Never thought I’d be here, but here I am. I need double jaw surgery. My entire life I have breathed through my mouth. I had braces more than once, but what all those orthodontists didn’t tell me, or my parents, was that they would just camouflage a much bigger issue. Both my top and bottom need to be extended, and my joints will most likely need to be replaced. I have little to no room in my mouth; it’s hard to breathe, it hurts to chew, I have TMJD, I can’t open my mouth wide enough to eat certain things, my tongue is to big for the space I have in my mouth, my jaw clicks and grinds, I clench constantly, I have migraines due to clenching, I have anxiety about this, my posture has been affected because of this, and my alignment.

Now if you’ve never heard about this, you’re probably wondering how something as simple as your jaw can cause all these issues. I didn’t know either. Turns out, your jaw isn’t simple at all. Turns out you have to breathe to live (sorry about the dad joke). I need more oxygen than most. I have a heart condition which prevents my body from pumping enough blood to my extremities, lungs, and other organs. My life looks normal on social media, sure, but I struggle every day with multiple issues due to my jaw.

So what about insurance, right? If you can’t breathe, shouldn’t insurance cover this? No. My insurance isn’t going to cover it. I have spoken to lots of surgeons and had tons of interviews, and even if insurance covered it, so many don’t accept insurance. Hopefully, one day that will change. And even if you’re reading this and not donating, I urge you, if you have kids and they breathe through their mouth or have an under or overbite, look deeper into how you can properly fix that.

On to aesthetics, because that’s another thing. I thought I was just overweight and had a double chin and there was nothing I could do about it. Turns out, even at my smallest, it still looked this way. I was made fun of (mostly by boys) in school who called me Turkey neck and would make gobbling noises at me. As you can see with the photos I have attached, one is me currently and the other is a rendering of how I would look after surgery. I am constantly hiding my neck, even when people are not around. I pull my shirt up or pull the blanket up to my chin. I feel like I’m in the wrong body looking the way I look. I just want to be me, and I can’t be when I feel and look this way.

From what I’ve been told from lots of people in the jaw surgery Reddit, the second they wake up from surgery and take a breath, they are immediately shocked to see that that’s how it’s supposed to feel to breathe. I want that. I also want enough room in my mouth for my own tongue, which I currently don’t have, so I’m constantly biting it. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. The doctor I will be working with is Dr. Shah in St. Petersburg, and he is one of the very best. Not just in the state of Florida either.

So if you see fit to help me out, and if you are financially able, thank you from the bottom of my heart. This is going to change my life.