First, I want to post an email I wrote to Victor at cyborgforlife after seeing one of his videos: "The stories you told describing all of the measures you took to conceal your true height really struck a chord with me. I have literally done all of the things you listed in the video and have continuously struggled with this height dysphoria my entire life!! I literally won’t go places I can’t take off my shoes for fear of people finding out my true height. Most of my everyday thoughts, and I literally mean everyday, consist of how happy and mainly how comfortable I would be if I was taller. I think about how I wouldn’t be considered less of a man, I think about how I can feel normal standing in public, with friends or even family members. My life is literally revolved around compensating for this issue I have. I’m a current college student and have served in the military. I’ve also had a pretty crazy childhood, so I would say I’ve gained enough perspective from life to understand that there are more important things in life and that my lack of self-confidence can stem from deeper issues than height dysphoria. Out of the kindness of their hearts, loved ones have tried to impart philosophies on me that would help me find value in other things and have given me advice along the lines of: there are plenty of other things that make you great, you need to be okay with yourself first in order to let go of this issue of height dysphoria. I appreciate all of that, but I have examined, learned and am still actively learning myself, and I can still pinpoint this overwhelming feeling of inadequacy to my height. I am a very happy and optimistic person. I am actually relatively confident in the way I look other than my height. I am doing really well in college and am on track to graduate in about 2 more semesters. I have an income that allows me to live beyond comfortably and enables me to focus on school. I have girlfriend with whom I’m deeply in love with. I have security in God. I am a cognitive science major and a psychology minor, so I’m pretty familiar with a lot of processes that explain why it is the way we think. Even still, the one thing that has plagued my thoughts, is my height. This issue is very real to me and is very troublesome. If I weren’t so optimistic about being able to possibly get the surgery one day, I would fall into a deep depression. It sounds a bit ridiculous to rely on surgery to make me happy, but I am not relying on the surgery to fuel my happiness. I am relying on how happy I will be once I feel comfortable being in my own body. I think about how happy I would be being comfortable enough to be my self around others- the places I would go, the things I could finally wear, the experiences I could have without the utter fear of judgement about my height. I apologize for this long story, but I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing your story. It makes it a little easier to know that I’m not alone in this struggle and that there’s someone out there who has experienced some of the turmoil I have. Most would consider this an irrational problem to have, so it’s nice to come across someone who understands. Man the examples about the gym, being at school, going to the beach, blew me away because those are some of the specific examples I have gone through. I humbly await for the day God allows me the opportunity to get this surgery and am actively working to improve my credit so that I can be approved for a loan of this magnitude. Until then, I am eagerly and patiently waiting for it to happen. It will happen, I’m putting that out in the universe right now. You given me new found hope! So thank you again, from the bottom of my heart."
I had no clue there were others like me pursuing LL, and I was just as ecstatic to find this forum! I wanted to post this to give you all a little insight on how passionate I am about this. I am 28 and I have been working on getting funds for the LL for the last 10 years, but something or another has come up in life and I havent been able to save.
I had a consultation with Dr. Mahboubian around the middle of last year. I know he works with care credit. I have looked into multiple doctors since, and have come across some great ones, but the fact remains, I have not been able to build money on my own or get approved for a medical loan to reach the 75,000 price tag.
I have looked into medical loans through lightstream, sofi, and care credit. I actually applied for 75,000 through care credit in june of this year and was declined for lack of credit history (4 years is my longest account), and I had a 632 credit score. I have been working my butt off since and now have a 679 credit score. I have done endless amounts of research on how to save, build credit, and many other things, but at this point I feel like I am about to burst. I cannot wait any longer and deal with being around people while feeling utterly uncomfortable. I have 10,000 saved now and I want to try to apply with care credit again for 60,000 this time. Do any of you have advice for me? Anything is appreciated!
If you're in college still, wouldn't it be pretty difficult to pay the loan back? Your credit score will naturally go up over time as your credit profile matures. The loan companies also need to consider your income and other assets to see the likelihood of you repaying though.
My education is paid for with the GI bill so I don't have any student loans, and they pay me a monthly stipend. I also have decent income since I work for the University I am attending. Do you think I should wait before reapplying with Care Credit?
That's pretty good, but you still need some form of income to take on a $50K loan. Personally, I would wait a little longer to be more established before doing LL, but I can also see why you would want to do it asap.
