Topic: My Experience So Far- External Monolateral - Dr Mitkovic (Read 89202 times)

Descreteuser · « **on:** May 08, 2015, 04:19:24 PM »

•   Saturday February 14th - Arrived at the airport and met 2 men holding my name on a piece of paper. They drove me to a hotel about 2 hours from the airport, where I was to stay before having the operation. It was a very uneasy experience landing in a country that I knew very little about, and knowing the hard process that was awaiting me. The drivers made me feel very comfortable, which helped me relax a little bit.

•   Sunday February 15th - One of the drivers visited me at my hotel and showed me around the city and helped me get sorted with a new phone and number so I could keep in contact with the doctor

•   Tuesday February 17th – Doctor visited me at my hotel and discussed what the plan was with the operation. I was scheduled to have my operation on Thursday the 19th of February.

•   Wednesday February 18th – I met another patient who was 7 months post operation. We went out and got a drink and he shared his whole experience. He was walking without crutches with a slight limp. He told me about certain complications he had during lengthening with misalignments, but the alignments were fixed by the doctor once lengthening had finished with a simple adjustment to the device. He started walking small distances without walker after 5 months. He explained how to stretch every day to avoid ballerina, and how to try an avoid having similar complications that he had experienced by having more frequent x rays.

•   Thursday February 19th – Doctor contacted me and told me the operation was delayed until Saturday.

•   Friday February 20th – Doctor contacted me again and my operation was delayed yet again until Monday. This caused extreme frustration to me as it gave me more time to think, and I started questioning myself whether or not I wanted to follow through with the operation. I was an emotional rollercoaster changing my mind every few hours.

•   Sunday February 22nd – I made a decision and rang the doctor and told him I wanted to cancel the operation and get my money back. He was completely understandable and told me it was totally my decision and to think about it over night, and let him know the next morning if that was my final decision.

•   Monday February 23rd – After spending the night tossing and turning trying to decide what to do, I rang the doctor and told him that I was going to go through with the operation. I went to the hospital, shaved my legs and was put on the operating table. I suddenly woke up and was told the surgery was finished, only to find that my right leg was the only one with the device on it. I asked them why this was and they said the doctor made the decision to do this as it would be more comfortable for me. The left leg was due to be done in another week. To be honest this really pissed me off.

•   Tuesday February 24th to Sunday 1st March – This was probably the toughest time of my life. Sitting in a hospital with one broken leg, at times in extreme pain. I became an emotional wreck and thought to myself what the hell have I done. I became afraid of the whole experience and when Sunday came around id made the decision that I wouldn’t get the other leg done, let my right leg heal and get a portion of my money back. I left the hospital and returned to the hotel with crutches. I was told it would take 2 months to heal after which time id be able to walk normally like I was before.

•   Thursday 5th March – Terrible night to say the least. After going out for a few drinks I spent the night trying to sleep, but the extreme pain in my leg was unbearable. This was due to the fact that I hadn’t started lengthening and the bones were grinding against each other. I yelled a few times and cursed just praying that I could at least get some sleep.

•   Friday March 6th – After a long sleepless night I took my self to the hospital and asked to call the doctor as my phone wasn’t working. I asked for a pain shot as every movement was horrific. After waiting in discomfort for 3 hours the doctor told me to go and get an x ray. I got an x ray done and returned to the hospital where the doctor looked at it. Everything was normal. The pain was from over using the leg. I was told to rest it and get some painkillers.

•   Saturday 7th March - After another sleepless night I went down to reception and ask if they could get me the painkillers the doctor prescribed. After this time my leg rapidly improved with the pain.

•   Tuesday 10th March- Another sleepless night. This time was not during to pain but regrets about not following through with the other leg. I thought to myself I’ve come all this way and now I have to wait 2 months for my one leg to heal, at which point I would have achieved absolutely nothing. I had to make the decision of my life. Whether or not to get the other leg done and be on my way to becoming taller, or to just let the broken leg heal and be on my way. Its like I had let the pain scare me away from doing the whole process. So I told myself to stop being a little bitch and get the other leg broken. So I decided that I would start lengthening my right leg on Thursday, which was given the ok by the doctor, and have my other leg done on the Saturday.

