My height has been stuck at 5’8” (174 cm) since grade 9 (I was somewhere between 13-14 years old), and I haven't grown an inch taller since. In grade 9, my mother was diagnosed with an illness and left Vancouver to another country for immediate treatment (to skip the queue). And so for the next 4 years or so, I lived with my older brother, who at the time when my parents left was only 18 (technically illegal) and didn't really give a crap about me. I starved myself to sleep for many nights and, as a result, I was actually underweight for 2 years. Often, I was also sleep deprived and yet still had to go to school in the morning, because my brother would play computer games while talking loudly to his online buddies until 4-5 am in the morning. I started eating well again when I was 18, but perhaps it was all too late.

Today, I'm the shortest man in the (recent) history of my family. Even my grandfather was 5’9” in his prime, and he was born nearly a century ago. My father is 65 years old and 5’11”, but he used to be a little taller when he was young. My mother, on the other hand, is 5'6" tall, while my older and younger brothers are 5’11.5” and 6’3”, respectively. My young brother left with my parents, so he had better access to food and sleep. Strangely enough, my two brothers and I share the same upper body height when we sit down! For me, though, it looks a little odd because my upper body is almost 62% of my overall height, haha.

I'm now 24, so I'm pretty sure 5’8” or 174 cm is my final height. The thought that I probably have stunted my growth has always bothered me, and lately it's driving me to think about limb lengthening surgery just to (re)gain that 2 inches (4 cm) to become "whole" again. I would be content at just 5’10” or 178 cm to be exact. However, the risks, the costs, and the permanent effects worry me.