[Regular patients] I built up my own wall and suffered because of short height complex
The motive for surgery
I was rather small compared to my friends since I was young. I didn’t realize that face when I was little, but I started worrying about my short height since the 2nd year of middle school when I started puberty. I exercised a lot and drank a lot of milk wishing to grow taller. But my height stayed the same even in high school. I think my growth stopped when I was in middle school. When I measured my height in high school, it came out to be 160cm. That’s when the truth hit me and realized that I won’t be growing any taller.
Since middle school, I didn’t have too much confidence because of my height. It became a habit to compare my height with people around me when I went outside. I got depressed and felt bad about myself every time I did that. Later I even hated going out and I stayed home mostly. By the time I was being discharged from the military in 2007, I decided to change myself. I felt the urgency to live in a different way than before.
When I was on my last vacation during the military service, I coincidentally read about the Ilizarov surgery. I thought that I absolutely needed to have that surgery after learning about the fact that the bone could be lengthened. Actually there were many stories about numerous complications and the process taking a very long time, but I didn’t bother to look at them. Then, I was too desperate and in great mental pain.
That is how I got to learn about Professor Song online. I carefully told about it to my parents after military discharge. Because they knew my situation more than anyone else, they agreed to go to the hospital and get a consultation first.
A week after discharge, I went to see Professor Song at KUMC. After looking at my height, which was 162cm back then, he told me to think about it again, telling me that it was not very necessary. Then, he introduced me to a lady at the outpatient clinic. She was almost at her recovery stage after a surgery 1 year ago. We talked about many things with her and her mother. Then we decided for the surgery. Actually I had made up my mind before even I entered the hospital. They said it would take about a month because there were already too many surgeries scheduled. But I got a call from the hospital after a few days later, saying that the date had changed for a week later. So I got to have the surgery in May of 2007.
1st surgery
I went to the hospital on Sunday, a day before the surgery. It was my first time being hospitalized ever. Everything, like the hospital uniform the ward seemed very strange to me. That night I had basic blood tests and shaved my leg. I couldn’t really go to sleep that night, with too much anticipation and worries at the same time. I think I had too much anxiety.
The next morning, I went into the operation room. When I was awake from the anesthesia in the afternoon, my leg felt heavy and as if it wasn’t a part of my body. I looked down at my leg half awake. I was expecting it, but when I actually saw my leg put into a machine, it made me cry. Seeing me like this, my parents cried with me as well. I held my parent’s hands and told them I was sorry. I felt very sorry that I made them go through such thing.
At first, I was lying on my bed for 2~3 days. After the bandages were removed, I went to the sports medicine clinic and stood for the first time. It was difficult to even stand for a short time. But I started walking slowing. After a week of hospitalization, I went back home.
Leg lengthening process after discharge
The Ilizarov surgery has to do with lengthening gap in between the artificially fractured bones. Until the new bone is generated, the metal nail in the center of the bone and the outer Ilizarov device give support to the body instead of the fractured bone. The bone is lengthened 1mm each day by turning a dice-shaped screw on the Ilizarov device every day. At the end of a month, you end up with 3cm of lengthening.
The first 3 days passed by ok without much pain. But after that, my right knee started swelling when I was going to the outpatient clinic. I remember it being very painful when they were taking the water out with a big syringe. The professor told me that I have to get antibiotic shots every day. It was hard for me to go to the hospital everyday since I lived quite far from the hospital. So I went to a hospital near my house for daily antibiotic shots. After a month, there was no more swelling, and no more injections. I don’t know if that was the reason, but my right leg didn’t lengthen well. The difference between the two legs wasn’t big, but my left leg lengthened faster.
There wasn’t much pain at the beginning of lengthening. But after a while (maybe a week after) it gets very painful. I especially had pain around the ankle. I couldn’t walk more than 30 minutes with crutches because of too much pain in the ankle.
But more than anything, the biggest agony happened when I was going to bed. My legs were sore and painful that I couldn’t sleep for the first 2 months. Because it hurt so much when I laid down, I had to sleep in a sitting position for more than one month.
The professor told me that exercising is especially important to fill up the lengthened gap. So I set specific times in a day for walking with crutches, 4 times a day for 30 minutes. But later my ankle hurt so much that I couldn’t walk properly. When I was almost done with lengthening (3 months after the surgery) I had to give up and just stand.
2nd surgery
I had the first surgery at the end of March and the 2nd surgery at the end of September. The 2nd surgery has to do with fixation of the Ilizarov device. Equinus deformity surgery is done at the same time. The skin and muscle are supposed to lengthen along with the bone, but when this doesn’t happen, equinus deformity correction is done to lengthen the calf muscle. This surgery can be done depending on how much you have exercised and how much lengthening has been done.
