Donate to help Jolene

Hello, my name is Jolene and I am fundraising to help afford the costs associated with double jaw surgery and recovery time.

My background: I was born with a narrow palate and a cross-bite. When I was 6, I had a device in my mouth to expand my upper palate. I had extensive orthodontia but I suffered (and still suffer from) TMJ, muscle pain, headaches, and moderate obstructive sleep apnea as well as GERD. (The jaw surgery is to treat all of these issues.) When I was 12 years old I had surgery for scoliosis ( a severe curvature of my spine.) My orthodontist also recommended jaw surgery but I was unable to have it done as a young adult/late teen.

It has been a long road of consultations, figuring out insurance and finding the right orthodontist, diagnostics and over a year in braces in preparation for surgery, but I am close to getting a surgery date and concerned about how I will afford to pay bills while I recover. The procedure requires cutting both my top jaw and lower jaw and repositioning them, and expanding my airway to improve my breathing and reduce my risk of heart disease, tooth loss and gum disease and other issues from having the malocclusion. As such, I will be banded shut, on a liquid diet and unable to speak much or perform any physical labor for a few months. I will probably be very swollen- the full recovery time is a year.

Any and all support is much appreciated and will go to paying regular monthly bills, supplies needed for recovery (feeding appliances, jaw compresses and wraps, protein shake/meals, etc.) and hopefully a portion of the surgery cost depending on how much I can raise here.

Thank you so much for reading this far and please share with anyone you think may be interested in contributing. <3