Went to my follow up last Friday, but forgot to take pictures of my X-ray on my phone. Everything looked normal at that point, and my regeneration is much better since I slowed down. I am something like 35-40% of the way there. The closer I get, the better I sleep at night. When I was at square 1 it just seemed like a mountain to climb. Now that I’ve made some progress, you can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Still a long way to go however.
Since the process started I haven’t been In much pain really. Nothing that was not manageable. The sheer boredom, and discomfort is what makes it a miserable existence. Although it would be more comfortable with internals, it still applies. I’ve only been gone for like a month and a half but feel detached from reality. I go out to see the sun and get some air once a day shortly, or otw to PT because it’s so cold out. Aside from that I’m in my room most of the time, and even if it’s by choice after a while you start to feel trapped here. It’s all in your head of course, but it influences how you feel. The lack of social interaction and change of environment. Even just driving to the store and saying have a nice day to cashier is somehow almost necessary to the human psyche. I don’t know how hermits do it. Staying in one place all alone. I’ve already experienced all these things during my first LL, but you kind of just forget about it felt exactly. I just want things to be normal again
https://imgur.com/a/YYwYkkw
Xray ^
I am at 3.3cm so I have slightly over a month left hopefully, the surgery scheduler said he will give me a fixator removal date this monday. He said he should be able to get me in around the 28th of January. Man am I ready to get these fixators off. Once I get the date I will be counting down.
This week I started feeling like I’m losing a little flexibility. Assayag and PT both said I am still above average but it is definitely a chunk less than in the beginning. They said some people around this stage already have ballerina foot and have to fight to get to neutral, and my heel goes well above neutral. I have full knee flexion also. Those are the only two you have to worry about really with tibias. My hamstrings are getting tight but that unrelated to lengthening, that’s just because I’m not moving around as much. My bowed tibias are almost completely corrected as well. I still have a little more to squeeze out. I will probably update once again at removal, and then a couple more times in recovery until rod removal.
Hello Activatedxx!
I will be checking into the HP on the 5th of Jan to have quadra with Assayag (surgeries Jan 7th and 21st). I'm soooo excited/scared. I look forward to meeting you there. BTW, why did he do external fixators for you? Is it the cost?
Quote from: too short on December 21, 2024, 08:51:07 PMHello Activatedxx!
I will be checking into the HP on the 5th of Jan to have quadra with Assayag (surgeries Jan 7th and 21st). I'm soooo excited/scared. I look forward to meeting you there. BTW, why did he do external fixators for you? Is it the cost?
Insurance covered most of it because of my bowed tibias, since the fixators correct. It’s genetic. Awesome, I’ll be here. Don’t be nervous, I don’t know if medicine evolved or if people were fear-mongering, but I felt little pain after my tibia surgery. A lot of the femur patients here said the same thing. Probably their anesthesiologist is just better than the one I had in turkey 😂
Well guys, I heard back and I’m set for removal & nailing for the 28th of January. I’m counting the days till I get these things off. I wish I had the patience and willpower to keep these on, so I can skip having to put a nail in and take it out later, but I want to get back to regular and social life and comfort. Mentally I wouldn’t be able to stand keeping the fixes on until may/june. Idk how you did it KiloKahn but you have some nuts my friend.
Hey guys, I’m right around the 4cm mark and the last couple days have been tough. It felt free up until this point, but now my legs feel like that second week after surgery. I have muscle tension/pain, throbbing, and knee joint pain. It’s all manageable under 4/10 but constant. It goes away with pain medicine of course, but I was up every few hours of sleep and have to take medicine again to fall asleep because of the discomfort/pain. Bending for extended time hurts, but so does straightening my legs, so I have to alternate. Elevating my legs does miracles for inflammation/pain.
I don’t have any tightness except for my hamstrings, which have got really tight from the reduced movement and prior femur LL. It will take some work to loosen them up again. When I go to PT I can measure around a CM more just because of posture improvement from stretching everything.
I thought having a surgery date and being at the end would improve things, and it did a little bit mentally, but it’s also making time go by so slow now that I am thinking about it. Also my online class ended so I have nothing to do, and I can’t bear to binge watch stuff anymore. I’ve already watched way too many movies and anime’s. Everything is so dreadfully boring. I just need to make it past this last stretch. When I warm up and stand straight I feel taller, and feel like I’m in that range where I’m not under average at all anymore. There is a Chaplin here who is 6’1 and I feel that my eye level is not to far to his and although he’s noticeably inches taller, he doesn’t tower over me. Pre-ll he would have looked twice my height lol. I’m satisfied with my height at this point. I’m not obsessed with becoming tall, but to just be in an average range and feel normal feels amazing. It’s not something I care about anymore. I have a 6 figure job, an exotic car, and good facial features. I feel I can finally be happy, as I was satisfied with everything else going on in my life except my height. When I did my first surgery it did wonders for me, and took away 70-80 percent of my dissatisfaction. I felt a want for a little more, but it wasn’t major and something I could live without. I wasn’t short anymore but a little below average. Now that Im close to average I’m truly content and comfortable with my height.
