At the end of July, I had upper and lower jaw protrusion surgery and chin tip (sandwich) surgery, and now it’s been one month since orthodontic treatment started. For over 20 years, I lived with a protruding mouth. Monkey teeth. Go gnaw on a radish.... I lived hearing things that were hard to bear as a woman. I really persuaded my parents through tears. I truly said I didn’t want to live like this... Maybe they understood how desperate I was, because at least my dad told me to go for a consultation first, so I made an appointment right away and rushed to the hospital. With the director’s gentle yet confident and direct consultation, I think my mom was more completely won over than I was. She said to make the reservation right away. My dad said Mom would take responsibility for it^^ They drew blood right there...(from that point on, it felt like the pain had begun) The day before surgery... I really, really couldn’t sleep. I kept having random thoughts too. Hmm... how should I put it, I think it felt like how men would feel the day before going into the army. Lying in the operating room, I exchanged a few words with the nurses - I think they were probably talking to me on purpose so I wouldn’t be as nervous. Someone who seemed like the anesthesiologist said something or other... And then when I opened my eyes, the surgery was over. I was moved to the hospital room. More than pain, I was just out of it. I kept feeling sleepy... so I think I just slept the whole time. When I woke up the next morning, only then did it hit me that I had finally had the surgery. But... the face in the mirror was not me. Square tape stuck around my mouth. Lips like sausages bulging out through the gaps. Thanks to the nurse’s care(?) my 5-day hospital stay was very comfortable. During that time, someone was having surgery every day. That sound in the operating room, like an electric saw grinding through bone... When the tape was removed from my face and I came home, I felt this inexplicable unease. I wanted to take one of the nurses home with me. Seeing my family for the first time in almost a week. Everyone’s expressions were... lol It was neither a happy look nor a surprised look.... No one told me I had become prettier. At that time... I was deeply disappointed. Every time I went to the hospital for treatment, the manager kept saying the swelling goes down really well, but I couldn’t really tell that either, and I didn’t know if I looked prettier... I just felt a bit depressed. On August 31, while starting to brush my teeth, I got the orthodontic appliance attached. It hurt for 2 or 3 days. Even after surgery, I didn’t have anything this painful, but orthodontics turned out to be this hidden problem... About 3 weeks after surgery? I met a friend. This friend said I looked pretty, that I’d turned into someone amazing, that money really is a good thing... It was neither really teasing nor really praise... I told that friend, who was talking loudly, to be quiet because I was so embarrassed, but to be honest, I felt really good. Come to think of it, I did seem a little prettier in the mirror too. Hmm... really, my good friend... honestly, what could have changed that much in just 3 weeks? I probably just looked a bit rough and awkward, but that friend kindly exaggerated on purpose... Unless they’re close to me, people who only see me after orthodontics seem to not really know I had surgery. There’s still more time until the orthodontics are finished - that part is really depressing - but I think getting the surgery was the right decision. Of course it was hard. There were the looks from people around me, and I felt sorry toward my parents because it cost a lot. No, setting all that aside, I was just so scared, and I even got depressed wondering why I was born looking like this and had to have surgery. But once I clenched my eyes shut and went through with the surgery, these past month and a half seem to have flown by. ㅎㅎ I really hesitated and worried a lot too. I also read a lot of reviews here and there. So I hope my post can help even a little for those of you considering surgery. Thank you for reading this long post.
Likes 0