I have created this campaign on behalf of my brave sister-in-law, Leilani. She is 23 years old and will be undergoing a major surgery on her jaw in mid-August in Chapel Hill, 3+ hours away from home.

Leilani will be in ICU for at least 3 days after the procedure, another 4-7 days in the hospital after that, then another 2 weeks minimum having to stay close to the hospital.

Her fiancé, Shawn, will be able to spend some time with her in Chapel Hill but not the entire time as he will need to work for their one-income family. Her mom will be with her the remaining part of the time to help during recovery, but also to help take care of Leilani's 4-month old, who Leilani will be able to see once she's out of ICU.

Here is Leilani's story:

In September of last year (2024), Leilani went in for a routine dentist appointment. She was also 15 weeks pregnant at the time and had not been to the dentist for several years. After having jaw pain for over a year that she assumed was caused by a cavity, she decided to make the dentist appointment. Turns out, the pain was being caused by a cyst or tumor that had pushed a wisdom tooth deep into her jaw bone.

On October 21st, she traveled to UNC Chapel Hill, NC to see Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.

On November 6th, a was biopsy done. A few weeks later, she found out it was an Ameloblastoma arising in a dentigerous cyst. Thankfully, no malignancies were found.

Because Leilani was pregnant, there was nothing that could be done right away, which is what would have been recommended otherwise.

On January 6th of this year (2025) a CT was preformed at UNC NASH in Rocky Mount, NC to provide an update of the growth.

Leilani gave birth to her beautiful daughter, Shiloh, on March 14th.

On June 3rd, a CBCT was preformed. By this point, the tumor had grown past the point of this particular surgeon being able to operate on her anymore. She's referred to a Head and Neck Surgeon in Raleigh, NC. She now has an oral surgeon, head and neck surgeon, and prosthodontist on her case.

On July 18th, she goes to UNC REX Cancer Center in Raleigh, NC to discuss surgical details. She's then sent for another CT at UNC NASH in Rocky Mount, NC for the Surgical Reconstruction Specialist to figure out where she is going to remove a replacement bone from.

On July 28th, she goes to UNC REX Cancer Center in Raleigh, NC and learns that part of her fibula bone from her left leg is what will be used to reconstruct her jaw. The jaw bone between her jaw joint and tooth #30 will be extracted.

Having already traveled over 3,000 miles with more travel to come, completing numerous doctors appointments and tests, giving birth to her baby girl, postponing her wedding twice because health and baby are obviously priority... a surgical plan is finally in place and she will have the tumor removed soon.

We appreciate any financial support you are able to provide Leilani and her family as she navigates the surgery and recovery while continuing to be the best mom to Shiloh.