CoolguySam - External Tibias - Dr. Sarin - 2012 - Joinging Dr. Sarin in May!

[soapey]

Yeh I think I would be spending my time visiting the other patients too! Must be great all being in it together

Are you doing anything to try and minimize scarring at all?

Do you have any idea on how bad the scarring will be?

[STsacrifice4LTgain]

Well I'm extremely sore today, but it actually worked! Finally slept a good 8-9 hours. So to anyone that is a light sleeper with too much natural energy, you're gonna have to find ways to burn it off lol.

Ahh f***! That's me right there & I cant even sleep 8-9 hours here at home, wtf am I gonna do out there? lol

CoolguySam - Your doing excellent out there bud! I'm not even there yet & I'm already jealous of your continuous 8-9 hours of sleep lol.. That is awesome & seems like your LL journey has been very smooth so far. Really happy for you man, keep up the great work & hopefully, I'll be in the main guest house w/ you feisty crippled warriors sooner than later 

[coolguySam]

Soapey: since I have hairy legs, im not too worried about scars or anything. If you are worried about scars you can always do a scar removal procedure which, in India, shouldn't cost that much.

STsacrifice (can I call you ST from now on, lol?): thanks. don't worry about not being able to sleep too much. it all depends on the person and how much sleep you need. see you soon. make sure you visit us while you still have working legs. lol

LL complications: After doing a lot of research I have found that pin infection is the most common complication with this surgery. But not with Dr Sarin. No a single LL patient of Sarin here has gotten any pin infection. On exactly how this works, he prefers to keep this a trade secret until may be he publishes it. Don't worry it's not some 'radioactive' cream or some secret potion that he uses to keep infections away.. lol. but something that he discovered in his 20 year experience of doing this surgery.

[STsacrifice4LTgain]

STsacrifice (can I call you ST from now on, lol?): thanks. don't worry about not being able to sleep too much. it all depends on the person and how much sleep you need. see you soon. make sure you visit us while you still have working legs. lol

[/quote]

Yup of course u can, its much easier haha.. And that info you shared regarding Sarin's track record on pin infections was very helpful & gave me additional peace of mind. And I just sent you a PM a bit ago 

[balzakin]

LL complications: After doing a lot of research I have found that pin infection is the most common complication with this surgery. But not with Dr Sarin. No a single LL patient of Sarin here has gotten any pin infection. On exactly how this works, he prefers to keep this a trade secret until may be he publishes it. Don't worry it's not some 'radioactive' cream or some secret potion that he uses to keep infections away.. lol. but something that he discovered in his 20 year experience of doing this surgery.

what about intramedullary infections?

[coolguySam]

what about intramedullary infections?

nope

[soapey]

Thats brilliant about infections!

CoolguySam, from what you have seen whilst being there, how long do you think it takes on average to walk absolutely normal again from the operation, say by lengthening around 7cm?

I gather from research this is around 6 months, would you agree?

[6ftby2014]

what about intramedullary infections?

pretty rare.

[happyguy]

Hello Brave ones. . 

What are your thoughts on doing one leg at a time. . .  wont this let the patient be mobile throughout the process - even though overall it might take 10 months ?

Thanks.

[coolguySam]

happyguy: well, although it improves mobility, i think it's a huge waste of 10 months. Also if you plan to move about on crutches you should keep in mind that the length of your broken leg is gonna increase more than the length of the normal leg which may cause some mobility problems on its own. idk anyone that has ever chosen that option.

[Braden]

Hi CoolGuySam,
I have been following your diary for a little while now, such an inspiration.   I have emailed Dr sarin about the surgery; is it normal to get very vague answers? I understand that he is very busy and am not the slightest bit mad.  I was just wondering if this is normal? I am extremely serious about the surgery and am just concerned. 
 

[The Mdragon]

Tall did choose the option of lengthening one leg at a time for his tibias but he did internal precise nail with dr M and not external LON.doing externals one leg at a time is definitely a waste of time.

[coolguySam]

Hi CoolGuySam,
I have been following your diary for a little while now, such an inspiration.   I have emailed Dr sarin about the surgery; is it normal to get very vague answers? I understand that he is very busy and am not the slightest bit mad.  I was just wondering if this is normal? I am extremely serious about the surgery and am just concerned. 
 

Braden: yes it is normal. Dr sarin answers emails very directly and concisely. don't take it personally but that's just how he answers emails.. if you are serious about this surgery then I recommend calling the number on his website to get more information. you can also shoot a personal message to me or any one of us living at the guest house. I hope that helps

[6ftby2014]

Tall did choose the option of lengthening one leg at a time for his tibias but he did internal precise nail with dr M and not external LON.doing externals one leg at a time is definitely a waste of time.

I was in a casino the other day ( trying to earn LL money... hahaha) and I saw a lady in a wheelchair with one Ilizarov frame on her right leg only. Probably for length discrepancy but this post made me think of it.... small world.

[The Mdragon]

@6ftby2014..LOL..its an omen buddy!;-) the gods are motivating you for the LL surgery:). 

[coolguySam]

Update:

Progress: left leg: 3.4 cm, right leg: 3.5 cm
This is confirmed by my recent the X-ray measurement.

(New) Ballerina: NO ballerina yet. During physiotherapy, my feet are able to stretch beyond 90 degrees. So it think i may be able to come out of this with less than 2-3 cm of ballerina which is easily correctable.

Pain: Still nope. It's been two weeks since the pin removal and its been the best pain-free experience ever since before the surgery. I've been spending most of my time socializing outside of my room. Talking to other patients who also are going through the same journey helps keep my anxiety low.


Pictures:



Sunny gave everyone these slippers to help prevent ballerina. you might be able to recognize the person in the blue frames, but surprisingly, half of Sarin's patients are not active MMT members



This is Cooldoc after he crossed 5 cm




This is my sleeping position most of the time. Side sleeping is still possible with these frames.

I have a really funny picture of how Dryani sleeps. I'll upload it if I get his permission.

[Dookieman]

Reminds me of college dorm life. Thanks for the pics!

[adlerta]

Hi CoolguySam,
thanks for your diary and the last pictures...at which daily speed is your distraction? 1mm per day or 0.66mm per day? Regarding your personal experience related to the amount of lengthening you have reached, which would be the advisable daily speed of distraction? I can imagine that in order to avoid stress for the (veins/tissue/blood circulation/developing of ballerina feet) a 0.66mm daily speed should be better than the faster other, and it should be sufficient to avoid pre-mature consolidation of the bone....I'd like to know your opinion on that.....thanks, bye and take care.....

[coolguySam]

Adlerta: My distraction rate was 1mm/day till 3 cm and then .75 mm/day after that. It really depends on the person. Right now I haven't felt much pain for the last two weeks so I might try to go .866mm/day. In my opinion .66mm/day is too slow for initial lengthening and should be done after crossing 3.5 to 4 cm.

Dookieman: the guest house and the culture is very similar to college dorms.

[Kaizen]

Dookieman: the guest house and the culture is very similar to college dorms.

We are just missing drunken cripple fights!!