Help! I need options for LL, I'm a newbie and a 4'8" girl!

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Quote from: naimah99 on July 30, 2018, 04:47:56 AMHello, I am a newbie to this forum and so glad I found it. I have been reading and just found a lot of useful info. I am going to post a somewhat lengthy bio about myself. Feel free to comment and answer my questions below.

Here it goes: 

My name is Naimah, and if you think you're having many issues with your height (not saying that your issues aren't valid)..... Tryyyy being a 19 year old girl who is 4'8"/144 cm and has been teased her WHOLE life for being short, despite her good qualities and personality?!? I was always smaller than the rest of my peers at school, and although my parents noticed this, when we would go to the doctors they never saw it as a issue. The doctors told my parents that when I reached a certain age I could start "Growth Hormone Treatment" to help me reach my normal height potential. This happened when I lived in Colombia (where I was born). My family and I moved to the United States when I was about 8 years old. At this point nobody really bothered to get in touch with any doctors since we were trying to adjust to a new place. I do remember that once in a while when I would go to pediatricians for a check up, I was told that I was below the 5th percentile in height. No doctors ever took an initiative in informing my family and I about growth treatments to catch the issue IN TIME. Time went by and we kept moving from state to state. Every time I would see different doctors that had no prior knowledge on my growing conditions but they would all notice that I was short. They'd say "Don't worry honey, you'll grow someday". I got my menstrual cycle at the age of 10 years old (in 5th grade). My parents did see that it was a bit too early for me to go through puberty but they didn't think much of it. Although it seems like I wasn't taken care of, my parents were always seeking growth treatments and even took me back to Colombia to see if the doctors could recommend some treatments at a more affordable price. But by the time they took me to Colombia and by the time I got checked here in the U.S. by an Endocrinologist, all the doctors told me that my growth plates were closed and that I COULD NOT grow any more. That was it! I would be 4'8" for the rest of my life. We didn't seek any second opinions or any further help after this (partly because insurance wouldn't cover it) and we just kept going with our lives. Today I am 19 years old and I am still 4'8". I am seeking a second opinion for myself. I've also dealt with Hypothyroidism in the past and due to an abnormal metabolism I gained weight easily and developed an eating disorder. Not growing has brought me so much tragedy. More tragedy than my parents expected when they told us that my issue was irreversible. I was bullied, teased, and even got into some fights at school all due to my height. Kids thought they could pick on me and I was so insecure because of this matter. I never had a boyfriend, went to prom, or experienced a normal teenage life. I am a singer-songwriter, performer, aspiring actress, and athlete and I can say that being short has affected ALL of these areas of my life. That is why I am done suffering and I want to take charge of this issue, so I can live the rest of my life in peace! I know that I might sound unthankful or ungrateful because there are people who are much much shorter than me (suffering from dwarfism) but although I'm not as short as some of these people, height is STILL a big burden in my life. I've spoken to therapists about this and they all tell me that I should just accept what I cannot change, and for a while I did, but I am not taking anymore of this. I've also done a lot of research on how stem cells can help adults increase their height, and how gene therapy (CRISPR) can help but mostly in embryos. All of these other options are NOT available to the public, and I've tried reaching out to scientists who do medical trials but they never got back to me. So I found this surgery and this forum, and I am strongly considering this surgery as an option. My parents think that I am obsessed with growing taller and they don't really want to hear about this procedure. They also think that LL surgery is unrealistic for me because neither they nor do I, have the money to cover any surgery with many of the well reputed doctors. We are just struggling musicians who perform for a living and are trying to get by (I am also a college student). But I've read that you can get loans and funding or just plainly save up. Although by the time I save up for a surgery like this I'll probably be 50 and it won't matter anymore.

I want to live. I want to date. I want to feel more confident singing on stage.
I want to STOP having to buy kids clothes (I'm a size 3 in shoes and can't even find heels my size to look a bit taller!). I want to stop looking so chubby due to my height. I want to get back ALL those years I feel like I've lost!
That is why I am willing to do anything it takes to achieve my goal of getting the surgery.

Ok. My lengthy biography is over. Hope that made you feel some type of way or inspired to keep fighting!

Here are my questions, goals, etc...:

1.) I want to get "quadrilateral leg lengthening", which from what I understand means both femurs at one time and then both tibias. Two surgeries spaced apart not all together. I want to lengthen at least 3 inches in both my femurs and tibias. I have heard that it isn't recommended to lengthen the tibia this much, but I've read about people who've done it. I also know that this all depends on body type, and individuality of the patient. Getting at least 6 inches would put me at 5'2" which for me would be a glory coming up from 4'8". Still short but not ABNORMALLY short (my whole family is taller than me by the way).

2.) Method: With that being said, I want to find a doctor that uses the "STRYDE or PRECICE 3" method. As I've read that this will revolutionize LL. I am also considering the "PRECICE 2" method. I am terrified of the external method and fortunately for me, I was able to read @unicorn888 's diary about her tragic experience with Dr. Guichet. THANK GOD, because he was on the top of my list, since as of now I can't afford Dr. Paley. Now, Dr. Mahboubian I might be able to afford in the future.

