Gen Z who spent her whole childhood 'struggling to walk' discovers the baffling explanation at 19: 'Obvious and painful'

Life is difficult for people who have undiagnosed issues. Trying to figure out the problem while dealing with different signs and symptoms is discouraging and chaotic. Spending years and money on hospital visits, treatments, medication and whatnot only to get no proper diagnosis can ruin a person’s confidence and approach towards life. A Gen Z woman–who goes by u/sushisoccer on Reddit–revealed that she had been dealing with such a worry for the last 19 years of her life. After years of surgery, treatment and umpteen attempts to figure out the problem, she finally learned the reason behind her struggle to walk. 

“Spent my whole childhood struggling to walk, only finally got an explanation at 19,” she wrote in her caption. In a comment, the young woman explained the challenges she faced. She noted that as a child, she noticed one foot “smaller and deformed” compared to the other. “I had a difference of three whole shoe sizes between my feet,” she added. As anyone would, the young girl, too, visited the hospital where she learned she had a condition called “hemihypertrophy (one part of the body growing larger than the other).” She underwent surgery at the age of 12 to fix the supposed problem but did not get efficient results. 

When she was 16, it was suspected that her problem might be neurological. However, it was pushed back for another 2 years. In the meantime, the now-19-year-old tried everything from treatments, orthopedics, exercises, shoe inserts and whatnot. “It wasn’t until three years after this surgery that I was able to finally see a neurologist my insurance would cover and through physical examination, medical history review and MRI, I was given a diagnosis,” she wrote. Sharing what seemed like a report, her diagnosis read, “cerebral palsy, unspecified type.” She then recalled how this could be tied to a birth injury or "in utero."

More than anything, the 19-year-old had a bittersweet reaction to her diagnosis. She was happy to finally know what was going on with her body but was saddened by her condition. “It really sucked growing up in a sort of ‘tough it out’ type and generally disinterested/uncurious about their children’s health family that left me with unaddressed pain so long.” she wrote. She added that being neglected and undiagnosed affected her childhood. “I had to quit basketball in high school. I’ve had impostor syndrome for such a long time and would beat myself up about ‘faking it’ when objectively, I cannot walk without a crutch anymore. The doctor suspected the kind of deformity I had would be most obvious and painful as an adult, thus explaining why it took so long for someone to help me try to figure out what was going on,” she remarked. 

Choosing to look at the positives, the 19-year-old noted, “I’ll be able to get mobility accommodations moving forward and won’t have to pay for campus parking since I can park in a handicap. My crutch is used with more confidence now, but I think putting stickers and a pretty wrist attachment helped a bunch with that.” u/elizabethandsnek said, “I know the very mixed feeling of, ‘Yay, I have an answer!’ and ‘Oh wait, I have an incurable lifelong condition,’ very well. Hopefully, now you’ll be able to get better care.” u/Version-Neast added, “Having an incurable diagnosis may sound depressing, but you are now in the most powerful position you've ever been in to advocate for your needs.”