[Regular patients] I am surprised to see my confident self
It is January of 2011 now. I am writing this after my successful completion of the Ilizarov surgery and the rehabilitation procedure, which ended a year ago. I wasn’t sure before, and even after the surgery, if a day like today would ever come. I think the present moment is definitely more valuable than the days before I had the surgery. If anyone asked me if I would go through the surgery again, I can firmly say that I would have it again.
My height was lengthened by 6cm after the Ilizarov surgery in December of 2008. Of course the physical status of my legs is not as good as before and I have discomfort in the knees, but I am still greatly satisfied with what I went through. Through my writing, I would also like to thank Professor Song at KUMC.
I was short since I was little
When I was little, I was shorter than my friends, and I was usually the 6th ~7th in the row. Back then I had no stress or pressure from my short height. Everyone said that I would grow taller once I hit puberty, and that they were about my height when they were my age. So that made me not to worry about my height so much. Furthermore, my parents were both taller than average, so I was quite relieved.
It was since I started middle school that I started worrying about my height. I grew a little in middle school too, but growth was very slow and I was the 2nd~3rd shortest in the class. After finishing the first year in middle school, my mother took me to a growth clinic at a general hospital, and to an oriental medicine clinic. At the oriental medicine clinic, they gave me medicine for growth. At the growth clinic, they used a machine that estimates my mature height, and it showed 163cm, which was very shocking for both me and my mother. We asked the reason for such short final height, especially because both my parents are so tall. The doctor said there is nothing he can do and suggested growth injections. But the cost of the injections was about 3,000,000 KRW per month. So we said we’d wait and consider other methods. That day, I started jump roping and taking growth pills.
Despite my parents’ and my such effort, I barely grew over 160cm by the end of middle school. I think I had tried every method to grow during middle school years, that my parents and my effort to grow taller was on a temporary pause.
Inferiority complex
As I entered high school, I remember being more interested in girls and paying more attention to my appearance. I tried to hide my flaw of being short by using elevator shoes and wearing various clothes. Elevator shoes were great to use, but they made me think that I was really that tall. Frankly they gave me a sense of shame when I took them off. I was also in despair whenever I stood next to my friends, thinking why I had to be so short when my friends were all so tall. My inferiority complex was so extreme that it even affected my studying for the university entrance exam. So I couldn’t study much, which made me prepare for 2 more years until I got into a university. During those 2 years, I only went back and forth from house to the library, and I was naturally thinking about my height at least once a day. If there was a short guy passing by, I would secretly go next to him and compare my height.
After all those times with inferiority complex, I started becoming interested in the height lengthening surgery way after I entered university. I thought I couldn’t live with inferiority complex all my life, so I searched online and bought books about leg lengthening. I followed the instructions given in the books, but they were no use.
That is how I got to know about the Ilizarov surgery, and I decided to be operated by Professor Song, after I read one of his books. Professor Song’s name was mentioned frequently on online communities, research papers, media, and resources during my 2-hour daily online research. I was getting familiar to his face before I even saw him in person.
It was a surgery that had to be done
I made a big decision towards the end of the semester to have the surgery as fast as possible. When I first told my parents about it, they were against it and very worried about it. But after telling them about all my research and stories of patients who already had the surgery, they saw how much firm I was on my plan, so they agreed to it in some degree. But as for the cost, they said it was too much for our family to afford. I tried to convince my parents about it, but it didn’t take me too long for me to realize that it is not a matter I could convince them about. I decided to earn the money myself and thought it would not be a big problem considering how much it had been bothering me and how my life would change afterwards.
I was almost done with the 1st semester of my 1st year. I hadn’t gone to the military yet, and I was thinking about working in a company to earn money for the surgery. People around me had negative thoughts about it but it was going to take forever until I earn the money with just working part-time jobs. So working in a company, which was like a ray of light, was going to give me the advantage of being able to collect my salary.
