Body Image

[vndy]

for the little people

I was somewhere between 5'0 and 5'1/2" pre-op, I'm I am now a FULL 5'2 (maybe even a quarter inch over!). I still feel like I'm in someone else's body; wearing heels feels like walking a tightrope (talk about an altitude change!), and all of my shirts are suddenly too short. It's a good thing, I think, but it takes time to get used to. Before, I always felt like my ribcage was too big for my body (because it stuck out to one side) - Now, each time I look in the mirror, I'm pleasantly surprised every time. I wonder when this body will feel like "mine"!

Those of you "little ones" heading into surgery, I think that the slight growth makes a bigger difference for us - proportionally, it's a bigger change!

[Canadian_Bacon]

I don't know if anyone else here is in this situation...
while i am really excited for a normal looking back, I am dreading the height gain. I am already 6' 1/2'' as it is. I think I wouldn't freak if i was 6'2'', but any taller than that and I think I would be really, really self conscience. It has taken all 20 years of my life to get used to how i am now, I can't imagine starting over. I am just fearing that I am going to feel like i do when I put on a pair of tall shoes. UGH! I'm excited, but NOT for this part!

Also - don't feel too self conscience about it! You can pull of anything with confidence.

[trulyaries]

Wow - I didn't think there were so many shorties here! What compounds my lack of height is that I am so thick around the middle - my "trunk" is like a tree trunk - straight up and down - and wide! My surgeries helped that only minimally. Even though Pam and I are close in height, there's NO WAY IN A HUNDRED YEARS that I will EVER look like she does in her photos.

This all reminds me of when I informed everyone after my first surgery when I gained back most of my height, "no more short jokes," my niece (4'10") said "Short??? I always thought you were tall!!"

[amae28]

Good to know there's some other "tallies" out there!!! As for everyone else, if I could give you a couple inches I would in a heartbeat! My height is something I guess I'll have to deal with... tall boys, come my way!!! haha.

[Canadian_Bacon]

Good to know there's some other "tallies" out there!!! As for everyone else, if I could give you a couple inches I would in a heartbeat! My height is something I guess I'll have to deal with... tall boys, come my way!!! haha.

lol - there you go, that's the spirit.


I have to say, the only thing that sucks about being this tall is finding ties that aren't too short

[trulyaries]

And while we're all in a giving mood, I have about 30 lbs. I'm more than willing to give anyone who will take them!!

[txmarinemom]

Trulyaries, you can post those on the "durable medical supply" forum I suggested, or the (still non-functional) surgical calendar ...

:-)

[CurvySAT05]

Abbie,
I'm with you on the height. When I was first diagnosed with scoli I was 5'8". I grew to 5'10" before my first surgery and I think I am around 6'0"-6'1" now but have not been measured since my surgery on 12/5. It is hard to find the "tall boys" since even the tall ones are not as tall as I am.

[rincotato]

what do you mean by sway backed??? or sway back?

I'm considering surgery so it's been interesting to read all your replies

-x-

[rosie1108]

Was shrinking, now tall!

When my surgeon pulled me out of bed two days after surgery so I could stand, I saw shock and awe on my husband's face as he saw me now nearly 3" taller!
I used to be around 5'5", shrunk to around 5'4", now up around 5"7. I put on a pair of my heels (4 1/2") and I was as tall as my husband!

Sway back is where the lower back has more curve than normal, so a person appears that they are leaning back more than normal. In some people it is just the way they are. It can be somewhat a result of the surgery, degeneration, or abnormal muscle physiology.