Life is short: and so am I

I wasn't strong. I was just angry, excluded, and wanted to get paid for my surgeries. When Monika was born on May 11, 1988, in Storvik, Sweden, with the rare genetic condition diastrophic dysplasia, her family's world took an unexpected turn. Doctors explained she probably never would grow taller than three feet and that her joints were severely affected. Yet for Monika, the realization that she was "different" didn't truly hit until a pivotal moment at Disneyland when she was six years old-a moment that shattered her worldview and made her feel like she didn't belong. Life is short and so am I is a darkly funny, honest, and fiercely unsentimental memoir about growing up in a standing world built for average-sized people. It is the story of a girl who refused to be defined by her power wheelchair, drafted a strict price list for her parents for every medical procedure, and found absolute physical freedom on the back of a snow-white Shetland pony named Natalie. Inside this memoir, you'll discover: - Confronting Norms: The staring eyes, the unwanted comments, and the myth of being "strong" simply for enduring a life you didn't choose.- Hospital Years & Dark Humor: Enduring 18 surgeries and 27 anesthesias before starting first grade, navigating plaster casts, and using dark humor to survive.- Finding Digital Freedom: Escaping into online roleplaying and MMORPGs like Aion, where physical limitations disappeared entirely.- Reclaiming Autonomy: The journey from teenage self-loathing to self-acceptance, building an independent adult life, and making peace with her own story. Life is short and so am I is a deeply moving and witty account of medicine, societal norms, and the art of surviving oneself.