office. They had the Nuvasive representative reach out to me to ask more specific questions about the clicking. Now I’m getting a new ERC device to rule out the small possibility that the ERC is not working properly. I think everyone is fairly certain that the issue is in the nail though. And it seems likely to me that the torque limiter is preventing the magnet from telescoping the nail or something along those lines. However, based on other patient experiences it seems like it’s possible that I’m still getting part of or all of the 0.33mm per session. So until Dr. D sees the X-ray tomorrow there won’t be any additional information and all I can do is continue lengthening and worrying about preconsolidation. Still, the fact that the doctor’s office and Nuvasive have both been very communicative with me regarding this issue has put me more at ease.

I was somewhat distracted by work in the evening so I didn’t have to think too much about my lengthening issues. I also took a break to cook dinner and watched some TV. About 90 minutes before I was planning to lengthen and go to bed I got super sleepy. I was sitting in bed with my work laptop and I closed my eyes briefly and the next thing I knew I had slept for almost 2 hours. I got up to drink some water and eat a snack, then forced myself to do one more lengthening session. If I wasn’t worried about preconsolidation I would definitely have skipped this session and went back to sleep. Instead I did a full 30 minute stretching session to warm up before running the ERC. This time on my left leg the ERC clicked 24 times pretty randomly throughout the lengthening. On the right leg it clicked 23 times, spread throughout the second half of the lengthening. If there really is preconsolidation (which the X-rays do not appear to show) how it’s affecting the ERC is really weird. I took a video clip of the lengthening, and in the audio I can clearly hear the clicking sound. I plan to send it to Dr. D’s team tomorrow, though I don’t know if it’ll help at all. After that I ran the massage gun on my legs for a bit and then passed out.

Surgery Day +100, Lengthening Day 96 (+1.00mm, 65.04mm total)

I woke up to my alarm this morning feeling quite groggy. My legs were incredibly sore, tight, and generally very tired this morning. Just to straighten them in bed I had to stretch for a while. I got a 99% sleep rating with 8.1 hours of sleep and 1.9 hours of deep sleep thanks to taking a nap last night. I got up slowly and did my morning routine, then ate breakfast. After walking around a bit my legs felt much better. I sat back down in bed and browsed the web for a bit and then started stretching for lengthening. This first lengthening session happened later than I originally planned, so hopefully there will be no impact from condensing my lengthenings today. This time the left nail clicked 6 times toward the end of the session and the right nail clicked 22 times mostly in the second half of the session. I’m still cautiously optimistic that my nails are still lengthening though, especially since the clicking sound is not happening during the entire session.

I can’t believe it’s been 100 days since my surgery. I know it’s just an arbitrary number and humans just like seeing patterns, but it still feels like I’m passing a milestone since I originally expected to be done lengthening by now. Getting to almost 6.5 cm (and possibly more if the X-ray measurements are accurate) is not that bad though. I can almost see the finish line, especially now that I’m going at 1mm/day. It’s the final sprint of the marathon and I hope I didn’t start it too early and can keep pace all the way to the end. The thing about doing 1mm/day is that I have to lengthen right before going to bed and right after getting up, which are the two points in the day that I am the most tired. Lengthening three times a day is also psychologically difficult as well since I’m so used to one or two sessions a day. It feels like I’m pushing my limits even though it has barely been 48 hours since I started the 1mm/day rate. My legs are so sore and tired that it definitely feels like I’m getting the full 1mm/day regardless of the clicking sounds.

Aside from my morning lengthening I also remembered to call the laboratory billing company again. This was the 6th time I called them and this time someone actually picked up after 5 minutes of holding. They confirmed that the bill I received was a duplicate and that I had already paid the original bill, so that matter is resolved. This morning I also sent the video I took last night with the clicking noises to Dr. D’s team, though I don’t know how useful it is since it’s literally just showing exactly what I described with words. After that I was busy with work until it was time for PT.

Today at PT I warmed up on the stationary bike. I felt very sore and didn’t pedal too hard. I only rode 1.21 miles at resistance level 5. Then the PT worked on me with the roller and manual stretches for over 15 minutes. I feel like the amount of time spent on this each session has been increasing as my muscles are getting tighter. After that I did my stretches and regular exercises. I had to do the leg press today, but fortunately did not have to increase the weights. I did 30 reps of 130 lbs with both legs, and 20 reps on 110 lbs on each leg. I could barely do 20 reps on my left leg. In fact, by the end of PT after all the exercises the back of my left knee was hurting a bit when I put weight on it. I stretched it out a little and was able to limp out of PT to my car with my cane. I got some takeout and then went home.

At home after I ate I got busy with work. I had plenty of work to do before my next lengthening session. Over the course of the afternoon I felt a tiny bit of nerve pain in my legs, especially in my right inner ankle, but it was still manageable at this point. It’s the worst when I sit in a chair, but if I’m sitting in bed it’s not as much of a problem. After regular work hours it was time for my second lengthening of the day. I did a full stretching session as usual and then lengthened. This time I had no clicks on the left side, and 13 clicks on the right side during the second half of running the ERC.

After cooking a simple dinner and watching TV while eating I was feeling really tired, but I continued to work for a bit. I planned to go to sleep pretty early tonight, so if I was going to lengthen a third time then it would be a pretty short interval since the afternoon lengthening. I suppose as long as it’s 3 sessions per 24 hour period the total lengthening rate would still be consistent regardless of spacing within the day.

I ended up staying up later than I originally wanted to. Before going to bed I checked the tracking on the X-ray disc that I shipped overnight. It’s still in a local USPS distribution center almost 36 hours after I dropped it off. It was supposed to arrive by 3pm at the doctor’s office today so maybe I can get a refund on the shipping fee. I will definitely use UPS or FedEx next time if I need to ship something important overnight. I also got my stretching and lengthening session in. This time on the left side I got zero clicks and on the right side I got 16 clicks. I’m still not 100% sure what is going on with the nail, but I’m confident the nail is lengthening at least part of the 0.33mm each time because some of the magnet spins are normal and not torquing out. Maybe the problem isn’t the bone, and it’s that my quad and hamstring are too strong. I can blame the PT for that with all my hardcore leg workouts.

Surgery Day +101, Lengthening Day 97 (+1.00mm, 66.04mm total)

This morning I had a very early meeting and when my alarm woke me up I was still feeling very tired and sleepy. I actually dreamed about post-consolidation last night and I don’t remember the exact dream but I must have been frolicking in a field with my functional legs or something because I remember being super happy in the dream. It was probably the best dream I’ve had since surgery. On the sleep tracker I got 5.8 hours of sleep and 1.8 hours of deep sleep for a 86% sleep rating. I forced myself to get up and do my morning routine. My legs were tired as I walked around, but gradually warmed up a little. I ate breakfast as I called into the meeting. The meeting ended early fortunately, so I had a chance to stretch and lengthen before the next meeting. On this lengthening there was one click on my left nail that almost scared me because I wasn’t expecting it since it was on the very last spin. On my right nail I heard and felt 18 clicks, which is more or less “normal” to me now. Like I said, all I can do is hope that there is little to no impact from this on the actual amount lengthened and if there is an impact then hopefully the ERC can be adjusted to ultimately give me the correct lengthening amount.

After lengthening I worked for the whole day, only taking a break for lunch. Since I had no PT today, I also did a few extra stretches during the day, though I did not do a formal stretching session. In the late afternoon it was time for lengthening again. This time I ran the massage gun on my thighs for a bit before stretching. That helps with nerve issues and loosening my muscles up before any exercises. After my stretching session I ran the ERC on each leg and I got no clicks on my left leg and 35 clicks on my right leg. After lengthening I also saw that I had received the new ERC in the mail, so I went to pick that up. That reminded me to check my X-ray disc’s tracking and I saw that it was out for delivery so I guess the doctor’s office should have it soon.

I had a ton of extra work to do tonight so I cooked a simple dinner and ate, and after that it was back to work. At some point I realized that I had forgotten to take my afternoon meds, but it was too late to catch up so I just skipped them. I was also too lazy to go get the package with my ERC, so I’ll do that tomorrow when I get back from PT or something. Later at night I got a bit sleepy and decided to try and get up early the next day to finish my work. I struggled to finish a 20 minute stretching session and then ran the ERC on each leg. On my left leg the nail did not click even once. On my right leg it only clicked once in the first 20 seconds of lengthening, then clicked continuously for the remainder of the session, totalling 34 clicks. After lengthening I changed out of my compression pants into pajamas and went to bed. I figure I can’t wear compression pants every day or maybe the effect will be reduced as my body adapts to it. I was very sleepy at this time and I passed out quickly.

Surgery Day +102, Lengthening Day 98 (+0.99mm, 67.03mm total)

In the morning I was awakened by my alarm which I set very early, but I kept hitting snooze and didn’t get up until I felt much less tired. My legs were pretty much the most stiff that I remember in recent times. I stretched them out in bed for a bit before I could even get up to do my morning routine. I got up and realized that my left shin had some nerve pain. I tried to stretch it away but that only kind of worked, so I just ignored it for a while. I made breakfast and then went back to bed to eat. After taking a quick look at my work inbox I realized I had quite a bit to do, so I tried to finish getting ready as quickly as possible. I ran the massage gun along my legs following what I thought was the sciatic nerve and it actually helped a little with the nerve pain. Next I started a stretching session and then lengthened. On my left leg I had no clicks again. On the right leg I only had 6 clicks, which was the fewest I’ve had in days. Hopefully both legs have been lengthening fairly symmetrically. After lengthening I worked until it was time for PT.

At PT today I warmed up on the bike. I did 1.34 miles at resistance level 5. I had a bit more energy today than I did at my last PT session. After that The PT rolled out my quads and hamstrings and then I did my basic stretches and exercises. I went up in weight again on the leg press, doing 30 reps of 137.5 lbs on both legs and 117.5 lbs on each leg individually. I could do 20 reps pretty easily on my right leg, but I’m definitely pushing the limit on my left leg for 20 reps. I also had to do squats today, though the PT doesn’t expect me to go all the way down. It’s hard to keep balance without moving my knees forward though. I think in the long run I’m going to have to move my knees forward to keep my center of gravity while squatting with the longer thighs. I also had to do planks, holding it for 30 seconds three times. This was harder than I remember, but it has also been quite a while since I’ve been regularly working out. I’m definitely looking forward to a bigger variety of exercises once I can bear weight and my flexibility recovers. I will work hard to recover quickly and get back to normal.

After PT I got some takeout as usual and headed home. I grabbed the ERC from the mailroom on my way up and it came in the same type of suitcase as my current one. I’ll have to figure out some way to keep track of which is which. I had some meetings to attend in the afternoon, so I got busy preparing for those after eating lunch. Around the end of the work day it was time to lengthen again. I got my second ERC out and put it in a different spot so I would remember to use the new one and then started my stretching session. I lengthened with the new ERC and I got zero clicks on my left leg and 18 clicks on the right leg. I feel like the lengthening sound this ERC makes is slightly different from the original one, but both ERCs create a clicking noise in the nail sometimes so it seems like the ERC itself isn’t what’s causing the clicking sound.

After lengthening I made some food and then watched TV for a bit. After that I kept myself busy until pretty late at night at which point it was time to lengthen again. I stretched for a full focused 30 minutes and then ran the new ERC on both legs. Again, there were no clicks on the left side, but I had 12 clicks on the right side. Overall today the right side seems to be distracting better today than it was yesterday. One possibility that the doctor says is that my leg muscles are too strong and the nail is having trouble telescoping against the resistance. My next appointment is in less than two weeks and I think at that point we can finally get accurate measurements. I’m pretty sure that my right leg is going to be shorter than my left leg, but as long as I’m getting a partial lengthening during each session it means that I haven’t consolidated yet and I can continue on my right leg after my left leg finishes. I’m taking quite a bit of ibuprofen right now to inhibit bone growth, as consolidating while both legs are not the same length would be very bad. After lengthening I stretched a bit more and then went to bed.

Surgery Day +103, Lengthening Day 99 (+1.00mm, 68.03mm total)

Today I woke up to my alarm and couldn’t get up at all. I fell asleep for another hour and woke up naturally. Lately I’ve just been so tired from this whole lengthening process. I definitely felt every bit of lengthening pain this morning. It’s a combination of the soreness, tightness, stiffness, random nerve pains, muscles twitching when I try to stretch, and general psychological trauma from running the ERC with all the clicking in the nail. Basically all of it added together makes me chronically tired both physically and mentally and feeling overall stressed. I’m shedding more hair than usual too, but fortunately I don’t have baldness genes so it’s not a big concern for me. I really hope all of this starts to subside once I reach the consolidation phase. Maybe it’ll get half as difficult if my left leg finishes lengthening first and starts consolidating. I know I’m taking a risk lengthening both legs to the max when one leg is likely lengthening slower, but I still think it’s very unlikely that my right leg will preconsolidate before it eventually catches up to the left.

I was one of those people who had worse conditions in my left leg for the first few months after surgery as my right leg is the dominant one. My left leg hurt more after surgery, it wobbled more, it was weaker overall, and both my mild and severe nerve pain were on the left side. I thought that there was no way in the world that at any point my right leg would be the “worse” leg, but here we are today. My right leg is not strictly worse because my left leg is still physically weaker and my left knee hurts sometimes when I bear weight on it, but my right leg is the one that has the clicking nail (therefore likely not lengthening correctly) and it’s the leg that I’m currently feeling random bouts of nerve pain on. So now I 100% believe all the past journals who said their better leg became their worse leg in the middle of lengthening. I will say overall this has been a helluva journey for me with something or another going wrong at pretty much every point during the distraction phase. If I manage to get 8cm on both legs I will definitely be proud of myself for persevering and not letting any of the complications stop me.

After getting up and doing my morning routine, I checked my sleep stats and saw that I got a solid 7.5 hours of sleep and 2 hours of deep sleep for a 99% sleep rating. Given that I slept in a bit that means I must have fallen asleep kind of late last night. I did a full stretching session in preparation for lengthening and then ran the ERC on both legs. No clicks on the left side, but the right nail had 16 clicks. I’m thinking that the ERC should be rotating the magnet in the nail about 60-70 times during a 0.33 mm lengthening session, so if a click means the nail completely failed to telescope I should still be getting 3/4 of the 0.33mm on my right leg with 16 clicks. I’m also not even sure that a click means it’s not lengthening at all, because the magnet could still be extending the nail a little bit before torquing out. Therefore, based on this and the fact that my right leg feels like it’s lengthening at 1mm/day I think I’m still definitely getting a decent amount of lengthening in. If not, then I just hope my right leg hasn’t consolidated on my next set of X-rays in Dr. D’s office and I can keep going on it and catch up with my left leg.

I watched some TV after my lengthening session and eventually logged onto my work laptop to catch up on some of the stuff that I fell behind on during the week. I didn’t manage to get too much work done and went back to watching TV for a while. On my last lengthening I noticed that the new ERC had switched time zones, so it was a little past midnight and I was technically doing my first lengthening of the next day according to the ERC. This would actually cause a problem if I was trying to do my third lengthening before midnight tomorrow. Fortunately I still have the old ERC in case I run into this issue, but I highly doubt any of my third lengthenings of the day will be before midnight anyway. While lengthening I had 18 clicks on the right nail this time. After stretching and lengthening I felt very sleepy and went straight to bed.

Surgery Day +104, Lengthening Day 100 (+1.00mm, 69.03mm total)

This morning I woke up even more sore than yesterday. My legs were super sore and tight and I could barely straighten them in bed. I can’t believe that every morning my legs feel tighter and stiffer than the previous day because the previous day I feel like I’m the most sore, stiff, and tight than I’ve ever been. My legs were also quite a bit swollen. I ended up sleeping a little, but managed to wake up at a reasonable time. I don’t want to mess up my sleep schedule too much on days that I don’t need to get up early because there are more days that I do need to get up early. My sleep rating was 78% with 6.6 hours of sleep and 1 hour of deep sleep. I got up and did my morning routine and ate all my pills. I wasn’t in the mood for breakfast, but I ate a snack so I wouldn’t be taking the pills on an empty stomach. After that it was time to lengthen. I started tracking the time on my watch and stretching. After my stretching session I ran the ERC on my legs and I got 10 clicks on my right leg. I ran the massager on my legs before and after stretching as well and I feel like it helped a bit overall.

I sat in bed watching videos on my laptop and playing with my phone for a bit and then passed out briefly because apparently I was still sleepy. When I got up it was mid afternoon and I hadn’t eaten anything yet today. I got up just to walk around for a bit and made some food for a late lunch. I entertained myself for a bit and then it was already time for my next lengthening. I did a full stretching session and then ran the ERC on each leg. I got 10 clicks again on my right leg, which I feel isn’t all that bad. At this rate, I’m sure as long as the right leg is less than 1cm shorter than the left leg, I shouldn’t have to spend too much extra time to lengthen it to match the left side. I felt a bit uncomfortable in the nerve in my right ankle but running the massage gun on my right leg reduced that feeling after a while.

After lengthening I cooked and ate dinner and then took a hot bath with my legs elevated, hoping that it could help reduce my swelling a bit. After I got out of the bath I did some extra work all the way until almost bedtime so that I could have an easier time next week. I did my final lengthening of the day right after midnight since my afternoon lengthening is my final lengthening of each day according to the ERC (so I can’t do another one until after midnight.) This time I heard and felt 38 clicks in my right nail. I noticed that some clicks were lounder and vibrated harder than other clicks, so I wonder if that supports my theory that there could be partial lengthening occurring even when the magnet torques out. I guess I’ll find out when I get my next X-rays. It was time to go to sleep since I had to get up early for work tomorrow. I lay in bed running the massage gun on my legs and eventually passed out.

Surgery Day +105, Lengthening Day 101 (+1.00mm, 70.03mm total)

This morning I woke to my alarm going off but I couldn’t get up because I was too tired yet again. My legs felt as heavy as lead and super swollen. After a couple of snoozes I managed to get up, but it wasn’t very early in the morning anymore. I think that both the scheduling of lengthening 3 times a day and the tiredness it causes is making it difficult for me to sleep. My tracker showed a 72% sleep rating with 6.3 hours of sleep and 0.8 hours of deep sleep. In the last five days I’ve gotten one day of good sleep and four days of bad sleep. Still, I don’t really have trouble falling asleep and when I’m asleep I can stay asleep, so my sleep is still much better than early on in the lengthening process. I remember having a dream that I was at a beach park with friends and I was surfing. I don’t even know how to surf, but someday when my legs are working again I think I’d like to learn. I got up and did my morning routine, but it was still a little too early for my morning pills. I worked for a bit and then got ready for a stretching and lengthening session.

After my pre-lengthening workout I ran the ERC on both legs. On my right nail I got 38 clicks again. This time they weren’t concentrated in the second half though. They were sporadically spread throughout the lengthening and started right from the beginning when I hit the run button on the ERC. This right nail is so weird. After lengthening I had a lot of work to do. Of course my right shin started getting 4/10 nerve pain which was very annoying, but running the massage gun for 5 minutes on each leg made it go away mostly. I continued to work all day, only taking a break for lunch, where I walked around and stretched as well. I’m almost fully caught up on work, which is good since I’ll have less stress from adhering to a very difficult lengthening schedule.

In the late afternoon it was time for lengthening again. Lately, every time I need to get ready for lengthening I feel like it comes too soon. At the start of each new lengthening session I feel like I haven’t recovered from all the prior lengthening sessions yet. I stretched for a while and then ran the ERC. On my left leg I had one loud click right at the end that surprised me again. On my right leg I had 16 clicks, which was a bit less than average. After lengthening I stretched some more and then sat down to finish work for the day. While sitting in place I had nerve pain on my right shin again. I think it’s getting worse, but the massage gun is still working for now. After less than an hour I signed off work and changed into my LL video clothes. My legs are hella stiff and tight right now, so I feel like my gait is going to be terrible, but we’ll see what it looks like on video.

https://youtu.be/WBcO_WN45HE

I think my gait is a little worse now than it was when I was at 6cm. My flexibility is definitely much worse, especially in the quads. I can’t bend my knees as much, to the point where it’s actually limiting my range of motion when I walk. I feel quite stiff when I walk and I’m getting a little bit of balance issues as if I’m walking on stilts. However, I think that has more to do with my current flexibility at 7cm than the amount lengthened itself. My hip flexibility is also a bit worse as well; as you can see I can’t even lift my leg up as high as the last video. I think at this rate I’m going to have my worst possible gait right when I reach 8cm. I might have been able to maintain my gait and flexibility if I was still going at 0.5-0.66mm/day, but not at the current rate. However, I think this is actually better in the long run because I’m hoping to see big improvements quickly after I finish lengthening, just like the two times I took lengthening breaks around 5cm. Of course stopping at 5cm and 8cm are very different beasts so I can’t necessarily take the results of one and extrapolate it out to the other. Hopefully my PT sessions over the next two weeks can be focused on flexibility rather than strength. There’s plenty of time to regain muscle strength after I finish lengthening.

After recording, editing, and uploading the video, I’m going to post this update to my journal. Afterwards I’ll make dinner and then relax for a bit in the evening. I want to go to bed early but I also need to wait until midnight to do my last lengthening so I guess it won’t happen. Maybe I should look into taking naps during the day. I’m on the final centimeter, boys! And I think I can make it to the end and get the full value out of the nail. I just need to last 10 more days in my current condition (though that’s easier said than done.) I will likely need to lengthen more than 80mm on the ERC on my right leg to get to 8cm, but it should be close when my left leg hits 8cm. But I’ll take it one step at a time as I’ve been doing for nearly four months.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: L8GrowthSpurt on March 02, 2021, 06:18:09 AM
Almost there my friend!! Nice to see your almost at the summit 😁
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on March 08, 2021, 12:32:37 AM
Surgery Day +106, Lengthening Day 102 (+1.00mm, 71.03mm total)

I woke naturally this morning right before my alarm. My legs felt like lead but I forced myself to stretch a bit in bed and then got up for my morning routine. My sleep data showed a 91% sleep rating with 6.9 hours asleep and 1.8 hours of deep sleep. I started a full stretching session to get my first lengthening in early in the morning. While running the ERC I had no clicks on my left leg and 28 clicks spread out through the lengthening on my right leg. After lengthening I realized I was hungry to the point where my stomach was growling. I got up and prepared some snacks for breakfast. Afterwards I was busy with work until it was time for PT.

PT was a bit earlier in the day today, and after I arrived I did 1.4 miles on the stationary bike at resistance level 5, which was decent given the soreness of my legs. I definitely feel like my legs get sore much more quickly now and PT is very tiring regardless of what kind of exercise they make me do. Today I did mostly resistance band training instead of using weights, which was a bit easier. I’m glad I didn’t have to do the leg press. After PT I got my usual takeout and went home to eat and work. I continued to work until late afternoon, at which point it was time for lengthening again. After my stretching session I ran the ERC with 3 clicks on my left nail and 16 clicks on my right nail. I also felt some nerve activity on my right leg during lengthening, but otherwise pretty uneventful overall.

After lengthening I heated up leftovers from yesterday for dinner and watched TV while I ate, then spent some time reading. I haven’t read anything offline in a while, but I figured now is as good of a time as any to start. I had consumed my fair share of mindless entertainment early on in the LL process when I really couldn’t focus on other things, but now even with my tight and sore legs I don’t really have an excuse to just watch random stuff and wait for time to pass. I could be more productive. I managed to focus for a couple of hours until it was time for my final lengthening of the day. After stretching, this time while running the ERC I got no clicks on the left side and 22 on the right side. After lengthening I stretched a little more and then I realized I felt very sleepy so I went to bed.

Surgery Day +107, Lengthening Day 103 (+1.00mm, 72.03mm total)

I woke up a few times in the middle of the night with incredibly tight and stiff legs. In some ways it feels like the early distraction phase all over again. I also had some weird dreams but I don’t remember the details. I forgot to turn off my activity tracker from my lengthening session last night so I don’t have any sleep data. I was probably asleep for about 6.5-7 hours though. I stretched a bit in bed and then forced myself to get up to start the day since I needed to lengthen soon. I ran the massage gun on my quads since they were so tight then got out of bed for my morning routine. After breakfast I started my pre-lengthening workout. I stretched for a solid 30 minutes and then ran the ERC on each leg. This time I had one click on the left side and 22 on the right side. After lengthening I worked until it was time to head to PT.

At PT I was a little more tired than yesterday. I did 1.32 miles on the bike at level 5. Then the PT rolled out my quads and hamstrings for quite a while. After doing all the laying and standing stretches I then had to do the leg press. I did the same weight and reps as the last time and it was still quite difficult for my left leg. After that I did some more exercises with resistance bands and then left PT feeling very tired. As I was walking through the strip mall to get some lunch, my left leg started hurting when I put weight on it. The PTs were probably pushing me too hard. Fortunately I was walking with my cane so it wasn’t very risky and I kept going. I got my food and went home and worked for the rest of the afternoon.

I lost track of time and lengthened pretty late in the afternoon, almost in the evening. I rushed through my stretches, though it’s hard to rush through something that’s timed. Afterwards while running the ERC I got 24 ticks on the right side. I also counted the total ERC magnet spinning sounds on the left side, which seems to be around 70. So I would estimate that I’ve actually lost less than 1/3 of the distraction on my right leg since the clicking sounds started around 64mm, maybe even less if some of the clicks are partially or fully increasing the telescoping of the nail. If it continues at this rate to 80mm and my estimation is correct, I should be done with my left leg, and will need to do one additional week of lengthening at 1mm/day (on the ERC) to finish my right leg, which would be about 5mm behind. Now that I’m getting closer I wonder if the nail will click continuously after it’s done lengthening. My understanding is that the nail lengthens with a screw-like mechanism which extends one side of the nail when the magnet inside rotates. If the nail reaches 8cm there shouldn’t be any more thread to lengthening along any further, so no amount of torque that the ERC produces could extend the nail. Since the nail isn’t extending, I would imagine that running the ERC and rotating the magnet would just cause the nail to click continuously while not lengthening.

After lengthening I stayed busy for the rest of the evening. I got a chance to talk to my parents for a bit and they obviously could not tell that there was anything wrong with me over video chat since they can only see my face. I suppose I have been hiding my suffering well, hah. I stayed up pretty late and did my last lengthening session quite late as well. While running the ERC I got 20 clicks on the right side. I finished up with some extra stretching, ate a snack and then went to bed very tired. I ran the massage gun on my legs until I fell asleep.

Surgery Day +108, Lengthening Day 104 (+1.00mm, 73.03mm total)

This morning I woke up when my alarm went off but I was very tired and hit snooze. I woke up 45 minutes later and suddenly remembered that I hadn’t signed into work yet. I have been a bit behind on sleep over the last few days so the extra bit of sleep was probably worth it. With 7.6 hours of sleep and 1.8 hours of deep sleep I got a 98% sleep rating. I hurriedly signed onto my work computer and then got up to do my morning routine. After eating a snack for breakfast I sat back in bed to check my emails. Fortunately there was nothing urgent this morning. My right leg randomly started having 3-4/10 persistent nerve pain. I ran the massage gun on my hamstrings and calves for a while and it went away. Afterwards I started a stretching session and then lengthened. I got one click on the left side and 30 on the right side. After lengthening I ran the massage gun on my legs for 15 minutes and I felt pretty comfortable overall at that point. I strongly recommend the massage gun for internal femurs!

I had a lot of work to catch up on, so I stayed busy for the rest of the day, only taking a quick break for lunch. I also randomly confirmed with Dr. D’s team that the nail does indeed click continuously once you hit the max so it looks like I guessed correctly. Depending on how much of the 4mm I managed to contract earlier in the distraction phase, I could be done on the left side as soon as the end of the weekend, and now I know what to look out for! In the early evening, I did a second stretching and lengthening session. This time I got 8 clicks on my left side, all at the end. Could I be done?!? Probably not, but if I run it tonight and it’s 70 clicks in a row, then I just might be. On the right side I got 34 clicks, but that side is definitely not done. I measured my height on the wall and I was almost 1cm higher on both legs than I was when I measured at 64mm lengthened on the ERC. It makes sense since my left nail has been lengthening fine without many clicks. I guess I’m just unsure of everything right now, and I’m really looking forward to getting X-rays that can be measured six days from now. After lengthening I cooked dinner and ate while watching TV as usual.

In the evening I kept busy until it was time to lengthen again. I did a full stretching session and then lengthened. I was very curious if my left nail would click continuously this time, but it did not. The left nail lengthened normally with just two clicks and the right nail had 38 clicks. Unfortunately the right side seems to be trending toward more clicks over the last few days. I suppose the good thing about the left side still lengthening is that I’m still getting a little more height. At this point I’m already pretty happy with my current height, but I’ll take the extra few mm since it really won’t make much of a difference at this point. After lengthening I ran the massage gun on my legs for a while and then passed out.

Surgery Day +109, Lengthening Day 105 (+1.00mm, 74.03mm total)

This morning I woke up just before my alarm and managed to get out of bed and start my day. I got 7.3 hours of sleep and 2 hours of deep sleep for a 98% sleep rating, so that’s probably why I felt so refreshed. I did my morning routine and took my pills, then started working. I was focused and got through a lot of stuff in one hour and remembered that I had to lengthen. Although I was mentally refreshed, physically I was still sore and stiff. I forced myself to do a stretching session, and noticed my flexibility being clearly worse than before. I stretched for an efficient 20 minutes and then ran the ERC on each leg. I got 4 clicks on the left side and 34 on the right side. After lengthening I went back to work until PT time.

At PT I walked on the treadmill for 10 minutes as a warmup, doing just under 0.25mi (400m) at a very slow pace. I can’t walk as well as I could at 5cm because my legs are much tighter now and I don’t have as good of a range of motion for walking. Fortunately I didn’t have any left knee pain after the treadmill, and the PT worked on me for a bit after that, and then I stretched and did a bunch of strength training exercises. Toward the end of the session she asked if I had enough energy to do the leg press today and I was like heck no (when do I ever have enough energy for that) so she had me do a couple of core exercises instead and then I left. I got my usual takeout and then went home.

It was looking to be a pretty busy afternoon, so I ate lunch quickly and then worked until it was almost dark. At this point I had taken my afternoon meds already and I was ready to lengthen. I started stretching and after hitting all the important muscle groups I ran the ERC on each leg. This time on the left side I had 16 clicks and on the left side I had 53 clicks, which is a new record. My right nail really seems to be having trouble lengthening. I think if it continues like this, I may have to ask Dr. D if I can do an extra long lengthening session in the office to ensure the nail is working. I’m hoping whatever my X-rays show at the next visit renders this point moot, but I still have a long 6 days of lengthening before my next office visit.

After lengthening I went out grocery shopping. I got a lot of food since I want to minimize the number of times that I have to go outside. At the store no one stared at me, but I personally think that I was walking a little funny. I’m just glad the grocery cart can act as a walker and support a lot of my weight. Right when I got to the checkout though, my right leg started experiencing 3/10 persistent nerve pain inside the calf. I ignored it figuring I could deal with it when I got back to my car, but it was a reminder that I’m not even close to recovered yet even if I can go grocery shopping by myself like a “normal” person. When I got to my car and put all my groceries in the trunk, I sat down in the driver’s seat and did a couple of stretches which helped relieve the pain a little. Then I thought since the massage gun helps with nerve pain, what if I rub the area on my inner thigh that’s connected to the nerve pain? Boy was that a bad idea. Stroking that area just once with my thumb caused an 8/10 spike in the nerve pain in my calf that made me shout out. Fortunately the car door was closed so I’m sure no one in the parking lot heard. I stretched my right leg again and quickly drove home so I could use the massage gun to deal with the pain. It looks like I’m going to have to carry the massage gun with me wherever I go until I fully heal.

When I got home the first thing I did after unloading all the groceries was to sit down in bed and run the massage gun on my legs. It worked, though when I got to that spot on my thigh connected to the nerve in my lower leg I noticed that it was actually very sensitive. I couldn’t use any pressure with the massage gun or it would hurt (regular pain just under the skin, not cause nerve pain.) Overall it was still very helpful to massage my legs. Once the nerve pain subsided I made and ate dinner, then played some games for a while until it was nearly bedtime and time for stretching and lengthening. On the final lengthening of the day I got 9 clicks on the left side and 45 clicks on the right side. The right nail definitely seems to be fighting an uphill battle trying to lengthen. If each click represents zero lengthening, then today I would have lengthened only 0.37mm out of 1mm on the ERC on my right leg. The left leg should still be close to what the ERC reads though. I’m really looking forward to being done with the distraction phase! A few days is not a lot in the grand scheme of things, but when my legs are more tight and sore every day, lengthening for “just a few more days” feels like a lot. I ran the massage gun on my legs before going to sleep.

Surgery Day +110, Lengthening Day 106 (+1.00mm, 75.03mm total)

This morning I woke up naturally at dawn and got up to use the restroom. It was too early for my pills so I went back to bed and passed out. I didn’t wake up again until late in the morning. I got 6.7 hours of sleep out of 7.6 hours in bed, with 1.8 hours of sleep for a 91% sleep rating. It turns out that I went to sleep pretty late last night reading about useless stuff on the internet. I got up and took my morning pills and then sat in bed replying to messages on my phone before starting a stretching session for lengthening. It was getting quite late, nearly 12 hours since my last lengthening. I need to get better at immediately going to sleep after my 3rd lengthening of each day, so I can do my first lengthening of the next day around 8 hours later. I’m not sure I can complete three lengthenings today, but I’ll try for the sake of my right leg. For the first lengthening I got 2 clicks on the left side and 42 clicks on the right side. At this rate, it’s going to take quite a bit longer to finish my right leg if each click represents no telescoping at all. I’m getting more anxious for the results of my next X-ray.

After my lengthening session I stretched a little bit more and then kept busy for the afternoon. I also walked around a little and did another stretching session in the early afternoon since I would have to lengthen twice in the 12 hours after my first lengthening of the day. In the early evening I did my second session. This time I got 11 clicks on the left side and 58 on the right side. That’s yet another new record for the right side, and the nail was basically clicking almost the entire time I was lengthening it. I felt the nerve in my left shin pulsating for five minutes after lengthening, though it just felt a bit weird and didn’t hurt at all. Still, a normal person isn’t going to feel these things in their legs so it’s noteworthy. After lengthening I continued to stretch for a few more minutes and then I went downstairs to get my packages.

I had ordered a new set of bathing equipment. I have only showered in the last few weeks and haven’t taken any hot baths because the original bath mattress I got a month or two ago had become moldy. There is no way I could have cleaned it frequently in my current condition but it’s still kind of my own fault, but I took the loss and threw it away. The new set I got was an inflatable rubber ring with good reviews on it’s sturdiness that I can sit on. My glutes are non-existent so it still hurts to sit on the bare floor of the bathtub for an extended period. I also got a non-cloth bath pillow that should dry off or can be wiped off easily after it gets wet. I set everything up and then took a hot bath. Everything worked well and I was able to relax for a while in the tub feeling much less strain on my legs.

After I got out of the tub I applied the scar removal cream again. The rash on my left leg from the last time I used it had gone away. I was more careful this time and made sure not to get it on my skin outside of the scars. Afterwards I stayed busy until it was nearly bedtime. I did a stretching session and lengthened again. This time my left nail didn’t click at all and the right nail clicked 35 times, which is pretty much par for the course. It was pretty late so I passed out quickly.

Surgery Day +111, Lengthening Day 107 (+1.00mm, 76.03mm total)

Last night I dreamt about seeing people after LL and in my dream the reactions were mixed. Some immediately called me out on it and others were quiet but suspicious. I’m not sure how things will be in the future, but I will have to see family and friends at some point going forward. I forgot to end my exercise tracking last night, so I didn’t have any sleep data again. I would estimate that I got around 7 hours of sleep though. My legs felt a little tired this morning but not nearly as bad as the last few days. I’m not sure if it’s actually getting better or if I just got used to this level of tightness and stiffness in the mornings. I stretched a little in bed and then got up quickly to start my morning routine. After that I started a full stretching session right away to get my first lengthening in as early in the morning as possible. While running the ERC on my legs this time my left leg I got two clicks and on my right leg “only” 23 clicks, which is the least I’ve gotten in one session since four days ago. Hopefully that means going forward my right leg can lengthen at a faster rate than in the last three days.

After lengthening I stayed busy until the early afternoon, at which time I ate a late lunch. I also did some light stretching after lunch. I continued staying busy in the afternoon, including doing one thing related to LL: my first X-ray at the local hospital triggered an automatic subrogation inquiry from lawyers representing my insurance company. It was a pretty big law firm and this procedure seems very standardized. I was able to log onto their website and fill in a form including the fact that the injury (if you can call it that) that I got the X-ray for was not caused by a third party. Hopefully that’s the end of that.