Having neurosis now would be like not being happy because I make 6 figures instead of 7 figures, or that I live in a nice house and not a mansion instead. The happiness cutoff is truly mental and differs between people and this has fixed mine. It’s all in our heads. There are people who just want legs that work, and I couldn’t be happy because I had a mental prison that I created myself. This quad journey has been long and brutal, but it feels crazy that i am just now almost able to live my life carefree and comfortably. The weight of insecurity and lack of confidence has truly been lifted from my shoulders.
30 days left. You've got this. You've come so far, you're almost there man. The light's there at the end of the tunnel. 178 cm, that's 5'10, that's *real* man height. That's the same height as James Bond (Daniel Craig), Matt Damon, Johnny Depp, Jason Statham, and (my favorite) Batman Beyond.
Quote from: Activatedxx on December 29, 2024, 11:33:18 PMHey guys, I’m right around the 4cm mark and the last couple days have been tough. It felt free up until this point, but now my legs feel like that second week after surgery. I have muscle tension/pain, throbbing, and knee joint pain. It’s all manageable under 4/10 but constant. It goes away with pain medicine of course, but I was up every few hours of sleep and have to take medicine again to fall asleep because of the discomfort/pain. Bending for extended time hurts, but so does straightening my legs, so I have to alternate. Elevating my legs does miracles for inflammation/pain.
I don’t have any tightness except for my hamstrings, which have got really tight from the reduced movement and prior femur LL. It will take some work to loosen them up again. When I go to PT I can measure around a CM more just because of posture improvement from stretching everything.
I thought having a surgery date and being at the end would improve things, and it did a little bit mentally, but it’s also making time go by so slow now that I am thinking about it. Also my online class ended so I have nothing to do, and I can’t bear to binge watch stuff anymore. I’ve already watched way too many movies and anime’s. Everything is so dreadfully boring. I just need to make it past this last stretch. When I warm up and stand straight I feel taller, and feel like I’m in that range where I’m not under average at all anymore. There is a Chaplin here who is 6’1 and I feel that my eye level is not to far to his and although he’s noticeably inches taller, he doesn’t tower over me. Pre-ll he would have looked twice my height lol. I’m satisfied with my height at this point. I’m not obsessed with becoming tall, but to just be in an average range and feel normal feels amazing. It’s not something I care about anymore. I have a 6 figure job, an exotic car, and good facial features. I feel I can finally be happy, as I was satisfied with everything else going on in my life except my height. When I did my first surgery it did wonders for me, and took away 70-80 percent of my dissatisfaction. I felt a want for a little more, but it wasn’t major and something I could live without. I wasn’t short anymore but a little below average. Now that Im close to average I’m truly content and comfortable with my height.
Having neurosis now would be like not being happy because I make 6 figures instead of 7 figures, or that I live in a nice house and not a mansion instead. The happiness cutoff is truly mental and differs between people and this has fixed mine. It’s all in our heads. There are people who just want legs that work, and I couldn’t be happy because I had a mental prison that I created myself. This quad journey has been long and brutal, but it feels crazy that i am just now almost able to live my life carefree and comfortably. The weight of insecurity and lack of confidence has truly been lifted from my shoulders.
Congrats on finally making it to the end. We shouldn't compare ourselves to someone with no legs or someone even worse off, because there's ALWAYS someone worse off in some way. That doesn't make our struggles any less real or important. We got dealt a crappy genetic hand and are fortunate enough to be able to do something about it, and we have to earn every centimeter with what is probably the most brutal cosmetic surgery that exists. You've been through hell and made it out the other side at an average height instead of being forever short. It's true that you'll never be first, but at least now you'll no longer be last. Again, congratulations.
Thanks for the support guys. My removal date is exactly three weeks away, but it doesn’t feel close still. It turned out I had an infected pin, so I’ve been cycling antibiotics the last week but a lot of the pain was from that, I didn’t catch it at first. However, I’m very limited on pain medicine as my insurance won’t cover anymore and the pharmacies won’t allow out of pocket payment for narcotics. American doctors are very conservative also because they are reviewed yearly by how many opioids they prescribe, I got about a 2 1/2 week supply prescribed (each day is 5 pills) in total and I’m at the end of the line so I have to stretch whatever I have left now until removal date. This equates to about one pill a day for me until my removal date, and I save it for night as that is when I have more pain and trouble sleeping. Honestly this is more than enough for precice patients, most of them barely touch their pain medicine, but with fixators it’s a must have for pin site infections.
It’s not like turkey where you’re prescribed as much as you ask for.
The main issue now is there is some Indian family that moved into the room next to mines whose child throws tantrums day and night. It’s literally impossible to sleep. At this point I am considering leaving and getting a hotel. Yesterday he woke up at 2am and started crying and screaming. Even people 2-3 rooms away are complaining about it. I don’t think I could stay here if I was paid to. This place was amazing up until they came. I need to ask how long they are staying. Hoping they leave this week or something.
Edit* I just got my room moved thank God, will be moving tomorrow. If you book at the HP house the second floor is much quieter. It has an elevator obv
How much is it man?
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