Hello, 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:
Help! I need options for LL, I'm a newbie and a 4'8" girl!
Hi Naimah,
I have 2 potential CLLers with whom I've been in touch with who just drove to Munich to have a consultation with this doctor. They like him a lot and the price points are reasonable. He didn't try to evade difficult questions and was realistic with the maximum and recovery periods. Perhaps you want to look at him? He offers Precice and potentially Stryde when trial is over.
limblengtheningsurgery.com/cosmetic-limb-lengthening
And here are some questions I would ask :
QUESTIONS
1. How many have they done so far in total?
2. How many with Precice and Stryde?
3. Breakdown by male/female, race and age group?
4. What’re the oldest and youngest candidate?
5. What complications have they encountered?
6. What was the worst case?
7. What is the smallest lengthening, biggest lengthening, average lengthening?
8. Do they repair congenital deformities or trauma or are they uniquely cosmetic only? % btw CLL vs trauma cases?
9. How many nails broke?
10. How many non-union?
11. What does the price include (are complications included in the package price?)
12. Can you speak to several candidates (current and successful or failed?)
13. How do they filter who is a good candidate for CLL according to them?
14. How do they monitor during lengthening to ensure safety?
15. How do they minimize duck ass and valgus?
16. What kind of painkillers do they use and supplements they recommend?
17. What are their preparation recommendation for undergoing surgery for potential CLLers?
18. What is the average months/years of their patients from surgery to normal walking gait?
19. What are the pros and cons of Stryde vs Precice vs ISKD vs externals? What is their preference?
20. Do they prefer femur or tibia CLL?
21. Are pre and post xrays/medical testings/scans etc included in pricing? What are extra costs to anticipate?
22. Have they turned away potential CLLers? Why?
23. Do they let you go home to lengthen or do they insist you stay w them during the entire lengthening period?
24. What are the absolutely maximum length they'd let you do for tibia and femur?
25. Do they do unilateral and quadruple CLLs?
26. Are there ongoing lawsuits? Past lawsuits?
27. Has the doctor moved hospitals/countries etc? Why?
Hello @unicorn888 !
I’m so glad you replied to my post, it truly means a lot! I checked the link you sent to the Bavarian Limb Center and they seem like a good option. They offer both bilateral femur and tibia lengthening for a total price of $83,000 dollars. According to the website it includes all the surgeries and if I am correct from what I understand it includes the nail removal as well, which sounds way too good to be true. It also includes the regular x-rays of the check ups during the whole treatment! Like I don’t know what could be better than this! The price is reasonable for both the femurs and tibas (a little too good to be true), and they offer precice which it’s fine if they don’t have precice 3 (I would prefer it but as of now only Dr. Paley uses it 
). What I am wondering is why their website doesn’t include any testimonals/past cases or other information (that doesn’t look very professional), also I’d like to know about their reputation and maybe get in contact with some of their patients as you said you were speaking to. Do they have diaries on this forum? Also what is the name of the surgeons I don’t think it was mentioned on the website? The website also didn’t specify if the bilateral femurs and tibias surgeries are done at different times or all together? It is NOT recommended to EVER do them at the same time, that is very important to know. Now I just need to find some more info and figure out how I’m going to stay in Munich for this long. But this is very good news that there’s a doctor who is offering Precice and seems good, at a reasonable price, I just need to find the surgeon’s name and contact them. I HOPE the communication isn’t difficult because I only speak english and spanish. Once again, thank you very much for your detailed reply, for the questions you left in order to ask to the doctor, and I really do hope that you’re doing better. I’m going to hop over to your thread to see your process if you’re still positing on there. Thanks again!
Hi Naima
Very good questions you ask. Why isn't the doctor name even mentioned?
Agree with the list of questions.
I did bilateral femurs back in 2004 with the pioneering internal method, the Bliskunov/Jamal internal rod, fully weight bearing. Precise 2 is not fully weight bearing as far as I know.
I gained just over 4 inches and am now fully recovered and lead a normal life. You can have a look at my diary and photos here:
http://www.limblengtheningforum.com/index.php?topic=9000.0
http://www.limblengtheningforum.com/index.php?topic=9023.0
Please ignore the stupid vid about keloid scarring in the first link. Someone scarred my diary with that after I initially refused to post scar photos.
I would not recommend you do femurs and tibias at the same time. The surgery is a huge strain on the body and my advice is to start with femurs first.
Having said that, I did meet one patient who did just that, he was a male in his 30's and did it with the same method and doctor, but he was physically very fit and lean.
As a girl, scarring should also be a consideration for you. How would you feel about that?
If you're going to do this surgery, spend a good couple of months just preparing. Go to gym, eat well, stretch, stretch and stretch! Your muscles should be as flexible.
Hope you get the money together and realise your dream. Wishing you the best.
You can try Dr Amar Sarin from India.
here is good thread about LL with Dr Sharin - http://www.limblengtheningforum.com/index.php?topic=8944
Quote from: taller_in_Kiev on July 30, 2018, 05:02:57 PMHi Naima
Very good questions you ask. Why isn't the doctor name even mentioned?
Agree with the list of questions.
I did bilateral femurs back in 2004 with the pioneering internal method, the Bliskunov/Jamal internal rod, fully weight bearing. Precise 2 is not fully weight bearing as far as I know.
I gained just over 4 inches and am now fully recovered and lead a normal life. You can have a look at my diary and photos here:
http://www.limblengtheningforum.com/index.php?topic=9000.0
http://www.limblengtheningforum.com/index.php?topic=9023.0
Please ignore the stupid vid about keloid scarring in the first link. Someone scarred my diary with that after I initially refused to post scar photos.