I experienced some very minor random nerve pain in my left shin sporadically in the afternoon, literally 1/10 pain. I just ignored it since it wasn’t even worth running the massage gun for. However, I also had some pain in my left knee, probably my current lengthening rate. It triggers whenever I try to walk with proper gait and bend my knee more than usual. I think the pain is actually in the joint connecting my quads to my knee. The massage gun helps a little with it, but only temporarily. If I start walking and raising my knee again it still triggers the pain. Hopefully this is something that goes away as I regain flexibility after the distraction phase.

In the late afternoon I was ready for my second lengthening session. I did a full stretching workout and then ran the ERC. My left nail had 6 clicks and my right nail had 33. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that the left nail is still not done lengthening. For all I know the 4mm that I shortened earlier in the distraction phase actually shortened the nail by a full 4mm and I’m not even going to be done in time for my next visit to the doctor’s office. I’m certainly psychologically prepared to go for another 4-5 days on my left leg, even if I’m secretly hoping to be done in the next day or two. However, I’m also slightly worried that my left leg isn’t quite at the ERC reading due to soft tissue resistance, so I’m really not sure when it’ll be done.

After lengthening I cooked and ate dinner. Then I reviewed my last few days of LL notes and decided to post an update on the forum. Although I haven’t hit 80mm yet, I figured I would make an update now and another one next weekend after I get X-rays and hopefully gain more information about how close I really am to being done. There is no walking video because my gait really hasn’t changed all that much. It’s probably a little worse, and a little stiffer. I’ll definitely record a video of some sort for the update next weekend though. I’m going to spend the rest of the evening quietly, maybe try to read for a bit and get one more lengthening in tonight before going to bed early.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: L8GrowthSpurt on March 08, 2021, 03:12:32 AM
Thanks for the update, BTM! Almost there 👍.  Would be curious to hear about how your new height feels and whether anyone has noticed; sounds like these last days of your journey have been a LOT better than before - glad to hear it!
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on March 08, 2021, 08:30:42 PM
Quote from: L8GrowthSpurt on March 08, 2021, 03:12:32 AM
Thanks for the update, BTM! Almost there.  Would be curious to hear about how your new height feels and whether anyone has noticed; sounds like these last days of your journey have been a LOT better than before - glad to hear it!

I haven't seen anyone that knows me very well from before, so I haven't gotten any reactions yet. I'll definitely write about any reactions I get in the future. I didn't tell anyone about it and I have a decent number of good friends that I haven't seen in almost a year, so I'm sure I'll get some interesting reactions. Like I said, I'm trying to get more muscular as well, so I can play it off as having worked out a lot during the pandemic.

As for my personal perspective, I can definitely feel the new height and I really started feeling it after 5cm. It's mostly in the small things from day to day at home, like in the kitchen I'll feel a lot taller because all the appliances seem lower than what I'm used to. All the cabinets, tables, counters, shelves, and even my bed feel much lower than they used to. The only person I've been able to compare my height to is Dr. D and I went from shorter than him to taller than him, so I can definitely imagine how drastic the difference will be when I see my friends.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: RB on March 09, 2021, 08:25:31 AM
Quote from: BelowTheMean on March 08, 2021, 08:30:42 PM
I haven't seen anyone that knows me very well from before, so I haven't gotten any reactions yet. I'll definitely write about any reactions I get in the future. I didn't tell anyone about it and I have a decent number of good friends that I haven't seen in almost a year, so I'm sure I'll get some interesting reactions. Like I said, I'm trying to get more muscular as well, so I can play it off as having worked out a lot during the pandemic.

As for my personal perspective, I can definitely feel the new height and I really started feeling it after 5cm. It's mostly in the small things from day to day at home, like in the kitchen I'll feel a lot taller because all the appliances seem lower than what I'm used to. All the cabinets, tables, counters, shelves, and even my bed feel much lower than they used to. The only person I've been able to compare my height to is Dr. D and I went from shorter than him to taller than him, so I can definitely imagine how drastic the difference will be when I see my friends.

Well done mate, almost at the finish line!

Interesting take on comparing your height to Dr D haha. How tall would you say he is?
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on March 14, 2021, 05:10:51 PM
Quote from: RB on March 09, 2021, 08:25:31 AM
Well done mate, almost at the finish line!

Interesting take on comparing your height to Dr D haha. How tall would you say he is?

Probably around 173-174cm.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on March 15, 2021, 01:23:57 AM
Surgery Day +112, Lengthening Day 108 (+1.00mm, 77.03mm total)

Last night I managed to be productive for a few hours, then stretched and lengthened right before going to bed. While lengthening, I got 4 clicks on my left nail and 24 clicks on my right nail. As usual I used the massage gun on my legs for a while and then passed out. I slept a bit worse than usual, waking up a few times before dawn and falling back asleep immediately. The sleep tracker showed a 97% sleep rating though, with 7.4 hours of sleep and 2.2 hours of deep sleep.

In the morning I got up when my alarm went off and immediately started my morning routine. I had to sign onto work and respond to an urgent email, but after that I started stretching so I could do a lengthening session. This time my nails flipped on the click count. I got 15 on the left side and only 11 on the right side. I guess I’ll never understand how the clicking works, but I still hope that my left side finishes before I see the doctor so I can get X-rays with a completed nail. After lengthening I ate some snacks for breakfast and worked until it was time to leave for PT.

Today at PT I warmed up on the treadmill, walking about 0.25 miles in 10 minutes at 1.5mph. My gait started out pretty bad, but after a few minutes I was actually able to improve my gait a little and get back to walking with a decent gait. I guess I don’t walk for a long enough duration at home to ever reach this point, so I will need to walk outside or on a treadmill to train my gait once I finish the distraction phase. After my warmup I did my stretches, in the middle of which my right leg started having some nerve pain. I just ignored it, and afterwards the PT had me do the cat and camel stretch on a yoga mat, and interestingly when I did that exercise it actually stopped the nerve pain. I had previously done this exercise in order to stretch my sciatic nerve so I can see why it would help. I also did some other hip exercises on the yoga mat and then the PT had me do some more core exercises. Finally she wanted me to do some partial body weight squats and lunges. On the lunges, when my left leg was bending, I had quite a bit of muscle pain from the stretching, so I was not able to work that side very well. The PT says it should get better quickly after I’m done distracting and my muscle fibers are able to stretch a bit more. Finally, we took measurements to send to the doctor. My knee bend was still over 120 degrees and almost as high as before, which I was surprised by. However, my leg lift (hip flexibility) was down to 80 degrees and it was over 110 degrees when I was at 5cm. My hamstrings still seem to be my tightest muscle, and I think I’ll have to continue stretching those long past the end of the distraction phase.

After PT I had lunch and then continued to work into the afternoon. I wasn’t paying attention to the time but after signing off work I was a bit overdue to lengthen again. I can’t wait until I’m no longer on the three lengthenings a day schedule, it feels like so much work right now. As usual I did a 30 minute stretching session and then ran the ERC. On my left leg the nail only clicked once this time, but I got 44 clicks on the right side. After lengthening I made some food and ate. Then I stayed busy until late at night when it was time to lengthen again. I ran the massage gun on my legs because my legs were pretty stiff, and then stretched and ran the ERC. I got no clicks on the left side and 28 on the right side. Also, for about five minutes after lengthening I felt some nerve activity in my left shin, though like last time it was not painful at all. Note that I had taken my last Gabapentin pill in the morning and I am not taking that anymore. I did some extra stretches afterwards, then ran the massage gun on my legs for a bit and went to sleep.

Surgery Day +113, Lengthening Day 109 (+1.00mm, 78.03mm total)

I woke up many times after dawn this morning and I was unable to fall back asleep continuously. I also had some crazy dreams, but I don’t remember the exact details of any, except for one of the dreams which was literally of people arguing on the LL forum about whether sex during the distraction phase was safe. Yes, I know that’s a weird dream. I got up about 30 minutes before my alarm was supposed to go off and got ready for the morning. My sleep tracker showed a terrible 77% rating with 5.6 hours of sleep and 1.2 hours of deep sleep. I’m not sure if the lack of sleep was because I’m flying to Vegas soon for what is possibly my last post-op visit and my mind was racing a little due to the excitement, or if my legs were stiffer than usual last night and this morning making it harder to sleep. It was probably a combination of the two.

Even though I had gotten up pretty early, time flew by quickly and more than 8 hours had elapsed since my last lengthening the previous night, so I started a stretching session. After stretching I ran the ERC on both legs as usual and this time my click count was zero on the left side and 11 on the right side, so quite low. I suppose there are still no signs that I’m near 8cm, but I suppose there wouldn’t really be any sign until I actually hit 8cm. Regardless, I’m hoping that the X-rays will provide all the answers I seek soon. I continued to stretch for a little bit after lengthening and then made some food and focused on work for the rest of the day.

In the late afternoon it was time for another lengthening session and I started stretching again. Stretching has been much harder for me lately than it was just a week or two ago. It’s almost like I can feel the toll of every additional mm past 6.5cm. I think the recovery time for 6.5cm is a bit more than 5cm, but the recovery time for 8cm will be much more than that of 6.5cm. Still, based on my perception of my new height from a purely visual standpoint, so far it’s been worth it (with the understanding that I’ll eventually recover) but I can’t definitively say that it’s worth it until I recover to a point that I’m happy with, or at least to a point where I’m certain that I will recover to the point that I’m happy. Although I struggled with every stretch, I did finish all of the usual ones and started running the ERC. This time there were no clicks on the left side and 28 clicks on the right side. I’m kind of surprised that the left side is still going, but I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised since that’s what it’s supposed to do.

In the evening I cooked and ate dinner, did some chores, then took a hot bath to hopefully minimize any inflammation on the day before my flight to Las Vegas. I don’t know how well it worked for that, but my right leg had some nerve pain around the ankle area, which the massage gun was only able to partially relieve. It was a good reminder that the hard part isn’t over yet, no matter how close I am. Later at night I did one last stretching and lengthening session for the day. This time I had no clicks on the left side (zero all day) and 31 on the right side. My right ankle was still experiencing a bit of sporadic nerve pain through the stretching and lengthening. After lengthening I went to bed.

Although I am currently very close to finishing (and I should at least be done with my left leg by the time you’re reading this) in real time it still feels like a drag. Every time the ERC lengthens without a hitch I’m both happy that I’m still getting a little taller, and a little upset that the nail still hasn’t maxed out yet. At this point I feel like it doesn’t really matter how much more I lengthen or don’t lengthen, but once I stop I anticipate that my legs muscles will finally start loosening again. I really just want to be done, though I think if I wasn’t going to the doctor’s office for X-rays soon, then I probably wouldn’t feel as rushed. At this point, slowing down a little probably wouldn’t extend things out too long on the left side. I do want to figure out what’s going on with the right side ASAP though.

Surgery Day +114, Lengthening Day 110 (+0.33mm, 78.36mm total)

This morning I woke up to my alarm, hit snooze twice, then turned off the alarm and immediately proceeded to pass out for another 30 minutes. Last night I really slept like a log. I got a 100% sleep rating with 8.3 hours of sleep and 2.8 hours of deep sleep. I had many vivid dreams, but the one I remember with the most clarity was being in a reality dating show where a bunch of men and women were living in what I believe was a big log cabin. I had my new height, but my legs were fully recovered. My subconscious must have been feeling very confident because in my dream I picked out the hottest girl in the group and went after her, and somehow succeeded. Honestly, it made me feel pretty good. I finally got out of bed feeling groggy from all the sleep, and I took my Xarelto. My legs were so stiff that I was pretty sure that I wasn’t going to be able to do three lengthening sessions today. At least my right ankle nerve pain was completely gone. At this point how many more sessions I get before going to the doctor’s office probably doesn’t matter that much.

I signed into work and replied to a few emails, then I figured I had enough energy to start stretching. I did a full 30 minute stretching session, though I felt really tired the whole time. I ran the ERC on both legs and this time I got 22 clicks on the right side and none on the left side. After lengthening I made a big snack for breakfast and then continued to work until it was time for PT.

At PT I did a very lazy 1.15 miles at resistance level 4. The name of the game today is conserving energy, because I would need to take a ton of steps for my trip so I don’t want to wear out my legs before I even head out. Fortunately the focus of PT was balance-type exercises today, though even so I was quite tired of doing these after 30 minutes and I actually didn’t mind doing the leg press afterwards since I would be sitting down. However, the PT raised the weight to 145 lbs for both legs, which I could still do 30 reps fairly easily. She also wanted me to do 20 reps of 125 lbs on each individual leg. It wasn’t too hard on my right leg, but I could barely do it on my left leg, and this is with the seat dialed back because I don’t have enough knee flexibility to get the full range of motion. After my exercises, the PT rolled out only my quads and not even my hamstrings! Definitely don’t feel like I got my money’s worth today.

After PT I went to run some errands before my trip. While I was leaving the bank one funny thing I noticed was the height meter on the door (I guess for bank robbers) was off. I was closer to the 6’ mark than the 5’9” mark on there so if that bank were to ever get robbed they would be overestimating the height of the bad guy. After that I drove over to the hair salon to get a haircut and apparently my stylist had already forgotten that I had a “ski accident” even though I told him on my last visit weeks ago. He still noticed the very obvious issue with my gait though, and again asked me what happened. My gait is definitely worse than it was at the 5-6cm range. This also goes to show that most people really don’t pay that much attention to your personal matters. I guess I haven’t met any friends yet so I don’t yet know how someone who knows me well will react.

After the haircut I went home and ate some snacks for lunch and then packed and it was pretty much time to head to the airport already. I really wasn’t in the mood to do another lengthening today, my legs were simply too tired already. I also wasn’t in the mood to carry the ERC to the airport and check it in either. I could just ship it back at the FedEx office next to my PT clinic. Also, with Stryde recalled I can’t imagine Nuvasive currently has a shortage of ERCs in stock. As rideshares were ridiculously expensive during rush hour I decided to take public transportation to the airport, which turned out to be a terrible idea. I walked outside with my cane and by the time I got to the subway station and went down two flights of stairs I was already a little tired. However, I at least got a free ride on the subway because the attendant randomly swiped me into the turnstile while I was replying to a text from a friend. She must have thought that the poor cripple was struggling to pay for his subway fare. The ride was pretty rough and my legs were even more tired by the time I got to the airport and I hadn’t even boarded the flight yet! I ate a big dinner at the airport since I knew I wouldn’t get to the hotel until very late.

The flight itself was okay. I was quite uncomfortable the whole time, but I would say at least I didn't have any severe pain for the first half of the flight. I was very stiff though, and constantly tried to straight out my legs in the seat to help with that. By the end of the flight I had some nerve pain inside my right calf. When I got off the plane I realized that I was not able to walk very quickly anymore. I hobbled over to the rental car shuttle bus at about 0.5 mph with everyone staring at me. Fortunately the line for the shuttle bus was short this time, and I made it to the rental car center fairly quickly. However, I was still so tired I went straight to the hotel after picking up my rental car without even stopping for food.

I checked into the hotel and since I was walking with a cane, they upgraded me to a suite on the first floor (well I also have the highest status with this chain so that was probably the real reason.) As soon as I got into the room I prepared to go to sleep. However, I ended up watching Netflix on my phone for about 30 minutes while running the massage gun on my right leg, which was still suffering from nerve pain that started on the flight. This time it didn’t help much with the nerve pain, but I think it still felt better than if I did nothing. I totaled 8000 steps today, which is a threshold I’ve only passed on two other days since surgery. Although my legs were in pain, I was eventually able to drift off to sleep.

Surgery Day +115, Lengthening Day 111 (+0.33mm, 78.69mm total)

I woke up at dawn, about 90 minutes before my alarm time and I couldn’t fall back asleep. I only had a 62% sleep rating with 4.9 hours of sleep and 0.7 hours of deep sleep. I noticed immediately that the nerve pain from the night before was gone, but when I got out of bed my legs were still incredibly stiff. It was a little less painful to walk than yesterday, but I was still walking very slowly. After my morning routine I got back in bed and ran the massage gun on my legs while watching Netflix. The massage effect only helped a little. Eventually my alarm went off, so I got dressed and packed and went to the lobby to eat the hotel’s free breakfast. I also realized that I forgot to pack my meds for the trip, but the only important one is Xarelto. After breakfast I immediately checked out and drove over to the doctor’s office.

I arrived at the doctor’s office at the exact time for my appointment. I got my weight and height measured and of course grew on both measurements. My height on the stadiometer was only 176cm, but I have really bad APT right now. I feel like I have at least 1cm worth of additional height locked into that issue. I did X-rays like normal, though this time I wasn’t able to stretch out my hip adductors enough to take the lateral views, so we had to improvise. After X-rays I waited for a bit in an exam room for the doctor to see me. Apparently, with all our discussion of the major clicking activity in my nails when running the ERC over the last few weeks, Dr. D was very concerned about preconsolidation. However, the X-rays turned out perfectly fine. The full leg X-ray showed an increase in height almost exactly matching the ERC readout on both legs! Both the doctor and I were quite surprised at this, but it was quite a welcome surprise.

The doctor said that I could either stop here or lengthen another millimeter, so that the ERC hits 80mm, but either way both nails are pretty much maxed out already. I suppose retrospectively I felt the same large increase in tightness on both my left and right legs over the last month, so that should have also demonstrated that they were lengthening at the same rate. Regardless, while I was very excited by the news, my legs have been so stiff that I’m not in the mood to celebrate. I decided that I would see how I felt when I got home at night to decide if I was going to finish out the 80mm on the ERC reading. My mind was a little blank when I left the doctor’s office. I sat in the car outside the office in the parking lot zoned out for a bit. Then it started raining and I realized that I needed to use the restroom pretty badly, so I drove back to the rental car center to return the car.

I had a few hours to burn at the airport and I ended up eating lunch and playing some games on my phone. When the airline staff got to the gate, I walked over to them and asked for wheelchair service after landing. I had walked so much in the last two days that I actually wasn’t sure I could make it home on my own. I used the restroom and bought a bottle of water before boarding the flight. The pilot announced that there was a “minor maintenance issue” which required airport personnel to come fix. It delayed takeoff by about 15 minutes, but we still ended up landing on time. For the flight back I had downloaded some TV episodes to watch, but I only watched one because I wasn’t feeling that good. I tried to rest for a bit but I could only fall asleep for five minutes at a time, so I just rested with my eyes closed and listening to music, generally uncomfortable and unable to fall asleep. I had to continuously adjust my legs as well, but fortunately I didn’t have any nerve pain, just pain from stiffness and sitting continuously in an uncomfortable position.

Finally, the flight landed and I couldn’t wait to get off. I don’t plan on taking any more flights until my legs can easily actually handle it. At the exit of the aircraft I got on the wheelchair, and the airport employee pushed me to the rideshare area. My Uber arrived just in time and I got in and we immediately drove off. Flying with no luggage is nice. When I got home, I hobbled inside and unpacked my bag. After that I immediately sat in bed and started running the massage gun on my legs. The massage gun only helped a little just like the night before. My legs were quite swollen still, so I changed into compression pants. It was getting a bit late so I started a stretching session. My legs were very tired during the exercises, but I managed to get through all of them. I ran the ERC on each leg, with zero clicks on the left side and seven on the right side. Today I walked almost 7000 steps, and that’s with getting wheeled around on a wheelchair at my home airport. It’s clear that two back-to-back days with this much walking, especially when my quads and hamstrings are at their tightest point, is not that great for my legs. I’m really hoping that I’ll see some big improvements in the two weeks after I start consolidating.

Surgery Day +116, Lengthening Day 112 (+0.66mm, 79.35mm total)

Today I woke up feeling a tiny bit better in the legs, just like the morning before. The compression pants definitely helped, and I didn’t have any residual pain in my legs. However, I was very tight and stiff and I struggled to straighten out my legs in bed. I dozed off a few more times and woke up about 30 minutes after my alarm. I got a 100% sleep rating with 8.0 hours of sleep and 2.7 hours of deep sleep. I signed into work and then started my morning routine. I have just enough Xarelto pills left that I don’t need to get a refill. I’m also starting back up on Vitamin D and calcium. I don’t need to take any other medication anymore.

I was very busy with work all day since I took time off to fly to Vegas. I actually had to call into PT to cancel my session today. I didn’t have time due to some last minute meetings at work and I also didn’t have the strength to do PT today. I haven’t recovered from my traveling as quickly as I did the last two times I flew. If I was going to go to PT today, I think I would definitely have to take Norco to make it through the hour. Since I was skipping PT, I signed up for a block of gym time tomorrow, where I can walk on the treadmill for a bit and then lift some weights. I still have some time to achieve my upper body muscle gains while my bones finish consolidating so I can just say I got “bigger” when anyone points out that I’m taller. “Clearly, it’s an optical illusion, you see!”

In the late afternoon when I was finally done with work, I started a stretching session and then ran the ERC. I got no clicks on the left side and 35 on the right side. After that, I cooked dinner and then watched TV for a bit. I’m still not sure why I’m bothering to lengthen this last bit. I don’t believe 1-2mm actually makes a big difference, but I suppose an extra two days of suffering won’t make a difference either at this point. I guess I’m just so dead set on getting to 8cm to get the maximum value out of the nails that I can push for just two more days even while I’m at a very low energy level.

I decided if I was watching TV then I might as well do it inside the bathtub. I think my swelling might have already subsided a little from the compression pants I’ve been wearing, but I could elevate my legs for a bit in the tub to hopefully help with that. I’m happy that I didn’t get any nerve pinching issues with the swelling over the last few days. The first few times I flew it was pretty bad and I think some of the nerve issues were caused by swelling. Flying during the distraction phase is really not easy. After my bath I kept busy for the rest of the evening, mostly reading and eating snacks.

Before going to bed I had to get another lengthening session in. I stretched a lot and then ran the ERC. Again, no clicks on the left side, and 33 on the right side. After that I used the massage gun for a bit on my legs. Finally, I didn’t need to get up early for once, so I went to bed without an alarm and fell asleep quickly.

Surgery Day +117, Lengthening Day 113 (+0.65mm, 80.00mm total)

I woke up at dawn again, but was able to fall asleep for a while longer. I woke up again before my alarm though. I slept pretty well, with 7.4 hours of sleep and just over 3 hours of deep sleep for a 98% rating. My legs were so stiff and sore when I woke up that the first thing I did was run the massage gun on them for a few minutes. I think it helped a bit. After that I got up for my morning routine and ate breakfast. I took acetaminophen with my Xarelto, which I think actually helped a little. I can’t wait until I wake up in the morning with legs that aren’t sore. Even back when I was at 5-6cm I woke up feeling only a little stiff.

I played some games for a while and then started stretching for a lengthening session. I got through a full 30 minutes of stretching and then ran the ERC on each side. I got 16 clicks on the right side. One more session today and I’ll be done! However, I am still a little afraid that my right leg is shorter than my left. It was up to 0.5cm shorter before the surgery, and now it may be up to 1cm shorter based on my height measurements on each leg yesterday, though I really don’t know how accurate my measurements are. The X-rays earlier this week looked like they were the same length and measured at the same length. I don’t think a 3% margin of error on the X-ray measurement would produce a full centimeter of difference though, but for whatever reason when I walk around it feels like the right side is shorter. I think that it could be because the right side is not as strong and I have more hip sway or something. I always thought that my right side was stronger than my left side, but on some metrics it’s doing worse now.

While I was thinking about this topic, I measured my height on each side again and this time the right side was only 0.3cm shorter. I don’t think my methodology is very scientific, but I still felt much better seeing the smaller number than last time, and I can definitely live with a discrepancy less than half a centimeter if it’s already been like that for over 30 years. I think I’m going to run the ERC for maybe one extra mm on the right side tomorrow so I can feel better about the situation. I don’t think it’ll make any difference whatsoever, but from a psychological standpoint it’ll help since I’ll feel like I did something about it. Then after that I’m calling it quits on the distraction phase!

In the early afternoon I went down to the gym at my allotted time. I took five steps outside the door and realized that my left knee was hurting a bit if I put weight on it, so I went inside to get my cane and headed back out. In the gym I was only able to walk on the treadmill for about five minutes at 1mph. Any faster or any longer and my knee would have hurt even more. I wasn’t planning on taking any painkillers in order to do a leg workout today, so I spent the rest of the time at the gym working out my upper body with dumbbells. I’m definitely looking forward to when I’ll be able to lift heavy again. After I got home I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening reading, watching TV, and eating.

At night it was time for my final lengthening session (at least on the left side.) I did a 25 minute stretching session and then managed to lengthen before midnight so I could get the extra 0.01mm (which really doesn’t matter.) On this final run, I got zero clicks on the left side, and nine clicks on the right side. I’m actually surprised the left side isn’t clicking at all, given that it should have hit 80mm according to the ERC now. I think I’m okay stopping here though. If the left nail is not at 80mm already, it should be extremely close since I haven’t had much clicking on the left side. I’m ready to start consolidating, so even if there’s a few mm left on the nail I’m okay with stopping as long as both legs are even in length, and if one is longer than the other, it's the left leg. I don't feel like my body can easily handle any more lengthening anyway, so I'm definitely done with the longer leg. To celebrate finishing on the left side, I ate some ice cream for a late night snack. I went to bed shortly after.

Surgery Day +118, Lengthening Day 114 (Bonus Lengthening)

This morning I was so tired I didn’t even hear my alarm go off. I woke up 80 minutes after my alarm. According to the sleep tracker I got 8.3 hours of sleep and 1.5 hours of deep sleep for a 94% rating. My legs were so sore and tired this morning that I couldn’t even fully stretch out when laying down. I sat up and straightened my legs, then I got up for my morning routine. After that I sat back down in bed and ran the massage gun on my legs for a bit, which made me feel better. At this point I still hadn’t decided if I wanted to run any extra sessions of the ERC to reduce the likelihood that I have a limb length discrepancy. The impact would be so small that I probably wouldn’t notice, but I definitely don’t want a bigger discrepancy than I started with.

I decided that I would start with a 30 minute stretching session and then decide if I wanted to run the ERC on the right side. It would make me feel much better if the right nail was not able to be lengthened anymore since that means I did everything I could to reduce the likelihood of any LLD. After my stretching session I lengthened on my right leg, getting only one click. Clearly the nail hasn’t maxed out yet. I’m not sure what to think about this. I will do one more on the right leg tonight and decide from there. I’m definitely done with the left leg. Even if it’s not maxed out, I’m okay with the right being lengthened the same amount or slightly more because it started out shorter.

I actually had some work to do today, so I stayed busy for most of the afternoon. Then in the late afternoon I changed into my LL video clothes and went out to record a walking video.

https://youtu.be/iXN4CT78vpw

As with before, my gait feels much worse than it looks in the video. My legs feel stiff while walking and I have to try my best not to swing my legs around and actually bend my knees properly. Somehow I have more flexibility on my hip abductors than my hip adductors so my legs actually don’t have much trouble staying together. However, they have trouble splitting apart, but that’s not really required for walking. I clearly have a limp right now, and I think part of it is that my left knee is having a little pain when bearing a lot of weight, so I’m kind of slacking off when I walk on that side. My leg raise is still far from horizontal, and my knee bend can’t hit 90 degrees anymore. It’s worse on the left side than the right side. This should give you a pretty good idea of how tight I am at 8cm lengthened. Now that I’m done lengthening though, I really hope my next gait video (maybe in two weeks) will look much better, at least as good as when I was at 6cm lengthened. My immediate goals on flexibility are to get my thighs past 90 degrees relative to my upper body when lifting my knees up while standing, and to be able to lift my lower leg enough to grab my foot with my hand (and eventually touch my butt.)

After recording, editing, and uploading the video, I went out to get some takeout and I didn’t have to get out of my car so it was very convenient. After eating, I prepared to update my journal. I have some more work to do tonight, so after I post I’ll probably be busy until bedtime. I think I’ll do one more lengthening on my right side tonight and consider it done as well.

Technically, based on the ERC reading I lengthened over 80mm on both the left and right side, and based on my final X-rays I’m thinking I should be very close to, if not having maxed out both nails, at least to the point where I can confidently call the final gain 8cm. Lengthening took almost four full months for me and I ran into so many complications, including but not limited to shin numbness, mild/moderate/severe nerve pain, nail mechanism clicking, risk of premature consolidation, potential lengthening discrepancy, and major loss of flexibility. That’s not even counting the guaranteed everyday issues such as muscle and joint pain, stiffness, and general tightness. Even with all the problems I ran into, not all of the last four months were low points. I suppose I’m currently pretty happy that I did the surgery, even though I feel like I can barely walk at the moment.

I’m also happy closing this chapter of my life, and I really look forward to consolidating and generally feeling better in my legs, not taking any more medication, and permanently recovering my gait. These things might take some time, but I hope I can get somewhat close to normal in two months! I don’t think I will frequent the forum as often during the consolidation phase, but it’ll depend on how fast I recover. If I recover slowly then I’ll definitely come back here to complain. Once the weather gets nice again and I can start walking outside normally, and eventually have to go back into the office, I think naturally I’ll be on the forum less and less like other LL patients before me.

Thanks to everyone who has followed along so far. I hope this journal has been useful to you and I hope I’ll be able to provide some useful data points on my rate of recovery during consolidation.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: RazalDazal on March 15, 2021, 01:29:36 AM
wow you reached the summit  :)

Many congratulations! your gait looks great!
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: Serilium on March 15, 2021, 01:47:27 AM
Quote from: BelowTheMean on March 15, 2021, 01:23:57 AM
I also had some crazy dreams, but I don’t remember the exact details of any, except for one of the dreams which was literally of people arguing on the LL forum about whether sxx during the distraction phase was safe.

 ;D ;D funny

Congrats man it is only up from here and will get better
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: StrydeNailChallenge on March 15, 2021, 02:48:04 AM

 Congratulations!  Wish you the best during the consolidation phase!
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: L8GrowthSpurt on March 15, 2021, 02:54:44 AM
Congrats BTM! I have very much enjoyed following your journey. Hope to hear about the consolidation phase as you have time. It must be such a relief to get the distraction phase done ✅ ; good job! Thanks for all the deets along the way - very interesting and helpful to me for hopefully following in your footsteps once stryde is back 👍
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: Atlantic on March 21, 2021, 12:08:42 AM
Great diary  ;D  ;D
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: readyprecisestryde on March 23, 2021, 05:35:19 AM
Congrats BTM and wishing you a fast recovery  :)
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on March 27, 2021, 08:04:48 PM
Thanks for all the messages of support everyone! Not too much has changed yet, but I will record a walking video and update my journal tomorrow.

Quote from: RazalDazal on March 15, 2021, 01:29:36 AM
wow you reached the summit  :)

Many congratulations! your gait looks great!
Thanks, RD! It's okay for having just finished 8cm, but there's still a lot of work to do.

Quote from: Serilium on March 15, 2021, 01:47:27 AM
;D ;D funny

Congrats man it is only up from here and will get better
TY! I believe it will definitely get better, but I'm hoping that the recovery process is on the faster side.

Quote from: StrydeNailChallenge on March 15, 2021, 02:48:04 AM
Congratulations!  Wish you the best during the consolidation phase!

Thanks, SNC! After personally going through a rough distraction phase I am more in awe with your fast distraction and fast recovery!

Quote from: L8GrowthSpurt on March 15, 2021, 02:54:44 AM
Congrats BTM! I have very much enjoyed following your journey. Hope to hear about the consolidation phase as you have time. It must be such a relief to get the distraction phase done ✅ ; good job! Thanks for all the deets along the way - very interesting and helpful to me for hopefully following in your footsteps once stryde is back
Thanks, L8GrowthSpurt! I think waiting for Stryde is definitely worth it. I can't imagine how terrible it would be to not be able to walk independently for up to half a year.

Quote from: Atlantic on March 21, 2021, 12:08:42 AM
Great diary  ;D  ;D
Thanks!

Quote from: readyprecisestryde on March 23, 2021, 05:35:19 AM
Congrats BTM and wishing you a fast recovery  :)
Thanks, readyprecisestryde!
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: las vegas baby on March 28, 2021, 11:02:19 AM
congrats belowthemean! this is a great diary
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on March 29, 2021, 12:47:00 AM
Quote from: las vegas baby on March 28, 2021, 11:02:19 AM
congrats belowthemean! this is a great diary

Thanks, Las Vegas baby! I'm glad I'm done with lengthening and I'm hoping my recovery will be quicker than average, but we'll have to wait and see.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on March 29, 2021, 01:01:57 AM
Surgery Week +18, Consolidation Week 1

Day 1
Nothing has changed yet (unsurprisingly) and I still woke up with incredibly sore and tight legs this morning. I had to run the massage gun on my legs before I could even get out of bed and stand up. I have decided to stop lengthening on the right side as well. I don’t think there is a noticeable discrepancy between my femurs. I have to stop at some point and I suppose that point was yesterday. I don’t expect my recovery to be instant, but I’m certainly hoping to see some signs of improvement over the coming days at least, so I can feel some hope.

I took Norco before PT today because I knew it was going to be rough in my current condition. At PT I walked 450 meters on the treadmill in 10 minutes. I started slowly at only 1.2mph, but gradually increased my speed and ended at 2.1mph, which is actually a decent pace for walking. My gait actually felt okay given how tight my legs are and I think my leg muscles are getting stronger. My main problem right now is just tightness/lack of flexibility. For all the other exercises at PT I felt pretty much the same as last week.

Day 2
I passed out pretty early the night before and I woke up at dawn this morning feeling like absolute crap even though I got a ton of sleep. I was sleeping on my back and my hamstrings were so tight that my legs weren’t fully straight so my heels were digging into the bed all night and actually hurt a little. I had to run the massage gun on my legs before I could get up, but it felt really good, which just goes to show how sore I was even while sleeping. I still had some trouble walking though.

I took Norco again before PT, but this time it did absolutely nothing. I didn’t feel any pain relief from the medication during PT. I was tired, even at the start of PT. I rode the stationary bike for 5 minutes at resistance level 4 and only went 0.55 miles. All of the other exercises also felt very difficult compared to usual. I actually felt worse today than any other day during the distraction phase (after recovering from the initial surgery.) While I was doing deadlifts with a 35 lb dumbbell, at the end of 20 reps I heard a loud popping sound in my right leg. Even the PT heard it clearly and was concerned for me. However, I didn’t feel any pain and nothing felt loose or wobbly, so I don’t think it was the nail. Hopefully it was just my hip joint popping, or if it was the nail then hopefully nothing is broken. It’s going to be a while before my next set of X-rays, so I really hope it’s not a structural issue with the nail or a broken screw. At least now that I’m done lengthening I (hopefully) don’t have to worry about mechanical issues with the nail, but until I consolidate I still have to worry about the integrity of the nail itself.

Nothing else interesting has happened so far in consolidation. I need to continue stretching more outside of PT. I definitely don’t have as much motivation to stretch as during the distraction phase since I’m not stretching so I can more easily run the ERC. However, I do hope to have a good recovery by the two month mark post-consolidation so I must keep pushing myself to stretch. I only managed to do one more stretching session at night, but hopefully as my legs feel better it will continually get easier for me to stretch.

Day 3
I woke up feeling a little bit better in my legs this morning, but still very stiff and sore. I think I had a slightly easier time walking around right after getting up, but I’m not even sure. I have a stuffy nose and headache and I’ve been a bit sleepy all morning. Hopefully it’s just a cold and not COVID-19. At least I don’t have a fever so I’m hoping that’s a good sign.

I was very busy with work, and didn’t get a chance to stretch until the late afternoon, but at that time I did a full stretching session even though I wasn’t feeling so great. Overall my legs still don’t feel very good yet, and I can’t get LL off my mind since nothing has changed since last week. I didn’t really have the energy to stretch today, but I know I need to stretch more.

Day 4
I was still feeling a bit below the weather this morning, but at least I think my legs felt a bit better when I woke up. For the first time in days I didn’t need to run the massage gun on my legs just to be able to straighten them out and stand up. I actually slept through my alarm and was awakened by a work message from a colleague, so I got up quickly and stayed busy with work all the way through lunchtime. Everything was okay at lunch, but then in the afternoon I realized that I had lost my sense of smell. I tried eating something and realized that I lost my sense of taste as well! So much for not having COVID-19. I must have gotten it from going to PT! After that I called PT to let them know I might have COVID-19 and then scheduled a rapid test online for the following morning.

I completed a few more stretching sessions in the afternoon and evening, but I wasn’t really in the mood to stretch or do much of anything at all.

Day 5
I woke up feeling just a tiny bit looser (like less than 1%) in my legs, and while it does feel like I’m improving, it’s not happening very quickly at all. I also felt very sick this morning, and I couldn’t even taste the mint flavor in my toothpaste. I took an early lunch break to go and get tested for COVID-19. I can’t believe it still takes multiple days to get test results one year into the pandemic; it must be one of the reasons why there are so many cases in the US.

