Day 46 - Appointment with the surgeon

Yesterday I saw my surgeon for my 6 week post-op check-up.  He had a quick look in my mouth and said it all looked good.  He asked if the orthodontic department had said when I could have my braces off, and I told him that they keep saying 3 months post-op, so he said to make another appointment to see him again when I get my braces off and have my retainers fitted.

He also brought up the subject of genio, and said that they usually let the jaw surgery completely settle before they do it and it usually isn't done until your braces are off.  But I told him that at the moment I don't want it done, because I'm 100% happy with my results from the jaw surgery, and he said that that's often the case!  I just don't see the point in getting genio done now.  I like my new face...ok maybe a slightly bigger chin would look better, but having a slightly small chin does not bother me now that I have my jaws in the right place.  If they'd done it in with the jaw surgery, then my decision may have been different, but there's no way I'm putting myself through all the worry and risk and stress of another operation.  I know you could argue that the whole jaw surgery is just vanity, but to me getting a chin job now would be vanity - it's not correcting any functional or medical problems, and the appearance of my chin does not upset me in the slightest.  I never went into this process searching for the perfect face with the perfect measurements of all my facial features - I just wanted my jaws in the right place and I got it.  Also I'm surprised that the NHS would give me genio.  It really would be purely cosmetic, so I can't believe that they would be willing to pay for a whole new operation just so I could have a nicer chin?!  Crazy!

He didn't actually mention chewing, despite my anticipation of this appointment because of the possibility of being given the all clear to chew.  So I asked at the end and he just said yes, but said that I should gradually increase the hardness of the foods I eat (which I was planning to anyway).  So last night I had a fairly soft dinner but I chewed it instead of mushed it.  I had a vegetarian sausage, mashed potato, peas and carrots with gravy.  It actually didn't take me too long to eat it and the chewing went well.  Now I can't wait to start chewing more and more food!  I really need to put some weight on so I hope that now I can chew I'll start to pile on the pounds.  I'm starting to look skinny to the point where my clothes are baggy and I look unattractive in anything I put on, so I really want to gain some weight.