Diary - January 2019 - In Full Stryde with Dr. Mahboubian of North Hollywood.

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Good wishes for you man

What a such nice story dude, i hope you'll do well

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Quote from: Leggs on January 26, 2019, 06:53:55 PMInFullStryde-

What price did you pay for cometic lengthening of the femurs using Stryde?

What was included in the price?

Did health insurance cover any of the costs?

Hi Leggs,

I'm not 100% sure of what the cost is right now; since I was quoted in September of 2018.  The prices are increasing due to increased market demand and increased popularity, technological advanced and safety measures; of the surgery, however, here were my costs. 

$700 Pre - Consultation - Includes X - Ray, Examination of your body and medical history.  Non-pressure and non-rushed 1:1 meeting with Dr. M to ask as many questions as you want. He goes through the entire process and is vested to make sure you're in good understanding of the surgery and process.
$30,000 Surgeon Fee (Full amount Due 2 weeks before surgery and $5000 deposit must be made to secure a surgery date)
$40,000 Hospital Fee (Full amount Due 2 weeks before surgery)
$1,700   Anesthesia Fee (Full amount Due 2 weeks before surgery)
Insurance MAY help to cover $10,000 Nail removal to be completed 1 year after surgery (I don't remember exactly, but price is close to this. Costs are not due until this surgery takes place).
Insurance Covers - Physical Therapy, Wheelchair, Walker, Crutches, Medication

Housing, Food, transportation and other accommodations such a care taker is not covered.   

I suggest budgeting about $2000 - $3000 more to cover other incidental items you might need such as muscle cream, ice packs, special transportation urinals, fans, massage blankets, etc, etc.   You want to think comfort and convenience and any item that can prove to be a great necessity during the recovery months.

I live only 1 hour from Dr. M offices, so I am able to actively participate in CLL from the comfort of my home.   If you do not live close, then one will have to budget for accommodations.   I THINK, but not sure, that Dr. M might allow you to lengthen from a far away (non-local) home but this would be best to ask him directly. 

Let me know if you have any other question!

Thank you and best regards,

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Quote from: Jubartt169 on January 26, 2019, 07:50:00 PMGood wishes for you man

What a such nice story dude, i hope you'll do well

Thank you so much Jaubartt169.  This process is a very special one.   I thought 6 months would feel like a long time; but in one blink of my eye, one month is already over.  Thank you so much for your support.  Every bit of support will help our CLL friends.   

Best regards,

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Day 23 - Three Weeks completed.  [1.584 Centimeters Taller]

Good evening LL'ers,

I hope the day has gone good for each of you.   I'm wrapping it up here.  Today was a good day.  One of the things that I accomplished was really focusing on how I organize my living space while I am LL'ing.   Make sure to create a very "accessible" and well rounded living space.  For example, for work, I invested in good computer and 3 monitors so I could easily work remote and also enjoy the benefits of a great computer system to help me spend time usefully and with enjoyment as well.   I purchased a bow-flex home gym; so that I could easily do cable resistance workouts and stay in shape with my upper body.  The machine coupled with some free weights will tide me over nicely until I recover enough to return to the gym.  Even the way I have my bed prepared so that the sheets are already pulled over; just to make it easier for me to slide in with no issues of having to tug and pull the covers.   Each day, as I have engaged this process of CLL, I have identified little things here and there that I could make more accessible with "hacks" so to speak and it has gone along way.  In addition to the above and other items throughout my apartment; I have all my meals and groceries home delivered.  I want to keep things as convenient as possible. I have removed any and all obstruction to my balcony so I can easily get to the outside and soak some sun.  We need the healing and vitamins of the sun for our mind and body.  My advise to everyone who is soon seeking CLL is to really play out in your mind the situation you will be in.

Today was pretty good.  I'll organize key points going forward for easier reference below:

Pain: 2-3 - Dull pain really, nothing sharp.  I'm over 1/2 inch tall and not feeling too tight; however I do feel the difference now in my legs. They are tighter; so let the show begin.  I restocked on Tramadol and it seemed to help me.

Sleep: It was rough but much better.  I'm probably about 2 -3 weeks away from being able to comfortable sleep on my side.   The cramping like pains when you try to put one leg over the other is what gets you. You DO NOT want to get stuck with a cramp like pain when one leg is dangling over the other.  I slept off and on about 4-5 hours. It will improve.

My Left Leg Situation:  Left leg is feeling much better.  It trails the right leg; but not by that much;  in fact my left leg feels looser then my right leg. I'm wondering if maybe the "releases" that were performed on me to help with my flexibility may have just impacted my left leg a bit more dramatically.   All in all, left leg if feeling better.

Mobility: I am showering, using the restroom (for number 1 and 2), and getting around my apartment with no issue with walker. I can even take some very small, baby like, kinds sad looking steps, haha, non assisted; but I would not dare try to do more.  My leg strength and balance is still a few weeks way before it will be ready to be aggressive with movement un-assisted.  All in all things are going well.

Not to much to report today, guys.   So far, without fail, each day has gotten a little bit better.   I'll update with more tomorrow and feel free to reach out with any questions.