I felt like absolute crap today and only managed to do one full stretching session done the whole day. I took a warm bath in the evening both for my legs and for my infection. Unfortunately it didn’t really make me feel any better. However, I noticed that it was a bit easier to get in and out of the tub than last week, which is a small victory. My hamstring and quad flexibility is definitely improving even though I’m not stretching as much as I could be. I guess the worst case scenario at this point is if it takes longer than expected to recover, but I don’t see why I wouldn’t continue to recover slowly over time regardless of how hard I work toward it.

Day 6
I slept in today, but didn’t feel all that refreshed. I’ve gotten more than 8 hours of sleep most days this week, but it’s hard to feel refreshed when I’m feeling this sick. However, even though I still have symptoms I believe things are a little better today since my nose is runny instead of stuffy today. Even if overall I don’t feel great, at least my symptoms are progressing. I guess I’ll be more sure that things are going in the right direction if I feel better instead of worse tomorrow. As for my legs, they feel about the same as yesterday, but I didn’t really stretch all that much yesterday. I think I can stretch more today since I feel a little better.

I took my last Xarelto pill today, so I’m completely off all limb lengthening meds now! This early spring weather outside is perfect today. Too bad I can’t go outside and take a walk. Although I’m sick I actually feel like I somehow have plenty of energy in my legs to work out. I guess I should be doing some PT leg training at home since I’m not getting it anywhere else.

I got my COVID-19 test results late at night. I tested positive and I’m not surprised at all. Guess I’ll have to call the PT on Monday to cancel my appointments for the next week or so. At this rate, my legs might be recovered to the point where I don’t need to go to PT anymore by the time it’s okay for me to go outside again haha.

Day 7
This morning I woke up feeling okay in terms of my COVID-19 infection. I can’t tell if it’s getting worse or better, so I assume it’s still just coming along. My legs felt a little tighter this morning than yesterday, but definitely still better than a week ago when I was at my peak tightness. I did a stretching session early in the day and then proceeded with the rest of my day normally (well, normal for someone with two broken legs and COVID-19.)

Today I noticed that while standing up with my thighs straight and bending my knee, both of my heels are able to come up higher than they did one week ago. I strongly believe there should be clear evidence of progress when I record another gait video one week from now. I’m not so sure about the improvement on the hamstring flexibility and raising my knees higher while standing, but my hamstrings are definitely a bit looser today. I can actually bend over and reach kind of close to my feet now. I also feel almost no tightness in the back of my knee when my legs are straightened all the way, which was not the case last week.

The inside half of my shins are still numb on both legs. It would actually be unnoticeable if it was just numbness, but it’s actually simultaneously numb and sensitive at the same time. For example, when I’m sitting in bed under the covers I can feel the blanket rubbing against the shin and it’s actually sensitive to that and a little uncomfortable. However, if I touch the bare skin on my shins with my hands, it’s not sensitive/uncomfortable and it just feels a little numb. At one point during the distraction phase when I was experiencing more nerve issues, the numb part of my shins was actually extra sensitive to hot and cold. It was especially noticeable when I took ice baths and hot baths. However, later on they were no longer temperature sensitive but still retained some numbness to touch. Generally when I wear compression pants I don’t feel weird in my shins, which is why I wore them a lot during the distraction phase (well that and it helped with swelling.) However, now that the weather is getting warmer I’m not really going to be able to wear compression pants normally.

This first week of consolidation actually passed by pretty quickly in retrospect. Sometimes I felt the drag of how slowly my legs were improving and the restriction of not being able to go outside. Going to PT over the last few months was definitely a necessity for me as it was pretty much my only social interaction outside of digital communication. I hope I can quickly improve a lot over the new few weeks so I can start seeing family and friends in person, especially since I’ll be immune to COVID-19 and I won’t have any excuses to hide inside anymore. I’m sure you guys are looking forward to hearing about my interactions with people close to me for the first time after lengthening. I’m certainly interested in their reactions as well! As I get closer to having a normal gait, I’m hoping you guys can also help review how passable my gait is in my videos.

Surgery Week +19, Consolidation Week 2

Day 1
This morning I woke up feeling quite lethargic. Even though I slept for over 8 hours I still didn’t want to get up. Recovering from LL and COVID-19 at the same time is not easy. I think my legs have returned to the level of tightness I felt when I was at around 7cm lengthened. Wearing compression pants last night definitely helped my legs feel better in general. I was quite busy with work today, but I took the time to call PT to inform them about my positive test result and reschedule my future appointments. In the afternoon and evening I did a bit of stretching. I think most of my COVID-19 cold-like symptoms have gone away, but I still feel tired all the time.

Day 2
I woke up feeling so tired this morning. I think one of the worst things about having COVID-19 is sleeping for over 8 hours each night but not feeling refreshed when I wake up. This lack of energy is making me less productive at work, less capable of stretching my legs, and I just don’t feel motivated to do anything. My legs feel about the same level of stiffness as yesterday, so the rate of improvement is very slow. I think if I started walking major distances I would improve faster, but that’s not really possible when I can’t go outside. I guess there’s the possibility of going out for a walk this weekend if I’m asymptomatic. It was a little easier to put on my socks this morning; I have been struggling for a while with socks on the left side due to the lack of flexibility in my left quadricep. I’ll take one small victory at a time I guess. Again, I was too busy at work (and really didn’t have enough energy) to stretch during the day, but I did a longer stretching session in the evening while watching TV. I’m guessing it might be better to spread out my stretching throughout the day if possible though.

Day 3
This morning I woke up feeling very tired again even though I got plenty of sleep. Not having energy is making it difficult to get work done or to work out, both of which are important to me right now. I feel like my legs were actually a little tighter this morning, so it looks like even in the consolidation phase there are some good days and some bad days. I wish that I was still going to PT and that I had more energy so I could stretch every day. Hopefully next week will be better for both my infection and my legs.   

In the evening after taking a hot bath, I clipped my toenails for the first time since consolidating. It was much easier to do than when I did it about two weeks ago. Last time I had to sit on a chair and elevate my foot onto another chair to reach my foot. This time I was flexible enough to stand in the bathroom and put each foot on the toilet while maintaining balance. I think overall things are getting easier and easier. I am having less and less trouble doing things that require balance on one leg. I definitely think my improvement would be quicker if I didn't catch COVID-19.

Day 4
It was difficult to get up yet again this morning. I had to force myself to get out of bed and sign into work. I hope I don’t have long COVID. My legs are still pretty tight in the morning, though it’s not as hard to stretch them out as before. Running the massage gun in the morning helps a bit as well, but I’m able to get out of bed immediately and walk to the bathroom without stretching if necessary. I just end up swinging my legs a little more and walk with a terrible gait. I’m really looking forward to when I can walk longer distances and return to PT to help build up more leg strength. I’m not hoping for much at the two week mark post-lengthening, but if I recover from COVID-19 soon then I see a lot of potential for bigger improvements at the four week mark.

Later in the night I gained at least some sense of smell and taste back. Maybe I am finally recovering from COVID-19. Unfortunately, before I went to sleep I felt a bit of nerve discomfort on the bottom of both my shins near my feet. I guess my legs still have some recovering to do in terms of nerve stretching. Hopefully these lingering issues all go away eventually. Putting on compression pants helped with the issue and I ran the massage gun on my legs before falling asleep. I feel like my quads are “looser” than before in that I finally have some slack in the quad muscles when I run the massage gun on them, whereas not too long ago they were tight regardless of whether the muscle was relaxed or flexed.

Day 5
This morning I continued to have trouble getting up due to being tired. My legs are doing okay, though I still feel a little stiff walking around, especially if I don’t stretch first. My glutes are still non-existent; if I sit in bed all day my butt will be uncomfortable. I’m looking forward to getting back some of my “padding” there. My sense of smell and taste are mostly back now, which is a relief since I heard that some people lost those senses for months after contracting COVID-19. Aside from being very tired in the morning, I don’t really have any other symptoms remaining. I only have one more day of quarantine remaining based on guidelines from the city health department. I plan to go outside and take a walk sometime this weekend if the weather permits. I’ll consider starting up PT again next week if they’ll take me.

In the evening when I was charging my electronics, I nearly tripped over my work laptop cord. While I didn’t fall over, I did put a lot more weight down on my right leg to maintain balance. I didn’t feel anything wrong and didn’t hear any sounds coming from my leg so hopefully I didn’t damage the nail. I guess you can never be too careful when it comes to balance in the consolidation phase! I did a stretching session before going to bed, and noticed that my quad flexibility is getting better. I’m sure my hamstring flexibility is getting better, but it’s not as noticeable as the improvement in my quad flexibility lately.

Day 6
This morning I woke up feeling quite tight in the legs. It went away fairly quickly though even as I was sitting in bed for a bit on my computer before getting up. I don’t know when I’ll be back to feeling “normal” first thing in the morning, but right now although my legs feel tight in the morning it doesn’t bother me that much - it’s just a consistent reminder that I did LL. I was a little sleepy this morning, but actually not too bad compared to the last few days, so I think I'm pretty much done recovering from COVID-19. I still have one more day of quarantine though, so I can’t go outside today. I have enough energy to work out at least, so I will be stretching and exercising my legs a bunch today.

Day 7
This morning I was pretty tired, but it might be because I went to sleep late last night rather than still being tired from lingering COVID-19 symptoms. I can finally go outside today since my quarantine period has ended and there are a couple of errands I need to run.

In the late afternoon when it was the warmest outside I went out for a walk. I had a goal of one mile in mind so I walked in one direction and didn’t turn around until I hit the 0.5 mile mark. Due to the pandemic and the fact that it was still a bit cold outside, there weren’t many people outside - mostly just people walking dogs. Interestingly, no one seemed to stare at me so my gait might be somewhat passable, but I was certainly staring at other people trying to emulate their gait (hah.) I ended up walking 1.07 miles (1.72km) at a 33 min/mile pace. This was the longest continuous leg exercise I’ve done since surgery. My heart rate went all the way up to 147bpm at some point, so it was definitely tiring for me and I’m clearly still in a phase of recovery. My terrible anterior pelvic tilt is also still there, so walking for this long actually hurts the small of my back. Hopefully that gets better over time as I get more flexible. I can still feel a lot of my muscles in my leg getting tight as I walk, so my gait is limited by flexibility as well as strength.

When I got home I decided to rest for a bit before trying to record any video since my legs were very tired and my gait would probably be quite sloppy if I tried to film right away. I took a break, then cooked and ate dinner. After dinner and sitting in bed for a while, when I stood up to walk again I realized that I wasn’t going to be able to record a video. My legs were so tired that I couldn’t even force myself to have a reasonable gait without some level of pain from the fatigue. I will record and upload a video soon though as it helps me track my progress.

After another week of consolidation I can say that I've been progressing quite slowly. COVID-19 was definitely a dampener on my recovery, but now that my body has dealt with it, I think I will have a much better recovery over the next two weeks. It has been a lot easier to do stretching sessions in the last few days. I have a time constraint on getting my normal gait back as I have a wedding to attend in a few months where many of my close friends will be present. Hopefully this pushes me to work harder than I would otherwise and stretch more and walk longer distances to recover faster! I plan to call the PT tomorrow morning and restart my appointments for next week if they are okay with me returning.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: Serilium on March 29, 2021, 01:45:15 AM
sucks you got covid. glad you recover. free covid vaccine XD

cant wait for the recovery now that theres no more walls to stop you
cheers
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: L8GrowthSpurt on March 29, 2021, 02:37:05 AM
Thanks for the update! Sounds to me like the COVID is making it hard to feel great about progress over the past week - bad luck 😐; stay limber and I’m sure this is going to be much improved soon...stay strong 💪
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: RazalDazal on April 01, 2021, 03:07:29 PM
Congratulations! I hope your recovery is going well from COVID
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: StrydeNailChallenge on April 02, 2021, 07:11:49 AM
BTM, just got a chance to review your updates. I am sorry you got covid. From your notes, I don't think you would have any permanent impact cause of covid. But to be safe, can you ask your primary doctor to arrange for some tests (on lungs, kidney, liver, etc.) for your general health?
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on April 02, 2021, 03:34:17 PM
Quote from: Serilium on March 29, 2021, 01:45:15 AM
sucks you got covid. glad you recover. free covid vaccine XD

cant wait for the recovery now that theres no more walls to stop you
cheers
Hopefully smooth sailing all the way to the end!

Quote from: L8GrowthSpurt on March 29, 2021, 02:37:05 AM
Thanks for the update! Sounds to me like the COVID is making it hard to feel great about progress over the past week - bad luck; stay limber and I’m sure this is going to be much improved soon...stay strong
I'm definitely able to work out more now, so hopefully my recovery will accelerate.

Quote from: RazalDazal on April 01, 2021, 03:07:29 PM
Congratulations! I hope your recovery is going well from COVID
Thanks, RD. Even during the time I had COVID I think my legs loosed up a decent amount. The consolidation phase definitely feels better than distraction phase overall!

Quote from: StrydeNailChallenge on April 02, 2021, 07:11:49 AM
BTM, just got a chance to review your updates. I am sorry you got covid. From your notes, I don't think you would have any permanent impact cause of covid. But to be safe, can you ask your primary doctor to arrange for some tests (on lungs, kidney, liver, etc.) for your general health?
Hey SNC, I haven't even considered the possibility of organ damage. I haven't really gotten sick recently so I haven't had a PCP since mine retired in 2015. I'm going to the hospital for X-rays in a week or two, so I'll see if I can schedule some tests for that time.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on April 05, 2021, 02:24:07 AM
Surgery Week +20, Consolidation Week 3

Day 1
I went to sleep very late last night due to a work emergency but woke up feeling only somewhat tired this morning. I'll take it as a good sign given that just a few days ago I was incredibly tired every morning even after consecutive days of over nine hours of sleep. My legs are still a little tired, stiff, and sore from yesterday, but that’s probably reasonable given how long I walked. I hope to recover quickly from the fatigue so I can do more long walks and improve my gait. I also hope that I will be able to push myself hard at PT, which I’m starting back up later this week. I was very busy with work today, but I managed to complete a stretching session during a long meeting where I didn’t have to talk much. My legs weren’t feeling that much better in the evening and I was also feeling a bit lazy so I didn’t record a gait video.

Day 2
I got a lot more sleep last night and woke up at a reasonable time, feeling pretty refreshed. I think I can confidently say the COVID-19 fatigue is finally gone. I was busy at work again today but I found some time to stretch during the day. My legs have recovered from the long walk outside two days ago but unfortunately I still didn’t feel like recording a video today. I think I'm just going to wait until the weekend to do it.

Day 3
This morning I woke up feeling some nerve activity in the middle of my right shin. It was pulsating and at first I thought it was at the skin level so I applied some pressure on it with my left foot. That’s when I realized it was the nerve inside and I couldn’t stop it by putting pressure my my skin. However, it wasn’t painful and it went away as soon as I got out of bed so no big concern. My legs felt pretty good in the morning which was fortunate because I had PT later in the day.

At PT I warmed up on the treadmill, walking 0.32 miles in 10 minutes. I started at 1.5mph and worked up way up to 2.5mph, which felt like a pretty quick pace. I am definitely feeling weaker on my left side than my right side again, as I am less stable when putting weight on my left side. After that, I did some stretches and then all the regular PT exercises that I had been doing before my forced break from PT. I think there may still be some lingering weakness from COVID-19, because my heart rate went all the way up to 173bpm while I was exercising. It rarely went over 150 during PT in the past (except when I was trying to push myself on the bike.) Fortunately, I didn’t have to do the leg press today. While the PT was working on me, she said that my muscles definitely felt looser than they did two weeks ago, which was not all that surprising to me. She said my hamstrings were not loosening as quickly as my quadriceps though.

In the afternoon when I was sitting in bed working, I randomly felt nerve pulsing in my right shin again, in the same spot as this morning. It lasted for about 15 minutes and then went away by itself. I see it as just another sign that fully recovering from LL isn’t going to be so quick and easy. After work my legs were still pretty sore from PT, so I just relaxed all evening.

Day 4
This morning I woke up with pretty stiff legs, but they weren’t as sore as I would have expected them to be considering how tired I was after PT yesterday. I worked a bit in the morning and then went to PT. At PT I warmed up on the treadmill again and walked at a steady 2.0mph pace for 10 minutes, totaling about 500 meters. My PT wasn’t in today, so one of the other PTs worked on me instead. She manually stretched my hamstrings, quads, and piriformis muscle. I actually haven’t stretched my piriformis muscle in a while because toward the end of lengthening it would actually hurt my knees a lot to do that stretch. She got me pretty good with all the stretches but I’m sure it helped because there is no way I would have stretched that hard on my own. Next she had to roll out my quads with the painful rolling pin thing. One minute on each side, literally 6-7/10 pain. My quads felt pretty good and very loose afterwards though. I continued to do more exercises (no leg press yet fortunately) for the remainder of the hour and I felt like I got a decent workout in. My heart rate did not spike up as high as yesterday while working out, which is a promising sign.

In the afternoon while I was sitting on my bed working I realized I could easily cross my legs now (at the ankle.) I like sitting with my legs crossed in bed and find it easier to sleep on my back when my legs are crossed. This is a big improvement because just a few days ago my IT band would still feel stretched and uncomfortable when I crossed my legs. I got in one more stretching session in the evening.

Day 5
I woke up with somewhat stiff legs this morning, though they felt much better after I walked around the house for a bit. I didn’t have to stretch or run the massage gun on my legs to loosen them up, so that’s another sign of recovery, albeit pretty small because I think it would still help to stretch and massage my legs. I took my last prescription grade Vitamin D pill and don’t plan on getting any more unless my next X-rays look bad. I’m still taking a daily Vitamin D and calcium supplement, and I have Synergy Bone Renewal which I occasionally take as well (I would take it more consistently but I always forget.)

At PT today I warmed up on the treadmill again. I walked just over 500 meters at a 2mph pace. It continues to be difficult to walk without any swinging. The tightness in the legs and hips make it difficult to have a normal gait, and my stabilizing muscles are still weak. I did a bunch of random PT exercises as usual, but I had to do the leg press today. With both legs I was barely able to do 25 reps of 145 pounds. On the single leg press, the PT set me up with 117.5 pounds, which I could not move one bit on my left leg. I had to go all the way down to 90 pounds to be able to do a set of 20 on each leg. I think I lost about 5-10 pounds while I had COVID-19 and it’s clear that some (or most) of it was muscle, which is not great for my recovery.

Aside from that, in the evening my legs were pretty tired and I couldn’t even walk with a decent gait without feeling some pain in my legs. I think I feel it the most in the various joints or muscles in my hip area. I would probably eat some acetaminophen if it was worse but I'll avoid taking any painkillers unless I have to.

Day 6
My legs were still pretty sore this morning and I’m guessing it’s from doing three days of PT back-to-back. I want to recover quickly, but I guess my body still has limitations and I need to rest my legs when they are tired. Therefore today will just be a rest day and I don’t plan on doing any leg exercises except stretching.

Day 7
I woke up with pretty stiff legs this morning, but that quickly went away when I got up and started my day. I ran the massage gun on my legs for good measure though. I was going to go out for a one mile walk today since the weather was perfect, but I figured if I did that I probably wouldn’t be able to record a gait video afterwards. Instead, I recorded a video in the early afternoon before going out. Then for my daily exercise I just went grocery shopping in the afternoon.

At the grocery store I'm very confident that no one noticed anything wrong with my gait while I was pushing the cart around. It’s definitely not noticeable anymore with just a bit of light support for balance from holding the cart as my body won't wobble or sway at all. Honestly things feel pretty normal while grocery shopping, except I’m a bit slower than normal people when turning or changing directions.

In the evening I had time to edit and upload the video. Here it is:
https://youtu.be/Ff5wiqpt-YY

I think my gait has improved a little bit. However, there is still definitely weakness on my left side. When I put weight on my left leg my body still swings to the left a bit for balance. I believe this is due to weak stabilizing muscles on the left side. I’m not sure if it’s one of the gluteal muscles or something else (maybe there's a muscle connected to the IT band?) but I will ask the PT to focus more on training that area starting next week. I feel like even though it has been months already, that stabilizing muscle doesn't seem to have gotten much stronger yet, whereas on the right side I feel the equivalent muscle is doing its job like a normal person's. For flexibility, I still can’t lift my knee to the point where my thigh is horizontal yet (which I could in the week 10 video) so until I get to that point I can’t say that I’ve recovered past where I was in the middle of lengthening. As for my quad flexibility, both legs can get to at least horizontal with the ground when I bend my knee, so definitely a big improvement over three weeks ago. Continuing to improve at least at this rate over the next three weeks would be great so I’ll keep stretching and pushing my legs!

One other thing I want to note is that I’m still not that great with stairs as I went up and down some stairs today for the first time in a while. Going up the stairs was fine, but going down the stairs I feel very weak and unstable when my right foot is leading, because my left leg is very weak and lowering my body weight puts a lot of strain on my left leg. I have a feeling it might take a while to fully regain my confidence when going down stairs. I think it will help once my femurs are consolidated as well because I have to lower myself down the stairs pretty slowly to minimize the impact on the nail and I think that’s part of the reason my left leg struggles since it’s not that strong yet. If I could lower myself quickly then I won't need the muscles in my left leg to keep me steady for as long. However, by the time my bones are consolidated I imagine that all the muscles in my left leg should be a lot stronger as well.

Finally, I don’t feel like there’s a big enough difference in my legs from one day to the next to warrant breaking this journal into daily entries anymore. I also don’t feel like taking daily notes anymore. Basically on average I improve a tiny bit each day and my muscles feel looser and stronger each day. There’s no magical feeling that my legs are suddenly normal after finishing lengthening; I have to continue working on them and wait for my body to continue to heal. I will try to summarize each week and update once every few weeks. Once I feel like my gait has recovered better I’ll probably switch to monthly updates or just updating when something interesting happens.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: Dirona on April 06, 2021, 01:42:48 PM
Awesome man..
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: Serilium on April 06, 2021, 02:47:25 PM
walk looks good and with time will be better! good recovery belowthemean

no worries about daily updates :) this is plenty

cheers
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: L8GrowthSpurt on April 08, 2021, 12:13:46 AM
Bravo on the dedication - both on your recovery and the diary. Very helpful and appreciated 👍.  Btw, you look way taller! Nice job!
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: itseasy on April 08, 2021, 09:37:46 AM
What’s up BTM!! Lengthening to 8cm ain’t no joke huh??? I remember once I hit 6cm, I was like “holy sh*t!!”....and then from there to about 7.9cm for me the tightness was crazy as hell man.

Don’t worry about your range of motion, eventually it all comes back. Sometimes one leg is better than the other. But slowly but surely it all comes back. My left leg is like nothing even happened. My right leg hamstring is perfect, I just have a few degrees to improve on the quads, but it’s not affecting my walk or anything. Main ordeal at the moment for me is rebuilding the muscle mass and strength in my glutes, hips and quads.

And yes, going down stairs is a fun adventure but that has really improved for me. But I do remember the first few weeks of consolidation... I was holding on railing for dear life going downstairs!!! Lol
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: Going-For-Three on May 11, 2021, 05:13:23 AM
Hey BTM, how are you doing brother?
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: PerfectBody on May 11, 2021, 02:19:41 PM
Awesome diary man. Looking forward to week 4!
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on May 11, 2021, 03:55:51 PM
Quote from: Realistic on April 06, 2021, 01:42:48 PM
Awesome man..
Quote from: Serilium on April 06, 2021, 02:47:25 PM
walk looks good and with time will be better! good recovery belowthemean

no worries about daily updates :) this is plenty

cheers
Quote from: PerfectBody on May 11, 2021, 02:19:41 PM
Awesome diary man. Looking forward to week 4!
Quote from: L8GrowthSpurt on April 08, 2021, 12:13:46 AM
Bravo on the dedication - both on your recovery and the diary. Very helpful and appreciated .  Btw, you look way taller! Nice job!
Thanks, guys!

Quote from: itseasy on April 08, 2021, 09:37:46 AM
What’s up BTM!! Lengthening to 8cm ain’t no joke huh??? I remember once I hit 6cm, I was like “holy sh*t!!”....and then from there to about 7.9cm for me the tightness was crazy as hell man.

Don’t worry about your range of motion, eventually it all comes back. Sometimes one leg is better than the other. But slowly but surely it all comes back. My left leg is like nothing even happened. My right leg hamstring is perfect, I just have a few degrees to improve on the quads, but it’s not affecting my walk or anything. Main ordeal at the moment for me is rebuilding the muscle mass and strength in my glutes, hips and quads.

And yes, going down stairs is a fun adventure but that has really improved for me. But I do remember the first few weeks of consolidation... I was holding on railing for dear life going downstairs!!! Lol
I feel like I'm probably recovering at a similar rate to you and I'm a few steps behind you. I was definitely a bit overoptimistic about my recovery after reading SNC's journal, but it's coming along. I've been stretching my hip flexors like crazy and trying to work out my TFL and glutes, but I just can't seem to get rid of the hip sway!

Quote from: Going-For-Three on May 11, 2021, 05:13:23 AM
Hey BTM, how are you doing brother?
Recovering slowly. I'll try to post an update this weekend!
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on May 17, 2021, 01:55:36 AM
I haven’t been in the mood to update my journal lately, but having reached the six month mark I figured it’s time to put all my notes together and make an update.

Surgery Week +21, Consolidation Week 4

This week I was supposed to get an X-ray but I forgot, so I ended up pushing it back to the following week. I went to PT three times as usual and I’m still weaker on the leg press than I was before I caught COVID-19. At least during the last PT session this week my hip abductor strength felt like it had recovered to where it was before I caught the virus. I need to continue training my glutes, legs, hips, and core muscles, so I will continue to pay money to go to PT. I think my anterior pelvic tilt has improved a little bit visually, but it’s definitely still somewhat there because I can feel it. My lower back still hurts if I walk long distances. My walking gait still has some swaying, but it seems like it’s basically only on the left side.

My flexibility continues to slowly improve. When splitting my legs apart with my knees bent, I can finally open my legs to 90 degrees, which I haven’t been able to for months. I still can’t quite sit on my heels when kneeling down, but I’m getting a lot closer than I could before; my butt is only a few inches away from my heels. My right quad is still a lot more flexible than my left quad, so I usually stretch them individually. On a related note, while I generally sleep pretty well, there are still positions that are not comfortable for me, but as time goes on I have been able to sleep in more positions than before.

I really haven’t been stretching as much as I should, with very few formal stretching sessions. This is another reason why I have continued going to PT even though it’s not cheap. However, whenever I remember that I’m supposed to stretch, I will randomly do some hip or quad stretches wherever I’m standing at the moment, or I’ll do some sitting stretches while I’m watching TV. It would probably be good to do more hamstring stretches as well, but it’s harder to stretch those casually. Also, both of my shins are still very much numb. It’s not any worse than before, but it’s not getting any better either.

I started an online dating profile with 5’11” as my listed height. So far it feels like my match rate is better than before, but it could just be my own brain convincing myself that getting LL was worth it. I had some prospective dates scheduled and at first I decided that I wouldn’t mind going in as a waddling cripple because I don’t really care what a stranger thinks about me. However, then I thought about it and realized it’s a waste of time to go out just for the sake of going out. Aside from the match rate, I don't think I've noticed any difference with online dating. Of course in the past I've mostly dated offline, so I don't have a ton of experience online. Hoping I eventually reach a point where I have confidence in walking again.

Surgery Week +22, Consolidation Week 5

This week I can finally reach my toes again in the sit-n-reach. I’m probably still quite a bit away from reaching my toes with my wrists (if I’ll even be able to do that again) but any improvement is an improvement. I noticed that it has been easier to pick things up off the ground. I tried getting into my car feet first and it was doable with a ton of arm support, but for now it’s still much easier to get in butt first.

I got my first post-lengthening X-rays this week; based on my own observations it looks like there’s a little additional bone growth, but not really a lot given that it has been over a month. I guess I will try to take more supplements over the next month. I’m still randomly feeling nerve activity in my calves and ankle area sometimes. I wouldn’t say it’s painful, but it’s definitely not normal. My shins continue to be very numb and I can only hope it goes away eventually.

PT is tough some days and easier on other days. It definitely varies depending on how much energy I have and how sore, stiff, and in pain my legs are. I don’t want to take any painkillers for PT though, so I just bear with the pain. Sometimes I come out of PT with a limp because I work hard on all the exercises they give me. If only I was that motivated at home! Overall, in the mornings I still feel pretty tight, but as I stretch and walk around in the morning my legs feel more normal pretty quickly. My gait is still not that great, though it seems to be improving a little. I’m not sure what else I can really do to improve my gait. I’ve tried tons of different exercises from the PT and from YouTube. All of it makes my legs sore, but I don’t really see any major improvements.

Surgery Week +23, Consolidation Week 6

I had “substitute” PTs all week since my regular PT was out on vacation, and they worked me super hard so my legs felt sore for basically the entire week. I think it’s good though, as it feels like I’m gaining a lot of strength, and I’m finally feeling better about my gait for the first time in a while. I think stretching my hips before I walk helps a bunch. I also can definitely tell now that my gait gets much worse as my legs get tired. Before, it was all whatever since I was kind of waddling around no matter what, but now that my gait has improved I can see the difference between fresh and tired legs very clearly. Unfortunately I’m pretty busy until next month, so I’m probably not going to be able to work out as hard as I want to.

While the PTs have been pushing me pretty hard, I’m still a bit surprised that my recovery period is so long. I feel like all of my leg muscles have been continuously worked over the last 5 months and they should really be able to recover much faster, but in reality I’m sore coming out of PT, and I’m not 100% fresh going into the next session. I wonder if the issue is that my leg muscles are still stretching and recovering their flexibility, and because of this they don’t really have a chance to recover from working out. Maybe once I fully regain flexibility in my legs then my muscles won’t be chronically sore. Sometimes it’s actually sore to the point of being painful, so it’s not very easy for me to do these PT exercises. I’ve continued to gain a little flexibility, though the gain in flexibility is only a little bit each week.

The doctor finally got my X-ray disc from last week in the mail and said that I have made some progress on consolidation. I’ve been eating bone supplements and generally eating pretty healthy, though my total calorie intake might be too low right now. I’m also probably not bearing weight as often as I could. My next consolidation X-ray is in 6 weeks instead of 4 weeks, so maybe the doctor also thinks I’m consolidating a bit slower than he previously thought I would be. That’s six more weeks of not being able to do any additional weight bearing and only being able to walk and lift weights with my upper body.

I really can’t imagine how bad things must have been before Stryde. Even though I can’t jog or do squats and deadlifts in the gym, my daily life feels pretty normal. I drive normally, go shopping normally, go to PT and the gym normally. I could even go to the office normally if I wasn’t working from home every day. If I was in a wheelchair and the doctor told me that I would have another 6 weeks before I could walk, I would be so depressed. Really my biggest problem right now is just my gait. If I could walk normally without any hip sway, I would feel 99% normal. Not being able to lift heavy stuff or run is actually not really all that detrimental to my daily life. While I’d like to do sports, going to the gym and lifting weights is plenty of exercise for the time being.

Surgery Week +24, Consolidation Week 7

I think I spoke too soon about my gait improvements last week. I think my gait was noticeably worse at the start of this week, with both hips swaying a bit whenever I walk. I did a lot of hip flexor stretches at PT early in the week in hopes that my gait would be better if my hips were more flexible. It didn’t help much though - there are still no major improvements yet - my left leg is still much weaker than my right leg, but I just can’t seem to find where the weakness that’s causing hip sway is, or how to make those weaker muscles stronger. I have started stretching more, stretching every night before I go to bed and in the middle of the day.

I am continuing to gain a little strength in the muscles and by the last PT session of the week I was able to do the two new hard exercises fairly well. One of them is the one-legged squat with partial weight support, and the other is a one-legged hip hinge bend with a light dumbbell in hand. The PT said that these were supposed to quickly help me improve my gait, but I’m not really seeing it. I can also walk faster on the treadmill; doing 10 minutes at 2.5mph is no problem. My anterior pelvic tilt has also improved quite a bit. I haven’t tried measuring my height in a while (I guess I don’t really care anymore since I already did the surgery) but maybe I’ve unlocked the full gain by now. My flexibility has continued to improve a little. When I’m standing on one leg and bend the other knee I can finally touch that foot with my hand. However, at this point I still can’t touch my heel to my butt yet, either while standing or crouching.

Surgery Week +25, Consolidation Week 8

I had to do a lot of sitting in chairs for the first time since surgery this week, and it looks like the nerve issues in my legs haven't gone away. When I sit for too long, I can still feel streaks of light nerve discomfort running along the inside of my lower legs. It’s on both sides, though a little more intense on the right side. Speaking of nerve issues, my shins are still just as numb as before, but the area of numbness has changed slightly. Up and down my leg it seems to have condensed a bit, but across my leg it seems to have expanded a bit. Of course, I could just be misremembering things since it’s not like I measured or marked the exact location of the shin numbness at any point. I don’t know how any of this works, but if there are changes, hopefully that means things are improving a bit. Sometimes the numbness near my shin hurts a little, but usually I don’t feel anything.

Work finally started easing up a bit this week and I’m switching from three PT sessions a week to two. Now I should definitely have time to take longer walks, which I believe has helped some people on the forum recover faster. The weather is definitely getting nicer outside, and I’m in a pretty good mood in general, even though my gait isn’t perfect. I plan to train harder in the next few weeks now that I have more free time, and I hope my legs are finally good enough to walk without hip sway.

This week was the first time I put on my shoes without sitting in a chair. At first I crouched down to put them on, but then I realized that I could reach my heels with my hands without having to bend my knees a lot. It’s still a bit hard to crouch since I can’t touch my butt to my heels. I basically have to put my hands down first and then lower myself. I obviously can’t squat either so there’s still more work to do there.

Late in the week I hurt my right leg at PT while doing split squats. I went down too far and must have pulled my quadricep muscle or the tendon between my quads and knee or something in that area. For the last few days it has hurt just to weight bear when walking normally. Recovery really isn’t easy.

Recently I accidentally bumped into my boss at a networking event (I say accidentally because I was trying to avoid him but he saw me). The first thing he did when he saw me was to point out that I had a limp. I just said that I had an accident and was still recovering and he didn’t ask for any more details. He’s the first person that I’ve seen since surgery that I know well. I noted in my first journal entry that he is about 6’3” and honestly I couldn’t tell at all that I was any taller than before relative to him. Even after lengthening I barely go up to his nose level lol. Because of this I’m almost completely certain that he didn’t notice I grew taller at all. I’m quite glad he wasn’t able to tell because I definitely don’t feel like explaining anything to him. I’m sure it will be much more apparent once I bump into people who were around my previous or current height.

I got one of the COVID vaccines just before the weekend. I felt fine at first, but I had worked out in the gym the day before and took a long walk in the afternoon after I got the vaccine. By the evening I was feeling so fatigued that I ended up staying in bed all weekend as I could hardly do anything. It’s just another thing hampering my recovery. However, I have to get it sooner or later, and I am going to be meeting friends and family soon so I figured it was the responsible thing to do. However, the fatigue is real and I didn’t have any energy to stretch or work out all weekend.

Surgery Week +26 (Month +6), Consolidation Week 9 (Month +2)

The first few days this week I was still recovering from the vaccine. I almost feel like I regressed a bit from laying in bed so much. For the last few days I had even had trouble walking around indoors. I’m not sure if it’s from the COVID vaccine fatigue or if it was because I was staying in bed and my muscles have atrophied a bit. Maybe it could even be from the knee injury last week. Whatever the reason, my recovery has been pretty slow lately. PT was okay this week. I did two sessions this week and my leg strength definitely seems better now. I can do 110 lbs on the leg press with one leg without struggling very hard. The PT used the hard roller on my IT bands during the last session and it hurt a ton and it still hurts three days later. She probably rolled over the screws.. I should have told her to use less pressure.

Later in the week I tried to train very hard to catch up because I have run out of time to get better. My gait has not improved to the point where it’s unnoticeable; the hip sway is still there. I got another haircut this week and the stylist pointed out that I was limping yet again even though I was trying super hard to walk normal. It was very frustrating to hear. I now think that I was far too confident believing that I could have a normal gait six months after surgery. Maybe catching COVID-19 delayed my recovery more than expected, but I don’t think I would have reached a normal gait by this point even if I was able to train harder.

Soon I will be attending an event where quite a few of my old friends will be present. I haven’t seen any of them in at least a year, so I really hope that none of them will notice that I got taller. If I had perfect gait it would be much less suspicious, but whenever I see my reflection on glass while walking outside it’s very clear that there’s something wrong with my walk. Everyone that I’ve met so far has pointed out that I have a limp and I’m not very confident with my gait.

