"In the past few months, I have not dared to go out to meet people, half of my face is wrapped in three layers of outer layers, and even if I can't hide the smell of my body, I don't dare to get too close to people, even my beloved granddaughter, let alone the pain of the erosion of the bones." 」
Data chart Xinhua News Agency, Zhang Chi photo (picture and text have nothing to do)
Aunt Zhong (pseudonym), 57 years old, has been fighting basal cell carcinoma on the left eyebrow for 21 years, and since the second half of last year, due to the rapid deterioration of her condition, her left half of her face and even bone and flesh have been "eaten" by tumors, and her left eye is completely blind.
Guangzhou Daily Xinhuacheng reporter learned from Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University on February 10 that the hospital completed a super difficult "face repair" for Aunt Zhong, and rebuilt her face while successfully removing the lesions. After the operation, Aunt Zhong recovered smoothly and was discharged from the hospital a few years ago.
This year's New Year, Aunt Zhong, who got rid of her "scary face", can finally hug her granddaughter with confidence!
A "black mole" the size of a grain of rice, half of the face has grown for 20 years
In 2000, a "black mole" the size of a grain of rice suddenly grew above the arch of Aunt Zhong's left eyebrow, and after a period of time, the black lump remained unresolved. Aunt Zhong went to the local hospital for local mass resection, and through histopathological biopsy, it was found that the original "small black mole" was the infamous basal cell carcinoma (referred to as "basal cancer"). For the sake of insurance, Aunt Zhong immediately came to a hospital in Guangzhou for extended resection. But the hidden dangers are still buried.
In 2008, Aunt Zhong noticed a recurrence of the tumor at the arch of the left brow, and soon the tumor grew to about 4 cm x 3 cm in size. Aunt Zhong went to the dermatology department of a hospital and carried out 7 "photodynamic treatments", but the effect was not good. In desperation, Aunt Zhong underwent "skin tumor resection" again, and did not undergo adjuvant radiotherapy and chemotherapy after surgery.
In 2011, the original tumor recurred again, and the itching was severe. Aunt Zhong received "excimer treatment" for more than 1 year, but the effect was not good. Frustrated, Aunt Zhong chose palliative care and returned to Jiangmen.
Unexpectedly, Aunt Zhong's tumor continued to enlarge, affecting the left frontal area, eyes, and maxillofacial area, accompanied by pain, itching, ulceration, pus, and compression of the left eye, and gradually decreased vision. In 2019, Aunt Zhong eventually went blind in her left eye.
The condition deteriorated rapidly, and the misuse of "elephant powder" was exacerbated
Two years ago, Aunt Zhong's granddaughter was born. The arrival of this little angel made aunt Zhong, who was originally disheartened, rekindle her desire to "live", and decided to further treat and live for a few more years to accompany this little cute. In 2021, Aunt Zhong went to a hospital in Guangzhou again and underwent 34 radiotherapy, 8 chemotherapy and 4 targeted therapies.
However, more than two months ago, Aunt Zhong's condition suddenly and rapidly deteriorated, and the facial mass on the left side of the face gradually festered and a large amount of pus flowed, affecting the left forehead, eyes, maxillofacial, oral and tongue, and the pain was severe.
When Aunt Zhong was desperate, she listened to the "earthwork" and used "elephant powder" externally, but it was worse: the ulcer intensified, the face formed a huge defect, and the "half of the face" was even eaten with bone and flesh. This not only destroys the appearance, but also accompanies the stench, and even affects the function of eating.
For more than two months, Aunt Zhong had difficulty eating, and she could only break the food with a wall breaker and then carry out a liquid diet, with poor spirits and sleep, and a poor quality of life.
After several turns, Aunt Zhong admired Professor Zhang Jinming, director of plastic surgery at Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, for treatment. After seeing Aunt Zhong's situation, Professor Zhang Jinming decided to perform surgery on her and do his best to help her alleviate her pain and improve her quality of life.
Multidisciplinary expert relay, 12 hours to successfully "make up her face"
After Aunt Zhong was admitted to the hospital, the hospital organized multidisciplinary consultations in many specialties such as plastic surgery, radiology, anesthesiology, neurosurgery, otolaryngology, etc., and formulated a suitable surgical plan for Aunt Zhong. According to Professor Zhang Jinming, Aunt Zhong's case has not seen similar reports before, the operation is extremely difficult, the technical ability and teamwork requirements of the multidisciplinary team are very high, and it also tests the determination of the medical team to treat.
Due to the huge range of tumors and infections, it ranges from the patient's frontal sinuses and skull base to the soft palate and teeth, to the facial skin, and back to the anterior edge of the first and second cervical vertebrae. The defect caused by the tumor also exceeds the midline of the face, and there are a large number of very important blood vessels, nerves and organs in this range, and a slight negligence during the operation will cause irreparable huge losses, and even a great danger to life.
On December 29, 2021, the hospital performed a "relay" operation for Aunt Zhong: first the doctors of the Department of Otolaryngology and Neurosurgery completed the excision and debridement of necrotic tissue and tumor tissue, followed by plastic surgeons to further remove the tumor tissue, obtain the latissimus dorsi flap, and finally complete the facial reconstruction through free latissimus dorsi flap transplantation.
The surgeons were divided into five batches, orderly on stage, each performing his duties, and the operation lasted from 10 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., taking 12 and a half hours to complete.
On January 5, 2022, Aunt Zhong was successfully transferred from the ICU to the general ward of plastic surgery for further treatment, and on January 17, the tracheal catheter was removed, and the gastric tube was removed the next day for oral feeding. She recovered well and was able to walk on the ground.
After the operation, Aunt Zhong was very excited and repeatedly expressed her gratitude to the doctors and nurses. She said that after the treatment, her face was not as painful as before, and she could sleep at night, and more importantly, she finally "changed her face" to see people again, and she could finally hug her granddaughter this Year's New Year.
Zhiduo D: Common surface skin malignancy is mostly related to sun exposure
Professor Zhang Jinming introduced that basal cell carcinoma is one of the most common malignant tumors of the skin on the surface of the body, which has a certain relationship with sunlight exposure, and is more likely to occur on the face, scalp, neck and other parts.
In general, a better prognosis treatment can be obtained through surgical resection, and surgical resection advocates complete resection and cannot be tolerated because of difficult repair. If the resection is not complete, there is still a certain probability of recurrence of "basal cancer", but it is rare for a case like Aunt Zhong to recur repeatedly and lead to such a huge destruction, and she has taken many detours in the treatment process, which is also the main reason why the face is "eaten". Therefore, Professor Zhang Jinming suggested that patients with "basal cancer" should undergo standardized and reasonable surgical treatment in the early stage of onset.
Source: Guangzhou Daily
Process Edit: TF021