Re: Weightloss and back to the grind

[Guest guest]

Hi Kara,

I also experienced a lot of change in my face (my family said they

wouldn't have recognized me on the street out of context), and I know

what it's like to go through that period of looking at the stranger

in the mirror. Over time you will get used to it.

One does become more critical of facial shape, I think, in going

through this process. I find myself analysing people's teeth and jaws

and thinking " she probably has this or that problem as a result of

her structural problem and could benefit from surgery " , you know, a

kind of armchair orthognathic expert!

I don't know how far along you are post-op, but you really need to

give it about a year for all residual swelling to go down. My ortho

told me my cheeks were still swollen when I thought they were back to

normal.

It may help to focus on the positive functional changes that you'll

experience once you're through the recovery rather than the cosmetic

after-effects. I know it's hard not to look in the mirror to see

who's there, but it may be better to avoid it for awhile and not

focus on it.

I hope that helps,

>

> Well, I made it back to college okay on Monday night. Everyone was

> saying hi to me and looking at me longer than usual but no one said

> anything! It was kinda more eerie not having them just ask why I

> looked different but I think the news filtered around after I told

> some people later on this week.

>

> I brought a month's supply of soup, but I still have less food

> options here than I did at home and I find that I am losing more

> weight fairly rapidly which in the beginning was nice but now the

> weight loss is making me look worse not better. The surgery majorly

> reduced the black under my eyes but now my face has lost weight

> (somehow) and there are circles under my eyes and the creepy part

is

> that the plates are noticeable right by my eyes. This is not good.

> And my pants are becoming still looser and I lost half of my butt!

> That was kinda funny - I know it will come back when I can start

> chewing again. So, I went and got protein powder today which I

> should have done a long time ago to boost my protein level and

> calorie intake.

>

> Unfortunately now that I'm back at school with lots of other people

> to compare myself to, I find myself getting discouraged that maybe

I

> was expecting too much from this surgery (upper and lower). My face

> used to be really long but now it is shorter of course and seems

> chubby and too square for me. I still have swelling in the middle

of

> my face which should go down in the next couple weeks, but I don't

> know if that will help much. I'm just letting my thoughts out here,

> because I feel scared to say that I'm not happy with how I look

now -

> I'm not even used to my new look yet - because it meant that all

> these years I've thought things would get better were looking

> forward to just a slight improvement. I don't know - this is

> something I gotta deal with. *sigh*

>

> Long post.....another thing is that my numbness is starting to

> reside but with that comes this tension kind of pain plus the

> soreness from the rubber bands my ortho put in so now I am back to

> taking pain pills so my face doesn't feel like a big throbbing

sore.

>

> Thanks for listening - I know you guys know some of what I'm

talking

> about!

>

> Kara

[Guest guest]

HI Kara, I got upper jaw surgery and getting used to what I now look

like takes time. I honestly havent gotten used to it yet and yes I

lost weight too, no one ever told me i looked like i lost weight but

after this procedure, its common conversation topic at school for

me. Im just giving it time and Im sure the same will work for you.

Good luck this semester

> >

> > Well, I made it back to college okay on Monday night. Everyone

was

> > saying hi to me and looking at me longer than usual but no one

said

> > anything! It was kinda more eerie not having them just ask why I

> > looked different but I think the news filtered around after I

told

> > some people later on this week.

> >

> > I brought a month's supply of soup, but I still have less food

> > options here than I did at home and I find that I am losing more

> > weight fairly rapidly which in the beginning was nice but now

the

> > weight loss is making me look worse not better. The surgery

majorly

> > reduced the black under my eyes but now my face has lost weight

> > (somehow) and there are circles under my eyes and the creepy

part

> is

> > that the plates are noticeable right by my eyes. This is not

good.

> > And my pants are becoming still looser and I lost half of my

butt!

> > That was kinda funny - I know it will come back when I can start

> > chewing again. So, I went and got protein powder today which

I

> > should have done a long time ago to boost my protein level and

> > calorie intake.

