Starting height. 5'0 Gained: 8cm Final Height: 5'3
How do I feel after Leg Lengthening? Pretty Good
Physically: In terms of day to day activities like walking I feel great. Actually better than before Leg Lengthening but that is because when I removed my rods, I also had a knee rotation to fix my left leg which was extremely bowed. Before the rod removal, I would have an occasional strange feeling in my right leg that wasn't painful just felt odd. My doctor said it would go away after the rods were removed and it did. Grade: A+
Athletic: I put this in a different category because Athletic ability wasn't as important for me as it probably was for most people. Before the surgery I never exercised much so whatever I lost wasn't going to be that noticeable. I have recently taken up swimming, and that feels great. I never ran much before, so I can't really judge how much worse that is. Also, I haven't run much recently since my knee surgery and the rod Removal in June. After the Holidays I will try to start running and see how that goes. So right now I give a Grade of B for my Athletic ability mostly because It wasn't that important for me and swimming feels good so I can still exercise. When I start running again, I may raise the grade or lower it. One thing I wonder is if any of the ability I lost during Leg lengthening can be regained and if going to a gym/trainer could help.
Proportions: This was the furthest thing from my mind during the Surgery and for a long time until I found this forum this Summer. I think outside of this forum you would have to be really disproportionate for someone to notice and even here there is no universal opinion. Take someone like Apo did way more than anyone should ever do unless they are doing it as someone with really extreme Dwarfism. Physical costs aside from his extreme lengthening its interesting some people here say he looks like a freak, some say ok, others say he looks good. I think unless someone goes way too far I don't think anyone would notice because people are proportioned differently. You could take ten people the same height, and they all may have different proportions. I think my proportions are ok. I have asked a few people, and they said I look proportionate. One day soon I will post a picture and ask for this forums opinions about my proportions. But the truth is even if I am disproportionate( which I don't think I am) I feel like I look much better now. I think I was short enough before that with the Lengthening I look more normal even if my proportions aren't as good. I recently saw a picture at my High school graduation, and I couldn't even recognize myself. I am very happy I did the surgery because in that picture I looked really short. Grade: B+ may go up or down after I get some feedback.
Mentally: This is the part that had the most appreciable benefit for me. Before the surgery, I was barely 5'0, and I would occasionally get comments from children and even adults on my height. Most people here aren't as short as I was before the surgergy, so they luckily haven't dealt with this but having children point at you and call you "midget" (even though I was tall enough to before the surgery to not be included in that category which I believe is if you are below 4'10 or 4'11) really feels awful and led me to having anxiety when I would go out . Now after the surgery I feel way less anxiety. with some discrete height increasing insoles I feel normal when I go out. Now I go out, and no one gives me a second glance. I am an anonymous schmuck like everyone else, and that was the main reason I did the surgery. Grade: A+
Overall: I would give the Surgery an A. I feel great an I am very happy I did this surgery. Even though I am still short, I feel like I am where I would be had I not had Growth Hormone Deficiency and I think I look much better. I feel like the benefits were worth whatever I lost in terms of athletic ability. But considering I was shorter than most before the Surgery and I probably would have given a passing grade unless I had something terrible happen. Although I still wear lifts the only thing I plan to have done now is to fix the bowing on my Right Leg and get on with my life.