At least my time in the gym and healthy diet has paid off. I’m leaner than before surgery (around 12% body fat) with a couple more pounds of muscle in my upper body. If anyone says I got taller, I’ll just say it’s an illusion due to lifting weights and looking bigger in general. It doesn’t help that I have a built upper body and skinny legs though; it looks like I’ve been skipping leg day for a year. Also, since I’ll be dressed up for the event, I can also say that I’m wearing lifts, though there aren’t any lifts that would give me this much height. I think it’s amusing that I’d rather admit to wearing lifts than the possibility that I got taller.

I have to visit my parents and hang out with some local friends soon as well. I could continue to delay seeing everyone while working on my gait but it has been too long. With summer coming up and all the holidays and gatherings it’s going to be impossible to socially isolate for much longer and I’ve been hidden away by myself for so long that I don’t think I can take it anymore tbh. Since I’ve seen all these people about six months ago right before my surgery, they’ll all have fresher memories of me at a sub-5’7” height so it’s going to be tougher to explain how I totally didn’t grow all of a sudden. Regardless, I suspect the next update I post will have some interesting anecdotes as I start meeting friends and family for the first time after lengthening. Ah, the things we sacrifice in the name of getting taller...

https://youtu.be/HItjCseKQrE

My gait actually looks okay in the video, especially when I’m walking slower. It’s definitely better than last time and naturally there should be some kind of improvement since it has been over a month. However, it takes a bit of focus to walk like this and it still feels unnatural while I walk. My gait also gets a lot worse after my legs become tired, whether that’s from PT or a long walk outdoors. I also need to warm up a little to get a good gait. When I first stand up in the morning or after sitting for a while my gait is not very good. My flexibility is way better than before and I assume it will continue to improve. I forgot to show my crouch/squat in the video, but I can't reach my heels with my butt yet anyway, so maybe that can be a goal for the next video. Oh, I feel like I improved a little going down stairs this week, though still not yet at the point where I'm comfortable or that it looks fluid.

Going forward I’m planning to stop PT after two more weeks. I hope my next X-ray will show that I’m consolidated enough that I don’t need to get any more X-rays before nail removal. With this I will finally be done with all major CLL expenditures except for nail removal. I will write a journal entry detailing all the ancillary expenses as promised earlier. Other than that I don’t plan to write any updates for a few months. There’s probably not going to be anything interesting happening until I can start jogging. I really don’t feel the urge to update this journal anymore as thinking about LL is taking up a smaller percentage of my daily life as I recover more. I know that I’m going to eventually move on from this phase of my life like most people on the forum, but for now I will still visit the forum sometimes.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: Serilium on May 17, 2021, 02:33:48 PM
great flexibility btm

good luck sir
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: PerfectBody on May 18, 2021, 05:59:01 AM
Not gonna lie, when I saw your previous video after you got covid I got super depressed. But you bounced back fast. Seriously man, holy crap. If I didn’t know you had LL I would’ve guessed you hit your leg or did something silly. That’s awesome progress.

I bet you’re gonna be undetectable in less than a month. Keep it up tallman
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: Going-For-Three on May 19, 2021, 03:26:45 AM
Thanks for the update BTM. Your walk doesn't look bad at all. I'm sure focusing on correcting it would help get back your normal gait.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: FSchez on May 19, 2021, 09:37:06 AM
Hello BTM!
I have read your entire journal and I think you are doing a great job.
After watching this last video, I think that if you keep walking long distances and stretching your muscles every day, you will soon achieve that your walking is completely normal.
I also had surgery with Stryde, I increased 8 cm like you and I am in the second week of consolidation, but my walk is much worse than yours, I can assure you😉
Keep working hard and I'm sure that very soon you will regain your physical form and your correct way of walking💪
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: Dreamer57 on May 19, 2021, 09:15:10 PM
Hey man, you are doing great....!
I'm sure in no time you will be running around like nothing had happened.....

Please keep updating , very glad to hear abt your progress....

Would be grateful if you could post more video updates....


Keep going!!
Best wishes!
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on June 17, 2021, 03:38:30 PM
Quote from: Serilium on May 17, 2021, 02:33:48 PM
great flexibility btm

good luck sir
It's getting better

Quote from: PerfectBody on May 18, 2021, 05:59:01 AM
Not gonna lie, when I saw your previous video after you got covid I got super depressed. But you bounced back fast. Seriously man, holy crap. If I didn’t know you had LL I would’ve guessed you hit your leg or did something silly. That’s awesome progress.

I bet you’re gonna be undetectable in less than a month. Keep it up tallman
It's still detectable lol, but I guess still improving.

Quote from: Going-For-Three on May 19, 2021, 03:26:45 AM
Thanks for the update BTM. Your walk doesn't look bad at all. I'm sure focusing on correcting it would help get back your normal gait.
Easier said than done. Even if it looks normal it doesn't feel normal. If I have to actively try and maintain a good gait, then I won't recover to the point where I can forget about LL.

Quote from: FSchez on May 19, 2021, 09:37:06 AM
Hello BTM!
I have read your entire journal and I think you are doing a great job.
After watching this last video, I think that if you keep walking long distances and stretching your muscles every day, you will soon achieve that your walking is completely normal.
I also had surgery with Stryde, I increased 8 cm like you and I am in the second week of consolidation, but my walk is much worse than yours, I can assure you😉
Keep working hard and I'm sure that very soon you will regain your physical form and your correct way of walking💪
Yeah, I'm a bit impatient. Now that I'm a few months into consolidation I just want to be recovered already.

Quote from: Dreamer57 on May 19, 2021, 09:15:10 PM
Hey man, you are doing great....!
I'm sure in no time you will be running around like nothing had happened.....

Please keep updating , very glad to hear abt your progress....

Would be grateful if you could post more video updates....


Keep going!!
Best wishes!
I'll update soon. Waiting for X-ray results before I post.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on June 18, 2021, 06:42:28 PM
Surgery +7 Months, Start of Consolidation +3 Months

Another month has passed; here is my update:

Physical Therapy
I did my last few PT sessions a few weeks ago. Although I haven’t fully recovered, it was definitely about time to stop since the benefit was getting pretty small. Surprisingly, they haven’t asked me to settle the bill yet, but I’ll make a separate post on all my LL expenditures once I know what the final amount was.

Reactions
Since my last journal entry, I have seen quite a few of my friends for the first time since surgery. I saw them at a formal event, so I was dressed up which helped hide my swinging hips a bit.

Friend 1: This is the only person I’ve mentioned LL to, and that was many years ago. He is 5’7” so when he saw me it was super obvious to him that I was taller. He actually looks kind of short to me now. The first thing he asked was whether I got surgery or if I was wearing giant lifts, to which I awkwardly responded the latter even though I was clearly not. Since then, he hasn't mention it again so I guess he must have accepted it. It looks like people don’t ever forget about LL once they know that the surgery exists. Therefore, don't tell anyone you know that you want LL or that LL even exists if you plan to get it and keep it a secret.

Friends 2 & 3: These two guys I met at the same time. They are 5’11” and 6’0”. I feel like I’m almost as tall as them now, but I don’t think they noticed that I grew, because I’m still shorter than them. It has been a good two years since I saw either of them, so they probably don’t remember exactly how tall I was. One of them said I seemed a lot skinnier though.

Friend 4: This guy is about 5’8.5”, so I went from clearly shorter than him to clearly taller than him. I hadn’t seen him for over a year and I usually wore lifts when I hung out with this circle of friends so I don’t think he noticed my height increase. He didn’t say anything about it, which was a little surprising to me. He also said that I looked a little skinnier than before.

Family: I postponed seeing my parents as long as I could, but I finally had to see them recently. My mom is definitely too short to notice; I couldn’t even tell that she was shorter relative to me than before. My dad is just the right height to notice and he mentioned that I was limping as well, but he hasn’t outright asked me if I got taller. He is almost old enough to start shrinking, so maybe I can use that excuse if he brings it up. My sister is taller than my mom, but shorter than my starting height. Surprisingly, I don’t think she noticed at all that I had gotten taller, but I definitely felt like she was relatively shorter than before.

Consolidation
I got updated X-rays at the end of the month. I can definitely tell that my bones have consolidated a bit more compared to the last X-ray, but they are still far from fully consolidated. Dr. D told me to get another X-ray in about two months, but based on my current rate of consolidation he wasn't even sure if I'd be consolidated enough to run by then. At this rate it could really be a full year before I can think about playing any sports!

Recovery
Overall, I still have a long road ahead of me. My shins are still very numb; sometimes I feel like there’s some improvement but other days it’s just as bad as before. My gait still wobbles at the hip, and I have way less stamina than I did before surgery. I can walk maybe a mile or two before my legs are fatigued, and at that point my gait is absolutely terrible to the point I'm embarrassed to be walking in public. Walking for a while not only makes my legs tired, but my back hurts as well, so I probably still have some flexibility issues to address. Also, after a long walk or doing any leg exercises it takes at least a day to fully recover, during which my gait is bad the whole time.

I have had quite a few ups and downs this month in terms of my recovery. I know I’ve definitely improved a little, but I’m still struggling with walking normally. I certainly hope it will eventually get better, but if I walk like this for the rest of my life then I would have paid a ton of money to cripple myself. I have had a lot of negative thoughts about my legs lately. I think the worst part right now isn’t even my gait, but rather how my legs feel while I walk. Even when I walk toward a mirror and can see that my gait is almost normal, the process of walking doesn’t feel normal to me. I feel like I still have to put in a lot of effort to walk with a good gait so walking isn't natural to me. My legs still often feel very stiff and it actually hurts my bones sometimes when I walk, especially when I walk right after getting up from a sitting position or put a little more weight on one leg than usual. I am definitely getting stronger, but overall recovery has been very gradual for me, with no sudden transition from “bad” to “good”.

If you ask me how I feel regarding the surgery right now, I definitely have mixed thoughts. While I appreciate being taller, I can't utilize my new height in any meaningful way because I'm still a cripple. My legs also don't feel good/normal yet, so I think about my gait, my walk, and my legs all the time. If I'm outside I also think about how others might perceive me. At least when I was short, while walking around in public I was invisible. Now I feel like everyone is looking at me and judging my crippled walk. Now that summer is here, everything is opened up again, and everyone is outside enjoying life, I can definitely say that my sense of urgency and the need to return to normal is much more than before. I can't say that I recommend getting the surgery at this point as the recovery period is just too long.

Clothing
So I originally thought I’d go from 30 to 32 inseam pants, but what I found out is that 30 inseam pants fit me perfectly after LL. I think that means my legs were just hella short before. I think in the past when I was wearing size 30 jeans I thought that they fit me, but now I realize that they must have been compressed a ton around my ankles. Now I feel like I finally know how pants are actually designed to fit, especially jeans. I will say that I look much better in clothes than before. I definitely enjoy looking at my body shape in the mirror more than before and it's a confidence booster. It's currently the only positive thing I have to say about the surgery.

Video
I was originally going to record a video for this entry, but my right knee started hurting out of nowhere about two days ago, especially when I put weight on it. It has been a few weeks since this last happened; I thought I had already gotten past this knee issue, but I guess not. I'm sure you don't want to see me walking with a limp on top of hip sway, so I will record a video when my knee feels better. I do think I have made some small improvements since last month, especially on flexibility so I can try a few new things on video. Let me know if there’s anything you guys want to see.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: SirStretchAlot on June 19, 2021, 12:22:11 AM
Fantastic progress. I think there's actually no reason to be depressed. Gaits usually persist until you take glute strength training seriously. Many of the nerves and muscles in those areas shrunk due to inactivity during lengthening. There're a ton of great glute exercises on the internet that will vanquish your gait in a month.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: Movie on June 19, 2021, 04:44:03 AM
Yeah man at 7 months you might still have a bit of limping but recovery starts really speeding up right after that up until 1 year mark or so. then you'll most likely face what I call the 1 year-post op hell.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: Ahd1978 on June 19, 2021, 11:34:28 AM
Hey brother

I am in second week of consolidation

The thoughts you have about your legs and pain and recovery is exactly same as I feel

Some days my left leg the nerves go crazy. Doc says to push and walk and climb stairs when I do that I get shivers next day and takes me 2 days to recover.

Some times nails in hands and feet get blue and doc says it’s vascular system adjusting to new height

Bone pain still persists and some days is very hard

Like you mentioned I wouldn’t recommend this surgery yet and I am unable to fully utilise new height.

Yes looking in mirror is awesome and when people say u r taller but over all when other symptoms exist it’s not best feeling internally

I truly think this is a one year recoevry process. I’m glad you don’t have any blood flow issues

I hve been asked to continue taking aspirin and heparin injections of I travel. I have lost half of my hair due to this as side effect

I am hoping all this normalises in a years time

So let’s hang in there and see how we perform as human body

Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: TheAlchemist on June 19, 2021, 04:25:01 PM
Quote from: BelowTheMean on June 18, 2021, 06:42:28 PM


Recovery
Overall, I still have a long road ahead of me. My shins are still very numb; sometimes I feel like there’s some improvement but other days it’s just as bad as before. My gait still wobbles at the hip, and I have way less stamina than I did before surgery. I can walk maybe a mile or two before my legs are fatigued, and at that point my gait is absolutely terrible to the point I'm embarrassed to be walking in public. Walking for a while not only makes my legs tired, but my back hurts as well, so I probably still have some flexibility issues to address. Also, after a long walk or doing any leg exercises it takes at least a day to fully recover, during which my gait is bad the whole time.

I have had quite a few ups and downs this month in terms of my recovery. I know I’ve definitely improved a little, but I’m still struggling with walking normally. I certainly hope it will eventually get better, but if I walk like this for the rest of my life then I would have paid a ton of money to cripple myself. I have had a lot of negative thoughts about my legs lately. I think the worst part right now isn’t even my gait, but rather how my legs feel while I walk. Even when I walk toward a mirror and can see that my gait is almost normal, the process of walking doesn’t feel normal to me. I feel like I still have to put in a lot of effort to walk with a good gait so walking isn't natural to me. My legs still often feel very stiff and it actually hurts my bones sometimes when I walk, especially when I walk right after getting up from a sitting position or put a little more weight on one leg than usual. I am definitely getting stronger, but overall recovery has been very gradual for me, with no sudden transition from “bad” to “good”.

If you ask me how I feel regarding the surgery right now, I definitely have mixed thoughts. While I appreciate being taller, I can't utilize my new height in any meaningful way because I'm still a cripple. My legs also don't feel good/normal yet, so I think about my gait, my walk, and my legs all the time. If I'm outside I also think about how others might perceive me. At least when I was short, while walking around in public I was invisible. Now I feel like everyone is looking at me and judging my crippled walk. Now that summer is here, everything is opened up again, and everyone is outside enjoying life, I can definitely say that my sense of urgency and the need to return to normal is much more than before. I can't say that I recommend getting the surgery at this point as the recovery period is just too long.


All good my friend - at 7 months post op you are right around where I was - I was still deep in recovery mode but had a more optimistic outlook because I measured progress in small increments rather than a big bang overnight result.

One of the most dissapointing things from LL marketing materials is this notion that we are "fully recovered" and can return to full contact sports at 6 months post op - this is not the case for the large majority of LLers. At 6 to 9 months, at best our gait is normalized, but for a short period of time, at which point fatigue sets in. The key is that our muscle atrophy is still recovering, and our quads, hips, and glutes are still relatively weak. At this stage if you focus on working out your glutes and hips, I think you can reaccelerate recovery, and revisit how you feel about yourself and this surgery at the 9 month mark.

The journey is far from over, but there is much more upside to look forward to with work and dedication.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: L8GrowthSpurt on June 20, 2021, 06:31:04 PM
Quote from: BelowTheMean on June 18, 2021, 06:42:28 PM
Surgery +7 Months, Start of Consolidation +3 Months

Another month has passed; here is my update:

Physical Therapy
I did my last few PT sessions a few weeks ago. Although I haven’t fully recovered, it was definitely about time to stop since the benefit was getting pretty small. Surprisingly, they haven’t asked me to settle the bill yet, but I’ll make a separate post on all my LL expenditures once I know what the final amount was.

Reactions
Since my last journal entry, I have seen quite a few of my friends for the first time since surgery. I saw them at a formal event, so I was dressed up which helped hide my swinging hips a bit.

Friend 1: This is the only person I’ve mentioned LL to, and that was many years ago. He is 5’7” so when he saw me it was super obvious to him that I was taller. He actually looks kind of short to me now. The first thing he asked was whether I got surgery or if I was wearing giant lifts, to which I awkwardly responded the latter even though I was clearly not. Since then, he hasn't mention it again so I guess he must have accepted it. It looks like people don’t ever forget about LL once they know that the surgery exists. Therefore, don't tell anyone you know that you want LL or that LL even exists if you plan to get it and keep it a secret.

Friends 2 & 3: These two guys I met at the same time. They are 5’11” and 6’0”. I feel like I’m almost as tall as them now, but I don’t think they noticed that I grew, because I’m still shorter than them. It has been a good two years since I saw either of them, so they probably don’t remember exactly how tall I was. One of them said I seemed a lot skinnier though.

Friend 4: This guy is about 5’8.5”, so I went from clearly shorter than him to clearly taller than him. I hadn’t seen him for over a year and I usually wore lifts when I hung out with this circle of friends so I don’t think he noticed my height increase. He didn’t say anything about it, which was a little surprising to me. He also said that I looked a little skinnier than before.

Family: I postponed seeing my parents as long as I could, but I finally had to see them recently. My mom is definitely too short to notice; I couldn’t even tell that she was shorter relative to me than before. My dad is just the right height to notice and he mentioned that I was limping as well, but he hasn’t outright asked me if I got taller. He is almost old enough to start shrinking, so maybe I can use that excuse if he brings it up. My sister is taller than my mom, but shorter than my starting height. Surprisingly, I don’t think she noticed at all that I had gotten taller, but I definitely felt like she was relatively shorter than before.

Consolidation
I got updated X-rays at the end of the month. I can definitely tell that my bones have consolidated a bit more compared to the last X-ray, but they are still far from fully consolidated. Dr. D told me to get another X-ray in about two months, but based on my current rate of consolidation he wasn't even sure if I'd be consolidated enough to run by then. At this rate it could really be a full year before I can think about playing any sports!

Recovery
Overall, I still have a long road ahead of me. My shins are still very numb; sometimes I feel like there’s some improvement but other days it’s just as bad as before. My gait still wobbles at the hip, and I have way less stamina than I did before surgery. I can walk maybe a mile or two before my legs are fatigued, and at that point my gait is absolutely terrible to the point I'm embarrassed to be walking in public. Walking for a while not only makes my legs tired, but my back hurts as well, so I probably still have some flexibility issues to address. Also, after a long walk or doing any leg exercises it takes at least a day to fully recover, during which my gait is bad the whole time.

I have had quite a few ups and downs this month in terms of my recovery. I know I’ve definitely improved a little, but I’m still struggling with walking normally. I certainly hope it will eventually get better, but if I walk like this for the rest of my life then I would have paid a ton of money to cripple myself. I have had a lot of negative thoughts about my legs lately. I think the worst part right now isn’t even my gait, but rather how my legs feel while I walk. Even when I walk toward a mirror and can see that my gait is almost normal, the process of walking doesn’t feel normal to me. I feel like I still have to put in a lot of effort to walk with a good gait so walking isn't natural to me. My legs still often feel very stiff and it actually hurts my bones sometimes when I walk, especially when I walk right after getting up from a sitting position or put a little more weight on one leg than usual. I am definitely getting stronger, but overall recovery has been very gradual for me, with no sudden transition from “bad” to “good”.

If you ask me how I feel regarding the surgery right now, I definitely have mixed thoughts. While I appreciate being taller, I can't utilize my new height in any meaningful way because I'm still a cripple. My legs also don't feel good/normal yet, so I think about my gait, my walk, and my legs all the time. If I'm outside I also think about how others might perceive me. At least when I was short, while walking around in public I was invisible. Now I feel like everyone is looking at me and judging my crippled walk. Now that summer is here, everything is opened up again, and everyone is outside enjoying life, I can definitely say that my sense of urgency and the need to return to normal is much more than before. I can't say that I recommend getting the surgery at this point as the recovery period is just too long.

Clothing
So I originally thought I’d go from 30 to 32 inseam pants, but what I found out is that 30 inseam pants fit me perfectly after LL. I think that means my legs were just hella short before. I think in the past when I was wearing size 30 jeans I thought that they fit me, but now I realize that they must have been compressed a ton around my ankles. Now I feel like I finally know how pants are actually designed to fit, especially jeans. I will say that I look much better in clothes than before. I definitely enjoy looking at my body shape in the mirror more than before and it's a confidence booster. It's currently the only positive thing I have to say about the surgery.

Video
I was originally going to record a video for this entry, but my right knee started hurting out of nowhere about two days ago, especially when I put weight on it. It has been a few weeks since this last happened; I thought I had already gotten past this knee issue, but I guess not. I'm sure you don't want to see me walking with a limp on top of hip sway, so I will record a video when my knee feels better. I do think I have made some small improvements since last month, especially on flexibility so I can try a few new things on video. Let me know if there’s anything you guys want to see.

Hey BTM - Thanks for the update and candid assessment.  Very helpful for someone like me who is also planning on taking the plunge soon.  The process undoubtedly seems like a marathon - one full of highs and lows, which is good for me and others to recognize.  In terms of the height increase, I would bet that more persons noticed, but probably just didn’t say anything.  Your impressions are certainly better than my guess though for sure 😊.  Hang in there.  I’m sure that given all of your hard work and dedication, you will be much better soon.  Stay strong 💪 and thanks again for the unvarnished update!
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: lift17 on June 27, 2021, 06:44:18 PM
wow you look great with your new height but really your wingsparn is 169? because with 177 height are 8 difference :/                                         
i for example i am 166 with wingsparn 170.5 and i want 176.5 with 2 surgeries
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on June 27, 2021, 08:44:07 PM
Quote from: SirStretchAlot on June 19, 2021, 12:22:11 AM
Fantastic progress. I think there's actually no reason to be depressed. Gaits usually persist until you take glute strength training seriously. Many of the nerves and muscles in those areas shrunk due to inactivity during lengthening. There're a ton of great glute exercises on the internet that will vanquish your gait in a month.
I think either my gait has been getting better or I'm caring less about it. I've been out socializing a lot recently and no one has commented on it lately.

Quote from: Movie on June 19, 2021, 04:44:03 AM
Yeah man at 7 months you might still have a bit of limping but recovery starts really speeding up right after that up until 1 year mark or so. then you'll most likely face what I call the 1 year-post op hell.
Thanks, Movie. I already have pain in my femurs, especially above the knees and when I bear additional weight with the nail (standing on one leg, etc). If I have even more pain at the 1 year mark I don't know if I'll be able to walk :'(

Quote from: Ahd1978 on June 19, 2021, 11:34:28 AM
Hey brother

I am in second week of consolidation

The thoughts you have about your legs and pain and recovery is exactly same as I feel

Some days my left leg the nerves go crazy. Doc says to push and walk and climb stairs when I do that I get shivers next day and takes me 2 days to recover.

Some times nails in hands and feet get blue and doc says it’s vascular system adjusting to new height

Bone pain still persists and some days is very hard

Like you mentioned I wouldn’t recommend this surgery yet and I am unable to fully utilise new height.

Yes looking in mirror is awesome and when people say u r taller but over all when other symptoms exist it’s not best feeling internally

I truly think this is a one year recoevry process. I’m glad you don’t have any blood flow issues

I hve been asked to continue taking aspirin and heparin injections of I travel. I have lost half of my hair due to this as side effect

I am hoping all this normalises in a years time

So let’s hang in there and see how we perform as human body


I'm feeling a bit better now, but still struggling a lot going down stairs. My legs literally shake with unsteadiness if I don't hold the handrails, especially if they're already fatigued. It's also difficult balancing extra workouts on the legs and having functional legs normally. If I work out my legs too hard, then the following few days I won't even be able to walk normal. Fortunately, I'm still working from home so on my days of rest I don't have to walk in public with bad gait. I hope your nerve pain, vascular issues, and dependence on painkillers will all go away soon!

Quote from: TheAlchemist on June 19, 2021, 04:25:01 PM
All good my friend - at 7 months post op you are right around where I was - I was still deep in recovery mode but had a more optimistic outlook because I measured progress in small increments rather than a big bang overnight result.

One of the most dissapointing things from LL marketing materials is this notion that we are "fully recovered" and can return to full contact sports at 6 months post op - this is not the case for the large majority of LLers. At 6 to 9 months, at best our gait is normalized, but for a short period of time, at which point fatigue sets in. The key is that our muscle atrophy is still recovering, and our quads, hips, and glutes are still relatively weak. At this stage if you focus on working out your glutes and hips, I think you can reaccelerate recovery, and revisit how you feel about yourself and this surgery at the 9 month mark.

The journey is far from over, but there is much more upside to look forward to with work and dedication.
Yeah, I think I was too optimistic going into this thinking that I'd be somewhat normal by the 6 month mark. I think a lot of peoples' videos after the 6 month mark look pretty good, but videos can't show how the legs feel internally. Even if someone looks like they have decent gait and a solid stride, they are probably still feeling some level of struggle in their legs while they walk. Some days are worse than others, but overall it does feel like I'm slowly improving over time. It still takes me days to recover after a tough leg workout, so I think that's part of why I am recovering so slowly. I'm super impatient with recovering right now, but my body can only tolerate so much. I've been doing a ton of upper body workouts as well, so it still feels like I'm making "progress" on something even if my legs aren't.

Quote from: L8GrowthSpurt on June 20, 2021, 06:31:04 PM
Hey BTM - Thanks for the update and candid assessment.  Very helpful for someone like me who is also planning on taking the plunge soon.  The process undoubtedly seems like a marathon - one full of highs and lows, which is good for me and others to recognize.  In terms of the height increase, I would bet that more persons noticed, but probably just didn’t say anything.  Your impressions are certainly better than my guess though for sure .  Hang in there.  I’m sure that given all of your hard work and dedication, you will be much better soon.  Stay strong  and thanks again for the unvarnished update!
I've been out a lot in the last few weeks and so far very few people have said anything directly about it. I just don't think most people's brains would 1) realize that it's possible to gain height as an adult and 2) their friend actually went through with a major surgery in the months since they last met. Therefore, most people would just think that they remembered your old height wrong. After all, memories are most certainly fallible! I think the only person who knew was the person who I told that I was planning to do it a long time ago. I had only brought it up once over seven years ago, and that was enough for him to remember. Otherwise, who would jump to such a silly conclusion ;)

As for my recovery, I think I will eventually fully recover, I've just become very impatient about it at this point because it's summertime now and all the local lockdown restrictions have been lifted. People are socializing like it's 2019 again and I don't want to be left out because my legs don't fully work yet.

Quote from: lift17 on June 27, 2021, 06:44:18 PM
wow you look great with your new height but really your wingsparn is 169? because with 177 height are 8 difference :/                                         
i for example i am 166 with wingsparn 170.5 and i want 176.5 with 2 surgeries
I usually don't entertain proportions questions because proportions don't matter in real life, but if I didn't state in this journal that my wingspan was 169cm, would you have even noticed from my videos? Now if I told you that I measured it wrong and that it was actually 173cm would you be able to tell from looking? The point is, height is just a number, but it can be easily compared between two people. Wingspan is not something that you compare with others very frequently, and people aren't going to notice a negative ape index unless you have dwarfism or something.

See my post here on proportions: http://www.limblengtheningforum.com/index.php?topic=5498
Based on peer reviewed research, having a short wingspan relative to height is not noticeable even at 3 standard deviations below the mean. That means even if your ape index is worse than 99.7% of other people, it won't have an impact on your overall appearance. If you are obsessed with wingspan then you should not get LL, because what you need is a psychiatrist who can fix your compulsion regarding proportions and body dysmorphia issues. Also, it seems like you're new here since you only have 1 post and want to get two surgeries. Over time I'm sure you'll learn what's realistic and what actually matters.

P.S. @Everyone: I haven't been in the mood to record a video, so I'm just going to hold off until my next update. I've been practicing squats a little, so I plan to show my progress there. If you want to see anything in the video, let me know.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: StrydeNailChallenge on June 28, 2021, 03:29:41 PM
Quote from: BelowTheMean on June 27, 2021, 08:44:07 PM

See my post here on proportions: http://www.limblengtheningforum.com/index.php?topic=5498
Based on peer reviewed research, having a short wingspan relative to height is not noticeable even at 3 standard deviations below the mean. That means even if your ape index is worse than 99.7% of other people, it won't have an impact on your overall appearance. If you are obsessed with wingspan then you should not get LL, because what you need is a psychiatrist who can fix your compulsion regarding proportions and body dysmorphia issues. Also, it seems like you're new here since you only have 1 post and want to get two surgeries. Over time I'm sure you'll learn what's realistic and what actually matters.


Hi BTM,
Good to hear from you.

I had watched your videos. Your leg and wingspan proportions look very normal and you look great.

 I have not read that peer reviewed research you were referring here, but I agree its summary you put here.

Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: Tubert on July 04, 2021, 02:32:01 AM
Awesome read! Just made an account for this - I read every word of your journal and have been rooting for you!
New to considering LL at 5'7 and it was great to get such a detailed perspective on what can happen.  :D
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: LL2022 on July 14, 2021, 08:10:28 PM
We are literally the same height and have the same wingspan... I have just started reading your diary and becoming very emotionally attached. I sincerecly wish you the best of luck and a speedy recovery. I also hope soon, one day atleast before my mid 20's to be able to go through this painful and gruesome experience to finally put atleast some of my height related mental problems at ease...

Thanks again for providing us with such a detailed diary.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on July 17, 2021, 04:39:17 AM
Hey everyone! Update and video coming soon. Not happening today since I'm way too tired, but this weekend for sure.

Quote from: StrydeNailChallenge on June 28, 2021, 03:29:41 PM
Hi BTM,
Good to hear from you.

I had watched your videos. Your leg and wingspan proportions look very normal and you look great.

 I have not read that peer reviewed research you were referring here, but I agree its summary you put here.
Hey SNC, always nice to see you post! I should just stop replying to anything regarding proportions because it really doesn't matter and other people don't notice. For most short men, it's far better to be taller than to have perfect proportions.

Quote from: Tubert on July 04, 2021, 02:32:01 AM
Awesome read! Just made an account for this - I read every word of your journal and have been rooting for you!
New to considering LL at 5'7 and it was great to get such a detailed perspective on what can happen.  :D
Thanks for the encouragement and I'm glad my journal has been informative for you.

Quote from: RichTheGreat on July 14, 2021, 08:10:28 PM
We are literally the same height and have the same wingspan... I have just started reading your diary and becoming very emotionally attached. I sincerecly wish you the best of luck and a speedy recovery. I also hope soon, one day atleast before my mid 20's to be able to go through this painful and gruesome experience to finally put atleast some of my height related mental problems at ease...

Thanks again for providing us with such a detailed diary.
If you're very young then try not to think about it too much. Enjoy life the best that you can and make the most of yourself (career-wise). You can always come back and do this later if you still feel unsatisfied.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on July 18, 2021, 06:10:41 AM
My legs are too sore today so I'm waiting for tomorrow to record a video and update the journal. This entry is not an update, but rather the list of LL costs that I had promised. It should give you a good idea of what you might need to spend in total to get this done in the US. I'm also including a list of some of the items that I bought just for LL and found helpful or not helpful to have during the process.

Major Medical Costs (No Insurance)
ItemCost
Virtual Consultation$200
In Person Consultation$400
Deposit$15K
Remainder to Doctor$54K
Hospital Deposit$9K
Hospital Radiology+Lab Bills$100

Ancillary Medical Costs (Billed to Insurance)
ItemCountOut of Pocket Cost
Pre-op Blood Work (Lab)1 visit$40
Physical Therapy60 visits$3850*
Pharmacy4 mo supply$1850^
X-Rays4 visits$850
My insurance paid about $10K for these claims. YMMV depending on your plan benefits.
*PT: First 6 visits were within 2 weeks of my surgical date and covered by Dr. D. For my PT sessions at home, I negotiated a discount on my out of pocket costs otherwise I would have paid about $900 more.
^Drugs: Painkillers paid with cash and everything else billed to insurance. The anticoagulant was most expensive drug by far. I only got one refill on my painkillers.

Other Items
ItemCost
Vegas Airbnb (1 month)$1500
Home Health Aide*$450
Bone Supplements$40/month
Waterproof Bath Pillow^$40
Rubber Ring Cushion^$20
Massage Gun$80
Walking Cane$20
Grabber Tool$10
10 ft Cell Phone Cable$10
*Aide came 5 times for 3 hours each time.
^For taking baths. It's very uncomfortable to sit in the bathtub with a flat butt

Items that I didn't find useful:
Cloth bath pillow - grew moldy, way too hard to clean for an LL patient
Biofreeze gel - didn't really do anything for my pain
Bath wipes - didn't really need them

Other costs not included here:
Transportation - airfare, rideshares, and hotel for initial stay or follow-up visits
Food - delivery of groceries and takeout
Additional X-rays - I will have to get more of these to track my consolidation, but they are <$100 a visit for me for the rest of the year
Nail removal surgery - no comment for now
Scar removal surgery - I might need this
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: Worzezterlire on July 18, 2021, 02:24:17 PM
So far looks nearly identical to my expense list with Dr D, except a 5000 discount for precise 2.2 and my insurance covers PT.  To anyone looking for Dr D, this is exactly what you’ll spend.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on July 18, 2021, 03:48:07 PM
Quote from: HobbitMan on July 18, 2021, 02:24:17 PM
So far looks nearly identical to my expense list with Dr D, except a 5000 discount for precise 2.2 and my insurance covers PT.  To anyone looking for Dr D, this is exactly what you’ll spend.

One important thing I forgot to mention - doing your surgery when I did it is the worst possible time of the year in terms of insurance. My deductible reset immediately after I met it the first time, which is why my out of pocket costs are so high. Also, some of the bills come in the mail months after surgery.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on July 20, 2021, 04:34:00 PM
Surgery Month +8, Consolidation Month +4

A lot has changed in this last month. Here is my update:

Reactions

-Event 1-
This was an event with a social club so there were a lot of old acquaintances who should be familiar with my height. I wasn’t feeling terribly confident about my gait going in, but I think I actually ended up walking pretty well. I had to go up and down two flights of stairs multiple times throughout the evening and spent a few hours standing. I don’t think anyone noticed any issues with my walking or even saw that my legs were wobbling while I was walking downstairs.

Friend 1: This guy is 5’8” so he was slightly taller than me before and I thought he would be likely to notice. I had sometimes worn lifts in the past though which made me taller than him. He actually didn’t seem to notice at all that I was taller than him now and didn’t comment on my height even though he should be familiar with my old height. I guess most “normal” people just don’t care that much about height, especially keeping track of other people’s heights.

Friend 2: This guy is a true 6-footer and I used to think he was even taller but after getting LL he only seems a little taller than me. He definitely didn't notice any change in my height since he’s taller than me. While we were catching up, a few girls approached us to strike up a conversation. One of them actually asked us how tall we were and I said 5’11” and he said 6’1”. She said “wow, you guys are so tall, I’m only 5’4” in heels”. This was the first time in my life that anyone had ever called me tall (and I probably benefited from being grouped together with the other guy here). I certainly don’t feel tall though, just taller than before.

Friend 3: This guy is about 5’10” and the first thing he said when he saw me was “Wow! You got bigger.” Based on the level of amazement in his voice I’m almost certain that he realized I had become taller. He couldn’t say that though, because it’s clearly impossible for me to have grown ;) I immediately played off his “bigger” comment and said that I had been working out during the pandemic and jokingly made a flexing pose. He went along with it and said “Man, I remember you were a lot smaller before. You must have lifted a lot during the pandemic.” He didn’t say anything else about my height for the rest of the evening, so I assume he accepted my new height.

There were quite a few other acquaintances that I met that night whom I hadn’t seen during the pandemic or for even longer than that. Strangely, even those who are 5’7” to 5’9” who I have now surpassed in height did not seem to notice that I grew taller. I have worn lifts around this group of people in the past, so I think that really helped with obscuring my actual height. Also, I don’t think most people care all that much about other peoples' height.

I also talked to a few female acquaintances at the event. None of them were taller than my starting height, but some were close. I don’t think any of them noticed that I was taller, but a few of them said that I looked good. I'm sure my new physique had something to do with it. Based on my observations so far, I think it’s very difficult for someone who was already shorter than your starting height to notice that you got taller.

-Event 2-
This was a smaller gathering, but a few of my close friends were there. There were also some old acquaintances as well. I did not wear lifts in the past with this group of people so I went in again feeling like I might be exposed. My biggest fear is someone mentioning my change in height in a group conversation and then everyone else having their thoughts confirmed and becoming emboldened and correspondingly inquisitive about it as well.

