It felt like time was moving unbearably slowly.. but before I knew it, it had been 2 weeks since the surgery! These past 2 weeks really felt like 2 months
I had the procedure done at ㅅㅅㅇ, and I spent a ton of time researching on the cafe, then booked right away at the first consultation. I wanted a line that was natural and not too overdone, but still pretty, and when I researched and read the reviews on the website, ㅅㅅㅇ felt like the best fit, and what worried me most was that I’d spend all that money on surgery and not see any effect.. I was worried I’d just be wasting money for nothing, I’m not that young anymore either, so I was worried I’d just wear my body out for nothing, but the director said there would be a big change, and that gave me the push I needed to book right away.
The areas treated were square jaw, front chin reduction (setback), corticotomy, and masseter reduction. My face is narrow in width but long in shape... and I don’t have much facial fat... plus I have asymmetry too. If I were younger, I honestly would have done double jaw surgery, but that was completely out of the question now, so I only had contouring on the jaw. When I’m still, I don’t have a prognathic jaw, but when I smile I especially feel like I have a protruding jaw, so I did the setback too.
- Day of surgery I was the first surgery at 10 a.m. I changed clothes, then just waited in a dazed state before going into the operating room. The anesthesia doctor came and said, “Put the breathing mask on and breathe~” and then gurgle gurgle... I was under anesthesia and don’t remember anything (The IV needle for surgery..... hurt so much!! I still have a bruise....) When I opened my eyes, I was in the hospital room. I suddenly felt so much pain and was freezing cold, so I pressed the call button and the nurse rushed over. “it hurts” “i’m cold” Those were the only two things I said.... I didn’t have the strength or mental capacity to say anything else, and my voice barely came out, but they gave me painkillers right away and turned on an extra air heater too. Wow.. this was the hardest part for me.. I was so cold and in so much pain that my teeth were chattering nonstop. As time passed and the pain got a little better, I finally realized I was in the inpatient room... ah.. I had the drain in me.. I was also on oxygen.... oh no.. the gown is a mess.. I could feel all sorts of things, but I was still foggy and dazed, and kept falling asleep and waking up over and over.
By the time I couldn’t sleep anymore, I called the nurse, went to the bathroom, and brought my phone over, then checked the time.... it was already past 8:30 p.m.... I checked the worried text messages from my husband, called him, and quietly showed him my face on video call (but didn’t talk) Then I just kept lying there in a daze. I had slept all day so I couldn’t fall asleep at night, but I forced myself to try.. I think I woke up once every 20 minutes.
But the really amazing thing was.. around 9 p.m. or a little later, the director who performed the surgery came by and asked how I was doing, said the surgery went well, and explained a few things. I was so surprised and so happy that they were still there at that hour taking care of me. I was moved again by that.. And the nurse who kept replacing my ice packs all night was honestly amazing too. Wow... this is real nursing care, I thought, and got emotional again... truly the best of the best!!
- Days 1 to 3 At 8 a.m. the nurse told me in advance they would remove the drain and asked if I wanted soy milk.. I didn’t eat it.. I had no appetite or energy.. Getting the drain removed... ugh... it wasn’t unbearably painful, but it wasn’t not painful either.. but the feeling was really... ugh.. bad Then the director came early in the morning, asked if I had slept well, how I was doing, and kept checking what would happen next. I was moved again by that.... (how many times can one be moved..) I was wondering when I’d be discharged, and the staff manager came over and said my face was almost not swollen, that I looked like someone who had already been two weeks out from surgery, which made me smile from happiness, then tear up from pain.. and they said I could be discharged right away, so while processing the discharge... all of a sudden I felt my face swelling up.. The feeling at that moment was really... scary enough that I could feel the swelling happening..... I worried again and again that maybe something went wrong when I laughed earlier... I barely got a taxi home and was warmly welcomed by my husband, who was also worried about me. After the drain was removed, I had to fast for 4 hours, so I waited until 12 o’clock, then drank one bottle of New Care... that was hard... gargling was even harder.. I couldn’t even lie down comfortably, I was hungry but didn’t feel like eating, and gargling hurt... Days 1 to 3 felt like I wasn’t in my right mind, and neither was my husband.
Husband: “Your bones got smaller!! Even swollen, I can still see it!" (that was the first thing he said when he saw me)
- Days 3 to 7 On day 3 they removed the taping on my jaw area, and wow..... I was shocked. All of a sudden the swelling went down a lot, and I got a double chin, while my lips and front chin swelled up like crazy.. I think my swelling was lighter than other people’s, but I was still really surprised.. I made sure to go for walks 2 to 3 times a day, for at least 30 minutes each time, and up to more than an hour. I went out wearing a bucket hat and a mask.. and strangely enough, even though my face was swollen, it felt like the mask had gotten bigger!!! The swelling didn’t suddenly vanish, but it slowly went down little by little, and from day 3 onward, because of the numbness in my lips and chin, I felt a bit strange. It was tingling and twitchy, like insects crawling From then on I was so hungry.. I tried cutting noodles into tiny pieces and swallowing them, tried ice cream, tried blending porridge down to a rice-gruel level and eating it, all sorts of things.... But gargling was so miserable that I got sick of everything... Sure enough, when I went back to the hospital on day 7 for a checkup, they said I hadn’t been gargling properly and that there was a lot of debris.... that it wouldn’t heal well like this... When they removed the debris.. that hurt too.. I went in for aftercare.. wow... after getting skin and swelling care and going home, my husband said, “Oh.. you have a jawline now!” and that made me happy all over again.
- Week 2 On May 10 I was on leave after the surgery I went back to work on May 20. It was hard dealing with numbness and swelling in the front chin, lip swelling, and the stitches, but I held out with the anticipation of getting the stitches removed this week... Gargling was so hard... (even rinsing with just water stung and hurt) So I only ate protein shakes and soy milk... and I just lost 3 kg like that.. I was dizzy as hell.... The long-awaited stitch removal..... I had really been careful with gargling, but the nurse said I hadn’t done well.. that a lot of debris had gotten stuck... that it wouldn’t heal well like this And then when they pulled the stitches..... ah............it hurt so much!!!!!!! I didn’t use the anesthetic spray.. because I went at lunchtime, and they said if I used the spray I wouldn’t be able to eat for 1 to 2 hours. That evening at home I finally did gargling and used a baby toothbrush.. but maybe I had been too thorough... there was blood.... more than I expected, and I was extremely shocked.... Worried again that it might get worse... It seems the battle with gargling isn’t over yet
Ah! They told me not to use toothpaste, so they said to soak the toothbrush well in diluted Hexamedin solution and brush with that.
But it definitely felt like after sleeping and waking up, the inside of my mouth was more comfortable than the day before. I still have swelling, numbness, and tingling, but I’m waiting for it to get better. My coworker also said my eyes look much bigger and my nose seems higher, said it was fascinating
All the other sensory pain is manageable.... Gargling, gargling, gargling... gargling is just so hard and painful for me Will it get better around week 3.....