Quote from: Wannabegiant on January 12, 2014, 06:40:37 AMBut arent the external frames supposed to be stable enought to keep the bones steady in place, preserving the gap? I guess there is some sort of weight limit that it can withstand. I weight like 64 Kilos only so they should be able to hold that weight without losing height gain.
No, they're not. The external frames all have a weight limit. But even if you are under the weight limit, they do compress to a certain extend depending on your weight. But my only experience has been with Dr. Sarin's external frame.
But even if you do lose height during your lengthening phase, you can still make up for it. It just means you have to make up for your lost.
Quote from: Wannabegiant on January 12, 2014, 06:40:37 AMBut after lengthening phase is over, and you are in consolidation phase, is there still a risk of losing height by just standing up and walking? I cant imagine having to lay down for like 4 months total, i cant think of any other patients that did that. I mean during consolidation phase I assume there would already be solid callus on the outer part of the bones, keeping the bone from compressing, while the inner part of the bone keeps healing until it is strong enough to carry the body weight again without the frame.
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I don't know. I haven't heard of such thing until I saw Sweden's post. But I do think the x-ray taken at the privat hospital where we all had our xray were overly optimistic so we always had to deduct 5mm from the measurement. I don't know what he did. The only one which I reliably base my measurement on was the one at Sarin's hospital. And he said I had 8.2cm. So we reduce it to 8cm. My roommate was dying for 8cm as well because he was only 5'4 to begin with but ended up with just 7.4cm... even though the x-ray at the pivat hospital said he got 8cm.
Also, you need to take into account of ballerina. Some people at the guesthouse measured their height along with their ballerina foot, so they were vastly disappointed a few months later when their heel touch the ground.
When we had the frames removed, we were allowed to walk right away after 2 weeks. But the rods which are inserted in place can only bear weight of 60kg. So you need to be careful in the early phase of the consolidation. I heard of some cases of the Betz nail being popped. Sysop tibia is one example. He had to replaced them with the titanium nail.
If you lengthen only 4cm and can pay by cm, then I think that is like an insurance policy. I know a very old patient who only achieved 2.9cm due to pain and another Japanese patient who got only 4cm. And we all paid the same price.
