Hiii Vertical, how r u?
How is the communication with Dr D going ?
Is he responsible and helpful or is there any mistakes he have done so far?
Also what about the Scars ? Is the stitching bad ( you can attach pic if u dont mind)
Also hows sleeping, is it hard sleeping on the side, does the nail feel stiff when you do ?
Wishing u the best
Quote from: Kenda on June 26, 2019, 03:19:52 PMHiii Vertical, how r u?
How is the communication with Dr D going ?
Is he responsible and helpful or is there any mistakes he have done so far?
Also what about the Scars ? Is the stitching bad ( you can attach pic if u dont mind)
Also hows sleeping, is it hard sleeping on the side, does the nail feel stiff when you do ?
Wishing u the best
Hi Kenda, thank you for asking! Overall I'm doing very well and can't complain.
I apologize for not following up on my last post. Dr. D. (via the Nuvasive rep) messaged me back within a few minutes the next day about the weird sensation I felt. He said that is normal and can happen as muscles are pulled/stretched. He told me to try to "force" my muscles to relax and to lay flat on a bed, that DID help quite a bit. I still feel the weird pulse during the lengthening session, but it's down to only once or twice that I feel it per session instead of every few seconds.
I'm very pleased to say there hasn't been anything I'd call a mistake so far. However, right now I'm feeling pain/soreness in my knee caps, but that is due to my new PT who is pushing me very hard, and my stubbornness when it comes to NOT avoiding things like stairs. I'm going to try to take it easy with the PT today because that pain was disruptive with my sleep. My gait was improving very slightly until this knee cap issue. But even then, you need to be honest with yourself that you will NOT have a normal gait until after consolidation.
Sleep is OK - maybe a SLIGHT improvement over the weeks but it is a far cry from normal. It takes many hours to eventually fall asleep. I still can't sleep on my side for very long before the stiffness of the nail outweighs the comfort. I'm hoping that changes in the near future.
Finally, I'm attaching pictures of the incision sites on my right leg. You'll see healing is going quite well. I'll ask Dr. D. if I can start using the pool.
Other than that there isn't much else to report. I'm almost to the 3 cm mark. My follow-up with Dr. D. is July 9 and I'll share x-rays with the community at that point. Ideally I would get x-rays this week as well, but my insurance has been a real pain in the femur.
Yeah incisions look awesome!
What!!! Pain in knee? Im literally doing femurs just to avoid knee pain and to start with My knee already have a history of hurting and so....
So like your PT is stupid? Which state are you at right now?
Do you take antibiotics or that was only after surgery?
Like how many pills 💊 do u take daily?
Quote from: Kenda on June 27, 2019, 08:00:44 PMYeah incisions look awesome!
What!!! Pain in knee? Im literally doing femurs just to avoid knee pain and to start with My knee already have a history of hurting and so....
So like your PT is stupid? Which state are you at right now?
Do you take antibiotics or that was only after surgery?
Like how many pills 💊 do u take daily?
Thank you! 
I wouldn't say PT is stupid (lol) I'm just her first limb lengthening case and I was only 2 sessions in (with her) at that point. At first I had a therapist lined up that worked on limb lengthening cases but insurance ended up sabotaging that plan. I had a HUGE headache getting insurance to cover PT at all, and eventually got to the point where I just said I'll see anyone who has availability now and will be approved by insurance.
Since the day where I had the knee pain she dialed it back and responded to what I told her. I haven't had that pain again since. I'm impressed that she's communicating with Dr. D. about my progress (she even told me today that she watched some of his youtube clips) and she's made modifications to our routine since we started. Things are much better on that front. I'd still highly suggest you talk to your PT about knee pain before they develop your program because it sounds like you'd want to cut out certain movements. Even though I don't have pain like I had the other day, I still do get sore in my knee after my PT sessions.
Dr. D. has me on 4 hours as needed Oxycodone/Acetaminophen, 8 hours as needed muscle relaxers, daily blood thinners (xarelto), weekly Vitamin D pills, calcium pills, and the Synergy bone regeneration supplement. I almost never take the muscle relaxers, and on days I don't do PT I substitute regular tylenol for the Oxy. I definitely need it on days I'm doing PT. I don't think I ever took an antibiotic pill, but maybe that was something they put in my IV at the hospital. On top of what Dr. D. wants me to take, I'm also taking High-T natural testosterone builder for my muscles, a daily multivitamin, and L-theanine. I'm really not taking that many pills a day.