3.) Financial Aspect: What should I do about the fact that I have no money for this but as you can see, this 4'8" girl needs this or wants this pretty bad.

4.) Doctors: Once I find a way to get the money for this, what would be my options for a still somewhat cheap but good option. I know Dr. Paley is the LL god lol but I don't think I can afford him and also he doesn't let his patient lengthen the tibias farther than 5cm. Also Dr. Rozbruch is really good from what I've heard, but is also expensive and will only do the surgery once, not twice (I need one surgery for the femurs and one for the tibias). As of now, ruling out all the CRAZY fiascos I've read about European and overseas doctors (Betz, Guichet, and other), I DO NOT want to take ANY risks of amputation, paralisis, etc... With my legs. I love my legs! I need my legs because I am a crossfit athlete. I know I may not get to full recovery to do crossfit after this but for being taller, I think it might be worth it. My only option right now for a doctor is Dr. Mahboubian because I've seen his webinar, some patient diaries, and he seems like a caring and nice guy. I hope I'm right. I think that maybe I can get the money for the femurs first and then do the tibias later on in life, but I really don't want to do that. I want to suffer twice but close to each other if that makes sense.

What are my options? PLEASE help this 4'8"/144cm girl get to at least 5'2 or taller !

Sorry for this lengthy post, but the world needs to know that I exist and need help  :-Xlol.

Here is a link to my YouTube videos in case you're interested in hearing my music/covers:
Channel - https://www.youtube.com/user/naimabk
One of my covers:

if you are hot and stylish, even at this height you will have lots of suitors. I once dated a hot stylish 4'9" girl, she ditched me for a much taller (like 5'11, I am 5'4) and wealthier (earns like 200k) and handsome guy. If you are hot and stylish girl you don't need LL. For men it is different, competition is higher and short men get killed in dating and mating market.

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Quote from: 419 on July 31, 2018, 07:25:46 PMif you are hot and stylish, even at this height you will have lots of suitors. I once dated a hot stylish 4'9" girl, she ditched me for a much taller (like 5'11, I am 5'4) and wealthier (earns like 200k) and handsome guy. If you are hot and stylish girl you don't need LL. For men it is different, competition is higher and short men get killed in dating and mating market.

Hello @419 ,

  I appreciate your encouraging comment. I do not feel ugly at all! Not one bit. I feel beautiful in my own way and I think the same about everyone else. I just feel like due to my size I have dealt with weight issues my whole life, a past eating disorder, and just never really felt fully confident around people my age. I have a naturally “thicker” figure and because I’m short I look weird and kind of chubby. It is much easier to accumulate weight and fat when you’re short as many of you may know. Taller people just look slimmer and much fitter. No matter how much I exercise and eat correctly, I can never look proportional to my height. And when I lost a lot of weight in the past, I looked kind of like an 8 year old lol. Also it is extremely hard for me to find clothing and shoes my size as I have to shop in the kids section and sometimes I still can’t find sizes and the styles are for kids. I like to wear more womanly clothing. 
 
 I don’t think that getting this surgery is going to change all of these issues I’ve had, I mean I still must always accept myself and the way my body is. But I do think that the surgery could help me feel more confident around people my age and about myself. This is not so much about what others think of me but about how I feel being short. Some guys may think it’s cute for a girl to be short, and you’re right that some girls can be stylish and feel confident being short. I also agree that for men it is VERY difficult to be short and be discriminated against for your height. I’m sorry that most women like taller men (including me, and I cannot lie), but it all really has to do with your level of confidence.

REMEMBER THIS: I SAY THIS FOR MYSELF TOO. PEOPLE WILL ALWAYS SEE YOU AS YOU SEE YOURSELF (because as human beings, we sense bad vibes).
 IF YOU LACK CONFIDENCE, DON’T BELIEVE IN YOUR GOOD QUALITIES, ARE GRUMPY, AND ARE FULL OF NEGATIVITY DUE TO YOUR SHORT HEIGHT.....PEOPLE WILL SEE RIGHT THROUGH THAT.

I think everyone should work on their confidence first and if they still decide to have the surgery then the surgery is only going to add to their BEAUTIFUL PERSONA!

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I agree with you that if one has the tendency to put on weight, even little weight for short people makes them look fat and especially if they have thick/wide body frame. I tend to put on weight so that's bad but have petite/slim build so I am saved that way. Anyway, all the best for your journey.

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How is your credit history? If your credit is good you could try taking out a medical loan with your bank. I took one out for $15,000 to cover extra expenses and despite not having that high of an income I was approved because my score was good. I looked into loans for cosmetic surgeries before, but all the ones I could find would not give loans for surgeries performed outside the USA.

I think you could benefit from CLL since you've spent so many years thinking about this. Could allow you to move on and focus on your talents.

How important is the issue of scarring for you? If you're not put off by having some scars on your legs that look like dots/bites, then going with the LON or external methods will allow you to at least gain 2 inches on your tibiae much sooner, and who knows, you may find that you feel much better at 4'10 and not want to go through femur lengthening.