Friend 4:
The host of the party is a very good friend of mine and about 5’7”. I hadn’t seen him for almost two years, but he definitely knows that he was the same height as me because we have actually compared heights before. We also hung out a ton the year before the pandemic because I was dating his wife’s friend at the time. With that said, when I saw him he did a double take and looked at me a bit weird, but didn’t say anything at all about my height the whole evening even though the change was clear. His wife is far too short to notice any change in my height relative to herself, though she might have noticed that I was taller than her husband now. I'm surprised he didn't say anything, but I guess it's impossible for me to have grown taller, right?

Friend 5:
This is one of my closest friends from before surgery and someone I even hung out with during the pandemic. I had to come up with lots of excuses to avoid hanging out while I was recovering from surgery. I didn’t tell him about the surgery (as I have told no one) and I have been delaying hanging out as long as possible because I'm sure he'll say something about my gait. With this party hosted by our mutual friend I figured it would be more suspicious to skip out. Before surgery, I thought that he was 5’10”, but now I can say for sure that he’s a solid 5’9” because I think I’m actually a tiny bit taller than him now. Since I was clearly much shorter than him before surgery, I thought it would be very obvious to him that I grew taller, but he didn't seem to notice my new height at all. Everything was just business as usual and he was just happy to finally catch up in person. This reaction was very surprising to me, but again I suppose most “normal” people have a lot more to worry about in their lives than how tall other people are.

In fact, no one else at this party noticed that I grew taller at all. Lots of the guys who were at the party are 5’9” to 5’10” and have met me before at my original height, but somehow nobody seemed to notice that I’m now the same height as them. I was amazed that no one noticed that I had changed at all even though to me it was a very obvious change since I clearly remember being shorter than them. Given that I want to keep everything a secret, I’m just pleasantly surprised about all this. I know some LLers want external acknowledgment that they grew taller, so if your experiences are like mine you might be disappointed.

-Event 3-
This was another big party with a lot of people I didn’t know and a few people I knew from before. I’m definitely getting more used to socializing and less worried about others noticing my new height so I’m finally able to enjoy going out and being taller instead of being stuck at home worrying about being outed as a “crazy LLer”. Note that I did wear 2cm lifts for this party because of a specific reason I won’t go into. I’m not planning to wear lifts normally.

Friend 6:
I’m not too close with this guy, but we’ve been acquainted for several years. I thought he was a bit taller than me before, and this could have been magnified by his heavyset build. When I saw him at this party he looked to be about 5’8” and I was close to 5’11” since I was wearing lifts. After seeing me he immediately went “HOLY SH*T HOW DID YOU GET SO TALL?!” and then made some comments about playing basketball to grow taller. I realized that he might not know exactly how old I am and could have just thought that I had a late growth spurt in the last two years since we had met. Fortunately, no one else I knew from before was standing nearby so I just replied “yeah, I played a lot of basketball during the pandemic” and we laughed it off. He did not make any more comments about my height after that. Also, what’s really crazy to me is that this guy feels small to my brain now even though he’s got a good 70+ pounds on me. I can see why tall guys are so confident now lol.

Friend 7:
This guy I’ve known for a while and he’s about 5’8”. He didn’t say anything directly about my new height but I could tell that he noticed. While we were chatting up some taller girls one of them asked him how tall he was and he said that he and I were about the same height (we are clearly not) and then he deflected the question to me and asked me how tall I was. I noticed he was standing on his tiptoes at this point to match my height, so I said “six foot” and then stood on my tiptoes as well and added a “one” sarcastically. Since the girl was watching me when I did that she just laughed and then changed the subject.

Afterwards I think this guy accepted my new height because he didn’t mention height or try to stand on his tiptoes near me anymore. I never thought I’d see the day where I could make a joke about my own height and not feel terrible about it. I was also reminded of the old days where I tried to sneakily appear taller at parties due to my feelings of being too short. It must have been obvious to others and they probably just didn’t point it out because it would have been awkward.

Friend 8:
This girl is an old acquaintance. She’s about 5’6” and was wearing really high heels so she was maybe 5’9” in heels. I’ve seen her in heels before my surgery and she was definitely taller than me. I would say back then I would have been a bit intimidated by her height but now she just feels like a “normal girl” to me. Fortunately she did not remember my height at all, and just commented that I looked “fresh”. I think the taller a girl is the less she cares about a guy’s height than shorter girls do. For some reason, short girls want a guy that towers over them, but tall girls are okay as long as the guy isn’t shorter. Of course, some girls don’t care about a guy’s height at all, even if he’s shorter than her, but this forum is not the place where we talk about those girls :P

-Others-
I also hung out with some other friends during this period.

Friend 9:
This guy is my college friend who always claimed that he is 5’10”. We have pictures together where I’m a few inches shorter than him and he definitely knows that I didn’t have a growth spurt after college since we’ve been living in the same city and have hung out sometimes. When I saw him I realized he was basically the exact same height as me now, so not quite 5’10” but close. Somehow he did not notice in any way that I had gotten taller. We hadn’t met for a year and a half so we just caught up as usual. I’m quite surprised that he didn’t notice but I don’t mind. I guess some people’s brains just don’t register the possibility that an adult grew taller, because it’s impossible ;)

Friend 10:
I was actually roommates with this guy for a few months in college. We’re not really close though, but both he and I are good friends with friend 9, who invited both of us to a party of his. I remember that this guy was shorter than my starting height, but don't remember by how much. When I saw him though, I immediately noticed that I was way taller than him. He commented that I looked like I must have been lifting a lot because I was way “bigger” than he remembered. (I’m telling you guys, the Captain America plan really works!) Anyway, I don’t think he remembered my exact height because it really was a long time since I last saw him. Friend 9 was also there when Friend 10 made that comment and he said “[BTM] has always been built.” I seriously think this guy's brain retroactively changed his memories of my past height and he forgot that he was taller than me lmao.

Other Comments on Reactions
That’s about it on reactions. I’m sure I will meet some old friends and acquaintances in the future who might notice that I grew taller, but after this last month I really don’t think of it as a big deal anymore. Most people so far have either not noticed, been silent about it, or quickly accepted it, so there’s not really anything that interesting to write about. I think the only people I’m a little concerned about calling me out on it are my extended family, especially cousins and uncles who I have surpassed in height, but none of them live in the area so it’s not a big concern at the moment.

Also, the only people who seem to notice that I grew taller are men at or just above my starting height. Even then, all the guys who noticed and made a comment about it internalized the information quickly and just accepted my new height. After all, height is not something that can be changed in most people’s brains so if I’m a different height than before, then they must have just remembered my old height wrong lol. I really don’t think any women have noticed yet. Almost all of the women I know are 5’6” or shorter. Some of the ones I’ve met have commented that I look “better” without any explanation, which is amusing to me because I know the real reason why. No one has made any rude or negative comments about my new height so I don’t really see any issues with just showing up taller and pretending that nothing happened because it seems to work. I also had the pandemic as a backdrop to my surgery, so that made things a lot easier since there were many people that I hadn’t seen in well over a year. My company has announced a return-to-office date but based on the reactions so far I'm not afraid of seeing my coworkers again at all.

I can’t imagine telling everyone (or even a few close friends) that I did the surgery though. Even if some or most people accept the truth, I think as long as there are some bad apples that might find out, they can definitely use the information against you. Even your friends might accidentally (without any malicious intent) reveal the information to someone who you don’t want to know about your surgery. I also really don’t want it to be the main topic of conversation every time I meet my friends because knowing that you did the surgery isn’t something that anyone will easily forget and everyone will definitely be curious about it. I’m definitely not the type of person who wants to be the center of attention all the time.

Height Dysphoria
I don’t have any height dysphoria, neurosis, etc. anymore. While I have written a lot in this entry on peoples’ exact heights, I’m only doing it to provide context for the journal. Personally, I don’t care at all how tall anyone is anymore. Well.. at least I don’t care any more about height than a “normal” man would (because let’s be honest, all guys notice height to some extent). However, it’s not the first thing I think about when I meet new people and most importantly, my own height doesn’t make me feel bad anymore. I think at this point I can say that this surgery definitely cured any height neurosis I had previously. In fact, I think the surgery made me realize that height really isn't that important. When I go out to parties, there are still guys that tower over me, but I just don’t care because they tower over everyone else too. However, my relative standing amongst my peer group seems to be slightly above average now, so I’m really quite satisfied with how things feel when I’m hanging out with others now.

When you reach an acceptable height, I think everything regarding height just becomes “normalized” and I feel like this has definitely happened to me. I will absolutely not consider getting my tibias done. To me the marginal advantage of another two inches is not worth the immense drawbacks. Getting femurs done has already been much more difficult than I thought. I will be very happy just fully recovering from my femurs surgery and living my life fully at this height. Doing LL has made me realize that my life has always been pretty good and that I really took everything for granted. I’m ready to go back out there and fully appreciate what I already have. I think having done something about my short stature is one of the main reasons that I don’t care anymore. If I never got LL, I would always go through life thinking “what if?” but instead I got it done and now I know for sure what it’s like being slightly taller (hint: it doesn’t really make that much of a difference).

Dating
I just checked a percentile calculator and assuming it’s not out of date, I'm taller than 98% of women in the US and 88% of women in 3 inch heels, so I really can’t complain about my height in terms of dating anymore. If a girl must have a guy who towers over her, that’s really not my problem. The way I look at it, when people tell a short man who is complaining about heightism in dating that he should just find a girl who doesn’t care about his height, that advice isn’t very helpful if only 20% of women are okay with his height. However, if 80% of women would be content with his height, then that advice is golden. Going forward I’m just going to happily avoid or ignore any girl who thinks I’m short, because finally I can do that without excluding most girls from my dating pool.

I’ve gone on a few dates now, even one with a 5’9” girl. I don’t think she cared that I wasn’t much taller than her; it's probably fine that I just wasn’t shorter than her. I also went out with a doctor, though she wasn’t doing anything related to orthopedics. She did not make any comments about me that would suggest to me that she was suspicious about my height. So far, I feel like my confidence has gone up a little due to my increased height and I haven’t experienced any heightism in dating that I’m aware of. However, I’m still not 100% confident about my gait, I have absolutely no lower body athleticism, and I’m worried about all the scars on my legs. I have been holding back a bit with dating because of these things. Also, the dating pool here isn’t that big for the type of girl I like and being taller can’t really help with that. I’m pretty sure COVID is still somewhat interfering with dating in general, especially offline dating as many social groups disappeared during the pandemic and have not come back. Since I started dating again I actually haven’t met any girls that I’m super into yet, but I guess in a way that kind of works out since I also haven’t fully recovered yet.

I think from a dating perspective, being 5’10” man really is a world of difference from being 5’7”. A lot of girls who only felt slightly shorter than me in the past now feel much more petite to me. I definitely notice that I feel less pressure regarding height around these girls than I did before. It's almost like magic! I don’t really notice any difference with girls who already felt very short before, but I think from their perspective I probably look better now since I stack up better against other men. Overall, height is definitely a confidence booster for dating and I'm looking forward to enjoying my new height even more.

I’ve also hooked up with a girl for the first time since surgery. *Skip the rest of this section if you don’t want to read about sex* First, I think she definitely noticed my scars but for some reason she didn’t comment about them. I also awkwardly pretended that they weren't there. My stamina/cardio level isn’t anywhere near as good as it was before surgery, but it’s definitely enough for a quick romp. My glutes are still terribly small and weak, so I need assistance from my leg muscles to thrust. Missionary is quite difficult because I can’t split my legs very far apart (improving slowly) to get myself low enough to put it in. I can still do missionary in what is basically a plank position, but that's tiring and the thrusting is not very effective since my glutes are so weak. Doggy style is much better for me than before, because long femurs = better angle to go in at. Also, it was funny because when she wanted to go on top I was like “hell naw!” Even though she was quite skinny I’m super paranoid about her inadvertently sitting down on my femurs and bending or breaking the nails. Anyway, this has definitely gotten me motivated to do more glute exercises to recover my previous thrusting power haha.

Scars
As I’ve posted in some other threads on here, I’m a bit concerned about my scars. I have pretty light skin on my legs, and the scars are not fading as much as I’d like. At eight months after surgery, they range from reddish-brown to light-reddish-brown. I think the light ones will have faded by year two, but I’m not so sure about the darker ones. I’ve been periodically applying a topical scar reducing ointment, but I don’t think it really helps all that much. I think the scars closest to my knees might have been exposed to more sunlight because they are the darker ones. Unfortunately those are also the scars that others are most likely to see. I have at least one tropical vacation planned for this winter and I’d love to be able to wear swim trunks without exposing my scars.

Of course, many of the scars will be reopened after nail removal, so even if they fade, I will have to go through the whole process again. If it takes years for everything to fade away each time, then it’s going to be quite a while before my skin looks normal visually. Of course, with the darker scars I’m not even 100% sure they will fade. I plan to book a consultation with a dermatologist/scar specialist who might be able to tell me more about how long it will take for my scars to fade and if there are any treatment options for me. If not, then I’m going to have to come up with a pretty good backstory, because eventually there will be a girl who asks about them.

Recovery
Recovery this month is a tale of two halves. The first half of the month was basically just like the prior month. All the symptoms of fatigue and weakness and difficulty in working out were still there. I felt like my legs were healing far too slowly and that it took forever to recover from any type of leg workout. However, I decided to push myself to my limit and did a 2.5 mile walk and then a 3 mile walk a few days later, and after that my recovery suddenly sped up. By the end of this period I did two 4 mile walks on back-to-back days (though that was definitely pushing my limit) and one day I even had a total distance of ~7 miles.

In the second half of the month, it felt like I only needed one day to recover after a leg workout, and during that day my legs didn’t feel too bad. However, it still takes some time for my legs to warm up and start walking well. If I sit down for a while, I usually have to stretch my legs out and take a few steps before my gait is normalized. Walking is certainly getting a bit more normal, though my legs still feel some level of stiffness and resistance when I walk. I probably just need to continue stretching, but I definitely think things are improving. This month has been solid for my recovery and I feel much better about everything than I did last month. In fact, I feel that my leg muscles are already strong enough to jog if my bones were consolidated and I'm looking forward to that because it should speed up my recovery.

This month I have also frequently been in the gym working out my upper body and my diet has still been very clean, so I think in general I should be healthy and recovering at the maximum rate that my body is capable of. If not, at least my upper body is continuing to get more muscular which helps obscure my height change (or at least distracts from it). I certainly “feel” healthier than I did a month or two ago. I’m back up to sets of 185 lbs on the bench press and 115 lbs on the shoulder press. I can also do 20 unweighted dips and 5 unweighted pull ups now. These are all huge gains in strength from a month ago. I also do a large range of arm and back/core exercises and I think my upper body is quickly returning to its former glory. I find that with some creative adjustments, I can work out any muscle that's not directly a leg muscle without putting extra strain on my nails. Being in the gym more consistently along with a good diet and better sleep habits has greatly improved my mood from last month. While I still feel a bit disabled when I move around, being able to lift more has compensated for that by making me feel like my body is still strong.

I still have a long way to go on recovery, but this month has been a huge improvement in my recovery. I can’t squat or deadlift with any extra weight at all yet. I’ve been practicing unweighted squats and lunges a bit, but it still hurts my femurs to do most leg exercises, so I don’t train very consistently. I think this might be a chicken-and-egg problem though; if I don’t do any leg exercises I won’t speed up my consolidation, but if I don’t consolidate I won’t feel like doing leg exercises due to the pain. Walking a lot has probably helped with this though. The pain feels like it’s mainly inside my femurs, right above the knee. It comes and goes on both legs but if I’m well rested it doesn't limit me in walking even if I feel it. The level of numbness in my shins is still the same, and I sporadically have irritating nerve pain in my lower legs, though it’s only a small fraction of how bad it was while I was lengthening. I usually just ignore the nerve pain, though it’s definitely annoying to me.

Finally, like I said I still feel somewhat disabled. This is because any time I move my legs while putting weight on them my brain feels like there’s something slightly off about them. Even though externally my gait looks normal now, my brain still senses something wrong with my legs and until that feeling goes away completely, I don’t think I will be able to feel “normal”. Also, if I walk fast or take long strides, I can still feel the limitations on my legs in terms of strength, flexibility, and tightness. I’m surely improving over time and this month has been great in terms of recovery, but I’m still not quite “normal” yet, even though I’ve been consolidating for as long as I had been lengthening. I hope to reach that point soon though, and it may coincide with when my femurs finish consolidating.

Consolidation
I’m not scheduled for any X-rays this month so I have no idea how my consolidation is coming along. I will be getting X-rays next month though, so I hope that I’ll be a lot closer to being consolidated given how much I’ve been working out my legs this month. Everything is taking way longer than I anticipated so I must keep my expectations in check, but it would be amazing if I’m consolidated by my next X-ray though, because I’m really looking forward to running and doing leg workouts to round out my body. My upper body is getting pretty bulked up now, so it’s starting to look like I’ve been skipping leg day lol. I’m also going to be traveling a bit at the end of summer and I’d be able to do a lot more things if I was already consolidated.

Regarding nail removal at some point in the future, I was thinking about how we’re not supposed to do leg workouts for three months after the nails are out. That’s almost as long as I have been consolidating so far and I know that’s going to feel like a really long time! I can’t imagine that it will be very fun going from fully functional legs back to the early stages of consolidation all over again. I’m definitely not looking forward to that, but I guess it’ll be the last step in putting all of this behind me. I haven’t considered exactly what I’m going to do for nail removal yet, but I’m keeping my options open for now.

Video
I finally managed to find the time to make a video. I wore a disguise so I wouldn’t have to spend as much time editing the video. Fortunately none of my neighbors came out into the hallway while I was filming ;D

https://youtu.be/D2SM_XifEbI

I have started doing squats this month, so I can finally somewhat show my progress in the video. However, I can’t do it with my butt to the ground or I’ll fall over backwards. I guess that’s due to the change in biomechanics and additional leg strength won’t help me there. I still feel quite weak when squatting though, so my glutes need a lot more work. I think the squatting actually helped with my gait though, because I finally feel good about my gait. It still takes some concentration to walk properly and I lose some of my ability to walk well when my legs get very tired, but at least when I’m fresh I should appear to walk normally.

My flexibility is only a little bit better than before since I haven’t stretched as much as I should be stretching. My sit and reach hasn't really improved and I can't quite touch my heel to my butt yet. Most of my increase in flexibility should come from all the walking and general leg workouts. I think my muscles are all quite a bit stronger than last month though (hips, legs, etc.) If my recovery progress continues at the rate that it has this month, then I think I will be back to feeling “normal” fairly soon, which is an important milestone for me. Also, the clicking sound in my right knee was there before surgery so it’s not caused by LL.

Final Comments
Sadly I think this is going to be my last journal entry for a while and there is a chance that I never come back to the forum. I completely understand why most vets simply disappear; some without even a trace. I just don’t feel like keeping a LL journal anymore because my life is becoming more and more normal and LL just isn’t a major focus in my mind any longer. As I think less and less about LL each day I just don’t have all that much to write about related to height. Even when I record a video for the journal, instead of thinking “oh this is exciting, I can see my progress” instead I just want to get it over with.

Comparing the time when I first started considering LL many years ago to now having done it and finally starting to recover, I realize how much doing LL has changed my perspective on a lot of things. I actually find it quite difficult to relate with someone who hasn’t done the surgery because the way we think about height, the surgery itself, and the rest of the process is completely different. I no longer believe that my original height actually limited me as much as I had thought (maybe retroactively fixed by LL) and my current height is definitely not limiting my life in any way (though the recovery from LL still is). I realize now how good it is to be a normal able-bodied human, even if short statured, and I can really appreciate that now.

The forum has been less active now that Stryde is off the market and I’ve already been visiting less and less, but I don’t plan to visit anymore because I think it will help me move on from this mentally. As I’m starting to get over LL, I’ve also spent more time thinking about the other major goals in my life and realized that I’ve wasted a lot of time making no progress toward them while undergoing LL. As such, I’m now ready to direct my attention to the future rather than the present. I might come back with an update when I get my nails removed next year. However, if this is my last post here, don't be surprised. Unfortunately, at this point I can't say for sure if the surgery was worth it for me or not. I think I need more time to recover and experience life at my new height to reach a solid conclusion. If I ever come back here I will have a better idea of whether or not it was worth it for me, but if not I'll just have to leave it up in the air. As of now though, I will say I have no regrets from doing the surgery.

While I may disappear like many others before me, at least I said my farewells first. To all the vets that I’ve gotten advice from, thank you. This forum is quite helpful for those undergoing lengthening and consolidation and I’m glad this community was there when I needed it. To those currently undergoing the process, I wish you all a speedy recovery and return to normalcy. To all the prospective lengthers, I hope you are all content with your height someday, one way or another. If you get the surgery, be smart about it. Goodbye everyone, and best of luck with everything!
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: HeightGain on July 20, 2021, 07:21:18 PM
Brilliant post. Good luck with life after LL
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: AimHigh on July 21, 2021, 01:03:56 AM
Great Update - Thx :)
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: Worzezterlire on July 21, 2021, 02:34:52 AM
Walk looks 95% normal, proportions look completely fine.  This has been a great journal and I congratulate you on your recovery.  I understand that you’re disappearing; I myself only stick around to try and give people a version of your journal but with Precise 2.2.  After I’m healed I will leave too, this forum draws some very strange and disturbed personalities and yet is a great resource for those who are at wits end with their neurosis and need guidance.  Half the people here really are wonderful, but it’s easy to get neurotic around neurotic people.  I understand entirely.  If I stay after I hit 183-184 I will probably then get neurotic and try for 188 and that would be just dumb.  But this forum can sometimes do that to you.

Again, you’ve been extremely helpful to me and others, and I’m extremely happy that you of all people look so good and walk so well after full recovery.  Best of luck!
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: L8GrowthSpurt on July 21, 2021, 04:59:31 AM
Thanks, BTM  - I’ll join in HobbitMan’s statements because I can’t say it any better.  Thanks for sharing your journey and I wish you a long and happy tall(er) life! 😁
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: Movie on July 22, 2021, 05:14:11 AM
Proportions don't look off, keep at it with the squats and stretching! doing great for 8 months
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: las vegas baby on July 27, 2021, 04:41:47 PM
good stuff

the walk is lil' bit off honestly, I feel like your one hand swings more than the other

squats are good. funny I always thought first you walk perfectly and then sqaut, but its all random irl  :D

but yeah good stuff, happy for you!
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: FSchez on August 01, 2021, 12:35:26 PM
Hello BTM!
Glad to see your progress.
I am sure that very soon a day will come when you will have improved your walking so much that you will no longer think about surgery.
Your walk in this last video looks much better than in the previous ones, almost 100% normal.
I agree that the 6 months that many doctors promise to go back to playing sports and feeling like before is very, very optimistic and causes despair when you don't get it ...
I am in 6 and a half months and I still do not walk normally, I suppose it will take me another 2 or 3 months to be able to walk as before the surgery ...
I know that it is very likely that you will not visit the forum again for a long time but I give you all my support so that you continue to make an effort to recover completely because thanks to your diary and some others have helped me to focus on my recovery.
Thank you!!
I wish you good luck and I hope you continue to enjoy your new height, and every day you feel better and more convinced that you have achieved something very difficult.
Doctors help us by giving us the tools to grow, but the greatest effort and sacrifice is ours💪.
I'm sure that when you fully recover you will feel much stronger physically and mentally😉
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: Dreamer57 on August 04, 2021, 07:01:01 PM
Such a brilliant post ... And such a crazy update! Looks like in no time you will get back to normal!

Btw please dont abandon us! I dont know if anyone will say this....bt I really look up to you and you are an inspiration.... Would really be happy to hear from you now and then...!

Wishing you all the best for your further recovery!
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on February 13, 2022, 06:02:34 AM
Surgery Month +15, Consolidation Month +11

Hey everyone, I’ve been back on the forum for a little while and noticed it’s a lot less active here than it was back when Stryde was in its heyday so I thought I’d make a post. For some reason some of the forum functions don’t work for me anymore (links, videos, etc.) and some of the long posts are trimmed at the end so I’ll keep this post to text. As usual, I’ll cover what is most relevant to me at this stage in my recovery and I’ll answer any questions you might have. I feel like I have actually made quite a bit of progress lately, and just a few weeks ago I would have had a more pessimistic outlook on my recovery, but I'm feeling pretty good right now.

Walking: I would say that I’m pretty close to 100%. Sometimes if I’m not paying attention to my legs, my walk can deteriorate a bit, but I correct that as soon as I notice it. I definitely haven’t seen anything lately that would indicate that others were thinking that I had a weird walk. I can walk for pretty much any distance comfortably (though I haven’t tried more than 8km) and I’ve gone on quite a few hikes including some steep and muddy trails.

Running: Since I was cleared to run, I have had a ton of struggles trying to run due to pain in my femurs when my feet hit the ground. Recently I randomly tried running again and surprisingly didn’t have any pain. There was nothing that I did differently; I guess I must have suddenly just reached another level of recovery. I tested out my abilities and was able to “sprint” at 8.5mph on the treadmill briefly without any pain, so I plan to practice more going forward. I need to record a video of myself running though, because it feels weird when I run and I’m not very stable, so I need to see how bad my running gait is before I go run in public lol.

Weight Lifting: I’m actually in great shape right now even though I go to the gym infrequently due to a very clean diet. I've been working out my upper body completely normally for months and my strength is close to my past peak. Unfortunately, my lower body is still lacking a lot. Even though running doesn’t cause me pain anymore, squats still hurt. I can go through the motions pretty well, even with about 100 pounds on my shoulders, but my legs hurt so I’ve been taking it very lightly. I also haven’t been doing deadlifts because they hurt my legs as well and I end up using my back to compensate, which is dangerous. I don’t know how good my recovery is going to be here, but I will continue to take it slow. My knees weren't great even before surgery, so that doesn't help either.

Cardio: I’m not sure if it’s because I caught COVID last year or if it’s from LL recovery, but my cardio level is absolutely horrible. I can only run at a jogger's pace for a minute or two before my heart rate gets very high. I can’t even jog for a mile (1600m) right now, so that 9:00 mile goal I set over a year ago is nowhere near achievement. I think the closest I’ve gotten is a timed attempt on 800m and that took well over 6 minutes, and I had to slow down to a walking pace multiple times. (I could run a mile in under 5:30 before surgery). I still think I will eventually improve here, especially once my nails are out, but I really don’t know how long it will take at this point.

Sports: Surprisingly, I’ve been able to play sports that don’t require running quite well. For example, I can still shred down a black diamond in the Rockies. I haven’t tried skiing yet, but I imagine my level would still be just as good as before. I’ve also surfed a couple of times on the Pacific coast and it wasn't bad at all. I can swim both at the surface and with fins underwater no problem. For some reason my cardio issues aren’t as bad outside of running, so I can last for a while with other activities and I just need to rest a little bit more than before. Once I get more practice running and my running gait is normal, I’m definitely looking forward to playing other sports where I might need to run around and use agility.

Nerve Issues: For those who followed my journal, I had multiple bouts of nerve pain during lengthening and at the end of lengthening both my shins were completely numb. I would say that they have recovered slowly over time (with my shin nerves tingling and hurting a bit as they grew less numb), but out of nowhere a few weeks ago they suddenly jumped to about an 85% recovery. I’m pulling that number out of nowhere, but I have almost full sensation back in my shins. The biggest change was that I could finally feel the inside of my pants brushing against my shins normally like they used to. Now the only weird thing about my shins is that if I push hard on them I’ll notice that my skin is still a bit less sensitive to pain than before LL. I anticipate a 100% recovery here.

Physique:
My quadriceps are completely back and as just as thick as they used to be. From the front I look and feel like a beast in the mirror so I’m very happy with my body. However, on the other side my butt is still lacking a lot. It’s bigger than it was right after I finished lengthening, but nowhere near its former glory. I’ve started focusing on butt exercises in the gym. I think it will improve my stability in running and sports as well. Given how little I’ve focused on my butt in the gym, I think I can still get it back at some point if I work it out harder.

Dating: I’m dating a heightist and I don’t know how I feel about it. She is not even that tall, maybe a bit over 160cm. Due to this height stuff I’ve subtly prodded her to see how she feels about short guys and oh man it’s bad. One time she explicitly said that I wasn’t tall, but an “acceptable” height. I guess that's reasonable, but then because she didn’t think I would be offended if she insulted short guys, she went on a detailed tirade about how much she abhorred short guys, which was very offensive to me, but I didn’t want her to suspect anything so I had to keep a blank face. I can tell 100% that she would not be dating me at my original height. If she wasn’t hot as hell I would have dumped her already. I might break up with her soon anyway; I actually didn’t have a ton of chances to date after recovering from LL since I found her pretty quickly and I still want to play the field a bit with my new height. At my current height it’s noticeably easier to date both online and offline.

Social Aspects: A few people that I knew before surgery that I’ve seen a bunch of times have started questioning if I grew. I just continue to gaslight them and deny it and they don’t press much further. Otherwise, the pandemic was the perfect cover for me, and for most people (coworkers, distant friends, etc.) I didn’t see them for over two years so they didn’t have much to say when they saw me for the first time. Otherwise, my new height has no impact on my daily life. I don’t feel like I’m taller anymore and I feel like this is the height I have always been. Also, at some point I even realized that I stopped mentally comparing my height to other people out in public, like I used to right after I finished lengthening. I guess even subconsciously I don’t have anything to prove anymore.

Nail Removal: I’m currently researching nail removal options. Mentally I’m not in a huge rush to take them out since I don't think they're hindering me, but my X-rays look very solid and I don’t want to run into any Stryde lysis issues. I may have a chance to take a long break from work later this year, so I’m planning ahead to get them taken out around then. I will try to put together an update after I recover from nail removal.

Scars: Unfortunately my scars still haven’t faded. The scars near my knees are very dark and obvious and the rest are light, but still noticeable. Once I get the nails removed, I plan to get all the scars removed by laser as soon as I can. For now, the scars are a PITA because I can’t easily wear shorts around people that I don’t want to know about my scars, which is pretty much everyone I knew before surgery. I guess I shouldn't have just trusted everyone who said the scars would fade on their own.

Final Thoughts: Now that nail removal is in my sights, a big part of me is very excited to finally be done with this whole thing. It was an interesting experience for sure, and I don't regret it one bit. It gave me some serious introspection into my own brain, and in a way it feels like I took an epic adventure into what's possible with the human body. I can still happily report that I have absolutely no intention of doing my tibias. I think my current height is great, and even though many would not consider me "tall" I no longer feel that my height is limiting me in any way. I don't care about the numbers anymore and I don't care what others say about my height. Although I still have some physical limitations in my recovery, I've been able to do most of the activities that I love and go to the places that I enjoy. Overall, I have a pretty positive outlook on life right now, and it feels like LL both helped me unlock my potential and better helped me appreciate all the things that I already had.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: ilovescience on February 13, 2022, 06:42:11 AM
Quote from: BelowTheMean on February 13, 2022, 06:02:34 AM
Surgery Month +15, Consolidation Month +11

Hey everyone, I’ve been back on the forum for a little while and noticed it’s a lot less active here than it was back when Stryde was in its heyday so I thought I’d make a post. For some reason some of the forum functions don’t work for me anymore (links, videos, etc.) and some of the long posts are trimmed at the end so I’ll keep this post to text. As usual, I’ll cover what is most relevant to me at this stage in my recovery and I’ll answer any questions you might have. I feel like I have actually made quite a bit of progress lately, and just a few weeks ago I would have had a more pessimistic outlook on my recovery, but I'm feeling pretty good right now.

Walking: I would say that I’m pretty close to 100%. Sometimes if I’m not paying attention to my legs, my walk can deteriorate a bit, but I correct that as soon as I notice it. I definitely haven’t seen anything lately that would indicate that others were thinking that I had a weird walk. I can walk for pretty much any distance comfortably (though I haven’t tried more than 8km) and I’ve gone on quite a few hikes including some steep and muddy trails.

Running: Since I was cleared to run, I have had a ton of struggles trying to run due to pain in my femurs when my feet hit the ground. Recently I randomly tried running again and surprisingly didn’t have any pain. There was nothing that I did differently; I guess I must have suddenly just reached another level of recovery. I tested out my abilities and was able to “sprint” at 8.5mph on the treadmill briefly without any pain, so I plan to practice more going forward. I need to record a video of myself running though, because it feels weird when I run and I’m not very stable, so I need to see how bad my running gait is before I go run in public lol.

Weight Lifting: I’m actually in great shape right now even though I go to the gym infrequently due to a very clean diet. I've been working out my upper body completely normally for months and my strength is close to my past peak. Unfortunately, my lower body is still lacking a lot. Even though running doesn’t cause me pain anymore, squats still hurt. I can go through the motions pretty well, even with about 100 pounds on my shoulders, but my legs hurt so I’ve been taking it very lightly. I also haven’t been doing deadlifts because they hurt my legs as well and I end up using my back to compensate, which is dangerous. I don’t know how good my recovery is going to be here, but I will continue to take it slow. My knees weren't great even before surgery, so that doesn't help either.

Cardio: I’m not sure if it’s because I caught COVID last year or if it’s from LL recovery, but my cardio level is absolutely horrible. I can only run at a jogger's pace for a minute or two before my heart rate gets very high. I can’t even jog for a mile (1600m) right now, so that 9:00 mile goal I set over a year ago is nowhere near achievement. I think the closest I’ve gotten is a timed attempt on 800m and that took well over 6 minutes, and I had to slow down to a walking pace multiple times. (I could run a mile in under 5:30 before surgery). I still think I will eventually improve here, especially once my nails are out, but I really don’t know how long it will take at this point.

Sports: Surprisingly, I’ve been able to play sports that don’t require running quite well. For example, I can still shred down a black diamond in the Rockies. I haven’t tried skiing yet, but I imagine my level would still be just as good as before. I’ve also surfed a couple of times on the Pacific coast and it wasn't bad at all. I can swim both at the surface and with fins underwater no problem. For some reason my cardio issues aren’t as bad outside of running, so I can last for a while with other activities and I just need to rest a little bit more than before. Once I get more practice running and my running gait is normal, I’m definitely looking forward to playing other sports where I might need to run around and use agility.

Nerve Issues: For those who followed my journal, I had multiple bouts of nerve pain during lengthening and at the end of lengthening both my shins were completely numb. I would say that they have recovered slowly over time (with my shin nerves tingling and hurting a bit as they grew less numb), but out of nowhere a few weeks ago they suddenly jumped to about an 85% recovery. I’m pulling that number out of nowhere, but I have almost full sensation back in my shins. The biggest change was that I could finally feel the inside of my pants brushing against my shins normally like they used to. Now the only weird thing about my shins is that if I push hard on them I’ll notice that my skin is still a bit less sensitive to pain than before LL. I anticipate a 100% recovery here.

Physique:
My quadriceps are completely back and as just as thick as they used to be. From the front I look and feel like a beast in the mirror so I’m very happy with my body. However, on the other side my butt is still lacking a lot. It’s bigger than it was right after I finished lengthening, but nowhere near its former glory. I’ve started focusing on butt exercises in the gym. I think it will improve my stability in running and sports as well. Given how little I’ve focused on my butt in the gym, I think I can still get it back at some point if I work it out harder.

Dating: I’m dating a heightist and I don’t know how I feel about it. She is not even that tall, maybe a bit over 160cm. Due to this height stuff I’ve subtly prodded her to see how she feels about short guys and oh man it’s bad. One time she explicitly said that I wasn’t tall, but an “acceptable” height. I guess that's reasonable, but then because she didn’t think I would be offended if she insulted short guys, she went on a detailed tirade about how much she abhorred short guys, which was very offensive to me, but I didn’t want her to suspect anything so I had to keep a blank face. I can tell 100% that she would not be dating me at my original height. If she wasn’t hot as hell I would have dumped her already. I might break up with her soon anyway; I actually didn’t have a ton of chances to date after recovering from LL since I found her pretty quickly and I still want to play the field a bit with my new height. At my current height it’s noticeably easier to date both online and offline.

Social Aspects: A few people that I knew before surgery that I’ve seen a bunch of times have started questioning if I grew. I just continue to gaslight them and deny it and they don’t press much further. Otherwise, the pandemic was the perfect cover for me, and for most people (coworkers, distant friends, etc.) I didn’t see them for over two years so they didn’t have much to say when they saw me for the first time. Otherwise, my new height has no impact on my daily life. I don’t feel like I’m taller anymore and I feel like this is the height I have always been. Also, at some point I even realized that I stopped mentally comparing my height to other people out in public, like I used to right after I finished lengthening. I guess even subconsciously I don’t have anything to prove anymore.

