Bilateral femur lengthening: +6 cm

Twelve weeks since surgery. Things I wish I had known on day one:

• The bone is the easy part; the muscles are the job.
• Flexion goes down during distraction and comes back after. Don't panic, keep stretching.
• Tell your team about nerve symptoms the same day.
• Some weeks feel like zero progress. Write them down anyway — you'll want to see how far you came.

Next X-ray in three weeks.

Physio let me take a few steps between the parallel bars with no crutches. Wobbly, slow, and the best moment since surgery.

Still two crutches outside the house for now.

Cleared for partial weight bearing, around 20 kg per leg. Two crutches everywhere.

Flexion is already coming back now that the muscles aren't being stretched every day: 100° this week.

Last turn of the remote this morning. Six centimetres.

Measured at the clinic: 168 cm → 174 cm. I keep catching my reflection in shop windows.

Now consolidation: the new bone has to harden before I can put full weight on it. That's the long, boring part, apparently.

Did a full flight of stairs with crutches today, one step at a time. Took forever. Felt like climbing a mountain.

4.8 cm. Starting to notice the change in the mirror — trousers that fit in June are now short.

3.7 cm. Officially past the middle.

The routine that's working for me:

1. Stretching before every lengthening session
2. Physio exercises twice a day, no skipping
3. Hip flexor stretch lying on my stomach for 20 minutes
4. Calcium and vitamin D (as prescribed)

Knee flexion holding at 85°. Not where I want it, but stable.

First proper X-ray since surgery. The surgeon is happy: the regenerate is forming nicely in both gaps and the nails are exactly where they should be.

2.5 cm done. Back to the full rate on both legs.

Woke up at 3 am with burning and tingling down the left shin. Messaged my surgeon's team in the morning — they slowed the left leg to 0.75 mm/day for a few days and the tingling settled within 48 hours.

Lesson: report nerve symptoms early. Don't wait for the next check-up.

1.6 cm total so far.

Seven millimetres. Doesn't sound like much until you remember it's bone.

Muscles are the real fight. Hamstrings are tightening every day, and flexion dropped to 95°. I'm stretching 45 minutes morning and evening and adding a short session before bed.

Mood is good. Walking short distances with the walker.

Latency period is over. From today it's 1 mm a day, split into four 0.25 mm sessions with the remote. You can't feel each one, but by the evening the thighs feel tight.

Physio twice a day from now on. Knee flexion today: 105°.

Discharged this morning. The car ride home was the worst part so far — every bump.

Things that already saved me:

• a raised toilet seat
• a grabber tool
• a long phone charger

Sleeping on my back with pillows under the calves, not the knees. My physio was very clear about that.

Checked in at 6:30. Surprisingly calm until they wheeled me in — then not calm at all.

Woke up around 2 pm. Pain is real but manageable with the pump. Both legs feel like concrete. Nurses had me sit on the edge of the bed in the evening and the room spun for a minute.

Six centimetres to go. Starting the count.