Hey man. I Appreciate you sharing this so, so much.

Ngl it was almost eerie to read this, almost like watching my past self speak. We are extremely similar in what we experienced: Excellent physical health, suddenly having a rough awakening surrounding height in middle school, being so much shorter than everyone else, having stopped growing early, becoming miserable because of it. (I was borderline suicidal for a period of time too, arround 17-18)

And then having other things on top like being chubby and having subpar looks (puberty wasn't kind to me hahah).

I used to be 5'2 in the Netherlands and am now 5'5 barefoot, also enjoy wearing lifts to be 5'7-5'8 when outdoors and going to other countries where people aren't so big. I had the surgery last year, at 19 yo, gaining 8cm, and am now 20. I had it done in Spain. I find it ironic how my final, barefoot height is lower than your starting one, but I identify myself to the fullest in what you mentioned happening after getting the surgery done. I am infinitely more satisfied with my appearance, I feel like an actual young man now, my stocky appearance was replaced by a more proportionate, lithe and beautiful one.

Combined with weightloss, supplements & skincare and growing out my hair (I discovered I could grow curls lol) my journey in improving my looks had taken a socially isolated, anxiety ridden miserable boy and left a confident, content, functioning and signifcantly more outgoing boy in its place who is open to meeting people and new experiences. The biggest one in the list however is definitely the limb lengthening.

Along with the other things on the list I noticed how people treated me significantly better. My input in groups, both for socialising and work, was appreciated and listened to more often. More people smiled to me on the streets and I managed to start attracting people for the very first time in my life. I physically recovered from the surgery around december of last year and since then I've had various kisses, snuggle dates and also lost my virginity to a cute girl I met online.

I am so so glad I never listened to that toxically positive BS that denies the signifance of lookism, the role of appearance in friendships, professional environments and romance and that you should instead cultivate some vague kunfidunz based on f***** gardening or sm equally dumb...

Something else I want to mention is also how my parents allowed me to have this done, the average 19 yo being hard pressed to pull 47k out of their pockets. I appreciate them massively and love them dearly for helping to save my life. You are very right to appreciate your mother. Additionally the surgery was also a brutal time for me. The first 4 days were hell on earth as I was bed ridden. I was wheelchairbound for most of my time and also experienced a handful of breakdowns where I couldn't fight off the social isolation or depression. The pain became alot more manageable after 2 weeks or and and then become worse near the end where the muscles and tissue were at their limit. I made it through perfectly fine in the end though.

I consider you my brother in this, I genuinely do. We've lived extremely similar lives and chose a similar path, even though the vast majority of people would've tried to steer us in a different direction. We did what we thought was right and only ended up better for it.

Again, tysm for sharing this. You are not alone, not when you were at your lowest and not now that you're at your highest.