A local woman recovering from cancer surgery and treatment now needs a large sum of money for special implants and dentures to fit the change in the shape of her jaw.
Juanita Nuyens, diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma in the right side of her jaw, recently finished chemo and radiation in Prince George that came after the December 2014 surgery in Vancouver to remove part of her jaw and replace it with a piece of bone taken from her leg.
She needs to have dental surgery to reconstruct her gums and new dentures, which altogether will cost $20,000.
The Canadian Cancer Society has indicated it could pay up to half of that amount, she said.
Juanita’s second youngest of her four sons, Andre, has started a GoFundMe campaign online to help raise the remaining $10,000 she needs.
“My mother has been a nurse for over 40 years and has tirelessly taken care of others....now I want to do the same for her,” he said on the GoFundMe campaign.
“I am so proud of my mother and sad to see her in pain.”
Andre, who now lives in Saskatchewan, grew up in with his brothers and parents in Cassiar, which was an asbestos mining town for 40 years and many residents have died of cancer-related illnesses, he said.
The campaign, named Juanita Nuyens Major Dental Surgery, has already raised a little more than $3,300 in nearly three months.