•   Thursday 12th March- Spent the day with the other patient Id met earlier. He was now walking without a limp. You could say his walking was at 90%. He was able to walk up and down stairs and the improvement I saw in him inspired me even after all the set backs he had. Its almost like hed never had his legs lengthened. His devices come off in a month at which time im certain he will be walking 100% normal and at normal pace. As I am lengthening less and have the information that he didn’t, I’m sure that my process will be much easier and quicker.

•   Saturday 14th March - Had my left leg operated on, but was much more prepared this time. Before I knew it, the operation was over and was time to let the leg heal for a week before beginning the lengthening. I continued to lengthen my right leg and would later reduce the speed of lengthening to allow the left leg to catch up.

•   Sunday 15th March to Wednesday 18th March – 4 Sleepless nights in a row. More uncomfortable than painful. I found it hard to sleep on my side as my right leg was still swollen from the operation. I took a few pain killers which helped a little bit. I would sleep during the day only because id be so exhausted from not sleeping all night.

•   Thursday 19th of March – Started lengthening my left leg and slowed down the lengthening amount on my right leg to allow the left to catch up. As the swelling had gone down I was finally able to get a good night sleep.

•   Friday 20th March to Sunday 29th March – Continued lengthening each day and made sure to do all the necessary stretching etc. No longer had any pain, besides a little niggling strain around my right ankle.

•   Monday 30th March – Had my x ray taken of both legs after having my bandages changed. I had roughly lengthened 1cm on both legs. Right leg was still a little bit behind. Doctor came to my hotel and viewed the X rays. The results were good. No mis-alignments had occurred yet and I was given the go ahead to continue lengthening at a moderate amount per day. I had a go at walking with the walker in the evening. The idea is to have both legs support your weight while putting the walker ahead of yourself, and then using the walker to support yourself while walking forward. Although trying several times, my legs were unable to support my weight.

•   Wednesday 1st April – I decided to attempt walking with the walker again. This time my legs supported my weight and I was able to walk forward. I probably went 3 steps forward than turned and went 3 steps back to my seat. I was exhausted, but was satisfied that id made progress.

•   Thursday 2nd April – On Monday when having my pin sites cleaned I was told I had a slight infection around 1 of the pins. I had to return today to have that pin cleaned again. Doctor told me there was still a little bit of an infection there but nothing to be concerned about. Walked with walker in hotel room again but a bit longer this time. Again, very exhausting.

•   Friday 3rd April to Sunday 19th April - Continued lengthening at 0.66mm per day. Continued walking in hotel room with walker back and forth everyday for about 10 minutes per day. Some days worse than others. No real noticeable improvements, as lengthening is still in progress.

•   Monday 20th April – Took another X-ray today. Left leg alignments look good but slight mis-alignment in right (to be corrected after lengthening). Doctor looked at X rays and suggested to go to 0.83mm per day for next 2 weeks. Also noticed when sitting on hard surface in x ray place that my legs weren’t sitting too flat. I decided to add weights on upper part of leg while stretching to gradually flatten them out.

•   Sunday 26th April – Terrible night. Aching pains in both legs kept me up all night. About 16 hours straight with continuous pain. Almost pushed me to breaking point. My right leg was worse of the 2 though. The most obvious pain was at the top of my fibula, which led me to believe that my fibula had consolidated causing it to be pulled down during the lengthening. I knew that this was due to my indecision's earlier on to begin lengthening.

•   Monday 27th April - Exhausted and frustrated from having no sleep, I decided to go and get another X ray even though my next one wasn’t due for another 2 weeks. I thought id better be safe than sorry. Luckily I did because it turned out my fibula had consolidated. I rang the doctor and he came looked at the X ray and we both agreed I would have a small operation to re-cut the fibula. Surgery was booked in for the following Monday setting me back another 1200 euro.

•   Monday 4th May – After a week of no walking or lengthening, I went to the hospital to have my fibulas re-cut and the alignment on my right leg was corrected as well. I continued lengthening straight after surgery at 0.83 mm per day as requested by the doctor.

•   Wednesday 6th May – I checked out of the hospital and got an x ray on my right leg to check the new alignment. Results were great. Right leg was now back in alignment and after a few days of stretching I was able to get my right leg flattened out. The pain on fibula was now completely gone. Now is just a matter of lengthening another 1.3cm to reach my goal of 4cm. I will continue stretching each day and walking small amounts with walker in my hotel room to maintain the little strength I have left in my legs. My next X ray will be on the 22nd of may, at which point I will have achieved my final height.

