Re: Disheartened

[Guest guest]

It will get lots better, and it's hard to have patience, but give it

time. I had upper (segmented widening), lower (advancement), and

genioplasty in late November (I came home from the hospital on

Thanksgiving). So, I'm 5 months out. All of the swelling and

bruising are gone. That happened gradually and then, suddenly, in

about late January, I realized there didn't seem to be any swelling

left at all. I had a lot of numbness and it went away kind of

sporadically---sometimes fast and sometimes slow. I still have a

little bit of numbness, but I can't even really pinpoint it. Not in

my lips at all, I don't think, but some around my chin and some on

the roof of my mouth. It is still gradually diminishing, but at this

point, while I hope more goes away, it really would be no big deal if

it stayed the way it is. Although no one ever noticed I had a

problem, my bite was very bad and was causing my teeth to wear away.

My bite is now near perfect. My braces will come off in a few months

and many, many people comment on how much better I look and how much

younger (I'm 47).

My OS performed very similar surgery on a teenager about 10 years

ago. That teenager later became Miss America. In his office is a

picture of her as Miss America along with a letter to him and his

patients. In it she talks about it taking a year for all of her

swelling and numbness to go away. That has always been a source of

encouragement for me.

You are still very, very close to your surgery date. When I was that

far out, I was going to my son's high school soccer games, because I

didn't want to miss them, but I looked HORRIBLE. My daughter was

horrified that I would go out in public (at least without a bag over

my head). Hang in there. It will get LOTS better.