If you're born short, especially if you're a man, it can take a toll on your self-esteem…so much so that one man went to great lengths (no pun intended) to change his height. At 5'6", "Apotheosis" was not happy with his height and decided to undergo a radical and expensive surgery to literally make him grow taller. He now blogs about his experience with the surgery and the recovery on an online forum.
Apotheosis is one of a growing number of short statured men opting for limb lengthening surgery. Dr. Dror Paley, an osteopathic surgeon at the Paley Institute at St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach, Florida has performed 650 of this surgeries, but mostly on individuals with dwarfism or severe deformities. However, he has also witnessed a number of patients undergoing the surgery for cosmetic reasons.
Only a few doctors in the U.S. perform the surgery and it is costly–$85,000 and it is a lengthy process. Surgeons begin by breaking the leg bone in two and implanting a state-of-the-art telescopic rod between the broken bones. The rods pull the bones apart slowly, about 1 mm per day. New bone then grows around the rods, as well as muscle, nerves, arteries, and skin. As for Apotheosis, he traveled overseas to Germany to have the surgery done, where it cost about half the price.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5bx5l76yrk
The recovery process is painful and long, but Apotheosis says that it is all worth the six inches that it would eventually add to his height.
recently named in the 2009 edition of Best Lawyer's In America, David Mittleman has been representing seriously injured people since 1985. A partner with Church Wyble PC—a division of Grewal Law PLLC—Mr. Mittleman and his partners focus on medical malpractice, wrongful death, car accidents, slip and falls, nursing home injury, pharmacy/pharmacist negligence and disability claims.
Comments for this article are closed.