Alittletooshort · « **Reply #1 on:** May 08, 2015, 04:37:13 PM »

What was your starting height if I may ask?

tx1111 · « **Reply #2 on:** May 08, 2015, 04:52:16 PM »

Sorry if I missed it but are you doing externals only?

About that patient that limped first then a month later he was almost good, how much did he lengthen, with what and at what month was he at 90 percent?

How is your walking now?

Good Luck and feel better.

I'm lengthening also with LON in Russia, day 10 post op and today took my first three steps.

I can relate to the sleepless nights. Your just up, in pain with no consolation that you'll sleep it off or that the pain will subside soon. I also cursed all night.

Descreteuser · « **Reply #3 on:** May 08, 2015, 05:01:59 PM »

I am doing external monolateral device.. The other patient was 7 months in when I met him.. But he was a month behind where he should have been because he was looking at inaccurate x rays that weren't to scale and he'd thought he had reached his goal.. He ended up realising and had to get another operation to recut his fibulas so he could get to his final height.. He did 5cm.. So he was 90% at 7 months and 100% at 8.5 months.. So you could say without the set back he'd had he would have been walking 100% at 7.5months.. This doesn't mean athletic ability which would take another 6-8months to be 100%.

Joel · « **Reply #4 on:** May 09, 2015, 01:24:27 PM »

which doctor? Bump

Descreteuser · « **Reply #5 on:** May 10, 2015, 08:19:06 AM »

Dr mitkovic

microman · « **Reply #6 on:** May 12, 2015, 05:04:53 PM »

you mentioned 7.5 months for general recovery for 5cm, I thought it was 6 months for 5cm, or is it different because of the device used.

and are you saying after that time, of 7.5 months you can be expected to go home.

Descreteuser · « **Reply #7 on:** May 13, 2015, 02:40:42 PM »

From past patient experiences here.. 5cm should take 2 to 2.5 months to lengthen..at 5 months you will be able to walk unaided but with a limp.. After 7 months most of the soft callus will be now hard callus.. Fixators can come off anywhere from 7 to 9 months depending on how well you consolidate.. Judging on how quickly I have been consolidating and the fact I'm only doing 4cm I'll be able to have the device off after 7 months.. However just to be extra careful I'm goin to leave them on another 2 to 3 weeks from when the doctor says they can come off..

microman · « **Reply #8 on:** May 13, 2015, 04:26:21 PM »

so would you say after 5 months i could maybe go home, then 3 months later come back to serbia to get the apparatus removed.

or would i have to stay the full 8 months in serbia, assuming this is 5cm.

may i double check that the same thing applies for the other dosctors in russia, or is it quicker with their method.

Descreteuser · « **Reply #9 on:** May 13, 2015, 05:45:24 PM »

Yes but u would take crutches with u cause u will prob still be a little wobbly.. Also ud need to get ur pins cleaned where u live weekly.. And x rays monthly to send doctor so he can check your consolidation

microman · « **Reply #10 on:** May 13, 2015, 06:27:31 PM »

oh ok, forgive my lack of knowledge but is cleaning the pins something I can do myself, or do I need a doctor to do it.

and if i get surgery with Bagirov or Barinov will this option also be available.

and do many patients do this, or do they opt to stay in the foreign country until the consolidation is finished.

I think price wise it would be the same to get the extra flights rather than pay for accomodation there for 3 months.

Descreteuser · « **Reply #11 on:** May 13, 2015, 08:04:13 PM »

Yes you could clean it yourself but it's very risky.. You are risking giving yourself infection..I have mine cleaned by the doctors in a very clean environment and they are very careful when cleaning around the pins.. The bandages have to be changed around the pins aswell so if u did it yourself you'd have to be very cautious.. Also the doctors know what to look for if it does get infected.. And know the necessary actions to take if it does get infected.. I've already had one minor infection but it was seen to early so wasn't a problem.. Out of the 4 other patients I have met here, 1 stayed the entire time, 2 left after about 6 months, and 1 is still here.. To be honest if u were to go back home, you should get a trustworthy hospital to clean and change your pin sites.. If you get an infection and don't see to it could cause u big problems

microman · « **Reply #12 on:** May 13, 2015, 08:20:56 PM »

hmm okay, not sure how feasible it would be to go to a hospital every week for a checkup, I guess I could get a doctor to come out to my place to change the bandages, but I honestly don't know the procedure.

so assuming I do 5cm would you say on average it takes 8 months for to be fully ready to leave the country, and head back home, and in that case, would you be okay for fully walking with no limping, so ready to resume a normal life, this is not including running.