After finishing my one semester in university, I gathered more information about the surgery. I was admitted to a company at the end of the year, so I saved up most of my money, minimizing my expenses. But working in a company wasn’t enough. So I also started working part-time on weekends as well. Two years passed by like that, and I was able to save up quite a big portion of the cost for surgery. The company told me they would give me a raise if I stayed longer, but I couldn’t put off the surgery any longer.
My first impression of Professor Song
When I met Professor Song for the first time, he seemed very familiar and felt like I had seen him for a long time. It is probably because I had frequently seen him online and in books.
After listening to professor’s explanations, I got to meet two patients who were already operated, and they looked like normal healthy people. They also had their height lengthened 6~7cm. Even though they didn’t look so comfortable with the way walked because it hadn’t been a long time since they had the surgery, their long-looking legs gave me conviction. They told me that it was pain during the lengthening process, but they were very satisfied and never regretful in the end. Actually I have never heard of anyone who had the surgery and became regretful afterwards.
So I got scheduled for the surgery and learned some exercises that I needed to do until the surgery. I did those exercises while I was waiting for the date. When I was finally hospitalized for the surgery, I was nervous, worried, and restless with many thoughts. But I knew I had made up my mind for a better life in the future.
I didn’t have too much pain as much as the other patients said they had, most likely because of painkiller injections. But my two legs felt very bulky and it was very surreal to them all wrapped up in bandages. After 2 days, I started rehabilitation. Just 3 days ago my legs were totally fine, but there I was practicing walking in a rehabilitation center. At first just getting up was very hard, but I was able to walk without crutches after 3~4 days.
I was told by the doctor to turn the bolt on the Ilizarov device half way and lengthen 1mm each day. It could be different depending on the person but he said it becomes more difficult once you reach 5~6cm of lengthening.
After I was discharged, I just stayed at home doing exercise and disinfecting my leg. After a month of the same daily activities, I got really bored. And because I had the surgery in the winter, I had no desire to go out in the freezing weather. I just came out once or twice a month to go to the hospital. Those were the only days I went out of my house, so I would go to the convenience store and have fun. For me the most painful thing was the fact that I was stuck at home for a long time. I thought of the days when I used to travel, I think I looked through all my travel pictures at least 100 times. On online communities, a lot of people talked about their unbearable amount of pain, but I don’t think I had much pain relatively.
What I felt through my experience is that writings on the Internet aren’t very reliable. There are people who intentionally put up false information, and people who didn’t actually have the surgery but just heard stories from other people. Most of the people who write things online are the people who think negatively about the surgery or who have had bad experience from it. People who had successful surgeries become lazy don’t even write about things. I used to go online and read about things, but became lazy around the time of pin insertion and end of rehabilitation. Around the time I was done with rehabilitation, I was more worried about my future plans than my legs. There are so many stories online, but trusting the doctor and doing stretching exercises as he instructed is more beneficial
Limit in lengthening
About the time lengthening has reached 6cm, I started feeling pain on my legs. Another guy who had the surgery told me that he lengthened 0.5mm once he had reached the limit. But because I had to return to school soon, I was going to stop after lengthening a little less than 6cm. The doctor at the hospital told me that I could try to lengthen a bit more, but because I wanted to be safe, I told him that I was satisfied at that moment. Now that I think about it, I wish I had lengthened 1 more centimeter. I could have slowly lengthened 0.5mm for 20 days, but I was too anxious at that time that I just wanted to stop.
This action was also affected by the writings online. A lot of people said things about lengthening too much, having too much pain, and all sorts of things. I think slower rate of lengthening is also a safe method once you feel that the bone has reached its limit of lengthening.
When I was hospitalized again for the 2nd surgery after lengthening, I was more comfortable and more prepared mentally. The 2nd surgery is for inserting bolts on the intramedullary nail and stretching your calf tendon to correct equinus deformity. When I came home after the 2nd surgery, I was feeling relieved. I bought calcium supplements and exercised harder starting that day, looking forward to the day of removal of the external fixator after bone filling.
