Chelle’s Healing Journey - The Unspoken Broken

“And we all, with unveiled face, continually seeing as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are progressively being transformed into His image from [one degree of] glory to [even more] glory, which comes from the Lord, [who is] the Spirit.” — ‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭3‬:‭18‬ ‭AMP‬‬

Hello!

My name is Chelle Whelehon. I was born with a Bilateral Cleft Lip & Bilateral Cleft Palate, and I’ve had 60 reconstructive surgeries on my face. Yes… You read that correctly lol! I give thanks to God for choosing me to be one of His “chosen” ones… There are very few who are called & “chosen” to walk such a broken road, and I’m thankful He chose me— and He saw me as strong enough to handle this road… This is my Unspoken Broken…

When I think about my timeline, it’s pretty crazy to have gone through so much, in just my few decades of being here on this side of Heaven. Fun fact, 12 years ago I had my last major reconstructive surgery, and I thought that I was finally finished! I was beyond thrilled to finally get my pearly whites looking incredible— and in my humble opinion, they really were incredible!

However, turns out, it wasn’t my last surgery… I’m now about to embark on another surgical journey, where I will be considered a Surgical Case Study, and people from all over the world will be watching my surgeon & medical teams, to learn new & amazing techniques for surgeries in the medical field to come.

First off— wow! … God chose me to go down this road, and I can’t help but feel like Esther a bit… “Chosen for Such a Time As This.” … I’m humbled that God would even want to use me, let alone— use me to make groundbreaking medical history… I’m baffled, humbled, and ready to fully embrace the unknown….

…. and I’m hoping & praying that you will join me on this journey. Let me give you a quick back story of how I even got here…

On April 3rd of 2023, I was diagnosed with a raging upper jaw infection. The infection had apparently grown enough, it had broken my upper jaw in 2 spots. Since then, I have undergone an extremely rigorous treatment plan, which included 3 teeth being pulled, 2 root canals, and a bunch of dental treatments in between. I also received a full set of upper & lower Orthodontics (braces), to prepare me for another reconstructive jaw surgery.

However— this jaw surgery is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced… and if I’m being honest, it’s unlike anything the world has ever experienced…

On Friday October 25th, I’ll be going in for the 1st Phase of the reconstructive process. Here they will begin the process of breaking my upper jaw in several spots, and attaching a HALO. If you Google medical halo, it will bring you to a “Distractor for the Leforte Procedure,” and let’s just say it’s wild what you’ll read… so be warned if you do… lol!

I will be a test trial for a new HALO to come to the medical market. It’s never been used on anyone, and they are hopeful it will work for my specific critical condition…

This HALO is designed to bring rapid growth to my arteries, veins, muscles, tendons, and bones in my upper jaw & cranial facial region. For the next 4-6 weeks I will wear this metal contraption attached to my upper jaw, stay on a strictly liquid diet, and pray that it does what it’s supposed to do— and help grow new tissues all over my cranial facial region. The HALO is also designed where there is a lock & key inside of it, and I will be in charge of turning the key (all throughout each day), to force it to expand my upper jaw— and push the upper jaw forward…

After the 4-6 weeks is done, then I go in for my 2nd Phased Surgery… This one is extremely extensive, experimental, and dangerous… Any prayers you can give during these surgeries would be very appreciated.

I’ll be the 2nd one in the world to have this procedure fully done (and documented), and the medical team will be using me to teach the new techniques to other surgeons all around the world. In this surgery they will remove the HALO, and align my upper jaw to the correct positioning. They will then take a transplant from my knee, and use the bone, tissues, arteries, and veins to graft a brand new blood supply into the roof of my mouth— bringing a true life source to the new tissues! They will also take an artery & vein graft from my thigh, and use that to connect the transplant from my knee, into the other arteries in my upper jaw. For the bone grafting, they will either take from my hips bone & bone marrow, or they will a new bone material that’s on the market right now. It just depends on how the transplant goes…

This surgery is extremely dangerous, and yes- there is a chance I may not survive- but I am trusting God to bring me through alive!!

Once I have the transplant successfully completed, my mouth will be wired shut for 12 weeks, and I’ll continue my liquid diet. I’ll also begin physical therapy for my knee, thigh, and hips. I’ll also have follow up visits during the healing process, for the next 12 weeks.

After my jaw is fully healed, I will go in for another surgery. This is where they will pack in more bone material in my upper jaw, and start the process of recon string my nose & cheek bones - as the infection that I was diagnosed with, has turned them necrotic (created dead tissue). My jaw will then be wired shut for another 12 weeks…

As you can see, I’ve got an extensive road of recovery ahead of me…

The end goal is that my jaw, which has deteriorated down the the size of a 7 year olds upper jaw, would get back to being the appropriate size of an adults upper jaw. I will then have dental implants placed, to finalize everything…

I chose the title “Unspoken Broken” because my jaw is currently broken, and will be broken all over— and then I’ll be wired shut for months… There will be no talking… However, where I may be Silent— I will not be silenced… Gods story will still have a voice.

I’m trusting God, that He will bring me through this with flying colors— and that He will get all of the glory out of this story!

In fact, I have a dear friend of mine, who is a modern day story teller. He takes peoples stories, and creates documentaries from them— and he wants to do a series on my story!! But to get it going, there will be a financial need for his travel expenses, to get from where he is in, to where I will be healing at.

Would you be willing to invest in me? Whether is financially, or spiritually through prayer— I need you with me on this journey… God knows I can’t do this alone, and I’m praying that you would join together with me, and support my journey of recovery that I’m on.

Ways you can help:

1. Financially…. I’ll need assistance with cost for food— being on a liquid diet for an extensive period of time is extremely expensive, especially when you are trying to feed yourself living nutrients, to bring healing to your body as rapidly as you can. I’ll need assistance financially for medical bills— physical therapy sessions, follow up visits, gas to get there & back, and so much more…

2. Prayer… Please feel free to reach out to me directly with an encouraging word, prayer, scripture— you name it! I’ll gladly take it all…

3. Sponsorship directly for the documentary series. As of right now to get the travel expenses started, we need $2,000, and I know this amount will go up as we get the documentary series going.

—This documentary series will be used to tell my story— God’s Story— and bring Glory to His name, by being shared with the world.

—The idea is to show the world that you can suffer, and suffer well… Suffering well does NOT mean throwing a smile on your face & calling it good. It means you Suffer Strong, stay vulnerable, stay transparent, stay real & stay raw, but most importantly- you keep God in the center of your suffering because that’s exactly where He needs to be. To know Him in the Glory of Suffering, is to Know Him in His Suffering… Not many people get that privilege… and I’m honored He’s chosen me to know Him in such an intimate way…

—I pray you would consider investing in me, my healing journey, and become a part of the Story that God is Telling Through My Journey. Just think… You’ll become part of the reason why my smile becomes so big!