Descreteuser · « **Reply #13 on:** May 13, 2015, 08:29:58 PM »

Yes after 8 months

microman · « **Reply #14 on:** May 13, 2015, 09:23:15 PM »

Okay thanks, I'm assuming wearing small lifts of about 3cm is okay at that point.

I don't see why it wouldn't be but i thought I'd ask anyway if you knew.

would you recommend staying in hotel for both lengthening and consolodation or would you say to move into apartment for consolidation, I take it in the hotel you are mostly bed ridden and stay in the hotel room at all times, you pay the maid to buy in food, pee in a bottle etc, and in the consolodation you are free to move outside with crutches and then you buy your own food, and could maybe be in an apartment instead?

Descreteuser · « **Reply #15 on:** May 13, 2015, 09:40:02 PM »

If say it's best to stay in the hotel until you can walk without a walker.. When u can't walk u are pretty dependent and being in the hotel makes life a hell of a lot easier

microman · « **Reply #16 on:** May 13, 2015, 10:11:08 PM »

by without a walker are you referring to crutches, and if so when does that happen, about the same time of consolodation? and during that time, due you stay in hotel or move somewhere else.

I just want to see if you plan to stay in hotel the whole time, I don't see why not really.

what about the communication with the lady who brings you food, is this a general service the hotels offers or was it setup in a special way, what happens if that lady isn't working there anymore, will other people bring you food.

Descreteuser · « **Reply #17 on:** May 13, 2015, 10:16:05 PM »

Na I mean walker.. You don't really need crutches.. The walker is much safer and after about 5 months your bones have consolidated enough that you can walk without walker.. But it's very poor walking at that stage.. I suggest only to use crutches if u go home.. Otherwise if u stay u should be able to get around without walker after 5 months.. For the sake of an extra few hundred euros it's probably best just to stay in the hotel the whole time just incase something goes wrong..

microman · « **Reply #18 on:** May 14, 2015, 12:05:27 AM »

forgive me if this is mentioned elsewhere, but what about physiotherapy.

is that not something you need a trained person to do to you each day, or are you somehow getting by doing it yourself.

Descreteuser · « **Reply #19 on:** May 14, 2015, 06:53:02 AM »

There's a few basic stretches you need to so each day.. I stretch for about 10 minutes for each turn I do.. As long as you stretch everyday and do a little walking each day you will be fine

Bohemia · « **Reply #20 on:** May 16, 2015, 04:44:09 AM »

So weird and confused in the preliminary, but you are happy about it now?

Descreteuser · « **Reply #21 on:** May 16, 2015, 09:58:39 AM »

I have everything under control now so yeah I'm pretty happy but it's been stressful.. I've had to do a lot of work myself to ensure that my legs are lengthening without having bad Mis alignments .. If I had have just sat back and not stressed about anything I don't know how bad my legs would be right now.. I've had to work out how many degrees my legs can afford to be bent back during lengthening from what they originally were before the operation, to ensure I have normal functionality at the end.. I've had to do geometry on my x rays and compare them to geometry of my x rays from before the operation just to ensure my legs are staying within those certain degrees.. I've also had to tweak the device a little bit to prevent the pins from causing these mis alignments.. These are things that I didn't think I'd have to be doing.. Once my lengthening phase has been finished (1 more week) and my legs are how I want them then I'll be much more relaxed.

Descreteuser · « **Reply #22 on:** May 23, 2015, 11:19:29 AM »

Friday 22nd May - According to my lengthening chart, I should have gained my desired amount of 4cm. I went and got a full Xray and had it measured on the computer using there highly accurate system. Just under 4.1cm. Such a relief that i had now finished the lengthening phase. As alignments go my right leg was about 1-2 degrees which is no problem. My right leg was about 4 degrees. The doctor came saw the Xray and and said he will come back tomorrow and put the correction bar on.

