Quadrilateral Lengthening with Dr. Paley

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Hey man, congrats on finishing the journey! Will you still make a video about your thoughts on the whole thing as a big reflection?

Also, what are some things you don't feel comfortable doing still with your legs?

Last question, before the surgery, what did you think would be the biggest difference or change you'd experience after gaining 4.5 inches, and now that you are taller, how much of that was accurate? Any surprises or things you didn't think would happen now that you're taller? Differences you notice in social or work settings?

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Thanks again for the comments and well wishes.

First and foremost, I haven't really been going out much, except to the gym, daily.  Towards the end of my lengthening, I was aggressively working out my legs and now that I am done with my lengthening and off the painkillers, I feel as if my legs took a beating.  The tibias, in general.  A lot of the tenderness I get in my legs is where the screws are located- the screws that fixate the nail to the bone.  Also there are screws that were added when they needed to straighten out my tibia, and I definitely feel the bone being stressed under heavy activity- while I try to jump or jog.  So I think it's best to keep my level of activity modest- jogging, light jumping- until next fall when I get the rods taken out. 

The following could be important information to other people who have done the tibia and are experiencing some tightness in their leg and ankles.
Before I began lengthening my arms, my lower legs- specifically ankles- were still tight.  So much so, that when I would sit for a minute and then get up, I would need to re-calibrate- stand up for a few seconds before walking to loosen up. 

I noticed, the second day after the surgery, that getting up and walking was already easier.  And I couldn't attribute this to painkillers yet, because I had refused to take them until I took my first crap- I had a horrible experience the time before so the risk outweighed the reward.  Every morning the stiffness became less and less until it was non existent.  At the time I had no idea why I was recovering so quickly in my ankles but my concerns were mainly focused with my arms and the physical therapy that I needed to be done at the time. 

Now, that the process is done, and I have nothing to help me sleep, I am back to my old position of sleeping- on my stomach.  And I can 100% tell you that the reason the tightness in my ankles went away was because I was sleeping on my back and there was no pressure on my feet to fall flat- as it is when you are sleeping face forward.  It may seem trivial or unimportant but I urge anyone who experiences that tightness in their ankles to change their sleeping position to their back- and I understand it could take time, but at least give it a chance because it really helps.  Alternatively, I would recommend you wear dorsiflexion boots to sleep- to keep your feet in the stretched position. 

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Are you going to train your arms later on? I mean more than just standard rehabilitation.

Since i'm working out i'm quite curious how much impact AL has on your arms.

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Quote from: willsa on January 04, 2017, 02:19:11 AMHey man, congrats on finishing the journey! Will you still make a video about your thoughts on the whole thing as a big reflection?

Also, what are some things you don't feel comfortable doing still with your legs?

Last question, before the surgery, what did you think would be the biggest difference or change you'd experience after gaining 4.5 inches, and now that you are taller, how much of that was accurate? Any surprises or things you didn't think would happen now that you're taller? Differences you notice in social or work settings?

I really would love to get back into making videos, but I am just not sure about it yet.  Maybe in the future.

I don't feel comfortable jumping off steps.  Or running full speed.  Even when I try and go quickly downstairs, my right shin feels tender- where the screws are. 

Regarding the last question: I think the biggest difference or change I thought I would experience after gaining 4.5 inches- or just getting taller, because I didn't have a goal at the time- was comfort.  And by that I mean, feeling comfortable at my height without shoes.  Being able to stand barefoot with 100% confidence is something I was not able to do.  I wasn't one of those mentally strong short guys, I was very aware of my height difference- sensitive- and it made me so uncomfortable, that I ultimately changed my height. 
.
It's 100% accurate, that getting taller, specifically to my current height did alleviate my concerns about being comfortable barefoot.
I guess if i'm going to be 100% honest, I am surprised about people's reaction to my new height. Both to people who knew and didn't know.

