Mum is left with huge HOLE in her face after scab turns out to be skin cancer – after decade of using sunbeds
A MUM-OF-TWO who was left with a hole in her face and headaches which felt like being "struck by lightning" is sharing her skin cancer ordeal in a bid to warn others about the risks of tanning beds.
Carrie Doles, 34, started going to tanning parlours at 18, and became so addicted that she went every day for four years whilst at university.
In her younger days, the stay-at-home mum also never wore sun cream and would lie out in the sun whenever she could, occasionally slathering herself in moisturiser afterwards.
In 2010, however, Carrie, from Chicago, USA, discovered a small pencil-sized scab on her left temple which would fall off and then reappear.
It took her six months before she finally consulted a dermatologist who confirmed it was skin cancer - just two weeks before her wedding to husband, Chris.
Not wanting to be scarred on her big day, Carrie's doctor agreed to postpone her biopsy for two weeks until after the wedding.
A week later, it was confirmed that at just 26-years-old, Carrie had basal cell carcinoma (BCC).
Thinking that this non-melanoma skin cancer was "the good kind", she was shocked to find that she was the youngest person in the waiting room on the day of her surgery - with the other patients all being in their seventies.
“Laying out in the sun, not wearing sunscreen and tanning beds were definitely a contributing factor to my skin cancer,” said Carrie.
“It scared me to have been diagnosed with a skin cancer at such a young age but I was always under the assumption that basal cell was the ‘good kind of cancer’ and it would be no big deal. But not so much.”
Basal cell carcinoma is a type of non-melanoma skin cancer.
It normally appears as a small, shiny pink or pearly-white lump with a translucent or waxy appearance but can also look like a red, scaly patch which sometimes has brown or black pigments in it.
Lumps grow and eventually become crusty, bleed or turn into a painless ulcer.
Doctors had to carry out six surgeries because it wasn't clear which cells were healthy or affected - and that left her with a gaping hole in the side of her face, which had to be stitched up by a plastic surgeon.
The cancer returned again in 2014 in the same place, and this time, it had to be removed by a head, neck and throat specialist at a cancer treatment centre.
Symptoms of skin cancer
Skin cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer, and the fifth most popular in the UK.
According to Cancer Research, around 13,300 people are diagnosed with the condition every year, with rates steadily increasing (largely amoung men).
Symptoms include:
- a spot or sore
- ulcer
- a lump
- red patches on your skin
Causes:
Most of us know that spending too long in the sun or on sunbeds can increase our risk, but some people are more susceptible than others.
If you have a family history of the disease, you're undergoing treatment for Psoriasis or eczema, or you've got a weakened immune system, then you could be more at risk.
The older you are, the more likely you are to develop skin cancer too.
But UV radiation is still crucial.
Cancer Research UK says: "Too much ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun or sunbeds is the main cause of skin cancer.
“In the UK almost 9 in 10 cases of melanoma, the most serious type of skin cancer, could be prevented through enjoying the sun safely and avoiding using sunbeds."
Describing the ordeal, Carrie said that the plastic surgeon was in surgery all day so she had to wait all day to see him.
"The plastic surgeon was in surgery all day, so I had to wait to meet with him when he was all done. This was finally at 7pm in the evening.
"So, the whole afternoon I had to walk around with my face all gauzed up with a huge hole in my head, and the numbness was eventually wearing off.
"We finally met with the surgeon and he explained to me that we had to test my nerve reaction and then schedule a surgery first thing in the morning.
"He hooked me up to a nerve stimulator and sent electrical pulses through my face to see if they had cut any nerves. No function.
“So, I had to go home that night, clean and care for my open wound on my own. I couldn’t eat anything because of surgery in the morning and I couldn’t take any pain pills."
Eventually, he managed to reattach her nerves, but in order to close up the whole and make her face look even, he had to give Carrie a "mini-face lift and a mini brow lift".
Despite surgery going well, Carrie was told that it would be six months before she'd get any sensation back to the left part of her face.
Six-months on, however, she still had facial paralysis from her left eyebrow upwards.
“My left eye would constantly tear up, and I had no eyebrow movement. So, we went in for another surgery to do a scar revision and try and fix the nerves.
"So, second surgery was a success and was told this time it could take a year or so for the nerves to come back.
“I still have slight paralysis on my left side. The scar area is super tender. I can’t have any pressure put on it or have anyone touch it. My eye still waters constantly.
“Every now and then I get bad headaches. It feels like I am being struck by lightning in that area. I still cannot raise my left eyebrow.”
Today, skin-conscious Carrie goes to schools to tell her story and discourage other young people from frying themselves in the sun or on sunbeds.
“I always wear an SPF of thirty all day every day before I put my makeup on and even in the winter,” she said.
MORE ON SKIN CANCER
“I don’t lay out in the sun anymore and if I am out, I wear a large brimmed hat and seek shade as much as possible. I also use intense moisturiser on a daily and nightly basis.
“Tanning whether outside or in a tanning bed is so bad for you and your skin. Not only will you get wrinkles but your risk of developing skin cancer is increased.
“Stop tanning. Your skin will thank you when you are older.”
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