Saturday 23rd May - The doctor came and installed the bar. It will be slowly corrected over the next few days by tightening some bolts which he will perform daily until fully corrected(probably until Monday.)

bluebarbie · « **Reply #23 on:** May 25, 2015, 04:22:49 AM »

Congrats on overcoming ur distraction phase. Post some pictures , itd b great.

microman · « **Reply #24 on:** May 25, 2015, 04:26:50 AM »

are you going home for consolodation, and if not, why not?

when you mention about getting a hospital to clean your pin sites, would it not make sense to get doctors to come to your residential home, or would you say I should go to the hospital weekly to get this done.

also about the patients that left after 6 months, why did they not leave after 4 months, did they stay for the first month or so of consolodation and got bored, or is it safer to stay for the first month or two of consolodation for another reason.

also about removal of the device, it reads on the page 'After that time external devices are removed without new surgery' so if that is easily done could you maybe get that done in your local hospital, and is this something special that may make this a better option than external.

Descreteuser · « **Reply #25 on:** May 26, 2015, 05:08:56 PM »

You wanna stay at least the first 2-3 months incase something goes wrong.. I'm staying here the entire time.. It's cheaper and easier.. It's boring as but this is a once in a lifetime sacrifice and when ur not walking u can't do much anyway.. The guy that left after 9 months was completely healed and had the devices removed.. There was another guy here for 4 months and he had to return home for personal reason and is planning on returning later to have devices removed etc.

Descreteuser · « **Reply #26 on:** May 26, 2015, 05:18:59 PM »

Sunday 24th may.. Doctor came and put correction device on my left leg to correct the alignment.. The top segment of my tibia was creating a bump that you could see on the front of my shin..the correction device Did absolutely nothing to be honest.. I knew as soon as he put it on that it wasn't goin to work.. I asked him if my leg stayed like this would It effect my functionality at all.. He told me 100% that it won't and that the correction was purely just aesthetics so I didn't have a bump on my shin... He also told me that eventually over the next few years the bump would go away.. I thought screw it just leave it.. I can live with a bump for a few years.. And only I'll ever notice it..

microman · « **Reply #27 on:** May 26, 2015, 06:29:12 PM »

is their no pain in the consolodation phase?

do you know of any cases where people returned home and got the device removed at home.

Descreteuser · « **Reply #28 on:** May 26, 2015, 07:17:31 PM »

You can go home during consolidation.. Just need to make sure you have a good setup for being able to go to the toilet, have a shower etc. and u have to make sure u do do all ur stretching and walk a little bit with the walker everyday.. The consolidation phase is pretty much 5-6 months of physio to regain muscle ad flexibility to your new legs..

Descreteuser · « **Reply #29 on:** May 26, 2015, 07:25:33 PM »

The pain is low during consolidation but walking is exhausting.. And the process is slow, so you have to be patient. The best way to deal with it is to film yourself walking each week so u can see the improvement. It's a battle of mental strength and seeing progress gives you a whole lot of determination. The way I see it is each week is going to be easier than the next.. If you don't slack off and make sure that every single day u do the appropriate stretching and walking than the closer u will be back to normal functionality once your bones are strong enough to have the frames off.. Frames can be taken off by yourself..

microman · « **Reply #30 on:** May 26, 2015, 08:05:47 PM »

wow you can take the frames off yourself, as in just you, not even a doctor, so does that mean the device is entirely removed, no need to go back to serbia.

doens't he want the device back?

is this a special feature exclusive to his device, for example if i were to do externals with barinov,bagirov or solomin would i have to fly back to russia for them to remove the device?

also during consolodation, would you say it is likely you would be in wheelchair and you would need to driven to the hospital for the nurses to clean the pin sites, or would it not make more sense for the nurses to come to your home to clean the pin sites,

i spoke to my GP and she said the doctors would not clean the pin sites, only nurses, i told her that they need to be able to look for infections, she said she wans't sure, i will be seeing an orthopedic surgeon for in a few weeks anyway, sinec my referal process has begun.

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Author Topic: My Experience So Far- External Monolateral - Dr Mitkovic (Read 89202 times)