Beginning Braces

A couple days ago, I finally had my consultation with my oral surgeon. He was great, actually. Yeah, he came off as a bit of an arrogant ass at first, but in surgeons, I think that's a good quality. My diagnosis is pretty cut-and-dried; my lower jaw is too short, and needs to be lengthened. He explained the procedure, explained the benefits and risks, answered all my questions... yadda yadda yadda. We discussed how I'm a good candidate, psychologically (ok, that may be debatable... I'm a tad nuts) and physically okay. He explained that since I sit at a computer all day, I'll only need to be off work for at most 2 weeks, and should be virtually pain free after only 4 or 5 days, with the swelling gone in a week. We even discussed medical politics across the country (don't ask) and he told me how much he wanted to do this surgery, because he feels the impact on my self confidence will be even greater than the impact on my appearance. And for an added bonus, the actual cost of the surgery will actually be less than I thought it would. After months of waffling on the topic, I walked out of his clinic convinced that this was the right thing to do.

It's amazing what a day can do. I was totally psyched at the possibility of finally starting the process of fixing my mouth, which is pretty much the bane of my existence. I get downright giddy when I hear the words "perfect bite" because frankly, I can't even imagine that. I don't even want a perfect bite or smile - I just want to be able to open my mouth and not be completely humiliated.

The next morning, I get a phone call. All of a sudden, my job and income is not nearly as secure as it was just last week. I'm not out of a job... yet... but I'm looking. It's time to move on. And with this hanging over my head, I simply cannot in good faith take on another $15,000 in debt. It's different than when I was making car payments and not working, because I knew that if I had to, I could always sell my car. I can't sell 3 years of orthodontic treatment!

So now I don't know what to do. I'm debating pushing things back to the new year, when I can re-assess the situation. I really don't want to do that, but I don't think I have much of a choice.

(Obligatory plug: If anyone in the Vancouver area needs a full time software developer with a UBC degree and over 5 years experience writing quality code in a variety of languages, my email is on the right...thx!)