heyy my name is karena and i have a sister who did a surgery just like your`s about 4 years ago. She`s now 23 so she had the surgery when she was about your age as well. She also wore braces for over 3 1/2 years and in the end still needed surgery because of her lower jaw sticking out too muchh. The surgery weighed over 10 grand but luckily we were covered with medical. But no they don`t stick a medal in your mouth FOREVER..maybe just for a while but i assure you you won`t live with it maybe a day or two? I really dunno but ask your doctor about the medal thing so that you can clear that o ut. So she had her surgery but i gotta say it wasn`t pretty. We spent a year feeding her through a tube because she was too weak to eat or chew. We fed her from just plain soups to well plain soups. lol. But the harsh part was that she didn`t have enough bones in her jaw so they had to cut some on her hip bone, she couldn`t walk nor eat for nearly half a year. Her hip bone eventually grew back though. She looks pretty now, just like she got out of cosmetic surgery. It`ll be worth it if not the 3 years of braces is just a waste. Beauty is pain dudee. Goodluck, if u want more info just pm me or sumthing.. duece!