My surgeon offers internal and LON/externals for lengthening. He's in Mumbai, India where vegan options are available easily and hotels are quite comfortable.

https://sites.google.com/site/cllrpatients/faqs/cosmeticlengthening

You could also look into Dr Solomin and Dr Kulesh in St Petersburg, though I'm not sure they offer internal methods.

Best of luck to you.

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Hi there

 Thanks for posting the video. One picture says more than a million words. While your whole figure/legs aren't visible, it is obvious that you have a very compact torso+neck.

There are stretching techniques you can do that, combined with glucosamine chondroitin, will elongate your neck and spine by about 2 cm. This will have an added benefit of making you look slimmer (not that there's any problem with weight).

Your goal of adding 14 cm to your legs is completely unrealistic. The longer the segment the more it can be lengthened. Starting with tiny tibias there is no way you could lengthen 7 centimetres safely. Even if you could, it wouldn't look good combined with your short torso.

You can probably safely lengthen your tibias by about 5 cm. Since you don't have the funds I would recommend external methods. I appreciate it that external method turns you off. But there's one thing you must consider: external method is a pain in the butt, but it is not by any means more scary than internal. For tibia specifically, it is far less dangerous to leave the knee joints and the inside of the bones alone and lengthen with externals. As a bonus, it can be done at a fraction of the cost.

With tibias and spinal stretching you could add 6 cm to your height. In the meantime, precise 3 could become more affordable in the next five years, so precise 3 would be the next logical step.

I wish you all the luck!

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Hi naimah99

I fell in love with you singing beautiful!!! look gorgeous

I'm a short asian woman I can share what I researched.

Las Vegas:
tibia precice2 $72,000 (not incld accom/food)
http://limbplastx.com/limb-lengthening-costs.html
this hospital looks great to me.
just that not enough info.

Dr Donghoon Lee, Korea:
tibia precice2 starting $66,000 (90 day package incl accom/food)
http://www.drdonghoon.com/index.php/home#googtrans(ko|en)
http://i64.tinypic.com/nb7n69.jpg
He is awards winning doctor of CLL and just recently opened new hospital with pool.
he is my choice
I wait for Stryde next year

Dr Giotikas, Greece:
tibia precice2 38950 Euro (not incld accom/food)
https://www.athensbjr.com/cost-and-pricing-of-cosmetic-limb-lengthening.html
He just looks so handsome...


BTW about Jamal nail which is a clicking nail.
At least I know one Asian broke bone when lengthening with jamal nail in Uklaina.
I think weight bearing clicking nails are generally too thick for petit people.
Also I remember seeing a post mensioned about delayed consolidation taking more than 3 years or close to 4 years
Clicking motions are suspected by doctors to delay consolidation. 

Just in case if you wanna external:
Dr Solomin Russia or Dr Quynn Vietnam seems very cheap less than $20.000
but both they do not prescribe oxycodon. so pain management is very poor
some people suffer too much pain and get traumatized for that.
imagine suffering for level 8 or 9 pain for days...
my friend told me not being able to sleep for days with pain.
 

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The limb lengthening procedure is a 6-8month process that involves surgery and lengthening process of 1mm per day for at least 75-80day that requires you stay in India.  One can lengthen 7-10cms depending on your height and body.

There are two options available for lengthening:

•    LON i.e. lengthening on nail which is an external procedure
•    HLN i.e. Hydraulic lengthening nail which is an internal procedure

The cost of LON is $17500USD and HLN is $30,000USD which is inclusive of accommodation, surgery, rehabilitation and any other complications that may arise during the lengthening phase. All other expenses will be borne by the patient him or herself.


I got this from dr Amar Sarin via mail date(May 2018)


High quality food cost only $35 day.

Thanks 

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hey naim! i just wanted to add that you said you are an athlete, but LL will definitely take you down a notch, most people say they can recover to near pre-LL athleticism, but not all the way there. Also, LL will not help with chubbyness because that usually has to do with frame size (shorter with smaller frame / taller with larger frame). Also you are still young so you have time to save up money! dont give up

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Quote from: montahn on August 01, 2018, 02:01:32 PMThe limb lengthening procedure is a 6-8month process that involves surgery and lengthening process of 1mm per day for at least 75-80day that requires you stay in India.  One can lengthen 7-10cms depending on your height and body.

There are two options available for lengthening:

•    LON i.e. lengthening on nail which is an external procedure
•    HLN i.e. Hydraulic lengthening nail which is an internal procedure

The cost of LON is $17500USD and HLN is $30,000USD which is inclusive of accommodation, surgery, rehabilitation and any other complications that may arise during the lengthening phase. All other expenses will be borne by the patient him or herself.


I got this from dr Amar Sarin via mail date(May 2018)


High quality food cost only $35 day.

Thanks 

Food cost $35 a day is kinda high unless you are eating from high end restaurants. If you can do with eating from normal places it should be like $15-$20 per day, good food all means included.

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Quote from: 419 on August 01, 2018, 06:07:37 PMFood cost $35 a day is kinda high unless you are eating from high end restaurants. If you can do with eating from normal places it should be like $15-$20 per day, good food all means included.

yes you are right I say the max amount. Im my locality $10 is sufficient for daily food