It's probably normal to be feeling scared, right? I wonder how I'm going to look when it's all said and done. How does a surgeon strike the balance between medical help and not changing the patient's looks in a negative way. The thing I keep thinking about is how you go in for a haircut, tell the girl what you want and she cuts something WAY different, but you leave saying, 'it'll grow'. It's so hard to communicate with words, one word means something entirely different to two different people! With this surgery, you go in, talk to the surgeon about the way it's going to look, do you leave disappointed like a bad haircut, then what, it doesn't grow back like hair! And, it's your face!
I'm thinking about taking in some profile pictures and pointing to what I'm thinking he's going to do. He mentioned something about not giving me a prominent chin because I'm not used to it, but I want the best aesthetic outcome possible. How much is scientific measurement and how much is art and subjectivity of what my surgeon thinks is beautiful or balanced??? What if I like a strong jaw and he THINKS I won't like it?? What if I call a normal chin strong and ask for one, and he gives me a JAY LENO chin cause that's what's strong to him! YIKES!!! How do I communicate these things to him? And, more importantly, how do I know he gets it???
Kapoor and Sons (2016)
7 years ago
4 comments:
Elaine! Welcome to blogland. To comment on your first post, I just wanted to say that in my experience it is best not to think about what anyone thinks and just accept that you can have this surgery for any reason that you want (cosmetic, functional, both) and that's just good enough. =) Easier said than done, but at least that's the kind of support you'll get from your jaw surgery friends here online.
I look forward to following the rest of your journey!
That's good advice Holly, thanks! And thanks for your encouragement to start a blog!! I feel like I've joined the 21st century!!!
Ha! If you are having a genioplasty like I had, they can only move your chin so far. So, you won't look like Jay Leno at all. I am not going to lie, it was odd to look different at first and to have people tell you you look totally different. It was also weird to have people tell you how much better you look. Like, was I really that ugly before? But when you are not obsessing over how you look from the side, it is a WONDERFUL feeling!
Oh thanks for that feedback. I'll probably totally feel like Jay Leno after having a very small chin all these years. I'm sure it will take some getting used to, but it's good to hear from people like you who really know!
I had to chuckle at the comments you said people have made to you about 'looking so much better'. I have laughed about those types of comments since I was in middle school and my friend got contacts! People did the same thing to her and we translated it to mean, 'man, were you ugly before!' It's probably not really what they mean but it's worth a good laugh!
I think I've seen your pictures on a link I have on my page and I think you look terrific. It seems like the changes are good but people don't think about it until they see a difference. It also seems like people can't win in this kind of situation. We're disappointed if no one notices and disappointed if we hear how different we look.
I don't even know what I'm hoping for at this point! I'm sure I want to be beautiful, gorgeous, totally different, yet I want to look like me, but perfect, etc... I need to work through some of this but probably won't really be able to until the surgery and swelling are over with. I can't believe I'm really doing this...
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