Hey!
Those are some pretty big jaw movements they're performing, especially the upper jaw, so you're hiding your underbite well in that picture!
I had double jaw surgery to correct an underbite on Dec 15th 2015, and I'm now 6 weeks post op. My upper jaw was brought forwards 5mm and my lower jaw was brought back 6mm, and I also had a wedge taken from my top jaw to rotate it clockwise, so weirdly my surgery was very similar to what you'll be experiencing on March 1st. I'm also 28 years old and from the UK, Cheltenham specifically, so like you mine was undertaken on the NHS.
I have some advice for you that you might not have come across on this message board:
1. You might be worried/excited right now about how they're going to make you look after the surgery, but you're best to keep this out of your mind for a while. I know this sounds weird but trust me. You won't know what you're going to look like until
at least 6 weeks post-op. In between that time you're going to be so swollen and asymmetrical you won't have a clue what the final result will be, so my advice is to relax, focus on other parts of recovery as best you can, especially drinking 2-3 litres of water a day, and getting 3-4 thousand calories of nutritious food in a day. The rest will take care of itself.
2. If your surgery is anything like mine your biggest concern when you wake up after surgery won't be the pain, as I thought it would be, it'll be your
breathing. Expect to feel extreme congestion and claustrophobia in the first week post-op. I wasn't prepared for this and it truly bit me in the ass- I had two panic attacks because I was so shocked with how difficult I was finding it to breath. Your nose will be blocked with blood, and you'll likely have a plastic splint (think gum guard but worse) in your mouth, and your cheeks will be very swollen, so expect to be wheezing through your clenched teeth for a while. Sleeping will be tough for the first 4-5 days, try and get as much as you can, but if like me you're a nose breather when you sleep, expect extreme difficulty sleeping. The most important thing of all though is
don't panic, it's going to feel weird but you'll be able to breath just fine, panicking will only aggrivate the nose bleeding and you don't want to swallow even more blood than you already have.
3. Be prepared to be depressed during the first 3-4 weeks post op. You're going to be taking a shed load of drugs that will wreak havoc with your emotions. Also your face will be different, and it doesn't matter if this difference is a positive change or a negative change, it doesn't matter, you'll mourn your old face all the same and you'll feel a little sad about it. Don't worry though, this will pass, but just be prepared.
4. The first 48 hours are the most important when it comes to your swelling. They should provide you with a computer regulated ice mask during this period, if not ask for one. Also watch out for nurses trying to give you medication in solid pill form, if they try this, write down on a piece of paper that you'd like all your medication in either liquid form or via dissolvable tablets.
That's all I can think of off the top of my head, I've told you these points because I wish someone had told me them before my surgery. Feel free to ask me any questions you might have, but I imagine you've probably read so much on the topic now that you could perform the surgery yourself.
If you haven't already seen them these are my before and after pictures, the afters were taken 4 weeks post-op:
http://imgur.com/a/VD8P2
If I don't speak to you before the surgery good luck! You'll be fine, and you'll be back to chewing 8oz steaks in no time at all.
Mart.