I would not recommend you do femurs and tibias at the same time. The surgery is a huge strain on the body and my advice is to start with femurs first.
Having said that, I did meet one patient who did just that, he was a male in his 30's and did it with the same method and doctor, but he was physically very fit and lean.
As a girl, scarring should also be a consideration for you. How would you feel about that?
If you're going to do this surgery, spend a good couple of months just preparing. Go to gym, eat well, stretch, stretch and stretch! Your muscles should be as flexible.
Hope you get the money together and realise your dream. Wishing you the best.
Hello @taller_in_Kiev . I'm glad you answered to my post! I was actually not considering to ever do both femurs and tibias at the same time. As I've heard that this can lead to any complications such as "fat embolism", poor lengthening, you cannot lengthen as long as you could by doing it separately, maybe even paralysis, ect... I am already a bit terrified about this surgery (and I can't lie about that), so less would I be willing to take such a risk like that. I believe that I can overcome this terrifying feeling towards the surgery once I'm already in it. Lol, I will have to get over it, I'm 4'8" I need this....or at least I feel like I do. I'm pretty sure you understand how I feel. I'm glad to speak to you because you went through the process and with a foreign doctor. I am a bit skeptical about the foreign doctors, as a lot of American doctors say that their equipment is not FDA approved and a lot of the doctors that charge cheaper are not as meticulous or precise. But we all know that the procedure was not invented in the US which means that maybe foreign doctors have been practicing this for many more years. Of course this could be a marketing scheme to scare American patients so that they do the procedure in the US and don't travel overseas.
Honestly, I know that PRECICE 2.2 isn't weight bearing but I am not willing to risk any complications with the weight bearing clicking methods or the external fixators (which terrify me the most). I am a very pain tolerant person, as I am a Crossfit athlete and love working out, but I don't think I could handle externals. Also, what happened to @unicorn888 was very severe and due to the fact that her nail was used with the clicking method, she couldn't reverse the non-union. As for in the case of the, PRECICE 2, you can reverse your lengthening if there are complications like these. I'd also like to say that I'm looking forward to the STRYDE PRECICE 3 device because that one is fully weight bearing. As of now only Dr. Paley performs surgery with the STRYDE, but as we all know he's too expensive, especially for a quadrilateral. But then again it's my legs I'm talking about and I think that anyone's legs are worth more than money can buy! Therefore, I'm hoping to collect some money and consider Dr. Paley or Dr. Mahboubian (but I'm not totally opposed to the overseas options though). What do you think?
Also, since you asked about scarring, I think that I would be willing to have scars for if I am going to get something I've been dreaming of my whole life. I've also read and seen that with the internal methods, scarring is minimal compared to the external fixators. I can always get surgery to remove the scars, but I think scars are kind of cool and unique!
I also wanted to ask you about the nail removal procedure. I know that the doctors remove the "nails" but do they also remove the screws that hold the nails in place. A lot of doctors say that athletes have the screws removed as well. Do you have any information on this? It is important to me.
Lastly, my diet is very specific as I am a "Raw Vegan" (no animal products). Do you think a doctor will oppose to operate on me because of my diet or does my diet play a part in the recovery and such? This is extremely important me, as I love being a raw vegan and wouldn't change it for the world. Thank you for your reply and geeeez I'm sorry about my message being so long. I will DEFINITELY check out your diaries! Wow 4 inches is a good amount, I'm glad you came out safely. Thank you for posting the links. Much love!
I also just measured my wingspan today and it is 57 inches/144cm. The same as my height. My goal is to at least lengthen the femurs and tibias both to about 3 inches EACH (about 8cm), which would make me 5'2". Will it look too disproportional if I lengthen this much and my wingspan is that of my current height? I don't want to look like a T-Rex lol, or have to get arm lengthening surgery. 
Hi Naimah, no worries) happy to help as much as possible. I am from the UK, so there was no local option for me and I don't believe there was in the US at the time either. Even if there was, I'd still have done it in Kiev. Last thing I'd have cared about is FDA approval!
As far as I know, Professor Bliskunov was the pioneer of the internal method. I would also never have considered the external devices.
I was fortunate to have a good result, but as with any surgery, there can be risks and complications. Doctor and location are personal choices, I can only speak to you about my experience with the doctors here. Dr Jamal is one of the most experienced LL doctors, he worked with Dr Dragan until he sadly passed away a few years ago. I am guessing the main reason why an american would look to have this done abroad would be for cost. If you were to have this done abroad, would you have the support of your family and friends, as you may do at home? Who, if anyone, would accompany you?
About rod/nail removal - again, I don't know about other doctors, but here you get everything removed, including all screws) a couple of years down the line.
Regarding diet, I was taking a lot of dairy and eating a protein rich diet. I think you could certainly get all the nutrients needed from a plant based diet and here in Kiev, in the summer time, fresh fruit and veg are plentiful, cheap and taste great. All organically grown by the locals. But during LL, your broken bones may have additional needs, best to talk to a doctor about this.
LoL. Two promoters in a single thread.
Naimah, talk to Unicorn through PMs. I could recommend a few other members, but they're unavailable right now. Don't trust everything you read here.
Don't go to anyone but Paley and Rozbruch if you want to stay as safe as possible, and don't want to leave the US.
Quote from: myloginacc on July 31, 2018, 08:28:30 AMLoL. Two promoters in a single thread.
Naimah, talk to Unicorn through PMs. I could recommend a few other members, but they're unavailable right now. Don't trust everything you read here.
Don't go to anyone but Paley and Rozbruch if you want to stay as safe as possible, and don't want to leave the US.
Heya,
If the USA doctors were not an option, which doctors would you recommend?
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