Update: Current pain level 
Pin surgery - The pin replacement surgery went very well. I had the surgery on Saturday morning (June 23rd), and went home later that night. The surgery was done under general anesthesia with an IV drip. After the surgery, I felt pain and pressure around my legs, and it stayed that way for several hours in the hospital ward. I was given periodic Tramadol drips for pain relief, but I have known for some time that I am one of the unlucky people that really aren't affected by Tramadol. I was supposed to stay the night in the hospital, but I asked to go back to the guest house. I took the pain management into my own hands with Proxyvon (Darvocet), taking one pill Saturday night, and one pill early Sunday morning. Because I had not taken any opiates for about 7 days at that point, the two Proxyvon pills were excellent at dealing with the post-surgery pain.
My knee was stiff and I felt pain when bending it for about three days after the surgery, but after that the pain quickly tapered off.
The nerve pain associated with bending my knee was completely resolved by the surgery. However, the skin in that area is still sensitive to the touch; it will take a bit of time for the nerve branch to completely repair itself. This is not a problem, since the frame keeps most anything from touching the skin at that location anyway.
Emotional status - I am in an extreme amount of emotional pain due to things unrelated with leg lengthening, to the point that I am continually fending off a breakdown. I am practicing as much emotional and mental control as I can possibly muster.
Lengthening - I have now lengthened to 5.1cm, and have increased my rate of lengthening. I alternate between 1mm and .66mm. For example, Monday will be 1mm, Tuesday .66mm, Wednesday 1mm, and so on. Sarin told me that my x-rays look fine and there don't appear to be any problems. This rate of lengthening averages to .83mm/day, which is definitely pushing the envelope for a post-5cm patient, but it is not entirely unreasonable. I am filling my head with fantasies of 9cm, mainly to mask the emotional pain I am feeling with excitement. If I continue at this rate, I will be able to easily reach 9cm by my completion date (the end of August).
Entertainment and overall status - I have been playing video games and watching movies to keep myself entertained, and they are working quite well. Right now I can feel all of my pins cutting, so I am in a fair bit of pain, but it is totally manageable.
Medication - I have not had any Proxyvon (or other opiates) since last Sunday, meaning it's been about eight days. When the pain is a bit heavy, or I when I need to go to sleep, I take one "Nise" (anti-inflammitory) and one Flexura D (muscle relaxant). At most I take two Nise tablets and two Flexura D tablets a day.
Dreams - My dreams have been steadily increasing in intensity and negative emotional effect.
Diaries - I totally don't mind other Sarin patients posting their experiences on here, especially if they keep their posts organized like ST and Kaizen do. This diary has never been for me; it has been for all of you back at home considering this procedure. Crazy+6 opened this place up to me, and now I am opening it up to all of you.
Internet Speed - The internet is fast enough to do most things, but when playing online games (typically hosted in USA or Europe), you can expect a ping of 250 to 350ms. This rules out most first person shooters, but leaves in most other types of multiplayer games.
The internet is paid for up to the first 30gb of data each month. After that, the cost is about $0.54 per GB (when bought in blocks of 50GB). If you are a moderate to heavy internet user, expect to pay between $15 and $40 per month for internet.
| Airtel India Internet Speeds (7/2/2012 6am) | Download | Upload | Ping |
| Local speed | 2.29Mbps | .84Mbps | 28ms |
| When communicating with USA West server | 2.09Mbps | .64Mbps | 312ms |
| When communicating with USA East server | 1.97Mbps | .57Mbps | 332ms |
Note - The above speeds are rated in MegaBITS, not MegaBYTES. One MB is composed of (practically) 10Mb, so a speed of 2.29Mbps is actually 229KBs, or about 1/4MB per second. A typical MP3 song can be about 5MB, meaning that it would take about 20 seconds to download.
to Soapey - I think that rod removal would not make too much of a difference to your scars, but this depends on how the skin below moves during the lengthening process. If your skin is in the same place, then the doctor could just make new incisions right on top of the old scars. If the skin moves, then the incisions will likely have to be new ones.
The internet connection is pretty nice here; because of your question I added the "Internet Speed" topic above.
to Parmis - I have sent you a PM with the password to SarinsGuestHouse.com.
to IwannabeastallasTimTebow - Thank you very much. I am over the halfway mark now and very excited.
to Gneriec Urensmae - I am very happy that the diary has been useful to you. Please post if you have any questions.