The pain in my legs got much better after the 2nd surgery. Also, I was able to sleep well after that.
My bones didn’t tend to grow that fast. I thought I exercised diligently, but when I had x-rays taken, it felt like I wasn’t showing any progress with no bone generation. I was able to get the Ilizarov devices removed in August 2008, one year and three months after the surgery. I was worried because I heard the removal itself was painful too. But when the metal nail was taken out I was more relieved than painful. It felt indescribably refreshing to be freed from the metal nail that I had to live with for more than 1 year. I think that was the happiest moment after surgery.
I had to put on a cast for 2 weeks after the removal of Ilizarov until the leg braces were arranged. It could have seemed too stuffy to be having a cast on both legs in the middle of the summer, but I was still feeling light and refreshed. Having a device on was that exhausting. The first few days I had the leg braces, I slowly practiced getting up and walking. Then I started walking without crutches. I practiced walking for 2 hours every day, even though it still hurt in the ankle when I walked for quite a long time. But because the bone hasn’t been fully formed yet, I had to exercise continuously.
Actually when I had the Ilizarov device on me, I stayed home only, feeling too much pressure when I go outside. I cannot forget the feeling I had when I first stepped outside with my leg braces after a year of being stuck at home. I had to live with the leg braces for 3 months, and had it removed after that.
In conclusion
I had to spend 2 years for a total lengthening of 7.5mm. Of course I don’t think the time was wasted. I have never regretted because of the surgery. Thinking of the wall I had built up around me due to my short height, I think the 2 years were very valuable for me.
But if someone asked me about the surgery, I would tell the person to think about it very carefully. You need to think and think again if you are really desperate to have the surgery.
It is definitely not an easy surgery. It might differ from person to person, but it involves more than 1 year of suffering. It might even take longer than you think until you reach complete recovery.
If you still are set on having the surgery, you should completely trust the professor and follow his instructions obediently. Then, you will definitely have a good result.
In conclusion, I would like to thank my parents, who had to go through so much anxiety and worries. I would also like to thank that I got to meet Professor Song, whom I got to know by coincidence.
[Regular patients] I built up my own wall and suffered because of short height complex
The motive for surgery
I was rather small compared to my friends since I was young. I didn’t realize that face when I was little, but I started worrying about my short height since the 2nd year of middle school when I started puberty. I exercised a lot and drank a lot of milk wishing to grow taller. But my height stayed the same even in high school. I think my growth stopped when I was in middle school. When I measured my height in high school, it came out to be 160cm. That’s when the truth hit me and realized that I won’t be growing any taller.
Since middle school, I didn’t have too much confidence because of my height. It became a habit to compare my height with people around me when I went outside. I got depressed and felt bad about myself every time I did that. Later I even hated going out and I stayed home mostly. By the time I was being discharged from the military in 2007, I decided to change myself. I felt the urgency to live in a different way than before.
When I was on my last vacation during the military service, I coincidentally read about the Ilizarov surgery. I thought that I absolutely needed to have that surgery after learning about the fact that the bone could be lengthened. Actually there were many stories about numerous complications and the process taking a very long time, but I didn’t bother to look at them. Then, I was too desperate and in great mental pain.
That is how I got to learn about Professor Song online. I carefully told about it to my parents after military discharge. Because they knew my situation more than anyone else, they agreed to go to the hospital and get a consultation first.
A week after discharge, I went to see Professor Song at KUMC. After looking at my height, which was 162cm back then, he told me to think about it again, telling me that it was not very necessary. Then, he introduced me to a lady at the outpatient clinic. She was almost at her recovery stage after a surgery 1 year ago. We talked about many things with her and her mother. Then we decided for the surgery. Actually I had made up my mind before even I entered the hospital. They said it would take about a month because there were already too many surgeries scheduled. But I got a call from the hospital after a few days later, saying that the date had changed for a week later. So I got to have the surgery in May of 2007.
1st surgery
I went to the hospital on Sunday, a day before the surgery. It was my first time being hospitalized ever. Everything, like the hospital uniform the ward seemed very strange to me. That night I had basic blood tests and shaved my leg. I couldn’t really go to sleep that night, with too much anticipation and worries at the same time. I think I had too much anxiety.
