Even if Dr M staff is right about not forcing the patient to not cancel surgery I question what impact knowing that the doctor staff is monitoring your online diary has on how fearlessly and truthfully you can write whilst going through the procedure. It certainly wouldn't be the same.
I second that Dr. M is a great option for this procedure, straight to the point never trying to convince you of anything, giving you the info and if you decide to proceed then good for you.
Hey guys, I wanted to stop back by and give you an update.
There is light at the end of the tunnel! I'm two weeks away from being done with distraction! Can't believe I'm almost there. Dr. M and I decided to stop around 2.75 inches (7 cm) due to a pretty aggressive bend in my right knee (nerve pain has been pretty bad as well). I'm totally happy with this decision and have no problem with it at all. That's a life-altering number for me.
The last few weeks have been difficult but manageable. My main problem is that that Gabapentin has basically stopped working for my nerve pain. I've seen some indication that the Norcos I started taking again mess with Gabapentin's ability to do its job. I am weaning off Norco over the next couple of weeks and will be able to report back on whether this theory is true or not.
Sleep has been a huge issue because of the nerve pain. Some nights I get about one hour of sleep (for real), some nights it's 3 or 4. But rarely more than that. My body seems to have adjusted to this to some extent, but I'll be so glad to sleep a normal night's sleep as I move through consolidation.
I'll share more thoughts and tips as I finish up distraction and consolidation, but I'll say this for now: I know I've talked a lot about the negative sides of this procedure in my diary. My goal has been to help prepare others for the full reality they may be facing. But here's the thing: even with all the hardship, I would totally encourage anyone thinking about this procedure to just do it. Yes, there's pain, but it's nothing you can't handle. Honestly. And, if you're like me, you will leave this experience with a newfound respect for your ability to fight through the difficulty. It strengthens you and empowers you. You can handle so much more than you think you can. And your self-respect and self-confidence will reflect that.
I'm sure I'll have some new challenges to face in these last two weeks, but I'm feeling optimistic. I'm ready to get on with rebuilding my legs and my walk during the consolidation phase. There's a lot of work ahead of me, but the worst is behind me, and I'm glad I took this leap.
Quote from: MarkE on May 31, 2020, 04:36:08 AMHey guys, I wanted to stop back by and give you an update.
There is light at the end of the tunnel! I'm two weeks away from being done with distraction! Can't believe I'm almost there. Dr. M and I decided to stop around 2.75 inches (7 cm) due to a pretty aggressive bend in my right knee (nerve pain has been pretty bad as well). I'm totally happy with this decision and have no problem with it at all. That's a life-altering number for me.
The last few weeks have been difficult but manageable. My main problem is that that Gabapentin has basically stopped working for my nerve pain. I've seen some indication that the Norcos I started taking again mess with Gabapentin's ability to do its job. I am weaning off Norco over the next couple of weeks and will be able to report back on whether this theory is true or not.
Sleep has been a huge issue because of the nerve pain. Some nights I get about one hour of sleep (for real), some nights it's 3 or 4. But rarely more than that. My body seems to have adjusted to this to some extent, but I'll be so glad to sleep a normal night's sleep as I move through consolidation.
I'll share more thoughts and tips as I finish up distraction and consolidation, but I'll say this for now: I know I've talked a lot about the negative sides of this procedure in my diary. My goal has been to help prepare others for the full reality they may be facing. But here's the thing: even with all the hardship, I would totally encourage anyone thinking about this procedure to just do it. Yes, there's pain, but it's nothing you can't handle. Honestly. And, if you're like me, you will leave this experience with a newfound respect for your ability to fight through the difficulty. It strengthens you and empowers you. You can handle so much more than you think you can. And your self-respect and self-confidence will reflect that.
I'm sure I'll have some new challenges to face in these last two weeks, but I'm feeling optimistic. I'm ready to get on with rebuilding my legs and my walk during the consolidation phase. There's a lot of work ahead of me, but the worst is behind me, and I'm glad I took this leap.
Hi mark, good job!
Are you still on crutches? When do you think you will be able to walk somewhat normally?
Quote from: MarkE on May 21, 2020, 11:54:16 PM
Hi, thanks for your comment. I’m sorry if the language of my original post was misleading. Let me clarify:
Nobody forced me to do this surgery; nobody has that authority. From start to finish, the decision was mine, and I never meant to imply otherwise.
When I first consulted Dr. M about the procedure, the world was in a very different place. The full reality of the Corona crisis hadn't really dawned yet. I decided to move forward and paid my money in full. I was looking forward to getting the surgery underway.