I'm pretty much in the same boat as you. I would probably get this surgery in a few months if I had the money, but right now I don't and I don't know if I ever will. That seems to be the stopping point with a lot of people who desire limb lengthening surgery. I know this doesn't help the urgency that you feel you need to get this surgery right now, but I think limb lengthening needs to become more popular and accepted for the prices to drop. More competing companies need to make nails that match or exceed the quality of the Stryde nail to drive the price down. More doctors are needed to get involved in this field. The surgery needs to become safer. The stigma behind this surgery needs to decline. Right now this is wishful thinking. But I think when some people become more informed of what the surgery is and how people come out of it rejuvenated and more confident (a lot will still think it's crazy), they will be more open minded to people who go through with this procedure. I think what Victor from Cyborg 4Life is doing is a great thing that helps build awareness and knowledge about limb lengthening. We need more of that to build the limb lengthening community and that could in turn help everything to evolve and perhaps drive the costs down. Sorry, I don't have any actual financial advice to give to you. I desperately want to get taller too, but financial debt will also cripple you, and additional complications will bury you if this is something you can't afford. All I can offer you is that maybe things in the industry will change with time and exposure. Limb lengthening, while it has been around for decades, I feel is still in its infancy of this modern cosmetic era. Perhaps better technology and better prices are just around the corner. Maybe it's worth hanging on a couple of years to see what's in store before you go through with this. I wish you the best in whatever you decide to do.
-brondo
I do have a sizable income right now, but maybe I should wait a little longer to see if I can boost my credit higher. I appreciate your insight!
Brondo, your response is much appreciated! I definitely agree with everything you said in that the price of the surgery comes down to basic enconomics and the variables associated (more exposure, more research, less stigma, more doctors, price decrease). I do hope that once LL surgey becomes more normalized, prices don't shoot up because doctors see how popular/profitable this specific practice is. On the plus side, the longer it is around, the safer the procedure will be, which means less injury, less cost, and all the above. Again, I do appreciate your response and your in-depth take on the situation as a whole. It is good to see there are others who understand my pain and passion. It makes us kin in a way 
Best of luck on all your endeavors!
Quote from: Devoted1 on October 02, 2020, 06:07:48 PMBrondo, your response is much appreciated! I definitely agree with everything you said in that the price of the surgery comes down to basic enconomics and the variables associated (more exposure, more research, less stigma, more doctors, price decrease). I do hope that once LL surgey becomes more normalized, prices don't shoot up because doctors see how popular/profitable this specific practice is. On the plus side, the longer it is around, the safer the procedure will be, which means less injury, less cost, and all the above. Again, I do appreciate your response and your in-depth take on the situation as a whole. It is good to see there are others who understand my pain and passion. It makes us kin in a way Best of luck on all your endeavors!
You're welcome dude!
Credit score doesn't matter nearly as much as income for high risk loans like these, and as you already know, your credit score is not the best but that's the least of yus concerns
Get a good paying job/career or have parents willing to help you out. Or save for a decade. That's the only three ways too do LL in America.
Your credit is not the problem. Your income is. I don't know your income but I already know it's not very high
There's always India if you're so desperate, or Donghoon Lee for like 25k. You said you "can't wait any longer" for some reason. If you can't wait, then India or Korea Donghoon LON. Max out four credit cards, cash advance, boom go to Korea.
Though I'm sure you can wait and finish school. Get a goodest job, then you can work a year, save like a homeless, then take loan
Lol don't bet on a price drop. If it drops it's gonna still cost 75k$+.
Quote from: Devoted1 on October 02, 2020, 06:00:15 PMI do have a sizable income right now, but maybe I should wait a little longer to see if I can boost my credit higher. I appreciate your insight!
Having higher credit would get you a lower interest rate, and the interest rates for unsecured loans with an imperfect credit score are basically usury. What I mean is to just have more assets in general so the financial impact of the surgery isn't as big in the long term. However, if you can accumulate the funds now, then I suppose there are benefits to getting it done earlier. You just have to weigh the pros and cons.
Personally I've known about LL since 2013 and really got into it starting 2014. Since then I've been on and off about whether I wanted to actually do it. I've been financially stable enough to do it since 2017, but I haven't been single so I haven't put much thought into it until this year. This all kind of worked out since Stryde is available now, but that didn't really impact my decision.
For me, doing LL earlier and having less money wouldn't be worth it, since I'm primarily doing it to increase the pool of women I can date. If I'm more confident from being taller but I have a mountain of debt weighing down on me, then I think those things would cancel each other out for me. That's just my personal view though and your goals and circumstances are surely different.
You must be logged in to post a reply.