Nail Removal: I’m currently researching nail removal options. Mentally I’m not in a huge rush to take them out since I don't think they're hindering me, but my X-rays look very solid and I don’t want to run into any Stryde lysis issues. I may have a chance to take a long break from work later this year, so I’m planning ahead to get them taken out around then. I will try to put together an update after I recover from nail removal.

Scars: Unfortunately my scars still haven’t faded. The scars near my knees are very dark and obvious and the rest are light, but still noticeable. Once I get the nails removed, I plan to get all the scars removed by laser as soon as I can. For now, the scars are a PITA because I can’t easily wear shorts around people that I don’t want to know about my scars, which is pretty much everyone I knew before surgery. I guess I shouldn't have just trusted everyone who said the scars would fade on their own.

Final Thoughts: Now that nail removal is in my sights, a big part of me is very excited to finally be done with this whole thing. It was an interesting experience for sure, and I don't regret it one bit. It gave me some serious introspection into my own brain, and in a way it feels like I took an epic adventure into what's possible with the human body. I can still happily report that I have absolutely no intention of doing my tibias. I think my current height is great, and even though many would not consider me "tall" I no longer feel that my height is limiting me in any way. I don't care about the numbers anymore and I don't care what others say about my height. Although I still have some physical limitations in my recovery, I've been able to do most of the activities that I love and go to the places that I enjoy. Overall, I have a pretty positive outlook on life right now, and it feels like LL both helped me unlock my potential and better helped me appreciate all the things that I already had.

Thank you for sharing it. Doing LL is a big challenge in life, probably the most challenging task right?
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: thankscience on February 13, 2022, 10:53:53 AM
Cheers for the update. Glad to hear things are going well generally. What do you think of your proportions now? Also, how hard has it been to squat with your new biomechanics? This is one of my biggest concerns.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: Masteryourlife on February 13, 2022, 11:34:42 AM
Quote from: BelowTheMean on February 13, 2022, 06:02:34 AM
Surgery Month +15, Consolidation Month +11

Hey everyone, I’ve been back on the forum for a little while and noticed it’s a lot less active here than it was back when Stryde was in its heyday so I thought I’d make a post. For some reason some of the forum functions don’t work for me anymore (links, videos, etc.) and some of the long posts are trimmed at the end so I’ll keep this post to text. As usual, I’ll cover what is most relevant to me at this stage in my recovery and I’ll answer any questions you might have. I feel like I have actually made quite a bit of progress lately, and just a few weeks ago I would have had a more pessimistic outlook on my recovery, but I'm feeling pretty good right now.

Walking: I would say that I’m pretty close to 100%. Sometimes if I’m not paying attention to my legs, my walk can deteriorate a bit, but I correct that as soon as I notice it. I definitely haven’t seen anything lately that would indicate that others were thinking that I had a weird walk. I can walk for pretty much any distance comfortably (though I haven’t tried more than 8km) and I’ve gone on quite a few hikes including some steep and muddy trails.

Running: Since I was cleared to run, I have had a ton of struggles trying to run due to pain in my femurs when my feet hit the ground. Recently I randomly tried running again and surprisingly didn’t have any pain. There was nothing that I did differently; I guess I must have suddenly just reached another level of recovery. I tested out my abilities and was able to “sprint” at 8.5mph on the treadmill briefly without any pain, so I plan to practice more going forward. I need to record a video of myself running though, because it feels weird when I run and I’m not very stable, so I need to see how bad my running gait is before I go run in public lol.

Weight Lifting: I’m actually in great shape right now even though I go to the gym infrequently due to a very clean diet. I've been working out my upper body completely normally for months and my strength is close to my past peak. Unfortunately, my lower body is still lacking a lot. Even though running doesn’t cause me pain anymore, squats still hurt. I can go through the motions pretty well, even with about 100 pounds on my shoulders, but my legs hurt so I’ve been taking it very lightly. I also haven’t been doing deadlifts because they hurt my legs as well and I end up using my back to compensate, which is dangerous. I don’t know how good my recovery is going to be here, but I will continue to take it slow. My knees weren't great even before surgery, so that doesn't help either.

Cardio: I’m not sure if it’s because I caught COVID last year or if it’s from LL recovery, but my cardio level is absolutely horrible. I can only run at a jogger's pace for a minute or two before my heart rate gets very high. I can’t even jog for a mile (1600m) right now, so that 9:00 mile goal I set over a year ago is nowhere near achievement. I think the closest I’ve gotten is a timed attempt on 800m and that took well over 6 minutes, and I had to slow down to a walking pace multiple times. (I could run a mile in under 5:30 before surgery). I still think I will eventually improve here, especially once my nails are out, but I really don’t know how long it will take at this point.

Sports: Surprisingly, I’ve been able to play sports that don’t require running quite well. For example, I can still shred down a black diamond in the Rockies. I haven’t tried skiing yet, but I imagine my level would still be just as good as before. I’ve also surfed a couple of times on the Pacific coast and it wasn't bad at all. I can swim both at the surface and with fins underwater no problem. For some reason my cardio issues aren’t as bad outside of running, so I can last for a while with other activities and I just need to rest a little bit more than before. Once I get more practice running and my running gait is normal, I’m definitely looking forward to playing other sports where I might need to run around and use agility.

Nerve Issues: For those who followed my journal, I had multiple bouts of nerve pain during lengthening and at the end of lengthening both my shins were completely numb. I would say that they have recovered slowly over time (with my shin nerves tingling and hurting a bit as they grew less numb), but out of nowhere a few weeks ago they suddenly jumped to about an 85% recovery. I’m pulling that number out of nowhere, but I have almost full sensation back in my shins. The biggest change was that I could finally feel the inside of my pants brushing against my shins normally like they used to. Now the only weird thing about my shins is that if I push hard on them I’ll notice that my skin is still a bit less sensitive to pain than before LL. I anticipate a 100% recovery here.

Physique:
My quadriceps are completely back and as just as thick as they used to be. From the front I look and feel like a beast in the mirror so I’m very happy with my body. However, on the other side my butt is still lacking a lot. It’s bigger than it was right after I finished lengthening, but nowhere near its former glory. I’ve started focusing on butt exercises in the gym. I think it will improve my stability in running and sports as well. Given how little I’ve focused on my butt in the gym, I think I can still get it back at some point if I work it out harder.

Dating: I’m dating a heightist and I don’t know how I feel about it. She is not even that tall, maybe a bit over 160cm. Due to this height stuff I’ve subtly prodded her to see how she feels about short guys and oh man it’s bad. One time she explicitly said that I wasn’t tall, but an “acceptable” height. I guess that's reasonable, but then because she didn’t think I would be offended if she insulted short guys, she went on a detailed tirade about how much she abhorred short guys, which was very offensive to me, but I didn’t want her to suspect anything so I had to keep a blank face. I can tell 100% that she would not be dating me at my original height. If she wasn’t hot as hell I would have dumped her already. I might break up with her soon anyway; I actually didn’t have a ton of chances to date after recovering from LL since I found her pretty quickly and I still want to play the field a bit with my new height. At my current height it’s noticeably easier to date both online and offline.

Social Aspects: A few people that I knew before surgery that I’ve seen a bunch of times have started questioning if I grew. I just continue to gaslight them and deny it and they don’t press much further. Otherwise, the pandemic was the perfect cover for me, and for most people (coworkers, distant friends, etc.) I didn’t see them for over two years so they didn’t have much to say when they saw me for the first time. Otherwise, my new height has no impact on my daily life. I don’t feel like I’m taller anymore and I feel like this is the height I have always been. Also, at some point I even realized that I stopped mentally comparing my height to other people out in public, like I used to right after I finished lengthening. I guess even subconsciously I don’t have anything to prove anymore.

Nail Removal: I’m currently researching nail removal options. Mentally I’m not in a huge rush to take them out since I don't think they're hindering me, but my X-rays look very solid and I don’t want to run into any Stryde lysis issues. I may have a chance to take a long break from work later this year, so I’m planning ahead to get them taken out around then. I will try to put together an update after I recover from nail removal.

Scars: Unfortunately my scars still haven’t faded. The scars near my knees are very dark and obvious and the rest are light, but still noticeable. Once I get the nails removed, I plan to get all the scars removed by laser as soon as I can. For now, the scars are a PITA because I can’t easily wear shorts around people that I don’t want to know about my scars, which is pretty much everyone I knew before surgery. I guess I shouldn't have just trusted everyone who said the scars would fade on their own.

Final Thoughts: Now that nail removal is in my sights, a big part of me is very excited to finally be done with this whole thing. It was an interesting experience for sure, and I don't regret it one bit. It gave me some serious introspection into my own brain, and in a way it feels like I took an epic adventure into what's possible with the human body. I can still happily report that I have absolutely no intention of doing my tibias. I think my current height is great, and even though many would not consider me "tall" I no longer feel that my height is limiting me in any way. I don't care about the numbers anymore and I don't care what others say about my height. Although I still have some physical limitations in my recovery, I've been able to do most of the activities that I love and go to the places that I enjoy. Overall, I have a pretty positive outlook on life right now, and it feels like LL both helped me unlock my potential and better helped me appreciate all the things that I already had.
Amazing post !
Thank you .
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: randomperson on February 13, 2022, 03:15:46 PM
Great post! Your recovery sounds very impressive. Thanks for sharing!

Question BelowTheMean...I am also an early 30s guy, same exact starting height as you.

If you were in the situation now with STRYDE off the market for the time being, do you think you would have waited another year or two for STRYDE's successor to release, or would you have gone with Precise to just get it over with? I am trying to decide this myself. Being early 30s, the longer we wait the longer we are without the additional height....But the recovery with Stryde seems better...

Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on February 13, 2022, 06:06:21 PM
Quote from: ilovescience on February 13, 2022, 06:42:11 AM
Thank you for sharing it. Doing LL is a big challenge in life, probably the most challenging task right?
The distraction phase of LL was the most physically challenging thing I've done in my life, but not the most intellectually challenging.

Quote from: thankscience on February 13, 2022, 10:53:53 AM
Cheers for the update. Glad to hear things are going well generally. What do you think of your proportions now? Also, how hard has it been to squat with your new biomechanics? This is one of my biggest concerns.
As I mentioned in the past, I think doing the full 8cm made my femurs a little long compared to my tibias, but it's not an issue imo. No one aside from you yourself will notice these things. I've never had anyone comment about my tibia:femur ratio. Regarding leg length, one girl even said I had short legs.. can you imagine what she would have thought of my proportions before surgery?::) As for squatting, the new biomechanics are much worse for squatting. If I squat like I used to, then I would fall over backwards. Nowadays I lean forward a bit to squat and I can go all the way down, but like I said I still have a bit of femur pain when using weights and my knees were never very good, so not sure how well I can recover there. Only time will tell.

Quote from: randomperson on February 13, 2022, 03:15:46 PM
Great post! Your recovery sounds very impressive. Thanks for sharing!

Question BelowTheMean...I am also an early 30s guy, same exact starting height as you.

If you were in the situation now with STRYDE off the market for the time being, do you think you would have waited another year or two for STRYDE's successor to release, or would you have gone with Precise to just get it over with? I am trying to decide this myself. Being early 30s, the longer we wait the longer we are without the additional height....But the recovery with Stryde seems better...
I've known about LL since at least 2014, but didn't get it done until many years later. I spent a lot of time thinking about it over the years and at one point even decided not to do it. The main issues for me were the medical costs, finding help for the period that I would be crippled, and figuring out how to take an extended break from my career. The lost opportunity cost of not working for an extended period of time was even higher for me than the cost of surgery itself so I never seriously considered it. Then in 2020 the pandemic forced everyone to work from home and I returned to the forum to discover that the rumored weight-bearing nail from a few years ago had actually been released. Now all my problems had been resolved. With Stryde, I wouldn't need someone to take care of me the whole time I was lengthening, I could just work from home while lengthening due to COVID, and I had some extra cash on hand with a crazy market in 2020. It was pretty much the perfect storm so I quickly decided to pull the trigger and scheduled my surgery.

The reason I mention all of this is because if any of the issues above were still a problem for me, I might have not have done LL. Only you can decide whether to wait or not, because you know your own situation best. For me, I didn't seriously consider doing it until Stryde was available, but plenty of people did it before Stryde and I'm sure they are happy with their new height. I suppose many of them did it before weight-bearing nails were even a thing, so they didn't have anything to compare to, but also consider that one of the biggest regrets about LL that I see here on the forums from 30+ year olds is that many wish they had gotten it done earlier. Best of luck with your decision.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: Issun-Boshi on February 22, 2022, 05:55:21 AM
Hi BTM, I'm been lurking on here for awhile and had to login just to saw thank you for your diary.

It's on of the best on here in my opinion, even our age/starting height/ goals, reasons, etc.

I understand that eventually you want to fade away from this and move on with your life, but it's been such a source of knowledge and comfort that I'd kinda wish you stayed around. I'd really appreciate a monthly video update on your walk, or even a video update every 6 months just so we can see how the results play out over the long run. Does it get better, does it get worse, etc.?

I also saw that you mentioned thinking about scar revision surgery and am wondering if you can show us what the scars look like, both close up and zoom out (so that we can see the locations they are on the leg), so that I can understand how discreet (or not) after getting the surgery with Stryde.

Once again, thank you for all your updates and responses. Really appreciate it.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on February 24, 2022, 02:21:21 AM
Quote from: Issun-Boshi on February 22, 2022, 05:55:21 AM
Hi BTM, I'm been lurking on here for awhile and had to login just to saw thank you for your diary.

It's on of the best on here in my opinion, even our age/starting height/ goals, reasons, etc.

I understand that eventually you want to fade away from this and move on with your life, but it's been such a source of knowledge and comfort that I'd kinda wish you stayed around. I'd really appreciate a monthly video update on your walk, or even a video update every 6 months just so we can see how the results play out over the long run. Does it get better, does it get worse, etc.?

I also saw that you mentioned thinking about scar revision surgery and am wondering if you can show us what the scars look like, both close up and zoom out (so that we can see the locations they are on the leg), so that I can understand how discreet (or not) after getting the surgery with Stryde.

Once again, thank you for all your updates and responses. Really appreciate it.

Hi Issun-Boshi,

The media functions on this site don't work for me anymore for some reason so I can't upload any links or images. However, even if it worked I no longer plan to record any new videos not only for my own overall privacy, but also because I don't have the energy to edit my face out of them. I will answer your questions by text though.

1) Regarding walking, I mentioned in my last entry that sometimes it felt like my walk was off, so I spent some time in front of the mirrors in the gym when no one else was around and did a bunch of walking in different ways. With this I can say that no matter how my walk feels internally, it looks completely normal in the mirror. I have full confidence that anyone who sees me will not notice anything wrong with my legs at all (as it should be since I'm over 15 months out from surgery).

I think the weird feeling is probably just a bit of tightness or stiffness due to the nails still being in, but we'll know for sure once they are out. I do plan to update this journal when my nails are out, but I don't know when that will be yet.

2) As for scars, I will definitely not share pictures of them due to privacy reasons. Each person is going to have different levels of scar recovery based on their genes and lifestyle. Personally, I think I exposed some of my scars to too much sunlight which caused them to unnecessarily darken. The ones that have always been covered have faded much better, though they are still a bit red. As for the location of the scars, there are 5-6 in total, from right above your knee all the way to near the intersection of your hip/butt. I'm sure you can find a photo or video of internal nail scars on a social media page or website of one of the big doctors. Imo the 1-2 scars near your knee (depending if you did IT band release or not) are the most concerning for men since they will show up when you wear shorts or swimwear.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: Issun-Boshi on March 01, 2022, 11:33:56 AM
Hi BTM,

No worries, I understand. Thanks for replying anyways.

Now that your walk is normal, at least to external appearances, how does it function?

You previously mentioned you can run normally (even sprint?) but how long are you able to keep going? Would you be able to run, say, continuously for an hour (assuming that this was possible pre-surgery)?

What about long-distance walking, like hiking? I'm a big hiker and really into long-distance walking. I like to travel and my preferred method of exploring my destination is on foot. I've been trying to do that with insoles and realized my capacity for walking normally with insoles is only about half an hour before my feet starts to kill me. Is walking/hiking for hours a possibility for you at the moment?

In any case, thanks again for your response. Really appreciate it.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on March 01, 2022, 02:59:19 PM
Quote from: Issun-Boshi on March 01, 2022, 11:33:56 AM
Hi BTM,

No worries, I understand. Thanks for replying anyways.

Now that your walk is normal, at least to external appearances, how does it function?

You previously mentioned you can run normally (even sprint?) but how long are you able to keep going? Would you be able to run, say, continuously for an hour (assuming that this was possible pre-surgery)?

What about long-distance walking, like hiking? I'm a big hiker and really into long-distance walking. I like to travel and my preferred method of exploring my destination is on foot. I've been trying to do that with insoles and realized my capacity for walking normally with insoles is only about half an hour before my feet starts to kill me. Is walking/hiking for hours a possibility for you at the moment?

In any case, thanks again for your response. Really appreciate it.

Hi Issun-Boshi,

I mentioned a lot of this in my last post. Walking function is fine, I can walk very long distances and I've gone hiking in steep and muddy terrain with no problems. I don't think insoles are a good comparison for post-limb lengthening mobility. I would say you'd have to give it about 8 months before you can walk several km with sore legs and maybe 12 months before you can walk without getting sore at all.

As for running, I just started running somewhat consistently (more than a year after surgery) and I'm still working on it. I can only run or jog for a few minutes at a time, though I am gaining a little endurance each time I try. When I run for a while I have fatigue in my leg muscles and a very high heart rate. These issues were not a concern for me before surgery. For comparison, my best 3200m time was under 12 minutes and I did distance running when I was younger (though I quit running because I didn't want to damage my knees).

I don't know how much I'll improve in the future so I don't have any other information that I can provide on this yet, but I would say if running is a major concern for you then you shouldn't get a surgery that breaks both of your legs lol. For all I know it could take another year to recover good running/cardio abilities, especially since I won't be able to run for a while after I get my nails removed. However, after getting surgery I realized in my day-to-day life I don't need to run at all, so it's not that much of a concern for me as long as I keep improving slowly when I train. I stated early on in my journal that I would be happy being able to run 1600m in 9 minutes after surgery, and that's something I'm still working on.

Other than that, I just want to note that sports where your legs are in a more fixed position can be done quite normally, such as swimming, diving, surfing, skiing, snowboarding, etc. The only sport I play that requires agility is tennis, so I'm taking an extended break from that. In the end getting this surgery has tradeoffs that you need to consider, at least in the short term. I would definitely not get it unless your height neurosis is problematic enough that you're willing to make some sacrifices to get taller.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: Issun-Boshi on March 11, 2022, 09:47:12 PM
Got it. Thanks for the response!

Really glad to hear about retaining your hiking ability. Likewise for skiing & snowboarding.

My height neurosis is pretty strong and sometimes it leads to me opting out of social events where I have to take off my shoes/insoles. Sometimes I walk around and just feel   because everyone around me seem tall and therefore, life felt like it'll always be better for other people. I hide it pretty well though and people would generally I'm cheerful & outgoing, but I wish I can live a life where I'm not thinking about my height inferiority every single damn day. I think that's why your diary really struck a chord with me when you mentioned it was something you don't think about anymore.

Do you feel completely normal with regards to the rest of society now (height-wise)? I think you mentioned that you were, but I guess now a tibia surgery is completely out of the question for you? I'm saving up for femur + tibia, so I was thinking of doing 5+6 to stay in what's considered generally safe limits, but now from reading your diary I'm thinking if 8cm will cure your neurosis then maybe that's what I should try too.

Anyways, thank you for your constant response. Please don't feel obliged to respond if you're busy. I still wish you come update here from time to time though so we can know how it goes long-term with regards to recovering complete functionality. Hope your cardio eventually recovers to pre-surgery level!
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on March 15, 2022, 07:27:55 PM
Quote from: Issun-Boshi on March 11, 2022, 09:47:12 PM
Got it. Thanks for the response!

Really glad to hear about retaining your hiking ability. Likewise for skiing & snowboarding.

My height neurosis is pretty strong and sometimes it leads to me opting out of social events where I have to take off my shoes/insoles. Sometimes I walk around and just feel   because everyone around me seem tall and therefore, life felt like it'll always be better for other people. I hide it pretty well though and people would generally I'm cheerful & outgoing, but I wish I can live a life where I'm not thinking about my height inferiority every single damn day. I think that's why your diary really struck a chord with me when you mentioned it was something you don't think about anymore.

Do you feel completely normal with regards to the rest of society now (height-wise)? I think you mentioned that you were, but I guess now a tibia surgery is completely out of the question for you? I'm saving up for femur + tibia, so I was thinking of doing 5+6 to stay in what's considered generally safe limits, but now from reading your diary I'm thinking if 8cm will cure your neurosis then maybe that's what I should try too.

Anyways, thank you for your constant response. Please don't feel obliged to respond if you're busy. I still wish you come update here from time to time though so we can know how it goes long-term with regards to recovering complete functionality. Hope your cardio eventually recovers to pre-surgery level!

I think my height neurosis was mostly tied to dating. I am very shallow/picky and only date hot girls, which is a lot harder as a short guy, even if all my other attributes are excellent. I was just really tired of girls calling me short all the time, even ones who I hooked up with. As for the other aspects of neurosis, other people being taller than me in a group setting was only a slight issue to me and I did spent a lot of time thinking about height as well, but I don't think those alone would've gotten me to do LL.

As for fixing height neurosis, the total number of centimeters lengthened is not that important. You're not going to notice the difference of 1-2cm in height. Going through the surgery and being a cripple for a few months makes you realize that health is a lot more important than height. The perspective of being taller also helps a bit, and I started feeling different when I reached the 5-6cm mark. Speaking of which, I'm not sure where you heard of 5+6cm as "safe limits". The safe limit is 0cm (not doing the surgery at all) because once you break your bones and start lengthening them, your body is going through a lot of trauma no matter how much you lengthen. You have a metal nail inside you and you'll have to do another surgery to get it out. You also have all the scars associated with the surgery. If you do two segments, then double all that surgical trauma on your body.

With any legitimate surgeon, you can set your goal in one segment to 8cm, but they're going to tell you to stop if your body can't handle it. Most people on here managed to get 7-8cm in their femurs, but it's always going to be on a case-by-case basis. There's a reason that most of the Stryde journals on this forum are femurs-only. The number of people who come back for a second round of this is quite tiny, and many who did just one round leave this place because they go back to living normal lives.

Personally there is no way I'll ever do another LL surgery. Before my first surgery I would have considered it, but now there's nothing to consider. First, it took over a year to feel completely normal again, and I still need to get the nails out and then get my scars surgically removed. All of that will take at least another year, after which I can finally put all of this behind me. Second, my arms are too short to support another two inches of height. Thirdly, among my peer group I'm not short anymore and that's enough for me as I don't need to tower over anyone. Finally, I could blow that money doing almost anything and I would consider it a better deal than trading another two years of my life for two more inches of height.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: Dirona on March 16, 2022, 05:08:06 PM
Awesome BTM..I have almost decided not to do this surgery but I am really jealous as well as happy that you were able to complete it successfully..My dating life is below average but I think I have decided to make peace with that..I know that hot girls usually do not like guys 5ft 7 and under ( I am 5 ft 6 btw) and I will have to make peace with that.. The primary reason why I am not doing LL is because it will disrupt my professional/entrepreneurial journey which I value far more than height..It is what it is..Enjoy your new height :)

Quote from: BelowTheMean on March 15, 2022, 07:27:55 PM
I think my height neurosis was mostly tied to dating. I am very shallow/picky and only date hot girls, which is a lot harder as a short guy, even if all my other attributes are excellent. I was just really tired of girls calling me short all the time, even ones who I hooked up with. As for the other aspects of neurosis, other people being taller than me in a group setting was only a slight issue to me and I did spent a lot of time thinking about height as well, but I don't think those alone would've gotten me to do LL.

As for fixing height neurosis, the total number of centimeters lengthened is not that important. You're not going to notice the difference of 1-2cm in height. Going through the surgery and being a cripple for a few months makes you realize that health is a lot more important than height. The perspective of being taller also helps a bit, and I started feeling different when I reached the 5-6cm mark. Speaking of which, I'm not sure where you heard of 5+6cm as "safe limits". The safe limit is 0cm (not doing the surgery at all) because once you break your bones and start lengthening them, your body is going through a lot of trauma no matter how much you lengthen. You have a metal nail inside you and you'll have to do another surgery to get it out. You also have all the scars associated with the surgery. If you do two segments, then double all that surgical trauma on your body.

With any legitimate surgeon, you can set your goal in one segment to 8cm, but they're going to tell you to stop if your body can't handle it. Most people on here managed to get 7-8cm in their femurs, but it's always going to be on a case-by-case basis. There's a reason that most of the Stryde journals on this forum are femurs-only. The number of people who come back for a second round of this is quite tiny, and many who did just one round leave this place because they go back to living normal lives.

Personally there is no way I'll ever do another LL surgery. Before my first surgery I would have considered it, but now there's nothing to consider. First, it took over a year to feel completely normal again, and I still need to get the nails out and then get my scars surgically removed. All of that will take at least another year, after which I can finally put all of this behind me. Second, my arms are too short to support another two inches of height. Thirdly, among my peer group I'm not short anymore and that's enough for me as I don't need to tower over anyone. Finally, I could blow that money doing almost anything and I would consider it a better deal than trading another two years of my life for two more inches of height.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on March 17, 2022, 05:43:15 AM
Quote from: Realistic on March 16, 2022, 05:08:06 PM
Awesome BTM..I have almost decided not to do this surgery but I am really jealous as well as happy that you were able to complete it successfully..My dating life is below average but I think I have decided to make peace with that..I know that hot girls usually do not like guys 5ft 7 and under ( I am 5 ft 6 btw) and I will have to make peace with that.. The primary reason why I am not doing LL is because it will disrupt my professional/entrepreneurial journey which I value far more than height..It is what it is..Enjoy your new height :)

LL is really a personal decision and the answer is not the same for every short guy. Between 2017 and 2020 I mostly forgot about LL and just lived my life normally. If the pandemic never happened I probably would have never booked my surgery and stopped coming to this forum long ago. And even if you just wanted to sleep with hot girls, there are much more cost effective ways than dropping nearly six figures on LL ;)

I think it's great that you're focusing on your professional career. Hopefully the satisfaction it brings you will help you forget about all of this nonsense about height. Good luck with everything!
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on April 02, 2022, 10:57:50 AM
Hey everyone,

Giving a quick update as I’m about to go into surgery to get my Stryde nails out. I can’t believe this step is finally here and I’m really looking forward to putting all of this behind me. I’ve been living my life 99% normally for the past few months and I know everything is going to be reset again after the removal surgery. I’ll have fresh scars, bad gait, limited weight bearing, and limited physical activity again. I’ll probably even be too concerned about my femurs fracturing to hook up with any girls in the short term. However, because of this I want to get it done asap so I can move on with my life. I’m also a bit concerned about lysis induced by Stryde so I’m trying to get them removed before my nails start oxidizing significantly.

My physical abilities haven't changed much from the last entry, but my cardio level is improving slowly and my legs feel stronger than before. The butt and hip exercises are working too and my rear looks much more proportional than it has since my initial surgery. Here are the key details leading up to nail removal.

Scheduling
I started looking into removal about 15 months after surgery. I reached out to Dr. Downey since Movie got his done there and had a positive experience. The doctor’s office was fairly communicative given the time difference. I sent them my latest X-rays and they confirmed that I was ready for nail removal. However, I was quoted a price significantly higher than what Movie paid when he did it just five months earlier. It was on par with the last price point I saw from Dr. Lee (pre-pandemic) which was still less than half of what the US doctors charge. Also I had the option of having a plastic surgeon come and close the incisions instead of a general surgeon but I would have to pay extra. I didn’t bother asking what that would cost as I’m more concerned about the size of the incision than how it gets closed, assuming it’s not a medical student doing the suture. I’m pretty sure I will eventually have to see a scar specialist in the US either way. Normally Dr Downey’s office requires at least a month’s notice to book a surgery date, but they were able to fit me in on shorter notice due to a cancellation in his surgery schedule. I had to pay by bank wire ahead of time to secure the date.

I think if Korea had opened up its borders earlier I would have probably at least tried to get a quote from Dr. Lee too. I heard he wasn’t very responsive to international inquiries during the pandemic, but maybe that would have changed after the Korean border opened up again. The last price I saw for him on nail removal included a 3-day inpatient stay. It seems like this would be a good option for anyone who wanted to stay under observation for a longer period after surgery.

Surgery Day -8
While I was in the gym lifting weights normally I was carrying a 45 lb free weight to mount onto a barbell and out of nowhere my left thigh started hurting when I put pressure on it. There was no sound or anything and I wasn’t even doing a lift with my legs so I’m not sure what the cause was. I’ve been lifting for quite a while after surgery and I highly doubt it was bone damage but I was freaked out nevertheless since it began when I picked up that weight and walked while carrying it. Racing through my head was the fear that it was going to interfere with the nail removal surgery I had already booked, paid for, and taken time off for.

It hurt when I applied any weight on that leg or twisted it to the left or right. The leg also felt weaker than normal. During this time I didn’t know what was causing the pain, so I was on the lookout for DVT/PE and gave myself O2 tests. I also used the massage gun I bought for LL on my quads and hamstrings but that didn’t seem to do anything for me at all. There was no discoloration or swelling at the surface either, so my physical symptoms aside from pain, but the pain reached 6/10 level at one point and made it hard for me to fall asleep. It was also hard to work and focus through the pain as I was trying to wrap things up at work before my extended time off. I took a few Ibuprofen but it didn’t really help all that much.

Finally, after two nights of sleep most of the pain subsided (total of about 36 hours). However, even afterwards I walked with a bad gait for a few days, putting less weight on my left leg as it still felt kind of weird (though I don’t know if that was psychological or physical). However, as long as the acute pain wasn’t there I wasn’t too concerned about it. As many other LLers have said even a year after the initial surgery they would still have random unknown pain in their legs for a short period of time. Hopefully that stops once the nails are out for an extended period.

Surgery Day -5
I landed in Europe a few days early and went out to have some fun (I had to get it out of my system before going back to cripple mode again). Fortunately my left leg was not feeling any persisting issues at this point and seemed like it was basically back to normal. I felt just like any other tourist in the area as I should.

Surgery Day -2
After I arrived in Spain I went to the hospital and got my blood work done. The receptionists at the front desk of the hospital knew some English and led me to the patient advocate who Dr. Downey had reached out to about my arrival ahead of time. I gave her my doctor’s orders and we went to the lab to draw blood. I had to pay out of pocket, but it was very cheap.

Later in the day I had a pre-op appointment with Dr. Downey at the children’s clinic that he’s affiliated with. The receptionists didn’t speak English but I spoke enough Spanish to let them know who I was looking for and to figure out which room I was supposed to go to when they replied. While I was waiting outside Dr. Downey’s office, I got a couple of stares as an adult with no children at a children's hospital. When I saw Dr. Downey he inspected my previous surgical incisions and tested my range of motion. Everything was good. Then he answered some of my questions while drafting some paperwork for me to take back and sign before the day of surgery.

I met the anesthesiologist as well, who spoke English though not as well as Dr Downey. He talked through the standard pre-op anesthesia stuff and was able to explain things fairly well, but prepared written documentation for me to read and sign as well. All of the documents I got were in Spanish but I was able to use text/image translation software to read it easily. After that I left the clinic and had no other plans before surgery except to chill and try the local food.

Surgery Day -1
I had to go to the hospital twice today. The first time was for my pre-op COVID test which came out negative. Can’t say I wasn’t nervous about it though. However, right after I left I got a message from Dr. Downey’s office saying that they wanted me to get a set of pre-op femur X-rays on the same day. Fortunately I had not wandered far from the hospital yet and I returned to get it done. It was through this that I saw the nice X-ray machine they had at the hospital. It’s not an EOS machine but it looks much newer than the one at the local hospital I got my X-rays done at in the states. The hospital didn’t look the newest from the outside, but seeing the new equipment inside made me feel more confident about the Spanish health system. I paid for both the COVID test and X-rays out of pocket, but again they were a fraction of what they would cost in the US. Later in the day Dr Downey confirmed that the X-rays looked good and didn’t anticipate any complications.

I was pretty nervous and excited and couldn’t really fall asleep very easily the night before surgery. My anxiety about surgery/anesthesia and fear of getting a fracture after the nails were out were all at the forefront of my mind. However, unlike the initial surgery where I was thinking whether or not it was even a good idea to begin with, this time I knew I had to get the nails out so one less thing to think about. Still, it didn’t stop me from having jitters. I eventually dozed off with four alarms set for the next day.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: thankscience on April 02, 2022, 11:50:52 AM
Good luck! Keep us updated  :D
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: Movie on April 04, 2022, 06:16:26 AM
Hahaha this is bringing back memories, dude the day I saw Dr. Downey for the day before-op appointment they had just gotten that XRAY machine you must've used, a day or two before, and they spent about 30 minutes trying to get it working for me to do my X Rays but couldn't LOL, so they used "the old machine" which looked still newer than the XRAY machine I'd be using in LA. Wish you a quick recovery !
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on April 06, 2022, 03:18:37 AM
Thanks Movie and thankscience! Overall I’m pretty happy going to Dr Downey to get my nails out and I’m recovering way faster than after the initial surgery. Here is a recount of the first few days after surgery:

Nail Removal Surgery Day (16.5 months after initial surgery)
By the morning of surgery I had been fasting for more than 12 hours so I was hungry and thirsty but had too much on my mind to care at all. I got dressed and grabbed all my signed paperwork, then took an Uber to the hospital. There was some rush hour traffic so I barely made it on time, but the hospital wasn’t busy so I got checked in quickly.

At reception no English speakers were available but I told them in Spanish that I was scheduled for surgery today with Dr. Downey and then they immediately knew who I was. A staff member led me upstairs to my room so I could drop off my things and wait. I was on my phone for a good hour or so before an orderly came in and told me to change into a hospital gown, then he wheeled me all across the hospital to the OR on a different floor. I saw Dr Downey and the anesthesiologist as well as other surgical staff and they installed an IV port on my hand for injections. I remembered feeling very cold and shivering as I scooted from my hospital bed to the OR table. Then the last thing I remembered was a brief conversation with Dr. Downey about which sites I visited in the city while the anesthesiologist put a sedative into the newly installed IV line.

I woke up in the recovery room feeling a bit groggy and tired enough to doze off if I closed my eyes. I felt like I had dreamed of someone working on my legs while I was out but I couldn’t exactly remember any details. I quickly reached down to check for a dreaded catheter and was relieved that I didn’t find one, however I did notice that my genitalia was 100% numb! My entire lower body was mostly numb as well so I figured I must have gotten spinal anesthesia. I tried to lift my body so I could check my back but didn’t have the strength to. The nurse must have noticed that I had awakened and told me that I had to stay in the recovery room a bit longer before returning to my hospital room. I was so groggy that I don’t remember if she said it in English or Spanish but either way I understood her meaning. I drifted in and out of consciousness for a bit.

Dr Downey stopped by as well at some point and told me overall the surgery went very well. I did have pretty strong bone growth covering the head of the screws so it took slightly longer to remove everything than expected. He also had to open my prior incisions more than their original size to chip away the excess bone. Everything was taken out except one piece of a bent screw. I’m not too concerned about half a screw in my bone since the lysis causing part of the nail is out and he told me that half a titanium screw won’t mess with any MRIs or metal detectors for me in the future. After the doctor left I passed out again until the orderly came by and wheeled me back to my hospital room.

Back in the room I was surprised that I was not hooked up to any sensors and the main IV fluid bag that was empty was removed. I did still have a bottle of something attached to my IV line, but the label was in Spanish so I’m not sure what was in it (antibiotics, antiinflamatories, painkillers?) The orderly just handed me my phone and said I could use it to call my familia (yeah right lol). He then asked if everything was okay and I said yes, so he left. Later on, some nurses stopped by to re-bandage my IV insertion point and make it more comfortable. They asked if I was in any pain. I must have been getting some kind of pain medication in my IV already because I wasn’t really feeling any. They said that I could eat in about two hours and to call them if I needed anything before then and then they left.

Later on, Dr Downey stopped by again before leaving the hospital for the day. He told me that I could move my legs freely and that I could sit up if I wanted to. I asked him about the lower body numbness but didn’t specify the part I was most concerned about (you know what) but he said it would take several hours before I had full sensation in my legs, and if my legs started hurting to call the nurses for extra pain medication. After he left it was quiet for a while. I tried to doze off, but it was the middle of the day so I wasn’t sleepy at all once the sedative wore off.

