Dear people of earth,

About a year ago I posted a picture on Instagram expressing my feeling toward this "unknown cause".It's not technically a disease. So whatever you want to call it, call it that. My story is very interesting so you might want to stick around and just read very closely. Also please be patient because it is long. It's not a topic I like to talk about.When someone says something to me about it I try and explain it to my best of ability. Sometimes I feel very uncomfortable but to say the least I did come out of my comfort zone this past year.I'm very proud of myself for it.

As you may be wondering what is Brachymetatarsia? Well Brachymetatarsia is defined as "congenital shortening of the metatarsal caused by premature closure of the epiphysis. The condition most commonly affects the fourth metatarsal of young and adolescent females.For a simpler term it's "short toe syndrome" nobody is born with this.It's something that comes over time because it's part of the growth of your body. A normal age where you start realizing you have this is around the 7-12 years old.I noticed it at the age of 7-8 years old. I was confused and wondered why my foot looked different from everyone else's. Brachymetatarsia can be developed on both feet but luckily I only have it on my right foot.

Summer is the season where flip flops are worn the most.I always wore closed toe shoes, so nobody would stare at me. Winter used to be one of my favorite seasons.It's cold so you wear socks all the time. But the truth is I dislike winter a lot.Strangely I've always loved summer and I still do.

Living with this isn't easy at all. I would always get laughed at or teased and many times people asked me about it and I just couldn't speak.I was too embarrassed so I would just say stop and hide my foot. I've always been self conscious about my body. Truthfully,I'm jealous of everyone that doesn't have Brachymetatarsia. Other people don't have to change your outfit constantly just so it would match your shoes.You could just pick an outfit and just slip on flip flops.

Over the last few years I have told my closest friends about it.They didn't care that I had it,yeah they wanted to see it but I'm just glad I didn't lose their friendships over it, which made me feel better about myself knowing I didn't have to hide it from them. Telling people is harder than it sounds.They always end up saying "I want to see it" meanwhile it's difficult just for me to mention it to them. Sometimes I ended up showing them but sometimes I don't because I felt too embarrassed.

I mean life will always continue each and everyday and I will still have it. I do have an option for surgery which will make it look normal but I'm conflicted. I've always had a fear of surgery and who knows if I'll ever be able to do certain things ever again. You just don't know. Currently I am wearing more sandals than ever before.Instead of just letting my toe show I always try and put a bandaid on it.My sandals always give me blisters because my toe is so short. I'm not sure if I can handle buying bandaids anymore and I don't feel like being in pain. It's just so overwhelming being in my situation.

Over the years I've been in contact with a few people who also have Brachymetatarsia. Even though they have their opinions and I have mine it's nice to know there are other people out there with this. I just want everyone to know I have been through a lot of emotion throughout my life just for having this. I've had some horrible days where I'd just cry and couldn't understand why I have it and nobody I knew does. I've always felt left out.I still don't understand why this happened to me. But other days I just don't care anymore what people think of me and my body. At the end of the day it's just me.

I hope everyone truly understands what I go through on an everyday basis and how hard this has been on me.Writing about it has been extremely difficult because I don't want to be judged for something "God" has created.I mean we are all different and unique even though we all don't like certain things about our bodies.The majority of us just leave it alone and don't worry too much about those things.To me it's on my mind pretty much all the time. I want to be me but I also just want to be normal like everyone else without getting judged on how I am ,how I look and how my life is because I am who I am. Please don't judge me, it took a lot just to share this with all of you. Also thank you for hearing me out and thank you to the ones who actually took the time and read this it really means the world to me.I love you all.

Sincerely,

The girl with Brachymetatarsia