My Limb Lengthening journey (LATN with Dr.Sarbjit Singh, Singapore Mount Elizabeth hospital)

About Me Hello everyone. I am an Asian girl from Myanmar, 25 yrs old. I am 145 cms. Normally the average height of girls in our country is around 155 cms. English is not our mother language so if it is not good enough, I do like to opologise for that. I am the only child in my family. so no need to say that my parents are very loving and supportive. They love me so much and they are always there to fulfill me in every way. My dream would’t have come alive without them. Why I wanted to do this surgery? I have always wanted to do this surgery since I was around 16 yrs old. But our country was very underdeveloped by then so I never had a chance. When I became 22, my mum started to encourage me into doing it. It was one of my biggest dreams, also. But the expense is too much, I thought. And I didn’t want to burden my parents so I denied it. I have a pretty face and good figure. People always thought I was way younger then my age, so height wasn’t a big concern for me, then. By 2014, nearing 25 yrs of age, my height dysphoria got worse. When I attended celebrations, weddings, or parties, I was the shortest of all and whatever I wore nor how pretty I looked just became a waste. When I had to go to places like Buddhist monasteries or housewarming parties, places where I needed to take off my shoes, I walked tiptoed. My mum started to push me into it since she felt so sad to see me like that. The decision making was really hard for me. I was afraid I wouldn’t be there for them when they need me and I will become the one to burden them. But my mum talked me into it like everyday and tried to reassure me. Finally I decided to do it. Of course, I wanted to do it really badly, It was my dream. But if something goes wrong, my mum wouldn’t be able to take it. It was really hard for me. These are my photos before surgery.  The Journey Begins  Consultation We contacted with Dr. Sarbjit Singh from Mount Elizabeth hospital, Singapore. On our consultation day, he had me took my xrays and I was told that my femurs were too small for the internal method. I was alittle disappointed that day. Operation started I had my operation at Mount Elizabeth hospital ,Singapore on 10.01.2015. On the day of my operation, I was okay and had no pain at all. But my left feet was swelling and femur muscles twitched from time to time. The only painful times following the surgery were when the physiotherapist came to work on bending my knees and when I tried to move around. Pain was terrible. I was shaking all over and there was blood oozing out of my pin sites. Those times were like hell, unforgettable. Four days post surgery(14.01.2015), we came back to our home country. My mum was really worried for me that she had me transported to and from the airports in ambulance. Thanks to her I was confortable and felt very little pain. I stayed at Pan Hlaing hospital in my hometown for another five days. Doctor Sarbjit pays a visit at the hospital every month. Here is my first x ray I took after my surgery on 17.01.2015, The left one is dissapointing with misalignment. The left one had swelling, pain and muscle twitches since the surgery. So when I saw the x ray, I couldn’t help myself from crying. Dr Sarbjit told me it was nothing to worry about and by the time the internal nail is inserted after four months it would be fine. The Journey Goes On   I was discharged on 19.01.2015. It was a relief to go back home. For the first month there was pain now and then and it was really hard for me to get used to not being able to turn side ways for the whole night. I felt very stiff in the mornings and knee bending was a problem. It took me about an hour before I could bend my knees every morning. I was really afraid of infections and cleaning the pin sites was a major part of my days. I did my exercises regularly and physiotherapists came to help three days a week. Things were hard those days. I cried my heart out every few days. I got easily stressed over very little thing concerning with my legs. Those include stiffness of my knees(especially my left one), whenever I see a little oozing, swelling or redness around my pins( which always subside after a day or two), discomfort, my sudden change of mobility, and pain every few days when the pins cut through my skin as the distraction goes. X rays were taken once every two weeks. Bone healing was good as well as the distraction. Starting from February, I decided to stop PT at home and go out to do it at the centre daily. Home visit pt price is also two times higher so I wanted to save and add more advantages. During the second month things got easier. I was getting used to my frames, sleeping positions and my daily routines. My Rom of the knees were good( around 0′ to 90′). I developed a slight duckass but it doesn’t concern me that much. I did back kicks and lay on my tummy for that everyday. Until that day (01.03.2015), I tried to push my knees range further. And really bad inflammation occurred in my left knee. It was aching badly and so very stiff. I cried the whole day and night from stress and pain. I couldn’t bend that left knees for two following days. Since it had been around 45′ to 50′. And no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t bend it further. Another matter came up afew days later when x rays were taken. I had distracted 4cms and my bone gap was only 3cms apart due to pin bending. Awwwwnnn, it was another nightmare