The internet at the hospital was pretty fast. I decided to browse the web on my phone for a bit. Boy was that a bad idea. Since my entire manhood was still numb, I stumbled upon this website (https://www.steadyhealth.com/topics/numbness-is-penis-lack-of-erection-difficult-ejaculation-after-hip-surgery (https://www.steadyhealth.com/topics/numbness-is-penis-lack-of-erection-difficult-ejaculation-after-hip-surgery)) talking about people whose penises lost sensation after hip or femur surgery. For most people it took a few weeks to recover, and for some people three months or longer! There were quite a few data points too. One person even permanently couldn’t get erections anymore after his orthopedic surgery. It seemed like the consensus was that their pudendal nerve was injured or compressed during the surgery and they would potentially need further surgery to fix the issue. Now reading that as a normal guy I would not have cared, but reading that as a guy with a 100% numb penis post-orthopedic surgery I was panicking. Maybe my pudendal nerve was damaged too? I was freaking out thinking about what I would do if I couldn’t use my dck for three whole months or if it became permanently numb!

Fortunately, my full penile numbness only lasted about 3 hours. By that point it was only about 50% numb and I started having the urge to pee as well. It seemed like the numbness would go away by the end of the day so I stopped worrying about it. Seriously though, it’s freaky having no sensation in the genitalia at all. If you don’t touch it, it doesn’t even feel like it exists! Anyway, I called a nurse over to help me pee and she said I wasn’t allowed to stand up yet and got me a bed urinal. I tried peeing for about 15 minutes but couldn’t get anything out.

Then, seeing as I was awake, an orderly stopped by with some food. I was famished since I hadn’t had any food for almost 24 hours. The nurse said I had to drink water first. The food provided was crackers, yogurt and some soft fruits. It wasn’t quite a meal but I didn’t want to stuff myself either if I wasn’t going to be able to stand up and use the bathroom. Overall, I didn’t feel bad at all in terms of nausea and appetite. Unlike the initial surgery, I didn’t get a big dose of general anesthesia making me feel sick afterwards. I guess it’s really true that taking the nails out is way easier than putting them in. After all, in the US this would be done as an outpatient procedure and you wouldn’t be staying in a hospital at all.

After eating, I tried to pee again and this time I got a left drops out. It wasn’t enough though and I was still feeling the urge to go without actually being able to go. It took another hour or so before I could finally empty my bladder. One thing I noticed that was different from the US was that the nurses don’t seem to check on you frequently here, or maybe my surgery was not intense enough to warrant the frequent nurse check-in. They would come quickly if I buzzed the help button though, so it wasn’t like I was being neglected. Only one of them spoke English though, but we got by with my rudimentary Spanish and some translation software.

At this point my legs kind of felt like they did after the first surgery, very heavy and stiff. I didn’t have much flexibility (though that might be from how they tightly bandaged my knee) or even the power to raise my legs much. Around 8pm they served me dinner with a chicken dish, some bread and soup, and a dessert. I ate it pretty quickly and didn’t think it would be enough, but ended up feeling full 15 minutes later. I guess my appetite was still partially suppressed by the surgery.

For the rest of the evening I just watched TV while laying on my back with a slightly elevated bed. I’m paranoid about DVT/PE as always, especially since I didn’t think I had a blood thinner so I did some weak leg lifts every so often to keep my blood circulating. My lower body numbness eventually went away 100% by late evening. I had some lingering persistent pain on my right side upper femur incision, and not on any of the other incisions. It was maybe a 2-3/10 level constant pain, but not enough for me to ask for any more painkillers than I was already getting. Later at night the nurses came by with a Valium pill to help me sleep. I popped it right away but couldn’t fall asleep. I’m sure I was still being affected by jet lag too. I eventually dozed off in the middle of the night.

Surgery Day +1
I had some weird dreams and woke up a few times throughout the night. After the third time I woke up it was dawn so I decided to just stay up. My legs were a bit stiff but surprisingly pretty much pain free. The IV on my hand was very annoying but I expected it to get taken out when I got discharged later in the day. I was checking my phone when the nurses came in with two breakfasts and set them on the table across the room. I told them that I couldn’t walk yet until the PT came by and they just said okay and left. While I was pondering how I was going to reach my food, they came back to wash me in bed, which was an awkward experience but necessary as I wasn’t exactly clean after using the bedpan so many times and I also still had crusted dry blood on my skin from surgery. While they were changing my bedsheets I had to turn and lay on each side briefly with some help from one of the nurses but it definitely hurt to put weight on my incisions. After that they set up a table over my bed and brought one of the breakfast trays over for me to eat. Unfortunately it did not taste very good so I didn’t bother with the second one. Aside from that the only other person who stopped by in the morning was a cleaning lady who mopped the floors and removed the food trays.

In the early afternoon I stayed in bed and watched some more TV while trying to nap a bit between episodes. My legs definitely felt much stronger than yesterday and I could bend my knees a bit more, even with the bandages, and could also lift my legs higher than the day before. Eventually I heard a knock on the door and Dr. Downey and a member of his PT staff showed up. Dr. Downey checked my incisions which had minimal bleeding, then left to write me some prescriptions and the discharge paperwork while I was doing PT. Apparently I was also supposed to get shot of blood thinner earlier but didn’t.

Now it was just the PT and me in my hospital room. First, she manipulated my legs while I was laying down to check my range of motion. Since things looked okay, we proceeded with the rest of the PT session. We did some sit-to-stand exercises, and once I was comfortable standing then we walked around in the room. I was surprised how easy things were compared to after the initial surgery. I guess having intact bones helps. After that I did some glute exercises and did a second lap walking around the room. Finally, we did some hip exercises and then a final lap walking around the room. After that she had me sit down on the bed with my legs dangling over the edge and she worked on my legs a bit more. After that she gave me a few more pointers and then left.

Dr. Downey came back and handed me some prescriptions to fill after I got discharged. He answered a few more questions that I had about weight bearing and recovery, and fortunately it sounded like it would only take about 2-3 months for me to fully recover. I would have to find a local orthopedic surgeon to get follow-up X-rays and certification for sports though. Then he said I could be discharged at 3pm if I felt like it. After he left, the nurse stopped by with my blood thinner shot and injected it straight into my stomach. There was no bleeding from the shot but the injection site hurt a bunch for about 15 minutes. As soon as the previous nurse left a staff member came by with my lunch. After eating lunch I had about an hour before discharge so I continued to watch TV and bide m my time. This time I was sitting up instead of laying down though.

Finally it was time to get discharged. I buzzed the nurses and they came to my room, bringing an afternoon snack while they were at it. They told me that they were still trying to get in contact with Dr Downey to see if I needed to bring my IV drip with me. I felt like it probably wasn’t doing anything at this point and the IV port was quite uncomfortable so I was hoping they could just take it off. The nurse who spoke English told me to wait one more hour and then she would let me know. The nurses then left me alone. Everything kind of worked out because during this hour I had severe stomach pain; much worse than anything I was feeling in my legs. Maybe it was the hospital food, but regardless of what I kept having to go #2. The first time failed and I couldn’t get anything out and because I had been sitting for so long I got super dizzy and nauseated when I stood up and nearly threw up into the toilet. The second time my stomach pain flared up I tried again and succeeded. Everything came out all at once in nearly pure liquid form.

After that I felt better about leaving the hospital. I started packing my things and the nurse came by with my discharge documentation and pointed out where the pharmacy was. Right when I finished packing my stomach started hurting and I desperately needed to go #2 yet again. This time it was pure liquid. I figured I should leave asap so I could get to the hotel in case I needed to use the restroom again. I left the hospital with my cane (so glad that I brought it) and walked to the pharmacy, which was only 30 meters away. On top of the painkillers and omeprazole that Dr. Downey prescribed, I also asked for something for the diarrhea.

After leaving the pharmacy I called an Uber but it was over 20 minutes away so I thought I’d just walk the three blocks to the hotel. I made it about 30m before my legs were exhausted and had to rush back into the hospital lobby so I could sit down and call another Uber. Even sitting down was tiring. By the time I took the short ride and walked from the car to my hotel room I was panting and nauseated and felt like I was about to collapse. I rushed into the bathroom and splashed some cold water on my face which made me feel better. I then immediately lay down in bed and checked the instructions for my medication. I took all the pills necessary and then passed out for about two hours.

I woke up after my nap feeling way better than earlier. Maybe the painkillers kicked in or I got some much needed rest. I was still tried and wanted to go back to sleep but I knew I needed some nourishment post surgery so I ordered takeout. I also wanted grocery delivery but apparently this hotel is in a dead zone for all of the apps that I tried, which is ridiculous considering how close I was to downtown. It looked like I would have to go outside myself if I wanted to stock up on food.

Once my delivery arrived I sat on a chair to eat dinner, which was more difficult than I imagined. Given the soreness of my butt it was almost as tiring and painful to stay seated as right after my initial surgery. After dinner I watched TV for a while and then took another painkiller and went to bed. I was able to sleep on either my stomach or back, but not on either side yet. My incisions hurt persistently when I put pressure on them and the underlying muscle was too sore to stay in that position.

Surgery Day +2
I woke up with massive morning wood so I can confirm that a certain important part of my body still works normally. I laid in bed and browsed the web for a bit. I was feeling zero pain in my incisions while laying on my back but still having a lot of trouble bending my knees. It’s hard to tell what’s causing the tightness in my knees, as I’m not sure if it’s because of stiff joints or the surgical incisions nearby or a combination of the two. While I was in bed I looked up nearby places that I could eat at, and there were a couple of options within four blocks. I wasn’t sure how far I could walk since I needed to Uber the three blocks from the hospital to the hotel yesterday, but I was feeling better so I was willing to try. I figured in the worst case scenario I could walk one way and then Uber back.

I got up to do my morning routine. The hotel has a giant wall of mirrors so I could see the massive penguin-like sway while I was trying to walk. My hip muscles must have been so weak that I was literally swinging 15 degrees to each side when lifting my legs to make a step. Hopefully this can be fixed in a week or so because I need to appear somewhat normal when I get home. I headed out to the closest restaurant, less than three blocks away. I brought my cane with me and only felt a little tired when I arrived. The walk took quite a while though as I was moving slowly and carefully. I don’t think I even needed the cane to walk, but it definitely made things easier. Unfortunately I arrived too early and the restaurant was closed. There was a gas station next door and I bought some drinks and snacks and walked back to the hotel. I noticed that there was also a grocery store on the way back as well, but it wasn’t open. When I got back to the hotel room my legs were very sore and my back hurt as well. I guess the tightness in my hips was causing my back muscles to overcompensate somehow.

I watched TV and ate my snacks while chatting with friends all afternoon. It made me realize just how much I’m looking forward to being normal again. It’s difficult to appreciate how good things can be when you’re just living a normal life until you know what it’s like being crippled, even if temporarily. Given all the people staring at me walking around like a penguin with a cane, I wouldn’t dare show my face like this in front of my friends.

By the evening I was feeling hungry since I had snacks instead of lunch so I decided to walk over to a further away restaurant. It was a bit further than the hospital, but I didn’t have any problems at all walking over. In fact, my back wasn’t even in pain either when I arrived this time. I ate at the restaurant to give my legs a break, then walked back to the hotel. I think I walked at least 25% faster than I did in the morning. I alternated between using the cane on my left and right side every 100m or so. When I got back to the hotel I was incredibly sore in the glutes and hip area and felt relieved laying down. I drank a bottle of water, took my meds, and once the painkillers kicked in I did some standing leg lifts to the side and back. After that I watched some more TV and fell asleep quickly.

Surgery Day +3
I actually set an alarm for this morning because I had a follow up at the doctor’s office and a PT session during the day. I didn’t know what time my appointment was because I had forgotten to email them until last night. Fortunately they replied in the morning and said I could show up anytime between 10am and 1pm. I headed over to the clinic and saw a different orthopedic surgeon since Dr Downey was out of town this week (which I was aware of when signing up for this specific surgery date).

In the doctor's office the surgeon cleaned my incision sites and replaced the bandages on my upper legs. There was still some dried blood left over from right after surgery, but otherwise no issues with the incisions from swelling. I was glad to hear this since I was supposed to ice my legs for the first two days after surgery but didn’t have access to any ice. Fortunately they weren’t too swollen since this could make my scars bigger. The doctor took off the padding covering my knees and lower thighs and inspected the incisions on my lower thighs as well. He said that these incisions didn’t bleed much at all and that the waterproof bandages didn’t even need to be replaced yet. With the padding removed I had more range of motion on my knees. Interestingly, my left knee had about 5-10 degrees more flexible than my right knee, which I’m not sure why. There was also a ton of bruising on my hamstrings. This would have scared me before, but it was actually much less than after my initial surgery so I didn’t even pay any attention to it.

At this point the surgeon said everything looked good and gave me some extra bandages. He said I could shower in a few more days and use these to replace the bandages on my upper femur incisions as the bandages were not waterproof. After that, I thought I was supposed to have PT, but when the surgeon called the PT, she said the appointment was for later in the afternoon. I decided to get some food and rest a bit before coming back for PT since I had a few hours. While walking outside waiting for my Uber I felt some random sharp pain in my upper left femur, but it went away after I sat down in the car.

I got dropped off at the restaurant nearest to my hotel. Turns out that it opens an hour later than listed on Google so once again I couldn’t eat there, but the nearby grocery store was open. I bought some food and drinks and returned to the hotel. I feel like my walk has improved already, with less sway than before. Also, the distance from the restaurant back to the hotel felt way shorter than it did the day before. All signs were pointing to continued improvement and getting better way faster than I did after the initial surgery. Overall I was feeling a lot less fragile than I thought I would be just a few days after surgery.

I didn’t want to show up to PT too tired so I just ate and rested in the hotel room until it was time for my appointment. I took an Uber to the PT facility, which was in a different clinic than the doctor’s office but in the same commercial development area. The PT facility was fairly large with its own reception staff and waiting room. The PT this time was not the same one that I worked with in the hospital a few days ago, but Dr. Downey had already mentioned her by name so it was easy to find her. We went into her office and I lay down on her PT table. First, she checked the location of my incisions, then started massaging my legs and doing some manual stretching to check try flexibility. So far, PT was pretty much what I expected, given my familiarity with it from doing four months of it after my first surgery.

After the table stretches it was time to do table exercises. I did various exercises working out my quadricep and hamstring strength and flexibility, then moved on to standing exercises. These were similar while holding onto something for balance. Next was a set of timed walks across the clinic. As the clinic was pretty big, walking across the first time took about 50 seconds. Then the PT pushed me to walk faster while maintaining my gait. I got the time down to 35 seconds after doing 6 laps in total. I also had to do some walking up and down a ramp sideways and the final exercise was walking up and down stairs, though with both feet on the same step before moving onto the next step. Overall, a very tiring session but it was a solid workout.

I left and called an Uber to the same restaurant since I was determined to eat there given two previous misses. I got a meal to go and brought it back to the hotel since it looked like it was about to rain. I set up my table and ate dinner, then sat in bed and watched a little TV. At some point I passed out from a combination of the food coma and tiredness in my legs. When I woke up it was almost midnight so I decided to try and go to sleep. I ate my meds, did my bedtime routine, and then lay down again. I couldn’t fall asleep though and was just laying in bed with my eyes wide open. I decided I should just switch back to US time and ended up stayed awake all night watching TV. I passed out just before dawn.

Surgery Day +4
I let myself wake up naturally in the early afternoon. I got out of bed and go ready for the day. I took a painkiller and drank some water. I thought about whether I should bring my cane with me or not when I went out for food. I noticed last night that my knee flexibility had greatly improved, especially on the right side. I thought it could possibly be because of PT since my knees were very tight after PT yesterday, but got better than before after a full night of rest. I ultimately decided to go with the cane since it has only been four days since surgery. I planned to try giving up the cane after my next PT session. I left the hotel and walked to the nearest restaurant because it was the coldest day of the week and I didn’t want to be outside for too long in a light jacket.

I ate at the restaurant, noticing that I still have a little back pain while sitting down. I think my tight glutes and/or hips are causing this. After eating, on my way back to the hotel I stopped by the grocery store again for some fruit and snacks. After I got back to the hotel I rested for a bit and spent some time reading. Later at night I did a full set of PT exercises which took over 30 minutes. I noticed that my incisions felt a bit more painful at night than they did during the day, but working out and keeping them moving helped with the pain afterwards. I cleaned myself up the best I could without showering, then took my pills and lay in bed. I watched mindless TV until I passed out very late at night.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on April 10, 2022, 09:44:34 PM
It looks like the forum cuts off my entries in mobile mode since they are too long. If you’re reading on mobile and it looks like any of my entries are cut off, just request the desktop version of the site in your browser.

Surgery Day +5
I woke up naturally in the early afternoon again. Looking back I probably could have worked remotely this week and saved a week of vacation to enjoy later on when my legs are fully healed, but it’s actually really nice not having to think about anything else while recovering from surgery. As usual I got ready and went out for food again. I debated if I wanted to bring my cane or not and this time I did not bring it with me. It’s crazy how much faster the body recovers after taking the nails out vs putting them in. I guess putting big metal nails inside your femurs is a very invasive procedure!

I think my penguin sway is now about 10 degrees to the left and 5 degrees to the right at this point, meaning my left hip/glute stabilizing muscles are slightly weaker than those on the right side. Unlike when I was walking with my cane, nobody stared at me on the street. While my gait wasn’t perfect it probably just looked like I had a limp or bad walking posture if observing closely and not like I was a full cripple or something. Most people weren't observing closely enough to notice anything. I ate at the restaurant slightly further away from the hotel and the walk felt way shorter than the first time I had walked over there.

After eating I walked back while focusing on my gait and enjoying the nice weather. At this rate I should be able to hit up one of the tourist spots that I missed before I leave. After I got back to the hotel I took the stairs up to my room and it wasn’t too difficult taking them but I noticed that I still sway significantly more going up and down stairs as opposed to walking on flat ground. I decided to rest for a bit and watch some TV and then do a full set of PT exercises. Everything felt pretty good and I was looking forward to showing the PT my progress the next day.

Later in the evening I took a “shower” again without getting any of my surgical incisions wet and then lay in bed with my phone watching YouTube and other stuff for a while. I actually got hungry late at night for the first time since surgery. I think it’s a good sign that my appetite is back and the snacks I stocked up on came to use. One thing I noticed tonight was that if I kept my legs straight for a while, bending my knees for the first time after that would hurt a bit and if I kept my knees bent for a while then straightening my legs for the first time would hurt for a bit as well. It’s definitely an issue with stiffness near the knee incisions but I don’t know if there is anything I can do about it aside from resting. I laid in bed and eventually passed out.

Surgery Day +6
I woke up to a message from the PT saying that her prior client had cancelled so I could come early if I wanted to. Since I was awake anyway I got up quickly, got ready, ate a snack, and headed out.

During today’s PT session I started with a legit massage, 30 minutes on the legs, which was really nice since everything had been feeling so tight since surgery. After that I did a few walking exercises and a speed walk down the hall and back. It took under a minute, which the PT said was about as fast as a normal person could power walk. Then we recorded a gait video to send to the doctor. She said that my gait looked pretty normal to her, though I could still see a bit of a swing to the left. I’m obviously very sensitive to this kind of thing so I may be nitpicking myself. Nevertheless, I’ve improved greatly since day 1 and I'm still improving every day. I believe I still have some hope for walking completely normally by the time I return to the states.

After the waking exercises we did some sitting exercises and she checked my ability going up and down the stairs. Everything looked great, so she gave me a "pass" for PT. Then when I was leaving, the receptionist said that I had to pay for a whole bunch of stuff, including PT, the pre-op anesthesiologist visit, and the follow up visit after surgery. The last one must have been because it was a different doctor than Dr. Downey. The PT visits cost about the same as they would in the US and the doctor visits were about what a specialist copay would cost in the US. I guess the surgical quote from Dr. Downey didn’t specifically include any of these, but regardless the total cost is still a fraction of what I would have paid in the US, and I would likely have gotten some surprise billing in the US too.

After that was sorted out I left the PT clinic. Technically at this point the doctor would have allowed me to fly home, though since I already had the time off I planned to stay for a few more days before leaving. I think there must have been some kind of local event, but it was really hard to get an Uber and traffic looked congested all over the city in the afternoon. I ate at the restaurant nearby the hotel and then picked up some snacks at the grocery store. Suddenly I had to rush back to the hotel to use the restroom.

Back at the hotel I realized I should not have taken any antidiarrheal medication after surgery because I had been constipated for days and just realized it when I had to go #2. On another note I saw that I had a confirmed business class upgrade on my return flight to the US, which put me in a good mood. Given how uncomfortable sitting down remains for me, having a lay down seat will be much better. I picked a center aisle seat so I could get up whenever I wanted to and wouldn’t have to get up to let anyone else out. I planned to try and go to sleep a little earlier since I wanted to visit some tourist spots the next day. I booked a ticket with a specific entry time at a popular destination to force myself to get up somewhat early. I watched TV in bed for a while and eventually fell asleep.

Surgery Day +7
I woke up to my alarm and fell asleep again. When I woke up naturally it was almost time for my tour to start so I had to get ready quickly and rush out. I didn’t have time to eat so I took a taxi to the city center and started doing my tourist stuff. I think my legs were actually weaker than yesterday, but most people didn’t look at me weird. I spent over two hours walking around stopping to sit down a few times when I had the opportunity. Honestly it didn’t really help to sit since my legs would feel very stiff after sitting with my knees bent for some time. My glutes were also very sore the whole afternoon and evening.

I ate at a restaurant with outdoor seating and local food. The weather had been perfect all day and I felt like this was the perfect send-off to my time spent in this country. After dinner I called a cab and went back to the hotel to figure out my remaining travel itinerary. I would have to get up a little earlier than I did today but everything should go pretty smoothly as long as I pass my COVID test tomorrow. I watched some more TV, finished the remaining snacks in my hotel room, and then took a real shower for the first time.

I’m really glad that I showered because while I was replacing the bandages near my hip incision I noticed that I had a bedsore or some kind of open wound on one side. It might have been related to the position of the previous bandage. I used an extra bandage and covered the open sore by itself. I also sent an email to Dr. Downey’s office to confirm that it wasn’t anything else. The incisions themselves looked fine and were still healing. The incisions are definitely bigger than before, but I’m not sure there’s much I could do about that. Overall, at this point I thought that my recovery was still going well. I passed out shortly after going to bed.

Surgery Day +8
I woke up to my alarm and checked my email. Dr. Downey confirmed that it was a regular sore and told me to disinfect and bandage it. At this point if I’m more concerned I’ll just stop by a clinic in the states to get it looked at. I did my morning routine and then packed my luggage. I was packed pretty light given the length of the trip but still brought more clothes than needed. I debated if I should even bring my cane back to the states since I don’t think I’ll ever need it again. I ended up tossing it in the trash as a sign of confidence in my recovery. I called an Uber and headed to the airport.

I went through security without setting off the metal detector (which used to go off sometimes) and then found a place to eat lunch. After eating I headed to the counter to talk with airline staff because I was reassigned a window seat from an aisle seat. I wanted to tell them that I was at risk of a blood clot after orthopedic surgery but somehow no one spoke English. The airport here is really bare-bones too but at least the chairs by the gate were somewhat comfortable. I was walking with some penguin gait through the airport, but overall I feel like I was in a much better position now than during my first flight back home after initial surgery. However, I was on Xarelto back then so not as worried about a blood clot. Thinking about that reminded me that I still had some ibuprofen on hand, so I took a pill before boarding the flight.

After boarding the plane I wanted to ask a flight attendant about getting an aisle seat, but there was no one in the seat next to me so I decided to stay. I watched TV the whole time and just tried to move my legs constantly in the background. I did pretty much all of the PT exercises given the limited space I had. It was tiring for me to fly, but I think that would have been the case even with no surgery. Eventually I arrived at the city from where I would be flying back to the US the next day. Before leaving the airport I got a COVID test which came out negative. After that I was originally going to go directly to the hotel but it was still early so I took the subway into the city to go shopping.

I returned to the hotel near the airport and dropped my stuff off. Since there didn’t appear to be any delivery services available at the hotel I ventured out to look for food, and the restaurant next to the hotel seemed acceptable. There was also a grocery store nearby, where I stopped by after dinner to pick up a snack for the flight tomorrow. Then I returned to the hotel and prepared everything so I could leave quickly. Before going to bed I checked my sore and it looks like it actually dried or crusted already. I had some liquid alcohol gel from the hotel which I applied to the area and then rebandaged it. At this point I’m not too concerned about it overall. After that, I lay in bed on my phone until I passed out.

Surgery Day +9
The next morning I got up early so I could eat breakfast and run some errands at the airport before my flight. I didn’t know how to get from the hotel to the airport but there was a taxi outside. He ripped me off by €5 but I didn’t even care anymore; I just wanted to go home lol. Everything went smoothly at the airport and I got everything done and arrived at the gate right shortly before it was my turn to board.

Having walked around for a few hours in the morning I felt like I had improved greatly compared to the prior day. From yesterday to today was definitely the biggest single day improvement since the nail removal surgery. Movie also mentioned that his gait returned to normal about a week and a half after surgery. I would say I felt like I was at about 85-90% at this point and compared to yesterday I felt much less stiff in both the near hip and near knee incisions right after getting up from either a sitting or laying down position.

I got on the plane like a normal person. It’s funny to think that I was considering getting wheelchair service for this flight a week ago. I had a lay flat aisle seat, so I was much less concerned about being cramped for space or not being able to stand up and walk around than my flight the day before. I slept about 1/3 of the flight and stayed up for the remainder since it was a daytime flight. I watched some TV shows that I had downloaded on my phone and got up a few times to walk around and use the bathroom. Generally, I was able to move my legs around and do exercises even when laying down, so getting up to walk wasn’t even as important as it would be if I was stuck in economy. After stretching and doing leg exercises I could get up and walk around with minimal stiffness.

Before I knew it the flight landed and I didn’t feel weak at all walking around the arrival airport. I went through customs without a hitch and called an Uber to take me home. Although my legs were more than strong enough to take the subway I wasn’t really in the mood. After I got home I started catching up on all the stuff I left behind in the states when I flew out of the country for the nail removal procedure. Seeing my giant to-do list made me snap back to reality and mentally I instantly left the surgery recovery bubble that I created for myself in the last two weeks.

I would say at this point I’m feeling great. While my legs are not yet back to 100% of their pre-nail removal level, I’m confident that I’ll get there in a few days at most so I’m going to end my daily nail removal updates here. It doesn’t seem like the forum is very active now so I doubt many people are reading this anyway. I might come back at some point to give a final update when I’m feeling back to 100% but if this is my last update then I want to end it on a good note.

I’m pretty happy with getting CLL overall. While it was frustrating at times the process has made me appreciate my life a lot more and helped me discover some other important goals that I want to achieve, which may even be worth more to me than the height gain itself. Of course I wouldn’t take back those three inches either as I’ve already incorporated them as part of my identity, and the height itself gives me greater mental fortitude and confidence in pursuing my goals.

Again, I wish everyone here the best of luck on their height seeking journey. Please remember that any type of surgery poses risks and to be careful with your one and only body. I hope that everyone here ends up satisfied with whichever path they choose in this journey.

Until next time,
BelowTheMean
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: Movie on April 11, 2022, 10:35:12 PM
Happy to hear you made it back home safe BTM ! PM me a means to stay in touch with you once in a while, since I'm not on the forum either bro!
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: StrydeNailChallenge on April 24, 2022, 12:44:30 AM
Hi BelowTheMean,
Just got a chance to check this forum after months.
I am glad you are doing well.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: LandmarkPen on April 24, 2022, 07:02:48 PM
BelowTheMean

You went to Spain alone and checked into the hospital. they must have asked your for your passport as identity proof during check-in. So before you were knocked out did you leave your phone wallet passport at the hospital for them to keep it safely for you while you lost consiousness?

what would you do if they had lost your items upon your awakening?
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on May 06, 2022, 09:07:40 PM
As always, great to hear from you guys, Movie and SNC!

Quote from: LandmarkPen on April 24, 2022, 07:02:48 PM
BelowTheMean

You went to Spain alone and checked into the hospital. they must have asked your for your passport as identity proof during check-in. So before you were knocked out did you leave your phone wallet passport at the hospital for them to keep it safely for you while you lost consiousness?

what would you do if they had lost your items upon your awakening?
SpeedDialer's alt..? Why are you worried about this? Have you never traveled before? Maybe try doing a regular vacation abroad before you do international CLL. I just put my stuff in the hospital room after checking in and before surgery, and then after surgery they wheeled me into that same room. How would I lose my stuff?

--------------------------------------------------------

As for an actual update I don't really have anything to update right now. A month after nail removal and it doesn't even feel like I ever did CLL anymore. However, I'm also pretty sedentary right now and can only walk around. I suppose my legs don't feel weak at all but I know I still have some empty screw holes in my femurs. The two guys on here (that I'm aware of) who fractured their legs after nail removal both did so while stretching so I'm always paranoid while stretching. I haven't tried anything athletic yet, but once I do I'll come back and update you guys. I don't expect to recover 100% athletically, but I do hope that someday I will be able to do everything that I still want to do physically.

On a social note I met a few more people who I haven't seen since the pandemic started and none of them showed any signs of realizing that I grew taller, although one of them tried to set me up with her friend (who everyone knows is a height queen) so I'll take that as a subtle sign of success lol. I think because I timed the entire process during the pandemic and because I look and act completely normal hanging out with other people, no one can even conceive of the notion that I broke my legs to grow taller. If I was limping around hanging out with my friends I think there would be a lot more people who were suspicious, even if I had a good cover story.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: informationispower on May 06, 2022, 09:34:32 PM
I actually find it weird that so few noticed such a great increase. 8cm is a lot (atleast, I think it is). And you went from somewhat shortish to a hair above  average. Maybe people notice but don't say anything as the vast majority don't know of the possibility to grow after puberty.

Anyway it is nice to see everything is going smoothly for you.

Take care
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on May 29, 2022, 05:04:05 AM
Quote from: informationispower on May 06, 2022, 09:34:32 PM
I actually find it weird that so few noticed such a great increase. 8cm is a lot (atleast, I think it is). And you went from somewhat shortish to a hair above  average. Maybe people notice but don't say anything as the vast majority don't know of the possibility to grow after puberty.

Anyway it is nice to see everything is going smoothly for you.

Take care

It's a lot, but it also isn't. Most people don't know about CLL or can't imagine that you did CLL and they also know that adults can't grow, so they just experience major cognitive dissonance and you can even see the gears in their head turning when they see you taller. You'll be gaslighting them without saying a single word. Of course, that's just the people that know you well; those who don't know you well aren't going to remember how tall you were whatsoever.

Here are some more recent social encounters:
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: user9999999 on May 29, 2022, 02:54:16 PM
Quote from: BelowTheMean on May 29, 2022, 05:04:05 AM
It's a lot, but it also isn't. Most people don't know about CLL or can't imagine that you did CLL and they also know that adults can't grow, so they just experience major cognitive dissonance and you can even see the gears in their head turning when they see you taller. You'll be gaslighting them without saying a single word. Of course, that's just the people that know you well; those who don't know you well aren't going to remember how tall you were whatsoever.

Here are some more recent social encounters:
  • Met friends of my parents who have known me since I was a child. One of them kept saying that I looked skinnier than before and that I was staying in great shape for my age.
  • Met a relative for the first time in a while and he actually called me out on it. I just gave him a blank look and said that I haven't grown since college and he dropped the subject after that.
  • Met a short female friend for the first time in 2 or 3 years and I actually don't remember how tall she was and she definitely didn't remember how tall I was either.
  • Was at a party and there was a guy around my starting height who was talking to the same hot girl as me. I thought both of us would have had about the same chance of getting her but he just randomly gave up and left her with me. Probably grasping at straws here, but I wonder if he would have tried harder if we were the same height.
  • At a social event, randomly ran into a girl who rejected me for being short 4-5 years ago. She said I was looking good and checked to make sure we still have each other's numbers. She clearly doesn't even remember how tall I was before.
Sounds like things are going well for you. Happy for you bro
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on June 10, 2022, 10:52:33 PM
Quote from: user9999999 on May 29, 2022, 02:54:16 PM
Sounds like things are going well for you. Happy for you bro
Yes, life is great!

Nail Removal Surgery +2 Months

Hey everyone, I'm back will a full update! This one will have some information on scar removal for those interested!

Walking: No issues, 100%. Not even worth talking about.

Running: I have only run briefly a few times to catch the train or rush across the street, but nothing like distance running on a track or treadmill yet. I was thinking about waiting it out but decided it would be better to find an orthopedic surgeon and get X-rays and have him clear me for sports. I really don't feel like explaining why I did CLL to yet another doctor and I'll have to pay for the consult and X-ray but if I can get a definitive date for when I can resume sports it would be worth it. I'm not sure if I will still have leg pain when running but I won't be able to find out until I try running fast.

Weight Lifting: My upper body is more or less back to peak physique and I'm very happy about that. I haven't been doing any squats or deadlift yet though (even with zero weight). Like running, I want to take it easy because the doctor said my screw holes could take up to 6 months to fill after nail removal (though most peoples fill in way sooner than that). Once I get that X-ray I will know if I can squat or not yet yet.

Cardio: Because I haven't been running I haven't really been able to push my cardio levels to the limit. I can get my heart rate pretty high though walking uphill at a brisk pace on the treadmill or using the elliptical. I think I might still have some issues with my heart rate, but I will give myself a bit more time to recover before I start worrying about it.

Sports: No sports yet. I've had friends invite me to play tennis and I had to decline because I wasn't sure if I could sprint and change directions quickly without looking goofy yet.

Nerve Issues: My shins have full sensation now, but they still are a little more tingly than they should be when I touch them. Even if it stays like this I don't mind, but I feel like it should recover back to normal.

Lower Body Physique: My butt is decent right now, but I think it could be better. I've been doing more butt exercises lately, but I think it will fill in completely when I can squat again. My legs look great otherwise as they've returned to pre-surgery thickness even though I haven't squatted or deadlifted in months. My calves never atrophied even while lengthening.

Dating: I'm completely comfortably with my new height in dating now. I don't give a crap about height in dating at all. Of course, it helps that I'm taller than almost all girls now, but recently I went out with a 5'9" girl who was taller than me in heels and I just didn't care. Does being average height help me in dating? I don't actually think so; LL just removed the penalty from being short. I have never had problems getting girls anyway, my problem was getting past the perceived height hurdle in my head, which LL was able to address perfectly. Now when a girl asks me how tall I am on a dating app, instead of being triggered I just take it as a sign that she's interested enough in me to actually care what my height is. I've got some pretty good responses for this now (without even saying how tall I am) and in fact almost all of the girls that asked this question have actually agreed to meet me in person ;)

Social: I met a few more people for the first time since LL who knew my original height but nothing interesting to report. No one noticed, even the ones who I surpassed in height. I'm not worried at all about people noticing the change in height because so few people have. Once my scars are faded I won't even be worried when I'm wearing a swimsuit.

Scars: I've seen people on the forum asking about scar treatments recently so hopefully this is helpful. I got a consult from a dermatologist in a skin and cosmetic surgery practice about 2-3 weeks after my nail removal surgery. She said that it was great that I reached out so soon after surgery because it's actually easier to fix a scar that's currently forming than a scar that's already been around for a while. At the consult she gave me injections of some sort (steroids?) into each lumpy part of every scar, so I got poked about 20 times by a small needle which kind of hurt. The injections were $150 and the consult was $200. I also bought a bottle of silicone gel to use as a topical scar cream and scheduled a followup to do laser treatments. The next day I noticed that some of my scars were already smoother. I forgot about it until a month or so later when I went in for my second appointment and at that point noticed that all of my scars were less bumpy and two of them were actually very smooth. She did a second round of the same injections and then I got two types of laser treatment. The first was the ExcelV laser which cost $350/session and is supposed to fade the color from the scar. The second was the Fraxel laser, which cost $500/session and can actually reduce the scar itself. The ExcelV laser did not hurt at all, but for the Fraxel laser they had to apply Lidocaine as a topical anesthetic first. Even with my skin numb, the Fraxel laser hurt like hell on my legs and the doctor went over each scar 2-3 times with a few minutes in between. After the lasers I noticed that my scars were super red, like they were sunburnt. The doctor gave me a cream to apply over the scars twice daily and told me that the redness would go away in 7-10 days, but the full effect on my scars wouldn't be seen for a good 1-3 months. She also said that I should come back for another round of the ExcelV laser in about a month. In total, I anticipate that my scar treatments will cost about $1800 in total, which is nothing compared to LL. However, I probably won't be able to say what the final scars will look like for a long time.