I'm in Texas, and I don't know how laws are in other states but almost anything Dr. D. prescribed isn't accepted in this state for either insurance reasons or weird Texas rules. As an example, Dr. D. wanted me to get x-rays this week to show my interim progress (I next see him in person July 9). Turns out, even if I pay with cash, the hospitals around here won't accept out of state doctor orders for x-rays. I'd have to get my primary physician here to duplicate Dr. D.'s orders, but I would rather save that request for mid-August after distraction is complete and consolidation has begun.
If anyone out there intends to lengthen at home with insurance, and home is in a different state from your surgeon of choice, I have many tips for you!
verticalpush-
Just a quick bit of advice, become a fish my friend. Spend as much time as you possibly can in the water. Exercise in the pool, stretch in the pool, eat sleep & sh*t in the pool...
All joking aside, your muscles will thank you everyday. You will notice a relaxation in your muscles that only comes from spending a large amount of time in the water. Combine tons of pool time with tons of full weight bearing walking & formal physical therapy becomes much less needed, potentially completely eliminated.
https://imgur.com/a/CyhBW2S
P.S. Your incisions look phenomenal. Clearly Dr. Debiparshad paid very close attention to Dr. Paley's surgical technique during his fellowship at the Paley Institute.
Quote from: Leggs on June 29, 2019, 01:35:00 PMverticalpush-
Just a quick bit of advice, become a fish my friend. Spend as much time as you possibly can in the water. Exercise in the pool, stretch in the pool, eat sleep & sh*t in the pool...
All joking aside, your muscles will thank you everyday. You will notice a relaxation in your muscles that only comes from spending a large amount of time in the water. Combine tons of pool time with tons of full weight bearing walking & formal physical therapy becomes much less needed, potentially completely eliminated.
https://imgur.com/a/CyhBW2S
P.S. Your incisions look phenomenal. Clearly Dr. Debiparshad paid very close attention to Dr. Paley's surgical technique during his fellowship at the Paley Institute.
Yes, become a fish! 
That is good for you. Take it easy! Don't burn yourself too much! Do a good not extreme exercise more often.
You already have gone half way through! Keep up the good work!
Hey everyone, real quick update on day 38:
First off, it's getting a lot harder to keep track of what # day it is! That's a wonderful thing. I'm officially at the 3.3 CM mark, which means I'm very close to the half way point. One thing that concerned me before starting this process was a few diaries that mentioned some increased muscle tightness at about the 3CM point. Well, like clockwork, that started hitting me a few days ago. For the past couple of days, I've started the day with stiffness in my knee caps, butt, and upper knee. Fortunately there isn't much pain associated with it. It's interesting to me that the areas that are stiff (i.e., knee caps, butt, and upper knee) aren't necessarily areas you'd expect to be stiff, but my muscles are being stretched a lot and everything is connected.
The good news is that the stiffness decreases a LOT after I start moving around. For anyone who hasn't started the process yet, if you don't move around a lot you're not going to have a good time. But really, there isn't anything to complain about nor is there any reason to decrease lengthening from 3 sessions (1mm) /day.
I've started taking a muscle relaxer before I go to sleep. This helps me limit how much moving around I do while sleeping and it also makes me somewhat drowsy. Sadly I'm still not doing great in the sleep department. It takes me a while to fall asleep, even with benadryl and melatonin, and I wake up a few times. I know that's pretty common in the diaries. One thing I thought of is that the reason could just be that I don't have a regular schedule for the summer and don't have a job waking me up at a certain time. That's definitely part of the issue alongside the fact that I still can't comfortably sleep on my side.
Aside from the sleep issues and the minor stiffness in the morning, I'm comfortable and still don't have a single regret about doing this. Pain is temporary and I'll keep pushing myself!
Quote from: Leggs on June 29, 2019, 01:35:00 PMverticalpush-
Just a quick bit of advice, become a fish my friend. Spend as much time as you possibly can in the water. Exercise in the pool, stretch in the pool, eat sleep & sh*t in the pool...