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This is an awesome diary, thanks for keeping us up to date with so much detail man! I was in your similar position, about 5'1.5 and did femur lengthening to 5'4. I am now considering going again and do tibia with STRYDE. Have you thought about it? If everything goes smoothly with a complete recovery, would you consider doing tibia as well?

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Wow, that gap looks huge (in your x-rays)! I'm so confused. I thought the process was to widen the gap, let the bone partially start to heal, then repeat. Is the process of widening more to accommodate for stretching (muscles, tendons, flesh, etc)? Or, is the .33mm tied to your body's ability to heal the bone? Again, that gap looks huge and it's baffling to me how your body knows to keep growing the bone... I wonder what would happen if you lengthened the entire length in one day? Other than the pain of instantly stretching, I'm curious if your bone would still grow as well as it would compared to what you're doing now.

Also, I'm curious/confused as to what the process of lengthening is supposed to look like for you.

If you're doing 0.33mm 3x per day, that's ~2 and a half months or so of lengthening. Are you expected to walk normally at any point during this time? 75% 50%? Or, after the lengthening is over, your bone completely heels, THEN you walk normally? In other words, I'm curious when you're supposed to expect normal (or relatively normal) physical activity and how that relates to the lengthening phase...

Again, thank you for putting this much effort into sharing your journey. Incredibly informative and considering this is done with a new nail, it's very interesting to observe. You're a pioneer or sorts!

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Quote from: ShortLivesMatter on January 27, 2019, 02:22:57 AMThis is an awesome diary, thanks for keeping us up to date with so much detail man! I was in your similar position, about 5'1.5 and did femur lengthening to 5'4. I am now considering going again and do tibia with STRYDE. Have you thought about it? If everything goes smoothly with a complete recovery, would you consider doing tibia as well?

ShortlivesMatter, it's my pleasure, man.  I'm really enjoying the opportunity to inform the community and especially the prospect, future LLs.   I have definitely thought about going for Tibias.  I would have to consider my position once the femur process is concluded and assess how feasible it would be to be away another extended period; but I would not rule out the possibility of doing it again for Tibias, merely due to the fact that the femur process is starting to smooth out now.  After 3 weeks and counting I have discovered that CLL can be tolerated and that the time goes by a lot faster then one may think.   It's awesome to have met someone just like me. Let's stay in contact!

   

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Quote from: psilocybe on January 27, 2019, 05:23:28 AMWow, that gap looks huge (in your x-rays)! I'm so confused. I thought the process was to widen the gap, let the bone partially start to heal, then repeat. Is the process of widening more to accommodate for stretching (muscles, tendons, flesh, etc)? Or, is the .33mm tied to your body's ability to heal the bone? Again, that gap looks huge and it's baffling to me how your body knows to keep growing the bone... I wonder what would happen if you lengthened the entire length in one day? Other than the pain of instantly stretching, I'm curious if your bone would still grow as well as it would compared to what you're doing now.

Also, I'm curious/confused as to what the process of lengthening is supposed to look like for you.

If you're doing 0.33mm 3x per day, that's ~2 and a half months or so of lengthening. Are you expected to walk normally at any point during this time? 75% 50%? Or, after the lengthening is over, your bone completely heels, THEN you walk normally? In other words, I'm curious when you're supposed to expect normal (or relatively normal) physical activity and how that relates to the lengthening phase...

Again, thank you for putting this much effort into sharing your journey. Incredibly informative and considering this is done with a new nail, it's very interesting to observe. You're a pioneer or sorts!

Psilocybe, great questions!  Okay, if you look very closely at the x-rays, you will notice a very dim, lighter white shading in and around the bone at the break/incision area.  This is very easy to x-ray and see through at this point since it's still very early (3 week), but this whitish area is callous and/or other formation of healing around the break areas. Given more time and a stoppage in lengthening this area, soft callous is going to mineralize, become a stronger white and turn into strong bone.

If all goes well, I should be walking close to normal in 6 months roughly, possible sooner, according to Dr. M.  the primary difference with the Stryde nail is that there is no weight bearing limitation for most since the nail can hold well over 100lbs per leg even in the smallest nail (10mm); one may place as much weight on your legs during the CLL process that is tolerable.   This fact allows a patient to participate in physical activities which help to bring back the strength and flexibility that is lost durign the CLL surgery and hence you're back to walking faster than before.

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Day 24 - Best day I've had during the CLL process  [1.584 Centimeters Taller]

Good evening guys,

Not much to report today; but I will say that it was the best day I've had overall, body chemistry wise since my CLL  journey started. I woke up...and my legs were not stiff and frozen.  I was comfortable the entire day with low pain.  I was able to get around with my walker with ease and my stretches felt good.  Also, mentally, my mind wasn't rushing with thoughts or preoccupied with CLL or anything to that affect.  I was calm, relaxed, comfortable and felt primed for what lay ahead.   That's it for today.  I'll update again tomorrow.  Any questions for me; please feel free to reach out.

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Thanks for the flight/recovery info. it really helps