People who knew are blown away, they just can't stop talking about how amazing the transformation is.  I'd say that since I was there every step of the growth, it's refreshing to see and hear raw reactions from people who knew me at 5.5 to my current height of nearly 5.10.  People who don't know of my operation but knew me before are utterly confused and flustered when they see me.  Understandably so, but besides the obvious response from people- did you get taller? how? - I do get- You lost a lot of weight- just as much.

Because I had my operations so close together, I haven't had as much time to hang out in public or at night to give a proper assessment of how my life differs but my experiences have been great.  Sometimes, when I go out, and i'm looking out above 50% of the crowd at a venue, I just want to high five the crowd and tell everyone what I did and how difficult it all was.

This final area I want to touch upon, i'm always hesitant to talk about because no 2 people are going to have the same experience.  Growing up, I had a lot of girls tell me bluntly, that they wished I was taller.  And I guess I wasn't strong enough to really take that to heart. I took it to mind though and started wearing boots and what not, to appear taller.  Even then, I was still shorter than most people and it wasn't quite the game changer I was expecting. 

Perhaps, I underestimated 4.5 inches, or I didn't want to fully accept that changing my height would make me so much more attractive to certain women. I still don't want to generalize that taller= better because fortunately, I had good experiences with women who loved me at my previous height.  But to be honest, those women are not the 90%.  There are times where I feel like I literally stepped into another dimension- where people are friendlier- and women are much less difficult to get along with- romantically speaking.  Sometimes, i'll expect a girl to walk away once I say something dumb or because of an awkward silence, but I feel as if I have been given a second chance with every failure that simply wasn't there before.  I'm trying my hardest to write this without suk ing my own dck but what the fk, it feels like I have been given a second life.  As if attraction was a game that I had saved last October and resumed just now- with a patch that made everything easier.  I don't know- maybe I have been lucky, maybe I smell different, but things have gone way beyond expectation. 

The fantasies I had when coming back taller, were of me seeing old acquaintances, family members, girls I was interested in, whatever, and seeing their reactions.  But that's just the tip of the iceberg.  So much has changed.  Just a few inches, but a world apart.

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Quote from: YourSpaceBoyfriend on January 05, 2017, 08:10:46 PMAre you going to train your arms later on? I mean more than just standard rehabilitation.

Since i'm working out i'm quite curious how much impact AL has on your arms.

Tremendous impact on my arm strength.  I am weak beyond belief.  However, recovery is completely unpredictable.  One day my calf muscles began to grow in strength and size, so much so that I noticed it on a daily scale.  This however was not the same experience with my quads.  All I can say is stay tuned for honest updates but I wouldn't expect me to gain my strength back until an absolute minimum of 6 months.  I am however open to miracles.

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Thank you again for the detailed description you made about how you feel with your new height. I could relate very well to the comfort thing. A lot of the days when I'm out in the city all day, I think to myself how easy life must be for taller people - they work just like I do, and they go outside just like I do, and they will be just as tired as I am when coming home, but they can go out on the street, to any place whenever they want, and never feel like inferior human beings because of their height. This is what I can't do, and it seems that you can successfully do it now. Good for you, you deserve that feeling.

There have been a lot of reports in media on how terrible LL is, but a fact that is observed in this forum is: For some people, it can really improve life.

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I wonder IamReady, with how many women have you slept between you started dating after LL and since you started your arm lengthening?

 From the looks of it, seems alot hihi. Good for you man! I really mean it!

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Thanks so much for the reply!! This is very generous of you to share your experience and not sugarcoat anything.

Please do us a favor and check in once in a while. The biggest question I have is how is it 5 years down the line, 10 years, long term, etc. Once you get the rods taken out and the bone fills in, is there a point where you don't even realize/think about it.

I can understand if you don't want to do a video or wait till youre more healed, but your thoughts on the process and Dr. Paley are invaluable. You could just not show your face like in the beginning

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Quick question about the whole compliments thing: Do you feel they say you look better because of the nature of getting taller? Or because your body looks better with your more longer arms, legs, and loss of weight?

Thanks as always. Happy you've been feeling this good man. It's awesome knowing you're already feeling comfort.

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Hey its been a while man,how are you?