I Feel I Have Lost the "Me" by Having Jaw Surgery and Look Worse - Canada

Hi Alexxdriver! I am trying to remember when the swelling went completely...ppl were saying very early on that I looked back to normal, but I knew I wasn't. I went back to work after 2 weeks and ppl just said I seemed a little fuller in the face, BUT now at 5 months or so post op, I can definitely see the difference. My cheeks have hollowed out a lot more. But yes, I was out in public so to speak by week 2. Hope you're feeling ok! Oh! And chewing...I was given the go-ahead at 6 weeks, but I am even now still trying to re-learn how to chew it seems :) But, I am also working with the orthodonist to improve my bite more and more, so that could have something to do with it. Speedy recovery!!!

Hi Cookie Girl! Thank you for your lovely compliments! I am so sorry to hear that your confidence isn't where it should be :( That is such a tough place to be in - because with or without jaw surgery, you're beautiful! What I have found is that even with the jaw surgery, I still get self conscious about my jawline or if I am positioning it correctly and so forth. So, although I feel much more confident, some days (like everyone) I have to remind myself to be more kind to myself :) Let me know if you do decide to do the surgery or if you have any questions about it. And again, thank you so much. Your words were very kind

Sounds like Australia and Canada have the right idea with the free surgeries. I feel very blessed to have not had to battle insurance companies, etc, like many have had to do in the states. I am glad your experience was so positive!

Hi Ruben I'm also from Australia and looking at having this surgery. How did you go about organising this through the public system? I have received a few quotes and it is so expensive. Did you have to go on a waiting list and if so how long did you have to wait? Thanks so much for sharing this info,I look forward to hearing back from you.

Hi Adrienneeva! So sorry for the delay in responding :) Thank you!!! Our health care definitely covers it and it was totally worth it at this point in the game. I was on a waiting list for about 5 months - it was supposed to be a year but I was really persistent and called the receptionist fairly often to inquire about cancellations and I ended up bumping my surgery from September 2013 to April 2013 - pretty awesome :) I had a referral from my orthodontist, but I wonder if maybe he would book to see you even if you called in and explained your case briefly? Hard to say - but he's great. Quite the character but he definitely knows his stuff.

Hi Svic - sorry for the delay in responding! I did see a pretty big difference around the 3-4 month stage and even more so now...the changes really do keep happening over time. One day you just notice it. I still have off days of being unsure of my chin and so forth, but overall I am getting more and more settled in :) I think you will love your new look in time. I find that I like pictures rather than the mirror for getting a true idea of how things have changed

Hi Dca1961, I am not sure what the actual costs of jaw surgery are here in ontario, but I know that it's super expensive in the States. In Ontario, our provincial health care covers certain things, such as jaw surgery and genioplasty (of course, it needs to be deemed medically necessary) and so we do not need to pay for any of the surgery, including hospital stay, etc. My fiance's health benefits from his employer covered 80% of my out of pocket fee which was 800$ for xrays and some other work-ups that the surgeon needed to do. So, I ended up paying basically nothing for this surgery. All meds were covered at 80% as well, so costs were very very minimal for me. I feel very fortunate for this. And I had upper, lower and genioplasty. I have noticed that a lot of patients from the states who blog about their jaw surgery experience also tend to include a detailed list of costs. They might be worth a search for.