for me. But doctor and my friends from LL forum told me it was quite normal for all external LLers. Still I was quite disappointed though coz it might mean I would have to stay in frames for longer than expected. Following xrays were taken on(04.01.2015) showing only 3cms gap. Today is (14.03.2015) and I have distracted another 1cm(3.9cms) The good news is that the lagging of my bone gap is not getting worse. The following are the Xrays I took on (12.03.2015) showing around 3.7 cms. Update on my Rom is around 45′(left knee) and 50’+(right knee). (5 cms) Yesterday(26.03.2015), I took my xrays which shows 5cms. Felt quite happy. Only about 20 days left till I reach my goal and finish lenghtening. But I have things going on since a few days ago. My right leg is in lots of pain from the skin being cut through by pins. And the muscles underneath them are also very painful. The left leg also have the same problem but not as bad. I haven’t had proper sleep lately, waking up hourly from pain.There is another problem effecting my sleep. Duckass (hyperlordosis), from tight quadriceps and hip flexers got worse over time. Because of them I cannot sleep flat on my back or stand straight. When I do, the skin and muscles around my pins hurt like hell from getting pulled. As soon as I bend over or sit up, pain just subside. So I have to sit up from time to time during sleeps and that leaves me tired throughout the day. I take Muscol, tramadol, Nucoxia and Danzen for my pain, inflammation and muscle relaxation. But I have been suffering lately and I have a sense it’s gonna get worse nearing my goal of 7 to 7.5cms. I am in pain, stressed and worried that I wouldn’t reach my target. (Nearly 7cms) Very close to getting 7cms. Had been feeling very great lately, which is the opposite of of I had expected. Pain and all the tightness had gone down to like 1/10. Sleep had been good, too. I take only Nucoxia and Muscol twice a day now, well including nutrition supplements like Calcium and vitamin D, of course. Knee ranges have gone down abit, left (35′ to 40′) and right (around 40′). With LATN method there could be loss of gained length during the next internal nailing surgery. Because of that my doctor told me to gain 8cms in case to compensate for any loss during the surgery, which is going to be in next two months. Xrays taken today were good except that my callus formation is said to be abit weak. (21.04.2015) Next six more days and I would be 8cms. I had been feeling really great these days. Pain and discomfort was just zero.I still can’t believe it. I thought it would be like hell living through those last days of distraction but everything had been really smooth and easy. Yesterday I started walking on crutches without assistance, went out and had late dinner with my friends. Well getting in and out of car need help of course. Oh, and one more thing ;couldn’t believe that my duckass has vanished so quickly. I guess that’s from doing lots of stretching for my hip flexers over the past few weeks. I already feel like I’m on my recovery journey. ;). The only things that I find hard are the muscle tightness and stiffness during sleep and knee Rom which is now only around 25′ to 30′ for both knees. 29.4.2015 (8cms)  8cms!!! Woaaah! I still couldn’t believe that I came this far. I’m feeling very happy, satisfied and overwhelmed that I have just overcome the hardest battle and now enjoying my confort level. Yet there is still way to go till it’s over, lol. The internal nailing surgery in June bugs me alot when I think of it. I Well, for the moment,  I’ve been walking quite alot with weight-bearing of about only 30 % of my body weight (86 pounds),using elbow crutches. My Roms were left 25′ with the last distraction yet after stopping the turns, I feel like my legs are much more less tense and easier to bend. Sleep wasn’t bad for me during the distraction phase but now it is definitely better with about only 1/10 of muscle tightness and ache. Overall I m now so in love with my fixators that I won’t mind wearing them for longer time if it guarantees decompression during the next internal nailing surgery. ;-). (10.05.2015)   Four months anniversary! 🙌 Went to see my doctor today. We discussed mainly about that re-shortening thing and misalignment. He answered my questions with passion and explained me about the surgical methods that could be used during the nailing procedure.  He instructed me to  stimulate the callus with turning back and forth one week after another. It’s like starting from tomorrow I have to rewind my turns twice a day for a week (about 4 mms) then get them back to last distraction the next week and go on. Its quite a relief that my doubts and worries have gone down, not totally but much relieved after our discussion.  I have been going out quite alot and enjoying my consolidation with the best I can, like keeping myself busy with the things I love to do and rehabilitation of course. When I go out or meet my friends, I feel sooooo verrry happy😂😝 with my new height that everytime I stand up, I feel like I was reborn again. There is no more fear that people would see my ugliness and feeling small that I just wanted to shrank more and disappear. I feel awesome. I still go to rehab center three to four times a week and I do my daily stretches at home. My doctor told me to work on my knee bending more, as much as I could. I was left with about 25′ with my last distraction. Up to now I gain back about 10′ so my knee Roms are around 35′ at the moment.