Two important points after the surgery
The two most important things during the Ilizarov procedure are disinfecting and exercising. Before anything, disinfection should be done thoroughly. I tend to get very paranoid with things, so I boiled the tools I used for disinfection everyday and disinfected my leg for 30 minutes. I think that is the reason I didn’t have any secondary infection or complications. I heard of patients who had secondary infection and how much they suffered from it, so I wanted to prevent that with thorough disinfection. No one wants to have complications or infection after the surgery. I think it is quite stupid that a patient gets infection because he was not diligent with disinfection. At first I thought of disinfecting 3 or 4 times. But the doctor in charge said twice is enough. I think I didn’t have any problem because I boiled disinfecting tools for 15 minutes every day and completely sterilized everything.
The next step is exercising. Exercising should be continuously done even 1 day after the surgery and removal of the external fixator. The exercises taught in the rehabilitation center should be done every day in order to return back to normal life and be able to build up muscle strength like before. After the surgery, the knee muscles worsen and weaken and hurt whenever you move them. Apart from the time when you have extreme pain, exercises such as walking, sitting up and down with your back against the wall, lifting the leg up and down should be continuously done for thigh and calf muscle reconstruction.
After the internal fixator was inserted, I walked 2 hours every day and held up my leg for 30 minutes before I went to bed and after I woke up.
It was spring by the time I had internal fixator insertion. I had fun walking around the apartment listening to music in great weather. I was excited with the thought of taking the external fixator out once the bone fills in. I folded up my pants and let sunshine touch my legs. I didn’t really care about people looking at me. Some people with no manner stared through my leg at times, and some kids in the neighborhood asked me about it, but after a while it that didn’t bother me either.
Some patients worry about people around them finding out about the surgery because the duration is too long. I told a couple of my friends, but I didn’t care much. Later I also wore flat sneakers without heels so they didn’t notice that I got my legs lengthened. Even if they noticed, I can tell them about correction surgery as an excuse.
My daily routine pretty much consisted of waking up – exercise – stretching – walking –disinfection – resting exercise – stretching – walking – disinfection – rest – going to bed. It was very dull at times but I was motivated by the x-rays I took at the hospital from time to time. I exercised with my utmost ability so that bone would fill up faster and I would be able to have the external fixator taken out.
Not only turning back to my normal life, but also bone generation would have taken longer if I just stayed in bed, feeling sick. This is the reason why regular exercise is necessary.
Because the Ilizarov surgery is a long-term process, a lot of people think of studying or getting a certificate of some sort before they go into the surgery. I also thought of it before. Since rehabilitation is long, I wanted to study the computer at home and get a certificate for it, but I couldn’t. I have no regrets now. Finishing up the Ilizarov procedure safely and properly was my first concern. I should be paying attention to the surgery, which not only costed a lot, but also was done to raise the value of my body.
Actually washing is also a big difficulty for people with the surgery. I used many different methods to avoid any problems. First of all, I didn’t shower at all for about 6 months until I had the external fixator removed. I didn’t even wash my legs, but sometimes clean it with wipes that had alcohol because I didn’t want any foreign bodies touching the operated area. I wetted my upper body with hot water and cleaned it with a towel. For washing my hair, which was the hardest part, I made a vinyl skirt that I put on to cover my legs. I wore this vinyl skirt even when I was washing my face or brushing my teeth, to make sure that there is no water drops going into the area.
I can proudly say that I took care of my leg very well and therefore had no secondary infection or any big complications. I finally had the internal fixator after bone union. When it was first removed, I was so excited and felt very much satisfied with my taller height. I wanted to walk around freely, but I had leg braces on just in case I fall or hit it somewhere. My leg was getting sweaty and uncomfortable, but I had to have the leg braces on just in case. I also heard of some patients falling and breaking their legs while they were walking around after rehabilitation and having to put on the external fixator again. You have to be careful for the next 2~3 years after internal fixation removal.
