Hi guys!
Can't believe that I am posting on this thread, have always went through your diaries and finally after 10 years of convincing, I decided to get the surgery.
I am 27, 5 feet 1 inches; I also have(had) 15 degree femoral retroversion which Dr. Rozbruch corrected in the same surgery.
NYC is amazing and so is HSS. Everyone is so nice and friendly in here. My surgery was scheduled for Jan 27th 2021 at 12 noon EST. Pre surgery my blood work looked good apart from vitamin D levels which were at 18ng/ml. Dr rozbruch said it was okay to go ahead with the surgery if I continue to take 5000 IU Vitamin D3 for the next 6 months.
My surgery started a bit late, at around 2:30 pm. I was all shaved and set at 1130 but had to wait for some time since Dr. Rozbruch's previous surgery got extended. Once I reached the OR the anesthesiologist gave me a couple of injections and I was knocked out with epidural anesthesia. Next thing I remember was waking up in the OR with nurses moving me to the post op recovery unit. I couldn't feel my legs at first, but slowly regained sensation in my leg and was moved to a 2 bed ward.
I had 0 pain on 27th probably because there was some sorta epidural still flowing as IV and I was on oxycodone. I had some food and slept like a baby.
Today's (28th) PT session also went pretty smooth since I didn't have any pain due to the epidural IV and I was able to walk for about 10 feet. The PT asked me to not weight bear with my legs, but instead use 50 percent arm strength. That went well and they set me up for a CPM machine for both legs. I have to do that for about 90mins in each leg. They also gave me a couple of exercise bands to stretch my foot and toe.
After this session my epidural and catheter were removed, and this is when I started feeling some pain. It was about a 4 and then my PT guys helped me with moving again in the afternoon. This time it was way more challenging, but overall I did good and they said that it's not bad for a second day.
The pain did increase and it was about a 6 when my oxycodone had started to wear off. The typical half life of oxycodone is 4-5 hours and it reduces exponentially after that.
Then finally in the evening after having my food and the last dose of pain killers, I am feeling better and waiting for the pain to reduce further to start another session of CPM.
This is day 2 and I can't pee. Did you guys face the same issue?
Is this due to the catheter or could it be something major? I have had like 3 pitchers of water since morning.
Pain is also now up to 6-7 and I need 10mg oxycodone to manage it every 4 hours.
I have about 100k in my bank account. Out of that I paid 30k, straight up. I think I'll have to wait for the insurance bills to get a better idea of how much more I can pay.
I am living in a hotel, Fairfield inn. The cost is about 72 dollars a night and I'm gonna spend 20 days here. 3 weeks post op I am planning to fly back to Redmond, Wa.
My brother is here with me, hes a student at San Jose State, and is studying remotely and helping me with th surgery.
Vegas baby, since the nail is already inside me, I pretty much don't care about any controversies. Just want to get taller and remove this nail from my body, controversial or not. 
Thanks man! Yeah I hope insurance will be willing to help me lol.
So day 3 was actually better. I am still using oxycodone, every 5-6 hours. The pain has gone down, and I'm using ice packs to help with it too. Today morning I was finally able to pee on my own and they didn't have to catheterize me. After that I had breakfast and had a quick session of PT. We did some basic walking around the room and the PT instructor asked me to order a wheelchair since it's not recommended to walk large distances as of now. So I'll need the wheelchair to go back to hotel. Although I got stryde Dr rozbruch recommended to not fully weight bear, and use my arm strength to carry 50 percent of my body weight.
Once I'm off the bed things go pretty okay and I'm able to walk all right, the challenging part is getting in and out of bed. You need a lot of arm strength for that, and I don't have any. Pre surgery I didn't pay attention to working out and was only focussed on multivitamins and supplements. You should have real good arm strength if you want to make your life easy post surgery. Please don't repeat my mistakes damn.