(07.06.2015) 

So next three days it’ll be 5 months post operation and alil over a month from last distraction day. Callus formation is great comparing with the last xray 41 days ago. More visible callus is found in the two lower xrays.

And guess what today we made the decision to do the next surgery exactly a month from now.

Ohhh woa woa..Im sooooo happy. Ooohh yehh!!😆😇😂😁😄

Actually my doctor said I can do it this month but my mum and I wanted to wait abit longer for the callus to form more and all muscle tension to go away to make sure not to lose much on the gained length.

My Roms, muscle mass and strength are returning but very slowly, now knee ranges at around 40 degrees. The pinsites have healed completely but when I try to bend my knees further, the skin and underlying tissues around the pins struggle and try to tear themselves to be able to move. I don’t want to risk infection or manipulate them so I just go slowly.

I walk as much as possible and stay committed to my daily exercises and stretches.

I can’t wait to count down days of my last month in the lovely fixators,  the loves of my life!!!

(25.06.2015)

15 days left…..counting down. I had my xrays done on 23rd and callus was forming great and the gap showing about 8.2cms.

Had some problems at the xray department. It was crazy. Usually the xrays are enlarged so you never get ur exact measurements from them. So there is this thing called calibration. Our xrays have to be calibrated to get the exact lenght that u achieved. What I was facing is that they put a measurement for calibration but never calibrated my xrays. You see, that’s what you have to face in an underdeveloped country. So that day the same xrays with the same gap(8.2cms) were showing over 9cms without being calibrated. I was outraged and complained and finally after about two hours of hanging in there, they told us they left out one step in there!!!!

My range of motions are currently around 45-50 degrees. Psychologically I am getting really impatient for the final days to pass but again really satisfied and happy with myself that I had struggled, endured and waited this long.

Funny posts of me doing my mornings exercises.

 (18.07.2015)

DREAM ACCOMPLISHED !!! 😇👍👍👐🙌🙏🙌

Today I was discharged from hospital, fixators removed on 16th. It was a miracle that everything went so well and smooth. My doctor is an angel and my family are my guardians. Without them my dreams wouldn’t come alive. Now I m 153.5cms. Even though my goal was 7.5, I achieved 8, 8.1. My femur alignments are also fixed and are aligned so very well too. It’s unbelievable. It’s just a miracle and a fairytale comes true. 

But I still got some work to do of course. Doing strict pt to 100% recovery is the final step for me to do. My knees became very light and flexible once the frames are off. On the surgery day Roms were around 70 for both knees. But with having the huge alignment fixed, the right femur got swollen and its range goes down to 50 at the moment.

Here are the last fotos of me with my frames on and very first fotos of without them.😇😉

 

And photo of me with the loves of my life, 😂 😝. My boyfriend and dr Singh. Will upload more photos with my great great doctor on my recovery journey. He took great care of his patients, very understanding, very patient and what’s more he can change ones life to the better. I would never be able to thank him enough. He will be the one I could never forget in my life.

Here are my xrays after the nail exchange surgery.

The measurements are not included in the xrays becoz we measured them and check the alignments and discrepancy in the computer.