I am guessing the people who are reading this book are interested in the surgery or are already planned to have the surgery, and have tried out many ways to grow even a little taller. These days, people are more interested in growing taller so a lot of methods and remedies have been coming out lately. One of my friends, who was also short, took some Japanese medications that were supposed to help him grow taller. Those drugs weren’t sold in regular pharmacies, but directly imported from Japan, so the price was quite high too. Being attracted by its exaggerated advertisements, he ended up purchasing the drugs. They were not effective at all, but rather caused skin problems that he had to go to the dermatologist. I feel bad for people who waste money, health, and time for unverified drugs and machines. You can earn money again, but the time wasted can’t be earned back again, and you might actually miss the right time for the surgery. A person who is willing to invest on unverified methods should stop wishing to grow taller, and if they can’t get rid of that idea, they should seriously think of the surgery.
Even I was surprised at my confident self
It would be no exaggeration if I said I am currently living a different life with the confidence that I didn’t have before. Honestly before, I didn’t like to stand out in a crowd because of the short height, and feel self-conscious whenever I was introduced to someone else. But now, I don’t have any of that, and actually developed one advantage of myself, and that is “presentation”. I was surprised to see that I was able to confidently present my work in front of the class during one of my lectures. Before, I tried to avoid such situation or finish the presentation as soon as possible. But I that this surgery was worthwhile, noticing myself present my work with dignity. In the semester I returned from the surgery, I had a great time getting to know other students and professors, and even got a scholarship at the end of the semester. I don’t even have to talk about who my whole life in school and relationships changed. I honestly think if someone feels less confident because of short height and the need to have a taller height, it is necessary for the person to have this surgery. I would recommend this surgery to people as someone who has had the surgery and is living a totally different and satisfying life, as long as the person meets the right doctor and is willing to make some sacrifices for the surgery.
I am usually very anxious and pay too much attention to details, and even brought up and bothered the doctors with many unimportant questions. But I think there will be no problem as long as the patient relies on the doctor and does as he instructs. The royal road to a successful surgery is to meet the right doctor. Also, people who are interested in the surgery should seek for information from me or people who had the surgery, rather than online sources.
[Regular patients] I am surprised to see my confident self
It is January of 2011 now. I am writing this after my successful completion of the Ilizarov surgery and the rehabilitation procedure, which ended a year ago. I wasn’t sure before, and even after the surgery, if a day like today would ever come. I think the present moment is definitely more valuable than the days before I had the surgery. If anyone asked me if I would go through the surgery again, I can firmly say that I would have it again.
My height was lengthened by 6cm after the Ilizarov surgery in December of 2008. Of course the physical status of my legs is not as good as before and I have discomfort in the knees, but I am still greatly satisfied with what I went through. Through my writing, I would also like to thank Professor Song at KUMC.
I was short since I was little
When I was little, I was shorter than my friends, and I was usually the 6th ~7th in the row. Back then I had no stress or pressure from my short height. Everyone said that I would grow taller once I hit puberty, and that they were about my height when they were my age. So that made me not to worry about my height so much. Furthermore, my parents were both taller than average, so I was quite relieved.
It was since I started middle school that I started worrying about my height. I grew a little in middle school too, but growth was very slow and I was the 2nd~3rd shortest in the class. After finishing the first year in middle school, my mother took me to a growth clinic at a general hospital, and to an oriental medicine clinic. At the oriental medicine clinic, they gave me medicine for growth. At the growth clinic, they used a machine that estimates my mature height, and it showed 163cm, which was very shocking for both me and my mother. We asked the reason for such short final height, especially because both my parents are so tall. The doctor said there is nothing he can do and suggested growth injections. But the cost of the injections was about 3,000,000 KRW per month. So we said we’d wait and consider other methods. That day, I started jump roping and taking growth pills.
Despite my parents’ and my such effort, I barely grew over 160cm by the end of middle school. I think I had tried every method to grow during middle school years, that my parents and my effort to grow taller was on a temporary pause.
