Day 42 - 6 weeks post-op

Can't believe it has been 6 weeks already!  I went out for 'lunch' yesterday, but wasn't actually expecting to be able to eat anything, so I had lunch before I went.  However when I got there I saw a dessert that I thought I could tackle, so I had churros with melted chocolate and it was really nice.  It took me longer to eat that than it took anyone else to eat their lunch but I got there eventually!

So, as it's 6 weeks I thought I'd give an update on all the major jaw related issues...

Pain:

Occasionally I get these shooting pains around my TMJ area, but they're not very frequent and don't really bother me.  That's the only pain I get.

Numbness:

As I've said before, I haven't really had any numbness since the operation.  The only bits that were ever numb were the roof of my mouth and my top gum, and the only bit that's still numb is my top gum, but this really doesn't bother me at all.

Eating:

I'm seeing my surgeon on Monday so I'm hoping he'll give me the all clear to chew.  I haven't found the eating situation too bad overall, I've found quite a few things that can be mushed rather than chewed.  The only thing that is hard is finding things to eat for dinner, I'm getting a bit bored of mashed potato, pasta etc.

Weight:

I lost half a stone after surgery.  I'm finding it hard to gain this back, but I'm hoping this will improve once I can chew.  The lowest I went down to was 7 stone 2 lbs and 2 oz, and the most I've been at post-surgery was 7 stone 5 lbs 6 oz.  At the moment I'm back down to 7 stone 3 lbs.

Bite, braces and bands:

As I said in a previous post, I have some minor concerns about my bite, but I trust the orthodontists to do what they do best, and overall my teeth look great.  I still have the surgical hooks on as they're needed to put the bands over.  Every time I go to the ortho she changes my band configuration.  I'm going back on Wednesday and I really hope they might take the bands off so that I look/talk a little more normally when I start my new job.

Brushing:

From early on I've been able to brush both the outsides and insides of my teeth.  I still find it hard to clean the top/bottom surfaces because I can't open my mouth wide enough.  I really want to start using my electric toothbrush again (I'm still on the baby toothbrush) but I just can't fit it through my mouth to get to the inside surface of my teeth.

Swelling:

I still have a little swelling in my cheeks, especially on my left side.  I don't think this is very noticeable though, and it always looks worse in the photos that I post than it really is.

Appearance:

If I'm honest, the main reason I wanted to get this surgery done was because I hated the effect my jaws had on my appearance and I wanted to look better... I know, I know, some may say that's vain, but it's the truth.  However, it was something that really bothered me and I just thought I looked horrendous as I was before.  So, am I happy with my new face?  100% yes.  I love my new face.  At the early stages after surgery there were a few times when I had doubts, but I can safely say I'm happy with my new face and I'm 100% happy that I went through with this surgery.  I no longer have a gummy smile, a long face, a wonky top jaw, a recessed chin and a big nose.  How could I not be happy to have got rid of all of that?!  I find myself looking in the mirror quite a lot now because I like admiring my new face, but I don't mean this in a way that I now love myself and think I'm the most stunning person in the world.  It's just that I'm really happy with the results and I appreciate them so much.  I never expected to come out of this looking perfect and being the most beautiful person in the world, and I haven't come out looking perfect and being the most beautiful person in the world.  But I did this to make myself happy, to correct the things that I felt were wrong with my face, and I've done that.  Of course it's nice when other people say that the surgery has improved my appearance, but the main thing is that I'm happy with how I look now, which I definitely am!  I am so grateful that I've been able to have this surgery done on the NHS.  There's no way I ever would've been able to afford to have it done privately.  The orthodontist and the surgeon have done such an amazing job and I'm so grateful and truly count myself lucky that I've been able to have the surgery and that I've had such amazing results.  I really think that this surgery has changed my life because I'm now content with my appearance and have more self-confidence.

Photos...  By the way the red marks on either side of my nose are just where I've been wearing glasses, they're not some weird side effect of surgery lol

This is how wide I can open at the moment.  It's about a finger's width.  I'm slightly worried because I still feel like I can see a slight cant in my top jaw... I'm sure I'm just being paranoid though...

As I keep saying, I'm really not photogenic, so I thought I'd upload another video as I feel this looks more like the real me... or maybe I just like to think that because I look better than in photos!  Sorry for how dark it is.