How Do I Know If I Have Cancer On My Face?

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

Can you imagine the regret of thinking that you suffer from acne and then find out that all that time it was about skin cancer? Well that was just what happened to young American Marisha Dotson, 28, of Knoxville, Tennessee.

At 25 years old, the woman had been sick with pneumonia, herpes and constant colds. That, in addition to the stress she had from working too many hours to pay for her studies, made her think that what looked like acne was the result of all the discomfort she had been experiencing.

In particular, a small red spot appeared on his nose that would soon change his life. When he realized that the point was not going away, and that it had begun to grow in size and ache, Dotson went to see a doctor. "I went to the medical center [at my school] and they said they had never seen anything like this," the young woman told the Caters news agency.

It turns out that what she thought was normal acne was actually a manifestation of squamous cell carcinoma. Bone, cancer.

According to what Dotson tells on his GoFundMe page, he had to undergo a 15-hour surgery to eradicate the cancer, but unfortunately the tumor was much deeper than surgeons expected and had to remove more than half from his nose.

"Despite putting 300 anesthetic injections in my face, it still hurt as [the doctors] cut and burned every layer, so close to my nerves and sinuses," says Dotson, who was wide awake during entire operation.

Although their cancer is partly genetic, it is important for everyone to use daily sunscreen to prevent skin cancer, and also to visit their dermatologist once a year and especially when they notice something out of the ordinary.

If you want to help raise funds to pay for the medical costs of Dotson, who has been an orphan since the age of 16, visit his GoFundMe page.