Thinking twice about surgery...is it worth it?

[Guest guest]

I am planning to have upper and lower surgery (for my underbite) as

well as an upper palate expansion sometime in the next year and a

half. My surgeon is a full day of traveling away (I'm from NY, he's

in NC), and I'm going to him because supposedly my case is very

complicated and I need a very experienced surgeon. I'm a college

student and I'm lucky enough to have my parents' support, insurance,

and financial advantages.

We've already flown to NC once for the initial evaluation, and we'll

be flying back there many many more times. However, when I look

back at this short excursion to NC and all the trouble my parents

are going through to make this happen for me, I feel insanely

selfish. I am in no pain in my current jaw situation, and although

it creates functional problems in terms of my bite, chewing,

speaking, and general movement of the jaw, I know that this surgery

isn't a necessity for my survival. I also know that if my underbite

didn't create such self-esteem issues, and if the surgery wasn't

going to have any positive physical changes, I wouldn't be going

through with the surgery. I'm not expecting to look much different,

and my main concern is having a functional bite in the end. I know

that with this I can at least expect to have my underbite fixed, and

this will change my life in so many ways.

But is this enough?? My self-esteem will likely improve and I'll

have a functional bite. Is that worth all the days of traveling,

money spent on orthodontic work and higher insurance rates, and

stress I'm putting my parents through? The more serious I become

about having surgery, the more I start to question myself. I know

I'm a very strong person and can handle having this

extreme " deformity " for the rest of my life. I start to feel like

such a baby (and did I mention selfish) for wanting to have my bite

fixed when I think about all the other horrid problems people have

around the world.

I can't tell you how badly I want a functional bite, but I can't get

these feelings out of my head. Has anyone else felt similarly?

Thanks for listening.