What started as vague discomfort in an 8-year-old’s teeth led to the discovery of an odontogenic myxoma—a rare, aggressive jaw tumor—followed by multiple surgeries, including removal of her jawbone and nerve repair. Now 12, Emmy has a temporary prosthetic and
In May 2022, Emmy felt “strange” in her mouth—nothing dramatic, just bottom teeth that didn’t seem right. She was 8 years old, and her mother, Rachel Bourque, assumed it was the kind of problem that sometimes comes with teeth arriving late or growing in awkwardly.
When Bourque looked inside, her daughter’s gums looked swollen. That concerned her, but not enough to escalate. Emmy was due for a dental cleaning, so Bourque booked an appointment and planned to mention the symptoms.
At the visit, both the dental hygienist and the dentist expressed concern. They took X-rays and suspected an abscess. A week later. Bourque took Emmy to an oral surgeon. who also did not have a clear answer yet—though he believed it could still be an abscess and wanted to do a biopsy for clarity. The word itself, Bourque said, automatically made her think the worst.
As that uncertainty lingered, other signs appeared. Bourque noticed red marks on Emmy’s left cheek and several cold sores in her mouth. She assumed the cold sores were from a virus, and she thought the red patches might be eczema.
Emmy’s tooth was extracted in early June, and the biopsy was carried out. A few days after, the family returned to the oral surgeon’s office for results. What they heard changed everything: the surgeons said there was a tumor growing in Emmy’s jaw. They described its spindle-shaped cells. and because the oral surgeon had never come across a case like it. he asked the pathologist to retest.
The final diagnosis—confirmed after retesting—was odontogenic myxoma, described as a rare and aggressive jaw tumor. Bourque said the team made clear it was not cancerous, and that distinction became something her family clung to even as the situation turned increasingly grave.
Bourque began sharing the story on Facebook after friends and family reacted with worry and concern. One of her husband’s friends reached out with a lead: a cousin who worked in the oral surgery department at Boston Children’s Hospital could connect them with a specialist. Through that connection, Bourque secured an appointment with oral surgeon Dr. Mark Green.
Green explained that the tumor behaved like “Jello” and was extremely difficult to remove because it falls apart when touched. He warned that leaving even one cell behind could lead to recurrence. His plan was not minor surgery—it was to remove and rebuild Emmy’s lower left jaw across several procedures.
Bourque said Emmy was upset and worried, but Bourque believes her daughter did not fully grasp the severity. Her parents tried to keep Emmy focused on bravery rather than fear, repeating that she had an “amazing surgical team” as they prepared for what came next.
By August 2022, only a few months after the symptoms first began, Emmy was preparing for the first of many surgeries. The team removed the myxoma. removed her lower left teeth and her jawbone. and severed and repaired her main facial nerve. A custom plate was inserted where her jaw had been to hold the position until a later reconstruction surgery.
Bourque said she expected recovery to be rough, but it was worse than she imagined. Emmy followed a strict liquid-only diet for weeks while her mouth healed. At first, she was in significant pain. When that eased, another challenge surged—extreme hunger. Milkshakes and yogurt, Bourque said, only went so far, and Emmy became desperate to eat something more.
Before Thanksgiving 2022, Emmy underwent her second surgery. Surgeons used cadaver bone along with bone harvested from her hip to reconstruct her jaw. Because Bourque knew how difficult recovery would be again. they held an early Thanksgiving so Emmy wouldn’t have to miss a holiday while living on liquids.
In summer 2023, the next procedure came: surgeons implanted four titanium posts into her jawbone to support her future prosthesis. Then, in May 2024, Emmy returned to have tissue taken from the roof of her mouth and placed in her gums to rebuild them.
Today, Emmy is 12 years old and wears a prosthetic that screws onto the titanium posts in her jaw. Bourque described it as temporary, with hopes of something more permanent once Emmy has finished growing. She said Emmy still has semiannual visits with her dental team and annual scans to ensure the tumor has not returned.
The journey has taken more than a physical toll. Bourque said Emmy suffers with anxiety, which she attributes to what she has gone through. Even so. she described Emmy as a well-adjusted pre-teen who loves music and being with friends. and who “absolutely adores food”—something Bourque said is likely shaped by the liquid diets that forced her to go without.
Bourque wrote that watching her daughter endure the process has been any parent’s worst nightmare. She said she put on a brave face so Emmy wouldn’t get scared, and only later could she acknowledge how much she had been coping by shutting down parts of herself to survive.
Even after everything, Bourque said she is grateful Emmy is healthy and as whole as possible. “She is the bravest girl I know,” she wrote, adding that she is glad the hard part is behind them.
Her message to other parents is direct: pay attention when a child says something is not right. Bourque acknowledged that in the beginning, she and her family assumed Emmy was dealing with a tooth coming in. Looking back, she said they were fortunate they didn’t delay getting checked.
Rachel Bourque, 44, lives in New Hampshire with her husband and two daughters. She has been documenting Emmy’s battle with odontogenic myxoma on social media, including on TikTok under the handle @nhmama781, aiming to raise awareness of a rare diagnosis.
odontogenic myxoma jaw tumor pediatric surgery facial nerve repair dental abscess prosthetic jaw Boston Children’s Hospital Dr. Mark Green New Hampshire