Mom has a hole in her face after using tanning beds for a decade

A mother of two warned people who wanted to take skin care after using tanning beds for a decade, leaving her with cancer.

Carrie Doles had to undergo surgery to remove the cancer, which left her temporarily with a hole in her face.

The 34-year-old woman also suffered paralysis on the left side of her face with which she still suffers today.

Other symptoms that Carrie of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States, has had to deal with include disabling headaches that suggest she is "struck by lightning" and watery eyes.

She shares her story to deter others from using tanning beds.

As a young adult, the stay-at-home mom was obsessed with tanning and started using tanning beds when she was only 18 years old.

She even used them every day for four years at the university.

On top of that, Carrie never wore sunscreen and stayed in the sun whenever she could, only occasionally regenerating her skin with a moisturizer.

As she was so young, she did not feel the need to take care of her skin and thought that she would take care of her skin.

But in 2010, Carrie noticed a small crust the size of a pencil that appeared on her left temple and that would fall before reappearing.

This continued for six months before going to see a dermatologist who said it was a skin cancer, just two weeks before her marriage with her husband Chris.

Not wanting to heal the skin for the big day, Carrie's doctor postponed her biopsy for two weeks until her wedding.

A week later, the doctor confirmed that she had basal cell skin cancer at the age of 26.

Carrie thought that this non-melanoma-causing skin cancer was a "good kind", so she was not too worried, but she had a shock the day of her surgery and she was the youngest person in her life. the waiting room.

She said the other patients were seventy years old.

Doctors had to go through the removal procedure to eliminate the cancer six times in total because it was unclear where the affected cells and healthy cells were.

That left her with a gaping hole on the side of her face that was sewn by a plastic surgeon the next day.

Then, in 2014, Carrie's cancer returned for the second time to the same place but was removed by a specialist head, neck and throat in a cancer treatment center.

The surgery left Carrie with paralysis on the left side of the face from which she still suffers today and her left eye is constantly getting wet.

"Staying in the sun, not wearing sunscreen or tanning beds has certainly contributed to my skin cancer," said Carrie.

"In college, I went to tan every day.

"I did not know what skin care was at the time, I was young and I did not need to take care of my skin at such a young age.

"My skin is lucky if I put SPF 15 on it or any type of moisturizer.

"I started using tanning beds at the age of 18 and continued until I was diagnosed with facial cancer in 2010.

"In 2010, I noticed a scabby pencil eraser that came from nowhere on the left temple.

"I knew I was not cut, so I was confused.The mange would fall and reform.

"It lasted six months and I finally consulted my dermatologist two weeks before my wedding day to have it checked.

"Then, after my wedding, I went back to do a biopsy, they took a sample of the product, left me with two stitches and called me in the next week to tell me that the Basal cell skin cancer was confirmed.

"It scared me to have been diagnosed with skin cancer at such a young age, but I always thought that basal cells were the 'right kind of cancer' and this would not matter, but not that much. "

Basal cell carcinoma is a type of skin cancer without melanoma.

It is normally a small shiny pink or pearly white mass with a translucent or waxy appearance, but it may also look like a red, scaly patch sometimes containing brown or black pigments.

The size usually grows and can become crusted, bleed or turn into a painless ulcer.

Carrie went into the details of the procedure to remove the cancer from her face and discussed the implications of this situation that she is still dealing with today.

"They numbed me and started to cut in. It was a crazy feeling, I did not feel cut off, but I heard it," she revealed.

"So, the first round ended, they gassed me, I was sent to the waiting room, and then they went to see the sample under the microscope," he said. -she explains.

"I sat in the waiting room of the office for about thirty minutes.I was the youngest of all this office.

"Most of the patients were over seventy years old, and they later recalled and told me that the margins were not clear (the edges still contained cancer cells), so that they would need to further cut and repeat this procedure until there was more of the cancer cells observed under the microscope.

"They practiced this procedure six times in total. Until the end, we had no longer found cancer cells, but now I ended up with a huge hole in my face that was not going to be able to sew so easily.

"The plastic surgeon was operated on all day, so I had to wait to meet him when everything was over.It was finally at 7 pm So, all afternoon, I had to to walk my tired face with a huge hole in my head, and the numbness has finally disappeared. "

She explained that tests had shown that she had no nerve function in the face, so she had been operated on to "reattach" her nerves and plug the hole in her face.

Carrie said she had to have a mini face and eyebrows to make her face more uniform.

Six months later, however, she says she does not have any nervous activity.

Carrie said: "I had facial palsy on the left side of the left forehead and up.

"My left eye was tearing constantly and I had no movement of the eyebrows.

"So we had another surgery to do a scar revision and try to repair the nerves.

"So, my second operation was a success and it was said that this time, the return of the nerves could take about a year.

"I still have a slight paralysis on the left side. The scar is very tender. I can not exert any pressure on it or anyone touching it. My eye is still crying.

"From time to time, I have big headaches.It seems to be struck by lightning in this area.I still can not lift my left eyebrow."

Now Carrie takes her skincare routine very seriously and goes to the schools to tell her story and discourage other kids from sunbathing and sunbathing as she did.

"I always wear an SPF of thirty all day long before putting on makeup and even in winter," she said.

"I do not stay in the sun anymore and if I go out, I wear a large brimmed hat and I search as much as possible from the shade.I also use an intense moisturizer every day and every night.

"Sunbathing on the outside or in a tanning bed is so bad for you and your skin.You will not only have wrinkles, but your risk of developing skin cancer is increased.

"Stop tanning, your skin will thank you when you get older."

For more information, see www.instagram.com/carriem039