miss my length, need some help.

Hello all,

Im new here and i must say i am so happy i found this site. I used to have a decent length of hair ( a few inches past my shoulders). well to make a long story short. i had braids in my hair and i didn't comb my hair before i washed it. so my hair was so matted to the fullest. I went to a hair dresser who tried her best. she had to cut it. so i went from nice to darn near nothing. i had maybe an inch or two of hair left after the cut. Well now my hair is a little past my neck but not touching my shoulders. How can I get my length back? I went natural for a min, but it was just to hard for me to maintain and i hated the way it look. so i permed it. I read on one of the postings about a weft or something. what is that? I know how to glue and sew in tracks, but i never have heard of wefting and suggestions. I miss my length and i love extentions.