December 26, 2012 - Pre-Op

I never thought I would be someone who would blog, I basically thought it was kind of dumb. I mean, I don't think I'm so interesting that people should read about me every day. However, I have 2 reasons for doing this:

1.) When I was doing research to prepare for my own jaw surgery, I found Graham's blog (www.doublejawsurgery.com) and it was such a big help. I figured I would pay it forward and that someone out there who is getting ready to have orthognathic surgery (yes, that is the fancy word for it) might find my experience helpful.
2.) I love my family and friends, but it might get exhausting trying to talk on the phone every day with a broken face to tell them "Yes I am still alive", "Yes I feel ok", "Yes, it sucks not being able to eat normal food"..... This way, they can just take a look and see how I'm doing and I won't have to talk (this may be a little bit selfish but oh well)

So, "why opt for a super fun jaw reconstruction" you might ask. Well, my face is crooked. The left jaw bone grew twice as long as the other one so the bottom half of my face basically transformed with it. Everyone always says they don't notice it. However, asymmetry is hard to pick up on. When you look at me, there is just something off and you can't quite put your finger on it. In the pre-op picture below, you can see what I look like now compared to the mid-line. If you look at my chin and where it is in relation to that mid-line, you can see how off center the whole bottom half of my face is.

From a profile view, you can see my under-bite and how my face is a little flat because the jaws are under-developed and never quite moved out. This also will be fixed. On the left is my current profile, on the right is a computer image of what my profile should look like after.

You should know this surgery is not purely cosmetic. I actually can't open my mouth as wide as I should, my bite was basically non-existent, and I started getting migraines.

In case anyone is wondering about insurance coverage: yes, it is covered by insurance. Not all cases are though. If you are thinking about having this kind of surgery you will need to have a consult with a surgeon who will submit a Pre-Determination to the insurance company. They will then decide if it is covered or not.

8 days and counting to D-Day....