Please help with Carleighs Celebration of Life

This is Carleigh Jackson, she is one of the most amazing humans in the world. She is facing her darkest time, and I am asking for help so that she can focus on healing instead of worrying about money while she’s in the hospital.

Carleigh is only 24 years old and has faced things in life that nobody her age should ever have to face. Nine years ago, her dad (my cousin) passed away unexpectedly. No child should ever have to face losing a parent, especially during such crucial formative years. Last year Carleigh lost her best friend (her stepdad) in a motorcycle accident, a cruel twist of fate robbed her of TWO fathers.

This past February Carleigh was diagnosed with a stage 3 Squamous cell carcinoma on the left side of her tongue. She had to face a terrifying and life altering surgery called a partial glossectomy to remove the tumor in her mouth. A free flap graft was taken from her arm to reconstruct her tongue and doctors took a skin graft from her leg to help heal her arm. Additionally, all the lymph nodes in the left side of her neck were dissected to be tested for cancer cells. She had to learn how to speak again and relearn how to eat solid food after having a feeding tube and tracheotomy during her stay in the hospital to aid in her recovery.

Carleigh was recovering from her surgery and went back to work and her normal life, which included walking across the stage for her graduation – something she was worried wouldn’t be possible because of her treatment & recovery. However, she worked very hard and graduated with both a Bachelor of Arts (with Great Distinction) and Bachelor of Education (with Great Distinction) degree at the end of May. It was around this time, however, that she started suffering once again from pain in her tongue and had a biopsy done on July 18. While waiting for results (3 weeks) she started to experience severe pain and significant swelling that made it challenging for her to swallow, eat, talk, and function as she would in her daily life. She was admitted to the hospital on Aug 2nd where she received the biopsy results confirming that the cancer had recurred in her tongue and that she had a severe infection that would need to be treated with IV antibiotics.

She will be hospitalized for an unknown amount of time while she has more tests done to help the doctors to decide on a treatment plan. She’s facing being transferred to another hospital and will be unable to work for an indefinite period while she focuses on managing her pain, treatment plan, and recovery following treatment.

We are reaching out to friends, family, & strangers to please help take the stress of finances off Carleigh’s shoulders so she can focus on recovery and not worry about missing work or missing bill payments. Any amount helps and is greatly appreciated.

If you prefer not to use GoFundMe, please msg me and I can provide an email address for direct donation.

Thank you everyone!