The next morning, I went into the operation room. When I was awake from the anesthesia in the afternoon, my leg felt heavy and as if it wasn’t a part of my body. I looked down at my leg half awake. I was expecting it, but when I actually saw my leg put into a machine, it made me cry. Seeing me like this, my parents cried with me as well. I held my parent’s hands and told them I was sorry. I felt very sorry that I made them go through such thing.
At first, I was lying on my bed for 2~3 days. After the bandages were removed, I went to the sports medicine clinic and stood for the first time. It was difficult to even stand for a short time. But I started walking slowing. After a week of hospitalization, I went back home.
Leg lengthening process after discharge
The Ilizarov surgery has to do with lengthening gap in between the artificially fractured bones. Until the new bone is generated, the metal nail in the center of the bone and the outer Ilizarov device give support to the body instead of the fractured bone. The bone is lengthened 1mm each day by turning a dice-shaped screw on the Ilizarov device every day. At the end of a month, you end up with 3cm of lengthening.
The first 3 days passed by ok without much pain. But after that, my right knee started swelling when I was going to the outpatient clinic. I remember it being very painful when they were taking the water out with a big syringe. The professor told me that I have to get antibiotic shots every day. It was hard for me to go to the hospital everyday since I lived quite far from the hospital. So I went to a hospital near my house for daily antibiotic shots. After a month, there was no more swelling, and no more injections. I don’t know if that was the reason, but my right leg didn’t lengthen well. The difference between the two legs wasn’t big, but my left leg lengthened faster.
There wasn’t much pain at the beginning of lengthening. But after a while (maybe a week after) it gets very painful. I especially had pain around the ankle. I couldn’t walk more than 30 minutes with crutches because of too much pain in the ankle.
But more than anything, the biggest agony happened when I was going to bed. My legs were sore and painful that I couldn’t sleep for the first 2 months. Because it hurt so much when I laid down, I had to sleep in a sitting position for more than one month.
The professor told me that exercising is especially important to fill up the lengthened gap. So I set specific times in a day for walking with crutches, 4 times a day for 30 minutes. But later my ankle hurt so much that I couldn’t walk properly. When I was almost done with lengthening (3 months after the surgery) I had to give up and just stand.
2nd surgery
I had the first surgery at the end of March and the 2nd surgery at the end of September. The 2nd surgery has to do with fixation of the Ilizarov device. Equinus deformity surgery is done at the same time. The skin and muscle are supposed to lengthen along with the bone, but when this doesn’t happen, equinus deformity correction is done to lengthen the calf muscle. This surgery can be done depending on how much you have exercised and how much lengthening has been done.
The pain in my legs got much better after the 2nd surgery. Also, I was able to sleep well after that.
My bones didn’t tend to grow that fast. I thought I exercised diligently, but when I had x-rays taken, it felt like I wasn’t showing any progress with no bone generation. I was able to get the Ilizarov devices removed in August 2008, one year and three months after the surgery. I was worried because I heard the removal itself was painful too. But when the metal nail was taken out I was more relieved than painful. It felt indescribably refreshing to be freed from the metal nail that I had to live with for more than 1 year. I think that was the happiest moment after surgery.
I had to put on a cast for 2 weeks after the removal of Ilizarov until the leg braces were arranged. It could have seemed too stuffy to be having a cast on both legs in the middle of the summer, but I was still feeling light and refreshed. Having a device on was that exhausting. The first few days I had the leg braces, I slowly practiced getting up and walking. Then I started walking without crutches. I practiced walking for 2 hours every day, even though it still hurt in the ankle when I walked for quite a long time. But because the bone hasn’t been fully formed yet, I had to exercise continuously.
Actually when I had the Ilizarov device on me, I stayed home only, feeling too much pressure when I go outside. I cannot forget the feeling I had when I first stepped outside with my leg braces after a year of being stuck at home. I had to live with the leg braces for 3 months, and had it removed after that.
In conclusion
I had to spend 2 years for a total lengthening of 7.5mm. Of course I don’t think the time was wasted. I have never regretted because of the surgery. Thinking of the wall I had built up around me due to my short height, I think the 2 years were very valuable for me.
But if someone asked me about the surgery, I would tell the person to think about it very carefully. You need to think and think again if you are really desperate to have the surgery.
It is definitely not an easy surgery. It might differ from person to person, but it involves more than 1 year of suffering. It might even take longer than you think until you reach complete recovery.
If you still are set on having the surgery, you should completely trust the professor and follow his instructions obediently. Then, you will definitely have a good result.
In conclusion, I would like to thank my parents, who had to go through so much anxiety and worries. I would also like to thank that I got to meet Professor Song, whom I got to know by coincidence.