However, as my surgery day drew nearer, the world began waking up to a darker new reality. Terrifying reports were coming in from Italy, and Americans received notice that we too were moving into lockdown for an unspecified amount of time. We had no idea how bad things might get.
I didn’t like the idea of my wife and children being stuck in some apocalypse scenario while I was basically a helpless body with two broken legs. So I inquired if it was possible to delay my surgery for a while until all the Covid-19 drama blew over. This is when I was informed that if I tried to reschedule, I would lose all of the money I had paid. It was simply hospital policy.
There’s no way I was walking away from $65,000. Yes, I could have walked away if I really wanted to. But I decided to move forward with the surgery, even with an uncertain future. And I made that decision myself.
And I’m pleased to report that I’m very happy with that decision. Yes, it’s painful. It is a massive mental and physical challenge, and I have developed a new understanding of my relationship to pain (and sleep!). But the 2+ inches I’ve already gained are worth it. Honestly, if I find out tomorrow that I can’t proceed forward to get that third inch, I would be okay. And as I mentioned before, the quarantine actually worked very much in my favor.
As far as Dr. Mahboubian goes, he has never tried to get me to do anything I didn’t want to do. Period. Even when I went in for my initial consultation, I was impressed with his laidback and casual demeanor. There was zero "hard sell". He never tried to convince me to move forward with the surgery at all. He simply answered questions, explained the procedure, and basically let it be known that if I decided to move forward at some point in the future, they were there. I appreciated it.
So, no - no pressure from Dr. M. He's been great. He always responds promptly to emails and is very communicative. I’m very happy with him and his staff, and I would definitely encourage others here to feel safe choosing him for their LL journey. You'll be in good hands.
Hope that clears things up.
Hi Mark! So you paid 65.000$ for Stryde?
Hi mark. The issue you experienced with the tumour-like outgrowth of the bone onto the side of the nail is now a reason why Stryde has been suspended in the UK for now.
Hope you're doing good by the way. 7 months since update, I bet you're doing really good. Don't come back here though if you're loving life
Quote from: MarkE on May 31, 2020, 04:36:08 AMI know I've talked a lot about the negative sides of this procedure in my diary. My goal has been to help prepare others for the full reality they may be facing. But here's the thing: even with all the hardship, I would totally encourage anyone thinking about this procedure to just do it. Yes, there's pain, but it's nothing you can't handle. Honestly. And, if you're like me, you will leave this experience with a newfound respect for your ability to fight through the difficulty. It strengthens you and empowers you. You can handle so much more than you think you can. And your self-respect and self-confidence will reflect that.
Love that f**king mentality man. Godspeed.
Quote from: ghkid2021 GAMESTONK on January 28, 2021, 03:35:19 PMHi mark. The issue you experienced with the tumour-like outgrowth of the bone onto the side of the nail is now a reason why Stryde has been suspended in the UK for now.
Hope you're doing good by the way. 7 months since update, I bet you're doing really good. Don't come back here though if you're loving life
Love that f**king mentality man. Godspeed.
I can't find this mentioned but clearly I'm blind. Can you quote where he said this?
Quote from: MarkE on April 18, 2020, 11:29:54 PMFor those of you who are interested, here is an x-ray showing the leakage issue. This was the x-ray that was taken from a 3/4 view. The leakage wasn’t as visible in the straight-on x-ray due to the angle.
When I first became aware of the issue, the material was extremely hard and seemed to be fixed in place, much like regular bone. Since I’ve started messing with it over the past week, it has become less fixed in place. Though it looks kind of like one mass in the x-ray, it’s actually multiple smaller pieces. I can move the pieces around a bit now. They seem to have maybe gotten slightly smaller and with more rounded edges than before. So, I have some hope that I am having some effect on it. The largest piece feels to be somewhere around 1” x 2” (2.5 cm x 5 cm), though it’s hard to tell exactly because it’s not right on the surface.
I have also realized that I have the same issue on the other side, though to a much, much smaller degree. Once I realized this, I went back to look at the x-ray of the other leg, and sure enough, there is a very faint line of material there. I’m not sure if Dr. M missed it, or if he simply knew that that amount of material would absorb on its own, so he decided no to mention it. But I’ve been working on pushing on that material as well to get it to break down.
It currently doesn’t cause much pain on either leg, but when I bend my leg, it does create quite a bit of pressure and tightness in the leg which is uncomfortable.
For anyone else that is blind, here it is. 
on mahboubians google maps reviews someone has complained that "when a doctor comes across a cancerous growth, that doctor should advise the patient & give a referral. not what he did, he ignored the life threatening issue & poked at it instead."
i dunno if this is u marke, but i hope your ok.
Did you have still the nails inside ?
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