All joking aside, your muscles will thank you everyday. You will notice a relaxation in your muscles that only comes from spending a large amount of time in the water. Combine tons of pool time with tons of full weight bearing walking & formal physical therapy becomes much less needed, potentially completely eliminated.
P.S. Your incisions look phenomenal. Clearly Dr. Debiparshad paid very close attention to Dr. Paley's surgical technique during his fellowship at the Paley Institute.
Good to hear from you Leggs my friend! Thanks for the awesome advice about the pool and I completely agree. Sounds like my days of pasty white skin may be happily numbered! I'll contact Dr. D. tomorrow to get clearance for the pool and baths. I can't begin to tell you how excited I'll be to work that into my routine.
I feel so fortunate about the incisions. To be honest, I expected scarring and wouldn't have complained if it was a bit worse. I figured that's a price to pay. However, it's amazing how small these incisions are. I'm quite happy. I hope they stay that way after I eventually get the nail removed!
Quote from: Ghostfish on June 30, 2019, 07:04:11 AMYes, become a fish! That is good for you. Take it easy! Don't burn yourself too much! Do a good not extreme exercise more often.
You already have gone half way through! Keep up the good work!
Thank you Ghostfish! Yes, it's amazing to almost be to the half way point!
It's easier said than done to not push yourself too much -- I've TRIED not to let the nail impact much of what I'd normally be doing in the summer but obviously it does impact you. Despite the fact that you are walking, you're walking much slower and people will notice the difference. You'll get tired of walking when you go further than a couple of blocks.
I'm completely in agreement with everything you said and you're right that you want to avoid pushing yourself too hard. Whenever I do that my muscles promptly throw a fit as soon as I get home.
Hope everyone has a great start to the week. I'll check back in with another update in the next few days.
missed the pics in first post,
Thank you!
Hey VerticalPush, sounds like you are making awesome progress! Rooting for you man. I'm hoping my experience (September) goes as well as yours!
Update on Day 45
Hi everyone. Tomorrow I will be traveling all day to/from Las Vegas for a follow up meeting with Dr. D. I'll post updated x-rays as soon as I can.
There isn't too much to report except to say that I am definitely in the thick of a pain point. The stiffness and sensitivity lower leg issues persist, but starting about 4 days ago I started feeling a shooting nerve pain near my ankle that feels almost like an electric shock. I feel the shock several times a day but it only lasts a few seconds. The pain happens more often in my left leg, mostly when I dangle my left leg. For example, if I'm getting into bed, the minute I lift my feet off the ground I feel that sharp pain until my legs make it to the bed. I'm not going to lie, this is some of the worst pain I've felt since starting this process. The good news is that it is SLOWLY improving. Since the issue started 4 days ago, it doesn't happen as often, and the nerve shock doesn't feel quite as intense. I contacted Dr. D. and he said I can slow lengthening down to once a day for now, but given the fact that it is slowly improving, there was only one day where I slowed lengthening down (to twice a day).
I'll be certain to keep my attention on this issue and I'll discuss it with Dr. D. in person tomorrow. Almost all the issues I've noticed so far (i.e., "feeling" pulses when lengthening and this new shooting nerve pain) have been in the left leg. My right leg has had zero issues at all.
I'm officially at the 4cm point and am now more than half way through, but I'm worried that I may need to slow lengthening down to twice a day in the future if the nerve issue persists, which would extend the process. I really don't want to do that, but I can't risk long term nerve damage. I want to finish lengthening ASAP and begin consolidation.
Quote from: TheAlchemist on July 08, 2019, 03:14:17 AMHey VerticalPush, sounds like you are making awesome progress! Rooting for you man. I'm hoping my experience (September) goes as well as yours!
Thanks TheAlchemist! Despite the pain issues I discussed earlier I am indeed making progress every day and I'm getting closer to the finish line!
Quote from: MirinHeight on July 02, 2019, 05:46:25 AMmissed the pics in first post,
Thank you!
Hi MirinHeight! I'll continue to post pics in the future and will get the newest x-rays posted as soon as I can.
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