Cassie Hope

A blog about my life, teeth, braces and jaw surgery.

[cassiehope]

Here are a couple of current pics to show you how I look now. It has been approx 8 months since my double jaw surgery!

[cassiehope]

Hi Cassie, I am so glad I found you on jawsurgeryforum. I am having double jaw surgery(underbite) next month by Alf Nastri and I have a few questions. It is really hard to find information of Jaw surgery done in Australia.. 1) I found many reviews on the internet the upper jaw surgery could change the shape of nose. I wonder if you've noticed anything. 2) I saw photos that patients wear a face support wrap after surgery. Have you worn it too? I was told it is important to keep face shape nice.

The surgery did make my nose a little bit wider but not noticeably. It opened up my airways / nostrils which makes it easier to breathe.. I didn't wear the face wrap thing. Good luck with it all!!

[cassiehope]

Have you felt any numbness? Alf said it is one of common things happen after surgery. Btw you look great on photos. I am sure you are happy with the result. :) Any other advice would be much appreciated. Thanks, Suji

Hey, yes the numbness lasts quite a while. I still have some in my lower lip and middle of chin- but they say it should be gone by six months postoperative. It is a really big surgery. I started feeling a bit better after a couple of months. It is hard getting used to the changes in your face- I would say it can be quite difficult. I do mostly feel good now though. When are you having the surgery? Cassie

[cassiehope]

10 weeks post op- Did my makeup to go out tonight. I would say the last week has been the best so far. Starting to feel good and more confident about the whole thing. There is still numbness in the middle of my chin and tingly/ numb lower lip.

[cassiehope]

Before and After- similar angles

[cassiehope]

Day 52 - Returned to work today after 2 weeks school holidays. I definitely had more energy than when I worked the last week of term. I know it's been a while but I'm still not used to my face! Now just feel mostly tingly in my lower lip and numbness in chin. I have also been doing more jaw exercises to help stretch, regain feeling and muscle movement.

[cassiehope]

7 weeks post op - Things are slowly getting better. I get more tingly sensations and shooting pains in my chin / lower lip / lower teeth. Although it's annoying it's also a good sign that feeling is coming back. My smile is still not as big as I would like it but there is still stiffness and tightness in my upper lip.

[cassiehope]

My X-ray before jaw surgery. Featuring bobby pins lol

[cassiehope]

Here is a side by side pic where you can see some of the changes the surgery has had on my face. It's really strange to look at the difference. I'm still not used to my 'new' face. I think I may feel better when all the swelling is gone and I don't feel so stiff around my mouth.

[cassiehope]

6 Weeks!! I'm feeling more myself but still tight around my mouth. I have also been getting a more tingly feeling around my lower lip which is a sign that feeling is slowly coming back. My lower lip and chin are still numb and don't really have much movement which I think is why I still don't have a natural looking smile. I had my last hospital appt. for a while, on Weds and the doctor said it was all looking great. A couple of the top surgeons came in and commented that they thought it was a fantastic result. I had told them I was worried about my chin and feeling as though it was big, but they assured me it is in proportion and not strong at all and that I still have swelling to go down.

[cassiehope]

Day 38 smile compared to before (big smile showing gums and midline was off)

[cassiehope]

Day 36

[cassiehope]

A before and after shot of my profile at 35 days

[cassiehope]

Day 35 - Here are some progress shots- still swollen... as usual..,but some people at work said they thought it had gone down a little since the start of the week, which is good. I didn't go in yesterday as I felt exhausted - I think I wasn't used to being back, only being able to eat in breaks and talking a lot more. I also had a bit of a down day yesterday. I was looking at some old pics and I got really emotional. I missed my old face. I feel like my chin is huge and it's hard to be patient with healing. I know this has happened to other people because I have read about it online. I had been pretty good so far but yesterday I just broke down.

[cassiehope]

Day 32 My first day back at work! Ahh! So I went back today. People were really nice. I had a lot of 'you look soooo different' or from the kids 'you've changed miss'. I'm still swollen and that's what is bothering me the most at the moment. I feel like I have a really big square head!! Patience.... I went pretty well all day except for the last hour I started feeling sick and faint. I'm not sure if I ate enough and because it's harder to eat quickly in break times I probably didn't get enough calories in.

[cassiehope]

Day 24 - Sick of my swollen face but trying to be positive and practice smiling 😀

[cassiehope]

Jaw surgery and weight loss

As expected I have had some weight loss since my surgery. For me this wasn't too much of an issue as I have had a few extra kilos that I have been needing to shift. If you are petite already though this could be an issue as you probably won't want to loose too much weight. A week before surgery I got weighed by the nurse and I was at about 71 kilos- I normally fluctuate from 68 -71 and I'm 171cm tall. I am currently 3 weeks post op and am now at 66.5 kilos. I'm not complaining... 😊