To Gene

[Guest guest]

Gene,

I have to agree with Cori here...you must have been missing all my

posts about what life post surgery has been like for me because it's

been great. Ok, maybe not immediately post-surgery (but having had

other surgeries I know this to be normal because healing takes time)

but now that I am at 3 months post-op I can safely say that the

following are BIG improvements on my life since surgery:

1) No more headaches from my TMJ pain or from my muscles on the side

of my face straining from trying to compensate for my weak jaws

2) No more popping and cracking jaw each time I yawn

3) I can actually bite into something with my front teeth

4) I can chew food using both sides of my mouth and without biting

into my cheeks

5) I can breathe through my nose now (please note I still have a

slightly deviated septum as I chose to NOT have a septoplasty during

surgery)

6) I'm constantly smiling despite still having my braces, somehow no

longer having a gummy smile and open bite makes me feel that much

better about myself

7) I have a real live chin as oposed to a receding one full of holes

and dimples from where my muscles were straining before

You'll note that the top items I listed really had to do with pain I

was living with pre-surgery. The last items have to do with

appearance and were really for me an added bonus, not a must have. If

you are feeling so conflicted about the surgery then I personally

would not recommend doing it if it's going to be simply for

cosmetic/appearance reasons. You need to be open to the possibility

that some changes may occur that you cannot control (e.g. my nose and

turned up a bit since surgery, it's really not a big deal to me but

it is one side-effect).

Many of the people on this site including myself came to the decision

to undergo the surgery because otherwise they faced a life of

increasing pain i.e. definitely not a happily ever after. So if

you're feeling conflicted try to weigh out the pros and cons of what

life FOR YOU would be like if you were to do the surgery and if you

were not. The decision in the end is yours alone. I would point out

however that the success stories for this surgery far outweigh the

failures. On this site, because it is a support site those people who

are having a harder time have a chance to vent and let out their

feelings but one should always remember when reading that it's not a

representative sample of orthognathic surgery patients that you're

being presented with.

That's my 2 cents!

Sara

Surgery 6/6/2005

Upper le forte/3 piece/palet expansion/2 upper bicuspids removed/genio

Also living life fabulously!