Sunday, April 01, 2007

Two Months Before & After

Hi folks!

I can't believe it's been two months already, since my double jaw surgery. But somehow it feels longer, even though the time has just zoomed by.

The milestone calls for another before and after comparison. The photo on the left (in the Paul Frank braces t-shirt) was taken right before I headed out the door to the ortho appointment to get the braces on. That was February 7th, 2006.

The photo on the right was taken this morning, two months after my surgery. My face does look rounder.... I can see why some people would chalk that up to weight gain. My lower 1/3 face seems less prominent. The feature are more in proportion. Some days I think the differences are subtle. Other times I think "oh my God, now I'm stuck with a round face!" What's your take on it? How much/little has your appearance changed post surgery?




Here (in the photo above) you see me in December 2005, December 2006, and this morning, from left to right. See how my lower jaw is shorter, and my gummy smile reduced? Click on the photos to enlarge them.

7 comments:

~*Hui*~ said...

You do have a rounder face now! But the features are definitely more in sync now.

I had my surgery one week after you and similarly, my friends and family have commented that my face is now rounder and shorter. I used to have gummy smile too.I used to have more protruding cheekbones, now they are less obvious. My nose is still flatter compared to pre-surgery and my cheeks are still a little puffy.

I hope I won't be stuck in this puffy face though..haha..

My OS say I will deflate back to my slightly oval face. Obvious swellings are expected to be down in 3 mths. and complete de-swelling can take up to 1 year. That's what happened to my friend.

So let's all be patient! OS says no guarantee what you will look like until at least after 3 months. So don't speculate too much!

Too bad I din take that many photos to do a comparison like that. I relied mostly on comments from friends :)

Man, I should have taken more photos!

Mary said...

Hey Kristen, I see what you mean--on the one hand, you look completely different although when you look closely, its still you. And yes, definitely rounder. And the fact that you don't have the gummy smile makes a huge difference. But what's really striking to me is that you look younger and more vulnerable now, even the light in your eyes looks different, as if some emotional aspect to you has changed. My OS told me that one has to wait a good year to really see the final result and though that may seem like along way off, its really not. Eg, my surgery was almost 6 months ago even though it seems like yesterday and I'm still numb. I think its good that you did not get the cheeck implants since by shortening the length of your face, its rounder and fully cheeks would have emphasized that even more. You are a beautiful and happy young lady and I think that is what comes through, both before and after. Mary

Team Wolder said...

I agree with you that your face looks a bit rounder than pre-braces. My take on this, being over 6 months post-op, is that your face will continue to change over the next 6 months. My surgeon keeps telling me 12 months for the final results. At this point I agree with him. I think my face shape has changed dramatically since 2 months post-op. I am much happier with how I look now vs 4 months ago.

Maggie said...

Thanks Kelsie, for sharing that information. Really, it sounds like everyone here is telling me the same thing - be patient and let time pass....6 months, 12, more, it just sounds so far away! :)

But, it's already a WHOLE LOT better than the chipmunk look. I'm sure glad THAT didn't stick! :P

Mary - thanks for the kind words....I think the surgery was a humbling experience. I had to just let it go. Then the recovery process - being weak and letting Doug take care of me. Definitely not what I've trained myself to do.

Anonymous said...

Hi Kristen,
I really enjoy reading your blog! I'm having jaw surgery next year and am a bit scared of the way my face/appearance will change, but you look really good!


http://kaakoperatiedorien.blogspot.com/
(uh-oh... it is in Dutch... I live in Holland...)

MelDoReMi said...

Hi Kristen,
I have an underbite and I'm thinking of getting the surgery done this summer, but my parents are quite worried and to be honest, I'm quite scared myself. I only have about 3 months off before I head back to school. Do you think that'll be enough time to heal? I haven't gotten a chance to consult a surgeon yet because I'm now studying abroad. Will I still look weird 3 months post-op? I'm scared... :(

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