Final Thoughts: I plan to stick around for at least another month or two. I will check back in after my X-ray and final laser scar treatment to let you guys know how things are going. Maybe I'll even stay until I hit the 9:00 mile mark and am comfortable squatting. I really don't have much interest chatting about LL or height anymore; I just want to finish this journal to leave a complete record for any future lengtheners to refer to and I'm basically ready to move on.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: informationispower on June 11, 2022, 12:09:06 AM
"Does being average height help me in dating? I don't actually think so; LL just removed the penalty from being short"

I dont understand the phrase. When you say penalty you mean the percieved penalty YOU thought you had with regards to height?
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: motoboarder on June 11, 2022, 01:36:41 AM
I think he meant LL didn't necessarily help him get more girls. However, it cures his height neurosis when it comes to dating game.

@Op: Why did you wait more than 1y to get the nail removed? If I remember correctly, there was 1 patient of Dr. Debiparshad on this forum also lengthen femur ~8cm, removed his nail after exactly 1y and snapped his femur. Bad enough it happened to him when he was back home in Canada (again if I remember correctly). So did you wait longer than 1y to ensure sufficient bone healing?
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on July 10, 2022, 09:54:53 PM
Quote from: informationispower on June 11, 2022, 12:09:06 AM
"Does being average height help me in dating? I don't actually think so; LL just removed the penalty from being short"

I dont understand the phrase. When you say penalty you mean the percieved penalty YOU thought you had with regards to height?
What I'm trying to say is that I don't think being taller helps as much we want to believe it does when we go through with this. Since I've been at my current height I don't feel like I've actually met any girls with a strict height requirement, but maybe it's because I'm just tall enough now not to trigger that topic. However, no girls have called me tall or anything like that, so I don't think I have an advantage from height, I'm just not crapped on for being short. I'm also more acutely aware of short guys with girls walking around in the street and it reminds me that height isn't everything. I suppose you could say that after LL it's not immediately apparent that height helps with dating even if we believe it does. However, with that said, I'd still rather be my current height any day versus my original height, and I don't regret doing LL even one tiny bit.

Quote from: motoboarder on June 11, 2022, 01:36:41 AM
I think he meant LL didn't necessarily help him get more girls. However, it cures his height neurosis when it comes to dating game.

@Op: Why did you wait more than 1y to get the nail removed? If I remember correctly, there was 1 patient of Dr. Debiparshad on this forum also lengthen femur ~8cm, removed his nail after exactly 1y and snapped his femur. Bad enough it happened to him when he was back home in Canada (again if I remember correctly). So did you wait longer than 1y to ensure sufficient bone healing?
I removed my nails when it was convenient for me. I mentioned in my journal that I leaned on the later side so my bone would be stronger rather than weaker, especially since I didn't have any lysis issues from the Stryde nail.

Nail Removal Surgery +3 Months

Bone Strength: I was too impatient to keep waiting for the conservative 6-month mark to resume sports, so I booked an appointment with a local orthopedic surgeon (trauma specialist) to get X-rays. He was surprisingly not judgmental at all about me having done CLL. On the X-ray I could clearly see the half of a screw (probably a good 2cm long) left in one of my femurs above the knee. I'm not too concerned about it since it doesn't set off metal detectors. I guess it's the remaining evidence from my procedure that I'll never be able to get rid of. The remaining screw holes were almost, but not entirely filled out. The surgeon said he didn't see any problem at all with me returning to sports, but to start off easy because my muscles were probably weak, having not been exercising my legs for a few months.

Weight Lifting: I've started doing squats and deadlifts again with weights. I'm also doing other leg exercises and overall I'm much weaker than before. I've only gotten in 3 leg days since I was cleared to resume weight lifting, but my estimated 1RM right now is only about 40% of my historical 1RM on both squat and deadlift. It is going up quite fast though, and I expect after a few weeks or months of heavy leg workouts I can get fairly strong again.

Running: I have not started timing my runs yet, but I have been jogging occasionally when I'm outside. I need to record a video of myself running on the treadmill because I'm a bit afraid that it might look awkward when I run. The pain that I felt when I ran with the nails still in was 100% because of the nails. I don't feel any of that pain now when I run, so I'm very happy to say that it was not an issue with my body, but the nails inside.

Cardio: Since I haven't started doing timed runs on the treadmill I don't have any new data here. I noticed that doing fast uphill walks on the treadmill still gets my heart rate up pretty quickly. I'm not sure how to recover from the high heart rate issue at this point, but I think once I start doing timed runs hopefully I will be able to quantify it better at least.

Sports: I have not done any impact sports yet. Maybe I'll try playing some tennis once I'm confident my run looks good.

Nerve Issues: No noticeable changes.

Lower Body Physique: Looks normal now, but once I can increase the weight on squats and deadlifts I think any problems I have here will be solved.

Dating: I'm 100% back to my old self in the dating game (with the addition of more height). I've even hooked up with some 5'9"-5'10" girls recently and none of them said a thing about my height. I haven't encountered any girls calling me short lately, and I haven't even met any height queens, just a few girls who said they would only date guys taller than them. I can't say for sure if being taller has helped with any individual girls, but I do believe it has expanded my dating pool (which is not something easy to measure). I haven't gotten a single comment from any girl about my scars, even though they are still very obvious due to the color.

Social: Since LL I think I've met all of my extended family and old friends now, except for a few living outside of the country. I think I can conclude now that I got away with not telling a single person that I did this. I don't think anyone suspects me, especially now that I've completely recovered. If you do this, don't tell anyone. Apparently it's pretty easy to get away with because no one will remember your height in enough detail to confidently say that you grew taller in your 30s and call you out on it. They'll just think that they remembered incorrectly.

Scars: I saw the dermatologist one more time to get another round of ExcelV laser treatment (the one that removes color). This time she turned up the intensity so it hurt a little, but not quite as much as an injection. I think she has been doing a really good job because all my scars now have the same texture as the surrounding skin, the only difference is the color, which should fade over time. For me it has definitely been worth it to pay for laser treatment, even if only to make the healing process faster.

Final Thoughts: I've got about one more journal entry left in me before leaving this forum for good. I feel like my journal is complete enough already. I just want to hit that 9:00 mile goal that I mentioned in my first post so I can say I hit all my recovery goals and then peace out. If you have any questions, it's your last chance to ask! Overall, I'm 100% happy that I did CLL, no regrets at all. If you have the time and money to do internals and have a pretty good life outside of your height yet feel the need to be taller, then I would say just do it. Just be prepared that it might take 1.5-2 years per segment to fully recover. If you have other issues with your life outside of height, it might be more cost effective to fix those first.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: mtaker on July 12, 2022, 05:26:07 PM
Thanks a lot for your diary! A good amount of deep thoughts in it  ;)


You talked about not having your height neurosys anymore. However, for long time you (we) have built your personality in this dysforia, between many other things. Do you think that now your mind is focusing in another kind of personal complex? Such as skin colour, tone of voice, amount of hair…

My fear is that after “solving this problem” I wont be satisfied because any other complex, or find psicological excuses to everydays matters throw it.

Thanks in advanced! Kind regards
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on September 19, 2022, 05:49:18 AM
Quote from: mtaker on July 12, 2022, 05:26:07 PM
Thanks a lot for your diary! A good amount of deep thoughts in it  ;)


You talked about not having your height neurosys anymore. However, for long time you (we) have built your personality in this dysforia, between many other things. Do you think that now your mind is focusing in another kind of personal complex? Such as skin colour, tone of voice, amount of hair…

My fear is that after “solving this problem” I wont be satisfied because any other complex, or find psicological excuses to everydays matters throw it.

Thanks in advanced! Kind regards

Hi mtaker,

I think it's impossible for anyone to feel like they're perfect, so yes, even after LL there are still things that I want to change about myself. However, I don't have the same burning intensity for anything else in my mind as I did for height. So yes, it certainly can't cure all your psychological issues with your body, but it's one giant step toward being more satisfied with yourself. Ultimately I spent over $90K on everything associated with the surgery and a lot of time that I could have been out enjoying life but I still think it was definitely worth it.

------------------------------------------------------------
Btw, two comments about this journal:
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: Dirona on September 19, 2022, 06:07:32 PM
Hey BTM..Do you think Dr Debiparshad has a lot of tech workers as his patients as he is claiming in that GQ article?
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: lessthanavg8300 on September 25, 2022, 01:17:53 AM
Were pretty similar in that Im a tad over 5'7 and will end about your height.  I have surgery in January (Betz) and I'm really interested in your scars.  Any chance you could post pics?  I know its a pain but it would be a huge help.  And you detailing your treatment is already super helpful. Thank you.

Also what do you think about tattooing the scars?  Normally I wouldnt like this idea but the idea you can go in and have them gone in a day is appealing rather than waiting years.  Might look weird with sun though.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on October 20, 2022, 04:23:21 PM
Hey Everyone,

I haven't been thinking that much about LL recently so I haven't been on the forum much. I will try to find time to write an update when I get a chance. In the meantime I'll answer some questions here.

Quote from: Realistic on September 19, 2022, 06:07:32 PM
Hey BTM..Do you think Dr Debiparshad has a lot of tech workers as his patients as he is claiming in that GQ article?
Yes, I fully believe that. Just based on this forum you should know that there are a lot of tech workers with more money than height doing LL in the first place.

Quote from: lessthanavg8300 on September 25, 2022, 01:17:53 AM
Were pretty similar in that Im a tad over 5'7 and will end about your height.  I have surgery in January (Betz) and I'm really interested in your scars.  Any chance you could post pics?  I know its a pain but it would be a huge help.  And you detailing your treatment is already super helpful. Thank you.

Also what do you think about tattooing the scars?  Normally I wouldnt like this idea but the idea you can go in and have them gone in a day is appealing rather than waiting years.  Might look weird with sun though.
Regarding posting scar pics: No, absolutely not. Regarding tattoos I don't have any so I think it would look weird if I had them just on the scars. The ones around my knees are the only ones I'm concerned about anyway. While I'm kind of nervous about them, none of the girls I've met so far have cared yet. I just tell them it's from a sports injury.

Quote from: chosenundead on October 05, 2022, 04:04:57 PM
I wanted to follow up with two more questions, if you don't mind. In your reply, you said:

"And I've noticed some circumstantial evidence that the physical aspect of the change is causing some differences in how I'm being perceived."
 I'm curious if you could elaborate a little bit more on the circumstantial evidence here. (I think in your diary you mentioned that you were speaking/flirting with a woman at a party with another man present, that he eventually left, and the question crossed your mind how much your present height may have had to do with that- perhaps this was part of that?)

Secondly, do you think that this feeling of improved comfort in your own skin has improved your confidence in interpersonal interactions unrelated to the dating sphere? I know you said that there were never any issues in e.g. the workplace or in platonic friendships with your height, but I'm curious about, for you, what this improved comfort & confidence has meant to you day-to-day.

Feel free to copy and paste these answers into your diary thread if you like, if you'd rather 'get more mileage' out of the time you spend on this forum -- to which you've already given many hours of your time. Thanks again for your contributions to this community.
Really, to both your questions I think it's the small and novel things that you notice that make a lot of the difference, whether it's internal or external. Things such as girls going on their tiptoes to kiss you, more people moving out of the way when you are walking toward each other on the sidewalk, etc. I don't really have specific things to point out anymore since it's been a while and I don't think of my height as my "new height". I've already totally adjusted to it and I can't even imagine being 3 inches shorter anymore.

Anecdotally I'm still reminded about height as a concept often. Recently I was having dinner with some acquaintances and one of the guys was single and pretty cool and the girls kept saying they would set him up with their friends. Then after we all got up to leave I saw that he was about 5'6". I texted one of the girls later out of curiosity to see if she actually introduced him to anyone and she told me something along the lines of "No. He's a good guy, but as soon as he stood up I knew none of my friends would ever consider dating him."

Another girl (around 5'4") who I hooked up with recently said I was barely tall enough to date her. She said she has a friend around her height that doesn't date any guys under 6'1" and preferred 6'3"+ guys. She then said that she herself was more "generous" on the height of the guys she dates. I would feel bad about it but I'm guessing pre-LL this girl wouldn't even look at me. Plus after LL I just don't care what girls things about my height anymore. It's like someone complaining about how their life sucks because of some mundane issue to a veteran who lost an eye in combat.

Recently I went out partying with a 190cm (6'3") and a 198cm (6'6") guy and saw quite a few girls throwing themselves at these guys. The 190 guy is pretty good looking but the 198 one doesn't even have an attractive face. It was interesting seeing the 190 guy feel short and looking up to the 198cm guy though.. I guess feeling tall or short is definitely a relative thing as Dr. Paley talks about in his interviews! At the club we visited over 60% of the guys were 6'+. Admittedly I was wearing lifts (knowing that I was going to be hanging out with these guys) and I was still below average height in there. All I can say is just don't visit these types of places. I don't feel short at all when I'm with the general public, which is what counts I guess. It's not like I'm out trying to pick up girls in the club every night lol
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: informationispower on October 20, 2022, 04:44:48 PM
Americans are really height fetishists I must say. Even though height is considered an attractive trait globally, thr stories from the U.S are like a different planet when it comes to height cutoffs
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: lessthanavg8300 on October 20, 2022, 04:48:53 PM
Fair enough and good reasons for no pics.  Do you get embarrassed being around family knowing you had this procedure or have they just kind of accepted it?  Glad you're in a better mental spot after the process.  I understand how being short just seems like a distant memory.  Looking forward to getting there myself.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: lessthanavg8300 on October 20, 2022, 04:54:41 PM
Thats because many American women are extremely materialistic and clout competitive.  It really comes from nonstop advertising and media indulgence and they get into competition with their girlfriends.  The height preferences does comes from some natural preference, but its increasingly more to do with impressing people....because they have been told that impresses people.  These are also the same women that will leave you when you lose your job though.  Any women who treats you like a piece of jewlery to show around is not going to be loyal down the road.  So after LL I will still be avoiding the height centric women like the plague.  Its reasonable for women to have a height preference, but the "only 6ft and over" girls are the ones you actually want to avoid if you want to be happy with someone in the end.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: informationispower on October 20, 2022, 05:00:06 PM
Quote from: lessthanavg8300 on October 20, 2022, 04:54:41 PM
Thats because many American women are extremely materialistic and clout competitive.  It really comes from nonstop advertising and media indulgence and they get into competition with their girlfriends.  The height preferences does comes from some natural preference, but its increasingly more to do with impressing people....because they have been told that impresses people.  These are also the same women that will leave you when you lose your job though.  Any women who treats you like a piece of jewlery to show around is not going to be loyal down the road.  So after LL I will still be avoiding the height centric women like the plague.  Its reasonable for women to have a height preference, but the "only 6ft and over" girls are the ones you actually want to avoid if you want to be happy with someone in the end.

I live in a European country with an average height of 176 177 !)and I dont know of any 175cm guy and up who thinks he struggles because of his height. Neither many women say they only date 183cm and up.
You americans are really fked up
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on December 06, 2022, 09:19:43 PM
Yes, I agree with the posts above. Certain American girls can be very obsessed with height, and not just from mainstream culture. It's something you just have to deal with.

Nail Removal Surgery +8 Months

It's been so long since I updated my journal. Life has definitely gotten in the way as I've simply moved on from this whole process or from thinking about it very much. I will probably not be making any updates for a long time, though if I have a major progression in recovery I might come back and check in.. or maybe years down the line if I'm bored someday.

Bone Strength: I have had no issues here, I stopped worrying about my bone strength or even about hitting my leg against things a long time ago.

Weight Lifting: I still have some trouble doing deadlifts and squats. I'm weaker than before and don't think I will ever get back to my previous 1RM on either. My squat positioning is very different as well, though I can still squat. I just don't care enough about lifting right now to make increasing weights a priority. My vertical is terrible now. I tried jumping a bunch at the gym and I can't jump very high and get worn out quickly.

Running: I don't think I'm going to reach my 9:00 mile goal. I barely managed to do 800 meters in 4:30 on one attempt and that'll have to be good enough for me. I can run 1-1.5 miles at a slow pace before I get tired, and even then I have to stop 1-2 times in the middle. It still feels a little awkward to run, though not painful. I wouldn't recommend doing this surgery if you want to be able to run fast afterwards. Or maybe do 6cm instead of 8cm? I think the last 2cm really stretched my soft tissue beyond full athletic recovery. I'm personally okay with the tradeoff though as every bit of height was important to me at that time.

Cardio: I still have the same heart rate problem. Once I start running for 5+ minutes at a moderate pace my heart rate shoots up to dangerous levels. I'm not sure if my heart is actually beating that fast, or if there's something wrong with the sensor or rhythm but after my surgeries I've definitely had major issues with cardio. I should probably consider getting it looked at, but I don't really want to open up to another doctor about LL, especially one that's not an orthopedic surgeon.

Sports: I got a chance to go skiing for the first time after nail removal. It pretty much feels the same as it did pre-LL, and I'm even less concerned with falling now that the nails are out and I'm fully consolidated. I will say at a high level the reduced leg strength and flexibility, and higher center of gravity really does wear you out faster, but I can still ski at 95% of my previous level and I'm still learning new things, so I would say this hasn't impacted much. I played tennis a few times as well and I almost fell trying to stop myself quickly while running. Fortunately I didn't, because that would have been embarrassing. Golf and swimming are just like before as well. I definitely have some work to do here, but I'm feeling good about all the sports that I play.

Nerve Issues: No noticeable changes. There is still a tinge of numbness on my shins, but I've long learned to deal with it. I get reminded of LL when someone touches my shin, but so does seeing all the giant scars on my leg. Numbness is not a big deal, especially since no one else knows.

Lower Body Physique: There was one girl who said my butt was kind of flat, and I do agree to an extent. I need to work it more, but I definitely have some limits in the gym. I think this is something that'll have to be done long term. Hopefully I can get an ideal rear end, but my current butt hasn't stopped me from anything yet (including sleeping with the girl who complained about it).

Dating: I don't think there's much else to say here that I haven't already mentioned. LL will certainly help with dating whether it's psychological (internal) or in actuality (external). As for how much it helps.. probably not that much. It just gets you over the minimum barrier for some girls who care about it. After that your looks, physique, and wallet matter way more! After all, you can't survive in the dating world on height alone (though some guys certainly try). I think I overestimated how much height is worth in dating when I first got taller, but now I'm more of a realist. I've been back to my original dating life for a while now; I feel like I'm more successful with girls, but who knows if that's actually the case. Regardless, no complaints here and I'm still happy being taller than not in regards to dating.

Social: I met some other friends whom I hadn't seen in about four years. None of them noticed that I grew taller, though one said I looked skinnier. Pretty much par for the course compared to all the other people from my past that I met. I think everyone has seen me with my new height now and I managed to get away with not tell a single other soul (IRL). In general when I go out in public I feel like I'm slightly above average height and when I'm out partying with the yuppie crowd I'm slightly below average height. I'm pretty happy at this height and it really is not a concern to me. I can always wear small lifts with the yuppie crowd to reach average height if I'm concerned about it.

I was partying again with the good looking 190cm bro I talked about in an earlier post, and this one hot girl that we were both chatting with actually went with me over him. I asked her about it later and she said his hair was too long. Yea, it's anecdotal, but height is not the be-all end-all of dating.. sometimes people have random preferences or just click. There's another 188cm guy who was at a party I was at a few weekends ago (with way more girls than guys) and he was just playing on his phone the whole time. Since he didn't show any interest, none of the girls talked to him (though there were definitely some eyeing him). He actually complained to me later too that no one wanted to socialize with him. I think with or without LL, we can make the best of our social lives by being confident and outgoing. While I'm definitely an introvert, I go out with purpose and actively try to override my tendency to stay quiet. LL has help me take the focus off height in all my social interactions - whether related to dating or not.

Scars: My scars have probably faded a little over the last half a year, but I haven't really noticed it day-to-day. I'm still protecting them 100% from the sun. Girls that I hook up definitely all notice, though they don't seem to care that much.

Proportions: The scars are way more of an issue than the proportions. I'm not concerned about the proportions at all. None of the girls I've dated have noticed any issues with my proportions so I don't think it's a concern.

Final Thoughts: I don't have that much more to say about CLL. It's so internalized for me now I just don't remember being my original height. It's probably the same thing that people feel during at the end of their natural growth phase. I think my current height is good enough and it's not limiting me anymore. It's at that level where I neither get any benefits from being tall nor any drawbacks from being short. I don't really envy taller guys anymore, though I still feel a little bad for short guys sometimes, especially now that I live in a taller city. Most short guys don't care though, they don't have ambitions to date someone out of their league, want to make a living from their physical appearance, or let their height affect them. I think we on this forum are the ones who care the most about height by far.

I know in this post I'm not really being super positive, but that's because I'm used to all the benefits and changes in height now and it's all internalized and I have more time to think about the issues instead. I know I sacrificed some physical function to gain this height, but I'm okay with the amount sacrificed. Maybe I would be more athletic if I only did 6cm instead of 8cm, but there's no point for me to think about it. Overall, I'm 100% happy that I made the decision to do CLL; I don't regret that I'm less athletic since I'm still able to play my favorite sports with my friends. I suck at running and jumping now, but the only time I run outside of the gym is when I need to catch the train and my extended legs can still handle that sprint.

My final review - I think CLL (with a weight bearing nail) was a very good solution for me. I didn't really have any issues with my physical self or my life aside from my height, and now after LL I don't really have any major issues with myself at all. If someone else is in a similar boat then I think LL could be a good solution for them too.

Thanks for all your support over the years and again I hope you all achieve your goals or find peace with your height.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: LIVELIFETHEWAYIWANT on December 06, 2022, 11:23:24 PM
Hi , I did precise 2.2 with DR debiparshad in april , now I am 5 months into consolidation .

congratz on your recovery so far , hope it get better and better .

I went from 168 to 176ish , hope I can get back to normal activity soon . lol .

Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: akali on December 09, 2022, 07:54:54 AM
What a diary……. Thank you and congratz my brother!
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: senk on December 10, 2022, 01:59:10 PM
Quote from: LIVELIFETHEWAYIWANT on December 06, 2022, 11:23:24 PM
Hi , I did precise 2.2 with DR debiparshad in april , now I am 5 months into consolidation .

congratz on your recovery so far , hope it get better and better .

I went from 168 to 176ish , hope I can get back to normal activity soon . lol .


Hii, ive sent you a PM could you check it pls?
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: LIVELIFETHEWAYIWANT on December 10, 2022, 06:13:35 PM
replied.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: StrydeNailChallenge on December 11, 2022, 06:00:57 PM
Hi BTM,
I checked the forum after several months and on first page I saw your page.
I am glad all worked well for you.
Some of us (you and myself included) did CLL at a perfect timing window during the covid lockdown and that I think sped up our recovery, while almost everything went online!
SNC
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on June 16, 2023, 01:54:32 AM
Quote from: StrydeNailChallenge on December 11, 2022, 06:00:57 PM
Hi BTM,
I checked the forum after several months and on first page I saw your page.
I am glad all worked well for you.
Some of us (you and myself included) did CLL at a perfect timing window during the covid lockdown and that I think sped up our recovery, while almost everything went online!
SNC

Hey SNC, you might not ever see this, but I'm really glad I had you, Movie, and the other guys to chat with while lengthening. Having a community made the process so much better, even if only virtually! We were definitely super lucky to do CLL during the golden window (Stryde + lockdown + WFH).

---------------------------------------------------------------

In other news it's been over a year since my nail removal and I randomly felt like stopping by today. It seriously feels like it's already been years since I went through CLL!

I don't have any major updates to give. I'm still improving athletically, but not to my pre-surgery level. I think part of it is also caused by aging, but there was definitely some level of athletic loss from getting the surgery, which I have always been aware that it was going to happen. Numbness in my shins is still slightly there, but again it's better than before. My scars are still quite obvious, though two of the six have faded to a much lighter color (though still different than my base skin tone).

In terms of dating, not much has changed. I'm basically back to the same lifestyle as I was before CLL and COVID (mostly hookups with above average looking girls, but with a lot fewer of them calling me short now). I'm still far too picky for my own good and CLL doesn't seem to have helped me find someone worth settling down with. I don't want to encourage people to do CLL for more dating opportunities, but I'd be lying if I said it didn't make the process a little easier.

However, based on my experience while the baseline number of girls willing to date me after CLL has gone up significantly, it hasn't made a huge impact to the types of girls I'm dating; I just have access to a lot more of the same type of girl. You will definitely have more dating opportunities if you do CLL, but not necessarily better looking girls. I think I have to make more structural changes to my lifestyle and dating strategies if I want to date a completely different pool of girls than I already am. Adding three inches of height was definitely not enough to make a difference.

I'm still working on this and based on firsthand experiences from the last year, I have a few ideas on what approach to take (aside from just making way more money ;D) A part of me wonders if I even needed to get CLL if I ultimately end up taking the money route to get married to a 10/10.. but doing CLL has definitely made me happier with myself and more confident in general (outside of dating too) so it was still worth it to me even if not for the girls.

Anyway, just some random thoughts! Wishing you all the best. -BTM
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: Yau on June 16, 2023, 09:29:54 AM
Quote from: BelowTheMean on June 16, 2023, 01:54:32 AM
Hey SNC, you might not ever see this, but I'm really glad I had you, Movie, and the other guys to chat with while lengthening. Having a community made the process so much better, even if only virtually! We were definitely super lucky to do CLL during the golden window (Stryde + lockdown + WFH).

---------------------------------------------------------------

In other news it's been over a year since my nail removal and I randomly felt like stopping by today. It seriously feels like it's already been years since I went through CLL!

I don't have any major updates to give. I'm still improving athletically, but not to my pre-surgery level. I think part of it is also caused by aging, but there was definitely some level of athletic loss from getting the surgery, which I have always been aware that it was going to happen. Numbness in my shins is still slightly there, but again it's better than before. My scars are still quite obvious, though two of the six have faded to a much lighter color (though still different than my base skin tone).

In terms of dating, not much has changed. I'm basically back to the same lifestyle as I was before CLL and COVID (mostly hookups with above average looking girls, but with a lot fewer of them calling me short now). I'm still far too picky for my own good and CLL doesn't seem to have helped me find someone worth settling down with. I don't want to encourage people to do CLL for more dating opportunities, but I'd be lying if I said it didn't make the process a little easier.

However, based on my experience while the baseline number of girls willing to date me after CLL has gone up significantly, it hasn't made a huge impact to the types of girls I'm dating; I just have access to a lot more of the same type of girl. You will definitely have more dating opportunities if you do CLL, but not necessarily better looking girls. I think I have to make more structural changes to my lifestyle and dating strategies if I want to date a completely different pool of girls than I already am. Adding three inches of height was definitely not enough to make a difference.

I'm still working on this and based on firsthand experiences from the last year, I have a few ideas on what approach to take (aside from just making way more money ;D) A part of me wonders if I even needed to get CLL if I ultimately end up taking the money route to get married to a 10/10.. but doing CLL has definitely made me happier with myself and more confident in general (outside of dating too) so it was still worth it to me even if not for the girls.

Anyway, just some random thoughts! Wishing you all the best. -BTM

So glad you came back to this forum after so many years and told us your current status.  You said that your athletic ability is improving, can you play football, basketball and tennis?  Not a professional level, just entertainment.  I know it's trade off and I will lose some athletic ability after LL surgery, but if just for entertainment, can I play sports again?

You said doing CLL has definitely made u happier with yourself and more confident in general so it was still worth it to u. I totally agree with u. Just do it for myself, not for dating. But I am worried about permanent complications. You said numbness in your shins is still slightly , but it's better than before. Does it bother u and affect your daily life?(eg cannot walk long distances).

Please update randomly to tell us your current status. Wishing u all best. Thanks a lot!
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: toyz on June 16, 2023, 04:09:23 PM
do u hav a very handsome face and body? are u rich? i thought this level of getting laid happens only in movies.. teach us bro
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on June 19, 2023, 11:45:12 PM
Quote from: Yau on June 16, 2023, 09:29:54 AM
So glad you came back to this forum after so many years and told us your current status.  You said that your athletic ability is improving, can you play football, basketball and tennis?  Not a professional level, just entertainment.  I know it's trade off and I will lose some athletic ability after LL surgery, but if just for entertainment, can I play sports again?

You said doing CLL has definitely made u happier with yourself and more confident in general so it was still worth it to u. I totally agree with u. Just do it for myself, not for dating. But I am worried about permanent complications. You said numbness in your shins is still slightly , but it's better than before. Does it bother u and affect your daily life?(eg cannot walk long distances).

Please update randomly to tell us your current status. Wishing u all best. Thanks a lot!

I don't play football (i.e. soccer) or basketball, but I've seen videos on the forum of people playing those (most notably Movie playing soccer). I do play a lot of tennis though, and I know I'm definitely not as athletic as I used to be. I can feel that it takes longer to start up a sprint and I can't stop as fast when I need to turn quickly so my court positioning isn't as good as before, but I can still serve and rally just as well as before. I try to play at least once a week so I'd say I have a pretty good gauge of where I'm at. There are sports where the impact is very small, like skiing, snowboarding, surfing, swimming, etc. but anything that requires agility will be worse than before.

As for my shin numbness it's barely noticeable at this point. It was never a big issue though because it's not painful. As I wrote in my journal, even when it was at its worst, I wouldn't notice it unless something brushed against my shins. This was kind of annoying when I wore long pants, but a few months after consolidation pants felt normal to me. At this point I don't even notice it unless I'm purposefully sliding my hands up and down my shins trying to see if it's still there and even then I can barely feel it. The shin numbness has never impacted my ability to walk and no one aside from me can even tell that it's there.

I would say based on my experience after consolidation you will eventually reach 100% for walking. I can walk 30K steps in a day no problem. Running however, is much worse than before. I can't sprint very fast and my endurance isn't as good as before. I have been working out more lately and I think my running is improving, but it's still much worse than before surgery. I could run a sub 5:30 mile (1600m) before surgery and I'm not sure if I can run a 10:00 mile today. With that said, at my age I really don't care how fast I run and I don't regret making the tradeoff at all.

Quote from: toyz on June 16, 2023, 04:09:23 PM
do u hav a very handsome face and body? are u rich? i thought this level of getting laid happens only in movies.. teach us bro

Nah, I can name at least 5 friends who are even better with girls than I am (and none of them had to get CLL). I live in a top tier city so there are lot of attractive people and wealth floating around. If you move to a fast paced city with the type of nightlife that you enjoy, get into the right circles and getting laid all the time shouldn't be an issue at all. However, finding someone both attractive and worth settling down with is definitely an issue.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: Yau on June 20, 2023, 12:05:49 AM
Thanks a lot!
Your reply is useful and gave me more confidence to do this surgery.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: alf6cm on June 27, 2023, 12:57:34 AM
Just checking in on you BTM. How are you doing?
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on August 02, 2023, 05:52:36 AM
Quote from: alf6cm on June 27, 2023, 12:57:34 AM
Just checking in on you BTM. How are you doing?
Not much changed in the one week between when I updated and you posted this :)
Really just focused on living my life fully since I've already moved past the height dysphoria phase already.

Quote from: Bon_Voyage on August 01, 2023, 03:43:54 PM
Hi.
I am setting a consultation with Dr.D tomorrow, I know you are not always active here anymore but I have some questions
1.How much would you say you spent overall on LLC, not including the surgery, just other stuff like housing, uber, medication etc
2.what things off the top of your head can I get to make this journey a little easier
3. do you still have the area you stayed at while in vegas


Your response is highly appreciated.
Responding to this PM publicly so anyone else who has similar questions can see.

1. This can be found in my journal:
Quote from: BelowTheMean on July 18, 2021, 06:10:41 AM
My legs are too sore today so I'm waiting for tomorrow to record a video and update the journal. This entry is not an update, but rather the list of LL costs that I had promised. It should give you a good idea of what you might need to spend in total to get this done in the US. I'm also including a list of some of the items that I bought just for LL and found helpful or not helpful to have during the process.

Major Medical Costs (No Insurance)
ItemCost
Virtual Consultation$200
In Person Consultation$400
Deposit$15K
Remainder to Doctor$54K
Hospital Deposit$9K
Hospital Radiology+Lab Bills$100

Ancillary Medical Costs (Billed to Insurance)
ItemCountOut of Pocket Cost
Pre-op Blood Work (Lab)1 visit$40
Physical Therapy60 visits$3850*
Pharmacy4 mo supply$1850^
X-Rays4 visits$850
My insurance paid about $10K for these claims. YMMV depending on your plan benefits.
*PT: First 6 visits were within 2 weeks of my surgical date and covered by Dr. D. For my PT sessions at home, I negotiated a discount on my out of pocket costs otherwise I would have paid about $900 more.
^Drugs: Painkillers paid with cash and everything else billed to insurance. The anticoagulant was most expensive drug by far. I only got one refill on my painkillers.

Other Items
ItemCost
Vegas Airbnb (1 month)$1500
Home Health Aide*$450
Bone Supplements$40/month
Waterproof Bath Pillow^$40
Rubber Ring Cushion^$20
Massage Gun$80
Walking Cane$20
Grabber Tool$10
10 ft Cell Phone Cable$10
*Aide came 5 times for 3 hours each time.
^For taking baths. It's very uncomfortable to sit in the bathtub with a flat butt

Items that I didn't find useful:
Cloth bath pillow - grew moldy, way too hard to clean for an LL patient
Biofreeze gel - didn't really do anything for my pain
Bath wipes - didn't really need them

Other costs not included here:
Transportation - airfare, rideshares, and hotel for initial stay or follow-up visits
Food - delivery of groceries and takeout
Additional X-rays - I will have to get more of these to track my consolidation, but they are <$100 a visit for me for the rest of the year
Nail removal surgery - no comment for now
Scar removal surgery - I might need this
Additionally, nail removal cost about $9K and I spent about $2.5K on laser scar reduction at a dermatology office. (Edit: Actually, if you want to go into details, I spent €600 to upgrade my transatlantic flight back from Spain after nail removal to a lie flat seat to reduce my risk of DVT. That's technically a CLL-related expense. I don't think that price remotely feasible nowadays with post-COVID travel back to 100%)

For nail removal you'll definitely have to do your own research. I got mine at the same place as Movie, who paid much less than I did even though I did it a few months after him. As for the scar reduction I'm not sure if it's really worth it. The procedure helped flatten my scars, but I don't think it helped too much with making them less red/lighter color. Now that my removal scars are over a year old maybe I'll go try it again.

2. I honestly don't remember that much from my day-to-day life after the procedure anymore. I think I was mostly just chilling in my Airbnb, working remotely, watching Netflix/YouTube, ordering delivery, and going to PT. Also, I did mine with Stryde and there's no weight bearing nail in the US now, so I don't know if any advice that I can give is really relevant. I would say if you really want to see some random tips that might help you get through the procedure, just read through my journal to see what I was thinking at each step of the way. 2020 to 2021 is all a blur to me now, with LL and staying at home due to COVID I think my brain just blocked it all off :D

3. I stayed in Henderson I think. It was just a random cheap Airbnb that was the side entrance of some guy's house. Definitely nothing special about where I stayed. I would say that without a weight bearing nail you might want to be a little more careful about where you stay since you might need more space than I did to use the walker or crutches wherever you go.
Title: Re: BelowTheMean – Stryde Femurs w/ Dr. Debiparshad – Nov 2020
Post by: BelowTheMean on August 08, 2023, 10:23:45 PM
Here is another PM with generic questions that I'm responding to publicly:

Quote from: banval on August 08, 2023, 08:54:59 PM
Hi sir,

My son will be 19 when is potentially getting the surgery (G-nail).  He is thinking of getting only 6cm done but your progress is very meaningful to us as he is only 169cm as well.

We are thinking get the 6cm on femur and later do tibias after college if he wants it.

Do you still think the surgery has reduced yoru athletic potential?  He plays soccer and would hate to lose alot of speed.  If so, any thoughts on % lost?  Do you think you could do anyting more to fix that (heavy training?)

First of all, make sure that he actually wants to get it himself. Plenty of guys at 169cm live great lives and don't care about height at all. If he does get it my guess is he will be satisfied with his height after one surgery if he finishes at least 6cm on femurs (though it obviously depends a lot on race and location). If you haven't told him that you are willing to pay for two surgeries, I would just tell him that you're only willing to pay for one. Let him bring up the second surgery to you if he really wants it himself. I can't speak to the aftermath of two surgeries so I won't.

Regarding athleticism, I used to think doing 8cm was a lot worse than doing 6cm, but now I'm not so sure. I think my recovery would have been a bit faster at 6cm, but I can't say for sure that I would be more athletic than I am now. I don't know how to quantify a percentage of recovery. It seems too abstract to me. I will make the following points though:

Ultimately it's a personal decision and we have different priorities at different points in our lives. While a 19 year old may care a lot about sports, I would think that a 30-something year old wouldn't. The decision to get CLL takes both foresight and determination.