A UTHealth Houston physician turned a Texas teen's frightening diagnosis into a champion title

Two years ago, Geordon Boulware, now 15, was at a routine dental visit in his hometown of Lufkin, Texas, when his dentist discovered he had an abnormal growth on his jaw. After meeting with a local oral surgeon, Geordon and his mom decided to seek treatment in Houston. 

“When your mind is set on it just being a ‘routine’ dental appointment, and you get told your 13-year-old has a tumor, it’s terrifying,” Geordon’s mom, Mamie Boulware, said.

Within two weeks, Geordon was meeting with James Melville, DDS, professor in the Bernard and Gloria Pepper Katz Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at UTHealth Houston School of Dentistry. 

Biopsy results showed Geordon had an ameloblastoma, a rare but noncancerous tumor that slowly grows in the jaw near the back molars. Scans showed that the tumor involved a condyle, a bone ending that connects two bones and allows for the hinge movement to open and close the mouth. It was determined that Geordon needed a complete resection of half of his jaw to remove the tumor.

“At that age, he’s so young, we are worried about growth, so my number one priority was to get the tumor out,” Melville said. “It’s something you can’t live with because it will continue to grow and deform the bones. Our next priority was to solve the issue while allowing him to still be a 13-year-old kid.”

Melville presented the family with three options: chemotherapy for a year to see if the tumor shrinks, take a part of Geordon’s rib to create a new jawbone, or perform a fibula flap surgery, using his fibula bone to recreate his jawbone. 

His surgical team at UTHealth Houston and his family ultimately decided the best treatment for Geordon was the fibula flap surgery. However, this option presented personal challenges for Geordon. 

The fibula flap surgery meant that Geordon would miss out on debuting his cattle in the Junior Breeding Beef Heifer Show at The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo—something he was really looking forward to participating in. 

Melville explained to Geordon and his family that surgery on his leg and the recovery time that comes with it would ultimately prevent him from showing cattle at the rodeo. 

Understanding how much returning to cattle showmanship meant to Geordon after his surgery, Melville crafted a new plan. 

“During one of our last appointments before the surgery, we talked about his goals for his future, and he expressed to me how excited he was to show in the Houston rodeo, and I felt like I just couldn’t let him miss this,” Melville said. 

The team decided to postpone surgery until after the 2024 HLSR.

When the family returned for Geordon’s pre-op appointment in March, Melville and the team delivered the good news.

“When we arrived, Dr. Melville said, ‘I think we can do something different with Geordon, I think I can save his leg,’” Mamie said. “I was a little thrown off because we were one week away from surgery and I had three months to digest our original plan, but I knew we could trust this team wholeheartedly.”

Melville suggested a procedure using tissue engineering, a novel technique using Geordon’s own stem cells to grow a portion of the jaw. Once the tumor was resected, the team would inject a mixture of bone grafting material and Geordon’s own stem cells to fill in the defect, reducing the need for more invasive bone grafting from his leg. 

There have only been a few cases done, but UTHealth Houston has led the effort in regenerative medicine for jawbone reconstruction.

“His cells took really well, and he grew his own bone, his own jaw, and his own natural joint condyle. This was a really successful and unique outcome,” Melville said.

The less invasive surgery allowed for a shorter recovery time, and within 10 months, he went on to win Reserve Breed Champion 2025 in the Fort Worth Livestock Show and placed fourth in the Junior Breeding Beef Heifer Show in the 2025 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

After his experience, he now advocates for everyone to go to the dentist annually and never miss an appointment, even if they have no dental issues.

“Dr. Melville was more than enough for this surgery, and God was more than enough for me,” Geordon said.