Help Tahlia Receive Jaw Surgery

Hi, my name is Tahlia, I am 21 years old and I am trying to raise money to help afford major jaw surgery.

I was born with Cerebral Palsy, Erb's Palsy, and a Cleft Palate. My Cleft Palate caused me to be missing my entire soft palate, and I was also missing approximately 70% of the boney palate. This meant I was not able to do simple survival tasks, such as sucking or swallowing independently. At 6 months old, I underwent reconstructive surgery to rebuild my palate in the best way they could. Despite this, I have still struggled with pain, speech issues, and I have ongoing issues with eating (due to issues with chewing, and a hole that allows food to travel into my nose, rather than down my throat).

As a young teen, I wore braces for over 3 years to correct my teeth, but now I am requiring further surgery to correct my jaw and palate.

This year I am planning to undergo a Bi-Maxillary Osteotomy and Facial Augmentation surgery, which will hopefully close the gap which is allowing food to travel to my nose, while also improving my chewing/ biting and speech, correct my unbalanced (Prognathic) jaw, and also decrease jaw pain and chronic mouth breathing.

This surgery is extremely important to me and my health, but unfortunately, it has come at a bad time financially for my family, and despite medicare and health insurance coving some of the costs, we cannot afford the gap.

I have been quoted $12,000 AUD for the surgery alone, not including hospital fees, anesthetist costs, or any of the fees related to recovery.

I am so grateful for any and every little donation I receive- this surgery means the world to me and I cannot thank you enough for helping me.

Thank you, Tahlia.