Inferiority complex
As I entered high school, I remember being more interested in girls and paying more attention to my appearance. I tried to hide my flaw of being short by using elevator shoes and wearing various clothes. Elevator shoes were great to use, but they made me think that I was really that tall. Frankly they gave me a sense of shame when I took them off. I was also in despair whenever I stood next to my friends, thinking why I had to be so short when my friends were all so tall. My inferiority complex was so extreme that it even affected my studying for the university entrance exam. So I couldn’t study much, which made me prepare for 2 more years until I got into a university. During those 2 years, I only went back and forth from house to the library, and I was naturally thinking about my height at least once a day. If there was a short guy passing by, I would secretly go next to him and compare my height.
After all those times with inferiority complex, I started becoming interested in the height lengthening surgery way after I entered university. I thought I couldn’t live with inferiority complex all my life, so I searched online and bought books about leg lengthening. I followed the instructions given in the books, but they were no use.
That is how I got to know about the Ilizarov surgery, and I decided to be operated by Professor Song, after I read one of his books. Professor Song’s name was mentioned frequently on online communities, research papers, media, and resources during my 2-hour daily online research. I was getting familiar to his face before I even saw him in person.
It was a surgery that had to be done
I made a big decision towards the end of the semester to have the surgery as fast as possible. When I first told my parents about it, they were against it and very worried about it. But after telling them about all my research and stories of patients who already had the surgery, they saw how much firm I was on my plan, so they agreed to it in some degree. But as for the cost, they said it was too much for our family to afford. I tried to convince my parents about it, but it didn’t take me too long for me to realize that it is not a matter I could convince them about. I decided to earn the money myself and thought it would not be a big problem considering how much it had been bothering me and how my life would change afterwards.
I was almost done with the 1st semester of my 1st year. I hadn’t gone to the military yet, and I was thinking about working in a company to earn money for the surgery. People around me had negative thoughts about it but it was going to take forever until I earn the money with just working part-time jobs. So working in a company, which was like a ray of light, was going to give me the advantage of being able to collect my salary.
After finishing my one semester in university, I gathered more information about the surgery. I was admitted to a company at the end of the year, so I saved up most of my money, minimizing my expenses. But working in a company wasn’t enough. So I also started working part-time on weekends as well. Two years passed by like that, and I was able to save up quite a big portion of the cost for surgery. The company told me they would give me a raise if I stayed longer, but I couldn’t put off the surgery any longer.
My first impression of Professor Song
When I met Professor Song for the first time, he seemed very familiar and felt like I had seen him for a long time. It is probably because I had frequently seen him online and in books.
After listening to professor’s explanations, I got to meet two patients who were already operated, and they looked like normal healthy people. They also had their height lengthened 6~7cm. Even though they didn’t look so comfortable with the way walked because it hadn’t been a long time since they had the surgery, their long-looking legs gave me conviction. They told me that it was pain during the lengthening process, but they were very satisfied and never regretful in the end. Actually I have never heard of anyone who had the surgery and became regretful afterwards.
So I got scheduled for the surgery and learned some exercises that I needed to do until the surgery. I did those exercises while I was waiting for the date. When I was finally hospitalized for the surgery, I was nervous, worried, and restless with many thoughts. But I knew I had made up my mind for a better life in the future.
I didn’t have too much pain as much as the other patients said they had, most likely because of painkiller injections. But my two legs felt very bulky and it was very surreal to them all wrapped up in bandages. After 2 days, I started rehabilitation. Just 3 days ago my legs were totally fine, but there I was practicing walking in a rehabilitation center. At first just getting up was very hard, but I was able to walk without crutches after 3~4 days.
I was told by the doctor to turn the bolt on the Ilizarov device half way and lengthen 1mm each day. It could be different depending on the person but he said it becomes more difficult once you reach 5~6cm of lengthening.
After I was discharged, I just stayed at home doing exercise and disinfecting my leg. After a month of the same daily activities, I got really bored. And because I had the surgery in the winter, I had no desire to go out in the freezing weather. I just came out once or twice a month to go to the hospital. Those were the only days I went out of my house, so I would go to the convenience store and have fun. For me the most painful thing was the fact that I was stuck at home for a long time. I thought of the days when I used to travel, I think I looked through all my travel pictures at least 100 times. On online communities, a lot of people talked about their unbearable amount of pain, but I don’t think I had much pain relatively.
