I'm not particularly shy/private about it, it's just rarely relevant -- and also one of those things where it's hard to convey in writing, since even the official letter from the surgeon basically says "foot kinda fucked up" in slightly more convoluted terms. :P A top-level explanation feels a little like asking for attention, too, in an odd way -- partly because this is all such old news from my end.
But! Basically, I was born with the foot you see above (and it's hard to tell in the pic, but my left foot is size 8.5/9 ish, and my right is like... child's 1.5 or 2 -- which is bigger than child's 13, but not *quite* to adult women's sizes. it's very confusing), and a right leg shorter than the left. It started only a tiny bit shorter, foot a tiny smaller, but the growth rates were different. Had limb lengthening - distraction orthogenesis -- on my lower leg when I was 13, which took almost a year and requires two big surgeries. IIRC that got me 7 cms; I was *almost* back to even, and could wear shoes without lifts, but the growth rate was still different -- now I'm at a difference of about 1 5/8". Had a few more surgeries to deal with a slightly out of whack knee joint (oh, right knee is missing the ACL, too). But I haven't had anything major done since I was 16.
Wow, that was a briefer paragraph than I expected. Being able to point and say "WEIRD FOOT LIKE THAT" is awfully helpful!
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But! Basically, I was born with the foot you see above (and it's hard to tell in the pic, but my left foot is size 8.5/9 ish, and my right is like... child's 1.5 or 2 -- which is bigger than child's 13, but not *quite* to adult women's sizes. it's very confusing), and a right leg shorter than the left. It started only a tiny bit shorter, foot a tiny smaller, but the growth rates were different. Had limb lengthening - distraction orthogenesis -- on my lower leg when I was 13, which took almost a year and requires two big surgeries. IIRC that got me 7 cms; I was *almost* back to even, and could wear shoes without lifts, but the growth rate was still different -- now I'm at a difference of about 1 5/8". Had a few more surgeries to deal with a slightly out of whack knee joint (oh, right knee is missing the ACL, too). But I haven't had anything major done since I was 16.
Wow, that was a briefer paragraph than I expected. Being able to point and say "WEIRD FOOT LIKE THAT" is awfully helpful!