It is so crazy to think that 3 years ago today, I was in the midst of getting my jaw surgery. Literally right now, I was only in hour 4 of a 7 hour surgery. It truly feels like it was yesterday. It was such a pivotal time for me, and I love sharing my experience here on my blog. Over the years, many people have reached out to me to ask questions about the surgery or express gratitude for sharing my story online. And it truly warms my heart! So in honor of my 3 year anniversary, I wanted to make this post of some questions I’ve received lately and share how I’m feeling about everything three years later. I also wanted to include some old Snapchats of my jaw surgery process (because I was hilarious back then).
Whenever someone DM’s me or emails me about the surgery, they usually start with “I hope its okay that I’m messaging you”. And it totally is! I really like to talk about my experience (I really like to talk in general) and am happy to be a helpful resource to you during such an anxious time. There have only been a couple messages from people with some really weird ~asks~ of me, so just be cool and I’m happy to answer questions you have.
Recent Questions:
Can you share some liquid diet tips:
Get creative with liquid sauces! Buffalo sauce, BBQ sauce, Chick-fil-a sauce; I would throw those into the blender with some soup or broth to make me feel like I was actually eating sandwiches. Keep a protein shake (like an Ensure) with you at all times because food you can eat won’t always be around and you don’t want to starve or get dizzy. Make sure you have a really good blender because you seriously cannot chew anything (even soups if they have large chunks). Throw flavorless protein powder into everything for extra calories and protein. Drink water and juices with high electrolytes constantly throughout the day. Get creative with smoothies. You could also eat yogurt, Jell-O, applesauce and baby food (but personally, those foods disgust me. So I was able to work around those). Get creative with soups! You can make basically any of your favorite foods into a soup (I made cheeseburger soup in a Crockpot and it was delicious). You won’t be able to use straws because you don’t have feeling in your lips, so spoons and syringes are ideal. You will look gross when you eat because you can’t open your mouth too big. You will drip food down your face, which you won’t be able to feel, so don’t be insulted if no one wants to eat around you. Here is a post about my all liquid diet experience.
Do I feel any numbness or lasting side effects post surgery?
I didn’t get ‘full feeling’ back in my face until 1 year post surgery. Even now, I can’t feel when like water or soup is dripping down my chin. So I got most of my feeling back and can feel everything, unless it’s something really light. I do get migraines now, which I never used to get pre-surgery. I think that is because of all the metal in my face. I’ve also noticed a lot of ‘clicking’ in my jaw for the last few months, but I plan on bringing that up with my surgeon the next time I see him (which is honestly not for another year I think). Oh, and to this day, I still can’t blow out a candle on the first try (I guess that has something to do with the feeling in my lips?).
Did anything surprise you about your face after the surgery:
I had to look this proper term up, so work with me here. “In the mouth, a frenum or frenulum is a piece of soft tissue that runs in a thin line between the lips and gums.” For my surgery, since they stretched out my nerves and did the entire surgery inside my mouth (so I wouldn’t have scaring on the outside of my face) they had to cut the frenulum along the inside of my mouth. That doesn’t mean that my lips and gums are totally separated, but let’s just say there isn’t a lot holding my lips down to my gums anymore. But I’ve always been the kind of person to smile and laugh and show my gums, so it doesn’t really matter. I was just surprised that wasn’t there anymore.
Advice on the braces:
Here is a whole post I made a few years ago, but now that its been 3 years without braces, I would change so much of that post. No one cares that you have braces! So many people have had braces and they know your pain! You’re your own worst critic. You really just need to own it or pretend they aren’t there. Know that the time you have braces is only temporary and you should consider yourself lucky to have the money to get braces. In college, I met a bunch of people who were jealous I had braces because it meant I was getting straight teeth! That time in which you have all that metal in your mouth will fly by and if you really are self-conscious about it like I was, just hang in there kid. It’s not as big a deal as you make it out to be.
Working out post surgery:
I would get head rushes all the time because of the blood loss of the surgery, so I didn’t go to the gym until week 5. Even then, I had to take things super easy. Just listen to your body and don’t push yourself too hard! Also, make sure you run this by your doctor first.
Drinking alcohol post surgery:
Please remember that I am NOT your doctor and I can’t give you any real medical advice. I can only share what I did. At my 3 week check-up, I asked my doctor if I could start drinking alcohol (since you know, its a liquid) and he told me that I could, as long as I was consuming enough food. He said that as a medical professional, its not good to consume more alcohol than you are food. My tolerance did change after the surgery, but I only noticed that when I went back to college and I was eating solid food again. I don’t think I went that hard during the summer, just out of caution for my new face.
Dealing with the pain:
Ice will help with the swelling, but only for the first few days. I used to sit in the shower for hours and just let the steam clear up my sinuses, since I wasn’t allowed to blow my nose and I was so congested. I took liquid Tylenol and Motrin for the first 2 weeks. I never felt like I needed the heavy duty drugs after I left the hospital. There was only one time when I had a jaw spasm and felt any sharp pain, but that was only once. Most of the time, I was completely numb and just really uncomfortable.
First thoughts after seeing yourself post surgery:
Once I got over the initial shock of the swelling and the fact that several hours had just passed and I had no memory of it, I was so excited to see that I recognized myself. I automatically noticed my nose and chin were smaller. My lips were also HUGE from the swelling, which was outrageous. I was so relieved that everything had worked out fine during the surgery and I okay (because yes, I was scared of that). I was happy to still see myself in my new face.
Okay, time to get sappy:
I wish I could go back in time and reassure myself that everything was going to work out fine. Actually, better than fine! Amazing! Back when I was struggling with my self-image because of my underbite, when I hated having braces at 21, when I was struggling with the all liquid diet, and when I felt like the swelling would never go away; I want to go back and tell myself its all worth it and your pain and frustration now won’t last forever. I know back then, I was really living it day by day and not always looking to the future, because I was afraid of what it would look like. But every single day since I got the surgery, I have been thankful for the experience and the aftermath. Not only did it change my physical appearance, but it also changed how I look at myself and life’s struggles.
I never realized what a toll it took on my self-esteem to be told for years that there was a ‘problem’ with my face that needed to be fixed. And I spent years thinking I wasn’t supposed to look like how I did because I wasn’t supposed to have an underbite. I spent years thinking there was something wrong with me, when it was really just a problem with my jaw. But I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. And I believe I was always meant to have this surgery. Call it fate if you want. But there once was a time when I wish I had never developed this underbite and I never had to go through this experience. Now that I am 3 years out, I am so grateful for every single thing I went through, to get to where I am today.
I like to think I’m more interesting now that I’ve had this surgery. And I’m funnier. I know for sure I’m more confident. And if all it took to be all of those things was a few years of discomfort and frustration, then I’m fine with that.
And yes, if I had to, I would do it all again tomorrow. No hesitation.
If you are about to get jaw surgery, I hope my story brings you comfort that there is light at the end of the tunnel and it is all worth it in the end. Feel free to reach out to me if you have more questions!
Thanks for reading! xx