What I felt through my experience is that writings on the Internet aren’t very reliable. There are people who intentionally put up false information, and people who didn’t actually have the surgery but just heard stories from other people. Most of the people who write things online are the people who think negatively about the surgery or who have had bad experience from it. People who had successful surgeries become lazy don’t even write about things. I used to go online and read about things, but became lazy around the time of pin insertion and end of rehabilitation. Around the time I was done with rehabilitation, I was more worried about my future plans than my legs. There are so many stories online, but trusting the doctor and doing stretching exercises as he instructed is more beneficial
Limit in lengthening
About the time lengthening has reached 6cm, I started feeling pain on my legs. Another guy who had the surgery told me that he lengthened 0.5mm once he had reached the limit. But because I had to return to school soon, I was going to stop after lengthening a little less than 6cm. The doctor at the hospital told me that I could try to lengthen a bit more, but because I wanted to be safe, I told him that I was satisfied at that moment. Now that I think about it, I wish I had lengthened 1 more centimeter. I could have slowly lengthened 0.5mm for 20 days, but I was too anxious at that time that I just wanted to stop.
This action was also affected by the writings online. A lot of people said things about lengthening too much, having too much pain, and all sorts of things. I think slower rate of lengthening is also a safe method once you feel that the bone has reached its limit of lengthening.
When I was hospitalized again for the 2nd surgery after lengthening, I was more comfortable and more prepared mentally. The 2nd surgery is for inserting bolts on the intramedullary nail and stretching your calf tendon to correct equinus deformity. When I came home after the 2nd surgery, I was feeling relieved. I bought calcium supplements and exercised harder starting that day, looking forward to the day of removal of the external fixator after bone filling.
Two important points after the surgery
The two most important things during the Ilizarov procedure are disinfecting and exercising. Before anything, disinfection should be done thoroughly. I tend to get very paranoid with things, so I boiled the tools I used for disinfection everyday and disinfected my leg for 30 minutes. I think that is the reason I didn’t have any secondary infection or complications. I heard of patients who had secondary infection and how much they suffered from it, so I wanted to prevent that with thorough disinfection. No one wants to have complications or infection after the surgery. I think it is quite stupid that a patient gets infection because he was not diligent with disinfection. At first I thought of disinfecting 3 or 4 times. But the doctor in charge said twice is enough. I think I didn’t have any problem because I boiled disinfecting tools for 15 minutes every day and completely sterilized everything.
The next step is exercising. Exercising should be continuously done even 1 day after the surgery and removal of the external fixator. The exercises taught in the rehabilitation center should be done every day in order to return back to normal life and be able to build up muscle strength like before. After the surgery, the knee muscles worsen and weaken and hurt whenever you move them. Apart from the time when you have extreme pain, exercises such as walking, sitting up and down with your back against the wall, lifting the leg up and down should be continuously done for thigh and calf muscle reconstruction.
After the internal fixator was inserted, I walked 2 hours every day and held up my leg for 30 minutes before I went to bed and after I woke up.
It was spring by the time I had internal fixator insertion. I had fun walking around the apartment listening to music in great weather. I was excited with the thought of taking the external fixator out once the bone fills in. I folded up my pants and let sunshine touch my legs. I didn’t really care about people looking at me. Some people with no manner stared through my leg at times, and some kids in the neighborhood asked me about it, but after a while it that didn’t bother me either.
Some patients worry about people around them finding out about the surgery because the duration is too long. I told a couple of my friends, but I didn’t care much. Later I also wore flat sneakers without heels so they didn’t notice that I got my legs lengthened. Even if they noticed, I can tell them about correction surgery as an excuse.
