A mother’s cosmetic surgery changed her face so much that her own son no longer recognized her.
Meghan Potts, 33, underwent a double jaw surgery to correct her extreme underbite after years of being unhappy with her appearance.
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“I haven’t laughed with my mouth open for years,” she recalls bullying she endured.
In March 2019, the mother of four children came out Plymouth decided to have jaw surgery that would change her face forever.
Described as “worse than birthMeghan now admits that she doesn’t think she could have gone through it surgery if she knew what the “excruciating” pain would be like – describing it as more intense than childbirth.
It involved moving both her upper and lower jaws by sawing into the bone and placing plates under her eyes that were connected to her teeth.
“I woke up screaming in pain — I felt everything because the pain relief they had given me wasn’t enough,” said the salon owner.
“I’ve had four babies and it was worse than all that,” Meghan added.
“When I got my telephone to call my mom and dad to let them know I was awake, it wouldn’t recognize my face on Face ID.
“I immediately looked very different.
“My son came into the hospital and he didn’t want to go near me because he thought ‘you look very different’,” she said.
After the procedure, Meghan had to wear braces for six months and took liquid morphine to ease the incredible pain.
But the morphine made her feel so unwell that she threw up in her own mouth—which she was painfully unable to open because of the braces.
The surgery also meant that Meghan had to go on a liquid diet and consume all food through a straw, leading her to lose a stone as a result.
Once all the swelling subsided, she looked so different that her phone’s facial recognition system stopped working.
Even clients she knew at her salon mistook her for a “new girl”.
Meghan revealed that she now talks differently after the surgery because she “used to lisp very badly and not anymore”.
With her new jaw, she can’t touch my nose with my tongue like she used to, and she can’t whistle.
Meghan said: “It’s still strange now when I look back at pictures of how I looked before, I don’t feel connected to that person.”
“I’m certainly glad I had it done.
“I’d say I’m more confident now and definitely less self-conscious.”