Credit: Kennedy News<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nKayla, an American from Portland, Oregon, USA, stated: “If the tar wasn’t removed, I would not have died when I turned 28.<\/p>\n
“I didn’t tan a lot before the diagnosis, but when I was a kid I was running around Alabama, usually with no sunscreen, or at least not reapplied every two hours.”<\/p>\n
From 12 years old, she had a tiny freckle on her left side. It grew into the distinctive heart shape over 15 years.<\/p>\n
When she was 27, it changed to a darker color and lost its recognisable shape.<\/p>\n
Kayla visited her GP who referred Kayla for a biopsy.<\/p>\n
She was informed by her distraught mother three days later that the news was true. “highly aggressive”form of melanoma.<\/p>\n
She explained that “when I received the call by the dermatologist telling me I had a very aggressive form of melanoma, I was getting ready for a 12-hour night shift at jail.<\/p>\n
“I sobbed in my bathroom and [from then on] had constant anxiety about dying.”<\/p>\n
Kayla underwent intensive surgery which left her with a scarlet red nose. “filleted”With the skin removed layer by layer later.<\/p>\n
The specialist carefully removed each layer of cancerous tissue from her body and sent it off to be tested.<\/p>\n
Kayla said that she was seated in a chair much like a dentist’s chair at the appointment and then repositioned her back.<\/p>\n
They cleaned the area, then started injecting stuff into my cheek to make it numb. Then they began to draw a circle around my cancerous cheek.<\/p>\n
“As they did the job, I could feel their cuts near my nose. They then removed it.” [the tissue]Take it off my face.<\/p>\n
“Watching your skin get filled is the best thing.<\/p>\n
“I could clearly see the yellow layer fat that was attached to it, leaving a gaping and bleeding hole in my eyes that was as large as a pepperoni.<\/p>\n
“They then proceeded to cauterise the hole and give me a giant bandage while I waited for the results to come back.”<\/p>\n
She was informed the next day that all melanoma had been removed.<\/p>\n