Photo-op and Pre-op

I didn't like my driver's license picture. It was taken about 3 weeks after my FFS in 2004, and every time I have had to show it since then, it makes me feel like I am showing someone my surgery photos. I didn't look horribly disfigured, but I didn't look like me. My hair was pulled back and my jaw was still very swollen.

A few weeks ago, I decided to get a new picture taken before my upcoming jaw revision, which would again leave me with a very swollen jaw. I made the appointment and popped in this afternoon for a quick picture at the DMV, otherwise known as Hell to many. Luckily, I was in and out fairly fast with the scheduled appointment.

The only sticky issue was I had to list any other names I'd used in the past. While my previous first name is quite girlish, my prior middle name is not....which kinda looks weird. Of course, they are the DMV, though, so I'm sure they have seen about everything.

After the picture, I headed to Dr. O's office for my pre-op visit. Dr. O and I briefly went over the portion of jaw to work on, I handed him photos, and we went over post-surgical duties. I was to be on a soft food diet for a while or eat on my left side of my mouth, trying to keep food away from the incision area. He suggested no physical activity for at least 2 weeks, and that I should gradually increase physical activity to see how things went in terms of pain and swelling.

I already had my prescriptions taken care of, so after chatting a little with Mira about life and everything, (and, of course, paying my $1,800 for the hospital and accommodations), I was off to play some sports.

Here are the photos to show exactly what I am having cut out. I have a small indentation on my right jaw which is right next to a bump. If there was only one of the deformities, I probably wouldn't be having this operation, but because they are both right next to one another, it doesn't look that well. In comparison, my left side looks pretty decent...good enough that it doesn't warrant any cutting.

A lot of people say they couldn't see it, but if one ran their finger along the jaw bone, it was definitely noticeable. Even Dr. O agreed that there was something there upon inspection, and thus, agreed to operate.