I'm sure that a lot of people won't really think about it if you tell them you've always been that tall. It gets problematic however, when the other person was your height or slightly taller. So for me every guy who is 180, was taller before the surgery and will be shorter afterwards.
I'll probably tell them that I had a serious accident an that they strechted the bones a little (2cm's) to get them back into a straight position. For the first months I'll wear flat shoes and in addition to this I say that I have to wear lifts because of that accident. So in the end a 5cm gain could hopefully be covered by using this method.
Yea, that is something for example that would not work for me, because I am exactly on that edge.
Especially with the girl friends in my community. Most of them are an inch or two taller than me, though I wear heels. So, I definetly had to come up with something. But with a combination of: easing people in with wearing more heels before surgery, and wearing completely flat shoes after surgery it might work
But I think your recovery influences your "cover story". If you have to walk in crutches, one would something different than walking "normal". But your idea with the "bone stretch" is quite a good idea. Maybe the LL doctor could supply us with some fake x-rays, and medical results - your cover story should be included in the price
All in all: I think the most important is that the patient recovers from this surgery - both physically and mentally.