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MY NIGHTMARE
I turned 40 and just wanted to ‘look better’ but I was left with a giant HOLE in my face
AFTER celebrating her 40th birthday, doctor Gina Anderson felt like she wanted to "look better".
Gina, who worked as a neurologist, set her heart on having a few "tweakments" - but wasn't sure where to turn.
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A colleague offered to help, suggesting Gina try cosmetic fillers.
But, four years after having the work done, Gina noticed a horrific reaction.
The neurologist was found to have a giant granuloma - an area of inflammation - under her right eye.
It turned out that instead of injecting filler, Gina had been injected with silicone - leaving her with the huge growth, which ended up as a gaping hole in her cheek.
Desperate to fix it, she turned to Botched doctors, Dr Paul Nassif and Dr Terry Dubrow, who were shocked to hear how this had happened given Gina works as a doctor.
Dr Dubrow explained: "When you get a granuloma which is foreign body inflammatory action it typically happens within four months to a year.
"The fact that Gina didn't start to develop them until way later shows it's a very slow smouldering inflammatory chronic response that could be be difficult to treat."
Appearing on the show, Gina revealed how she came about having silicone injected into her face.
She said: "A colleague offered to do filler for me and I was like I’m in my 40s I’m going to look a little bit better and I thought I was getting restylane or juvederm, but it was silicone."
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Silicone is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and is illegal to inject.
The FDA says that when injected into areas with many blood vessels, silicone can travel through those vessels to other parts of the body and block blood vessels in the lungs, heart, or brain.
Silicone injections are also outlawed in the UK.
Gina says she has only experienced the issue on one side of her face but added that no silicone has been found in her left cheek.
Before visiting the Botched doctors, Gina said she had undergone five surgeries to try and fix the issue.
She said: “The first one wasn’t bad, they removed the granuloma but it came back.
I’m in agony, I don’t sleep, my hair started thinning like a hair loss and I just started feeling weak and fatigued, it’s been a nightmare
Dr Gina Anderson
“Four months later they tried to get the silicone out and that didn’t work because the granulomas had come back.
“Then a month later it just got so much worse. The granulomas actually made a hole in my cheek .
“They actually did a flap to the lower eyelid area to reattach the skin."
A year later Gina had the same procedure - a local skin flap, but says that less than a month later medics had to clean it out again after the granulomas came back.
She added: "When you can’t sleep and you’re in constant pain it’s hard to think on your feet all the time.
“I’m in agony, I don’t sleep, my hair started thinning like a hair loss and I just started feeling weak and fatigued, it’s been a nightmare.”
What is a granuloma?
A granuloma is a small area of inflammation.
They area usually caused when immune cells clump together and create nodules at the site of infection or inflammation.
Experts at the say that granulomas are defensive mechanisms that trigger the body to ward off foreign bodies.
This will usually be to prevent a bacteria from spreading.
There are different types of granulomas and skin granulomas will commonly cause bumps under the skin.
They usually appear in the shape of a ring and are mostly pink, yellow or flesh coloured.
During her surgery with Dr Nassif, he said that he found 'unsual things' in her face and also removed what he said looked like a piece of gauze.
After the first surgery she said she felt a lot better, but yet again the swelling in her cheek came back.
Dr Nassif said that she has recurrent seromas and said his only option had been open her up again and completely remove the granuloma.
After going under the knife with Dr Nassif a second time, bringing her total surgeries to seven, she is now happy with the results.
Gina said that her energy levels have increased and her mood has also gotten better.
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She added: "My hair loss has stopped and actually my hair is starting to grow back.
"My thought process is actually getting faster. I mean, it's just a miracle. It's just life-changing."
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