A woman bullied for looking like a “squirrel” underwent $200,000 surgery to replace her jaw with stomach fat in her face – now says she feels “beautiful”.
Izzy Sehon, 22, was two years old when her mother, Cherise Gerrard, 60, noticed her jaw wasn’t very pronounced and looked “different”.
At eight years old the issues progressed, leaving Izzy suffering significant jaw and joint pain.
She went to countless orthodontists and has worn braces “about six times” in her life.
In June 2020, a doctor finally realised she had idiopathic condylar resorption (ICR) – a rare condition that causes the bones in your jaw to breakdown.
Izzy was told her face looked like “someone who had got blown up in war” as her TMG joint – the two joints which connect your lower jaw to your skull – was “non-existent”.
She underwent bilateral total jaw joint replacement surgery in February 2023 - which involved cutting her jaw in four places, removing her original jaw, and replacing it with custom made prosthetics.
During the 12-and-a-half hour operation, Izzy also had fat grafts from her stomach put into her face to cushion her new TMG joint.
Izzy is now “happy” about how her new face is beginning to look and is dreaming about being able to bite into a caramel apple for the first time in 14 years.
Izzy, a graduate in real estate, from Los Angeles, California, US, said: “I can’t wait to eat a camel apple. I’ve wanted to eat one since I was eight. I was terrified to look at myself at first.
“I didn’t look for five days and made me dad, John Sehon, 60, put sheets and towels over the mirrors in the hospital.
“I started breaking down when I first saw myself. I thought ‘that wasn’t me’. Now I’m feeling happy with how it’s starting to look.
“It’s life changing.”
Izzy has struggled with jaw pain, eating, breathing and sleeping since she was eight years old.
She said: “I haven’t been able to crunch or bite down with my top teeth since I was aged 10.
“I haven’t been able to bite an apple since I was eight. I struggled to crunch and chew a chocolate bar.”
Izzy went to the orthodontist for her issues and has been fitted with countless braces to try and fix her problems.
She also faced bullying and dropped out of school aged 15.
She said: “I’ve had braces about six times. I was bullied my entire life.
“I didn’t understand why people didn’t want to be my friend or guys wouldn’t want to date me.
“They would compare my side profile to a squirrel and call me ‘no chin’, but my family always told me I was beautiful.”
A doctor first noticed her TMG was “gone” in June 2020 and advised her to have surgery but she was “scared” to go ahead.
Izzy was only able to eat a diet of soft foods at this point such as mash and rice.
She said: “I would choke on everything I would eat.”
Izzy had her official diagnosis of ICR in September 2022 and was told she needed surgery to give her a custom-made jaw.
She said: “I was told it was bone on bone. My TMG was corroded.”
In February 2023, she underwent a $200,000 12-and-a-half hour surgery to replace her jaw with a prosthetic TMG joint at Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre, Beverly Hills, US.
Izzy funded the surgery through her insurance - with the surgeon costing $168k, the surgery $200k and an $8,000 bill for her hospital stay.
Izzy said: “They cut my jaw into four different pieces, removed my original jaw and bones and fitted me with the prosthetic joint made specifically for my face.
“They put fat grafts from my stomach to cushion my joint.”
Izzy spent five days in hospital after having an allergic reaction to her medication before she was able to head home.
She wasn’t able to speak for seven days or open her mouth very much but has been doing jaw exercise every day.
She said: “I couldn’t speak at all. I was non-verbal for seven days.
“I then started mumbling. My voice changed a lot – it’s more high-pitched.”
Izzy is still on a soft food diet while she recovers and will be able to start eating hard food in May.
She said: “I was always so jealous of people who would go to Disney and eat a caramel apple. I can’t wait to have some toffee candy.”
Izzy says the surgery has made her realise who her true friends are.
She said: “A lot of guys have come in my DMs post-surgery. And people now saying we should go out.
“But where were you before? I know who my friends are.”