My daily routine pretty much consisted of waking up – exercise – stretching – walking –disinfection – resting exercise – stretching – walking – disinfection – rest – going to bed. It was very dull at times but I was motivated by the x-rays I took at the hospital from time to time. I exercised with my utmost ability so that bone would fill up faster and I would be able to have the external fixator taken out.
Not only turning back to my normal life, but also bone generation would have taken longer if I just stayed in bed, feeling sick. This is the reason why regular exercise is necessary.
Because the Ilizarov surgery is a long-term process, a lot of people think of studying or getting a certificate of some sort before they go into the surgery. I also thought of it before. Since rehabilitation is long, I wanted to study the computer at home and get a certificate for it, but I couldn’t. I have no regrets now. Finishing up the Ilizarov procedure safely and properly was my first concern. I should be paying attention to the surgery, which not only costed a lot, but also was done to raise the value of my body.
Actually washing is also a big difficulty for people with the surgery. I used many different methods to avoid any problems. First of all, I didn’t shower at all for about 6 months until I had the external fixator removed. I didn’t even wash my legs, but sometimes clean it with wipes that had alcohol because I didn’t want any foreign bodies touching the operated area. I wetted my upper body with hot water and cleaned it with a towel. For washing my hair, which was the hardest part, I made a vinyl skirt that I put on to cover my legs. I wore this vinyl skirt even when I was washing my face or brushing my teeth, to make sure that there is no water drops going into the area.
I can proudly say that I took care of my leg very well and therefore had no secondary infection or any big complications. I finally had the internal fixator after bone union. When it was first removed, I was so excited and felt very much satisfied with my taller height. I wanted to walk around freely, but I had leg braces on just in case I fall or hit it somewhere. My leg was getting sweaty and uncomfortable, but I had to have the leg braces on just in case. I also heard of some patients falling and breaking their legs while they were walking around after rehabilitation and having to put on the external fixator again. You have to be careful for the next 2~3 years after internal fixation removal.
I am guessing the people who are reading this book are interested in the surgery or are already planned to have the surgery, and have tried out many ways to grow even a little taller. These days, people are more interested in growing taller so a lot of methods and remedies have been coming out lately. One of my friends, who was also short, took some Japanese medications that were supposed to help him grow taller. Those drugs weren’t sold in regular pharmacies, but directly imported from Japan, so the price was quite high too. Being attracted by its exaggerated advertisements, he ended up purchasing the drugs. They were not effective at all, but rather caused skin problems that he had to go to the dermatologist. I feel bad for people who waste money, health, and time for unverified drugs and machines. You can earn money again, but the time wasted can’t be earned back again, and you might actually miss the right time for the surgery. A person who is willing to invest on unverified methods should stop wishing to grow taller, and if they can’t get rid of that idea, they should seriously think of the surgery.
Even I was surprised at my confident self
It would be no exaggeration if I said I am currently living a different life with the confidence that I didn’t have before. Honestly before, I didn’t like to stand out in a crowd because of the short height, and feel self-conscious whenever I was introduced to someone else. But now, I don’t have any of that, and actually developed one advantage of myself, and that is “presentation”. I was surprised to see that I was able to confidently present my work in front of the class during one of my lectures. Before, I tried to avoid such situation or finish the presentation as soon as possible. But I that this surgery was worthwhile, noticing myself present my work with dignity. In the semester I returned from the surgery, I had a great time getting to know other students and professors, and even got a scholarship at the end of the semester. I don’t even have to talk about who my whole life in school and relationships changed. I honestly think if someone feels less confident because of short height and the need to have a taller height, it is necessary for the person to have this surgery. I would recommend this surgery to people as someone who has had the surgery and is living a totally different and satisfying life, as long as the person meets the right doctor and is willing to make some sacrifices for the surgery.
I am usually very anxious and pay too much attention to details, and even brought up and bothered the doctors with many unimportant questions. But I think there will be no problem as long as the patient relies on the doctor and does as he instructs. The royal road to a successful surgery is to meet the right doctor. Also, people who are interested in the surgery should seek for information from me or people who had the surgery, rather than online sources.