> >

> > Unfortunately now that I'm back at school with lots of other

people

> > to compare myself to, I find myself getting discouraged that

maybe

> I

> > was expecting too much from this surgery (upper and lower). My

face

> > used to be really long but now it is shorter of course and seems

> > chubby and too square for me. I still have swelling in the

middle

> of

> > my face which should go down in the next couple weeks, but I

don't

> > know if that will help much. I'm just letting my thoughts out

here,

> > because I feel scared to say that I'm not happy with how I look

> now -

> > I'm not even used to my new look yet - because it meant that

all

> > these years I've thought things would get better were looking

> > forward to just a slight improvement. I don't know - this is

> > something I gotta deal with. *sigh*

> >

> > Long post.....another thing is that my numbness is starting to

> > reside but with that comes this tension kind of pain plus the

> > soreness from the rubber bands my ortho put in so now I am back

to

> > taking pain pills so my face doesn't feel like a big throbbing

> sore.

> >

> > Thanks for listening - I know you guys know some of what I'm

> talking

> > about!

> >

> > Kara

[Guest guest]

Hey . It's nice to know I'm not the only college student out

there worrying about this stuff. It really stank that I had to have

it done over winter break because I would much rather have had it

over the summer where there are at least 2 whole months to recover.

My break was 3 weeks (some colleges have way longer ones though) but

I ended up not coming back for the first week of school because I

didn't feel ready to go back and I still had a splint on my upper

teeth which really impaired my speech. My surgeon said it could come

out after 4 weeks so I just waited an extra week so that I could go

back to school without that thing and feeling a little more up to

homework and classes.

I would say whether you feel you can have it done over a shorter

break depends on how you view what the surgery is going to do for

you and if you can wait another six months for the summer. I knew I

would have to have the surgery for several years (they said once I

stopped growing around 18 I could have it done) so as the time

approached my 18th birthday I started getting really anxious and all

I could think about was having a nice bite and getting rid of my

underbite and not thinking about how horrible I looked 24 hours a

day. It was pretty crazy. So while I could have waited till this

summer, mentally there was no way I could have. If you are not

overly self-conscious about how you look, I would say wait till the

summer so you have the most time to recover and can then go back to

school " new " but if it is a priority then it is not out of the

question to have it done over a shorter break. Knowing I would have

to go back to school didn't impede my recovery, but having to come

back while I can't chew anything (blender-licious!) and still being

a little swollen is a bit on the lame side. Whatever you decide, it

will work out. Oh, as to what I had done, I had my lower jaw

moved back 5mm and my upper moved forward 5mm and up a little. I'm

still not used to how I look, but I'm giving it time.

Regards,

Kara

>

> Hi Kara - Glad to see you're feeling a bit better. I'm also a

> college student, and this is making it difficult for me to decide

on

> a surgery date. The earliest I could have it done is next winter

> break, but I'm very nervous about having to come back to school

> before I am ready. Did you have to go back to school after about

4

> weeks? Did you feel like you had enough recovery time? I know

it's

> all relative, but from what I've heard, I'd like to give myself at

> least 6 weeks to recover! Obviously it would be much easier to

just

> recover in the comfort of your own home. In your experience, do

you

> feel that the rush of going back to school made it too much worse,

> recovery-wise? Also, what kind of upper/lower surgery did you

> have? Thanks for sharing your experience.

>

[Guest guest]

Kara - Thanks for your advice! I'm still not quite sure what I will

do. I'd like to give myself as much recovery time as possible,

especially because there's always a chance of complications. Since

my surgeon is in NC and I am in NY, it would make it very difficult

to go to school and be treated for complications. If I ended up

missing the first few weeks of school (I have 4 weeks off for winter

break), I'd probably have to give up the last semester of my senior

year and graduate late! Then again, if I waited till the summer

after I graduated, I'd be going to medical school with braces and

still pretty swollen. That's definitely better than missing an

entire semester of school - but the chances of complications

occuring that make it impossible for me to return to school are

slim. You can see my dilemma! I hope your recovery at school goes

well and you are satisfied with your results!

> >

> > Hi Kara - Glad to see you're feeling a bit better. I'm also a

> > college student, and this is making it difficult for me to

decide

> on

> > a surgery date. The earliest I could have it done is next

winter

> > break, but I'm very nervous about having to come back to school

> > before I am ready. Did you have to go back to school after

about

> 4

> > weeks? Did you feel like you had enough recovery time? I know

> it's

> > all relative, but from what I've heard, I'd like to give myself

at

> > least 6 weeks to recover! Obviously it would be much easier to

> just

> > recover in the comfort of your own home. In your experience, do

> you

> > feel that the rush of going back to school made it too much

worse,

> > recovery-wise? Also, what kind of upper/lower surgery did you

> > have? Thanks for sharing your experience.

> >