I got on the CPM machine again and started wiggling my toes almost all the time so that I keep some muscles moving. If you don't move, everything gets stiff and PT becomes really challenging. I also had my lengthening demo today and the rep showed me how to use the device. My recommendation is 0.8 mm a day starting Wednesday. And it'll be in steps of 0.2mm 4 x a day.
Dr rozbruch told me that I don't have any swelling which is a good sign and I am hoping it stays that way once I go home. I ordered a personal wheelchair and walker today and will most likely get cleared by PT tomorrow after an early morning session, fingers crossed.
It's day 3 and I'm still not moving my bowels and that's why I'm q bit concerned. But I am assuming that'll only happen once I go back to my hotel room.
Realistic yeah I am planning to stay longer. At least a month, and it seems like I can easily work from home from the hotel, they have a good internet connection.
Arcon, Yesterday I tried to poop but no luck, will ask for some more stool softeners today. But I am looking forward to clearing PT and getting discharged, fingers crossed.
Everything has been okay so far on day 4. Only my pulse was a little too high, and they gave me an IV for that, they also asked me to do some deep breathing and lung excercises since the epidural can relax internal muscles and might take a toll on your lungs.
I am officially on 5 mg oxycodone, don't feel the need to take the full 10 mg anymore. One of Dr. Rozbruch's assistant visited in the morning and she said that the swelling is normal, and all sensation seems to be good. So I am relieved that everything is fine on the nerves part.
Today's Saturday and there are some trainee nurses in the hospital, and they are learning with me haha. So that feels good, at least I am able to help them professionally grow.
To be honest I feel like I can code and work all day now, and working from home should be perfectly okay. I just need to figure out a plan that includes work, PT and enough stretching to make something out of the following 6 months.
I definitely feel my arms are getting stronger as I'm able to lift and move my body much more compared to the first day. I am also focusing on eggs chicken and fish to do good to the biceps.
I'm still on the blood thinners and just want to start ambulating asap to reduce any risks of embolism. In terms of pain management, oxy and Tylenol help a lot, and spacing them out throughout the day reduces my dependency and need for opiods.
I will try to walk more in the PT session today and also get a good 2 hour dose of CPM on each leg. And then hopefully make it home by evening!
I do work at Microsoft yeah. Nope never really felt being discriminated against based on height.
Did you?
Yeah I mean people will make judgements, it's up to you, how much of a damn you give
Personally for me LL has always been this exciting thing which will help me get out of the boredom of day to day life. But it's never felt like a need, more like an adventure.
Thanks man, yeah all corner cases. I think he has written a lot of "test cases" to be where he is lol.
So it think PT cleared me for discharge, and looks like I am scooting in and out of bed all right. All set to go home. Just getting a couple of CPM sessions in and my last dose of oxy at the hospital, and then the ambulate will pick me up in 2 hours from now.
I have taken 15-20 days off work. 10 sick leaves + 2 floating leaves, 1 long weekend and a couple more weekends in between.
Oxy should not diminish your ability to work and I think I will have to code in bed for some time, until at least I am able to comfortably move in and out of my wheelchair. I am not starting work until atleast 15 th feb, although I feel healthy enough too, I mean in terms of mental strength.
Returning back home felt good initially but pooping today was probably the most challenging thing I have ever done in my life. The room is ADA compliant, but I have no idea why they have the pot so far down, it's almost as if it's buried inside earth to make life difficult for people with disabilities. I might have to order something that can extend above it so that I get a decent height.
It took me roughly 2 hours to get out of that hellhole, but I finally did manage to get out, thanks to the railings right next to it. It did feel better after pooping haha, I was able to get all the out of my system(literally).
After that I had an oxycodone and was pretty much not in the state to stay up, and passed out. Woke up a few hours back and watching some TV. Trying not to think about my legs today since I have done enough exercise and I should just let my limbs rest. I ordered some food and might do some stretching later in the day, but as of now it feels like I have accomplished enough for the day.
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