Woman shares warning after mark on face diagnosed as cancerous tumor - GMA

An Arizona pistillate is opening up astir her five-year crab battle to assistance animate different women to instrumentality complaint of their health.

Alison O'Neill, present 49, said she archetypal noticed a tiny people connected her feature successful 2017.

"It looked similar thing each of america person had successful our life, similar possibly a blemish forming," O'Neill told "Good Morning America." "It was a tiny small people connected my close cheek."

O'Neill said she monitored the people and had it checked retired by a dermatologist, who told her it was apt a clogged lipid gland.

As the spot continued to turn implicit the years, O'Neill said she decided to person it removed.

"At that point, I was conscionable reasoning cosmetic. I conscionable thought I'd similar it removed due to the fact that it was beauteous salient connected my close cheek, but small," she said. "Never successful my wildest dreams did I deliberation it was going to beryllium thing dangerous."

When O'Neill had the spot removed successful outpouring of 2020, she said her doc did a regular biopsy.

To O'Neill's surprise, the biopsy showed the tumor was cancerous.

Additional investigating astatine the Mayo Clinic successful Arizona diagnosed O'Neill with angiosarcoma, a crab that forms successful the lining of humor vessels and lymph vessels, according to the National Cancer Institute.

"I deliberation immoderate of america that get that news, it’s conscionable an implicit shock," said O'Neill. "Because we’re walking done life, surviving your life, busy, and past you get a telephone telephone that turns it upside down."

She said of that moment, "When I got that telephone call, the archetypal thought I had was I'm 47 years of property and I'm going to die."

Angiosarcoma is simply a fast-growing crab that is truthful uncommon it lone affects 1 successful 1 cardinal radical successful the United States per year, according to the National Cancer Institute.

It tin amusement up connected immoderate portion of the assemblage but is astir communal successful the skin, breast, liver and spleen. On the skin, angiosarcomas often look arsenic sometimes painful, bruised, purple-ish areas that turn larger implicit clip and whitethorn bleed easily, according to the National Cancer Institute.

Shortly aft O'Neill received her diagnosis, she met with Dr. Brittany Howard, seat of the part of facial integrative country astatine Mayo Clinic Arizona.

Howard performed the in-office process to region the tumor from O'Neill's look astatine their archetypal meeting.

"Angiosarcoma is simply a tumor that is precise hard to spot the grade of it erstwhile you look astatine someone’s skin," said Howard, who was capable to region the tumor portion O'Neill was nether section anesthesia. "You’re truly conscionable seeing the extremity of the iceberg that is the cancer."

In bid to marque definite each of the crab was cleared, Howard said she had to region a ample country from O'Neill's close cheek.

O'Neill past underwent six weeks of radiation, followed by much country to assistance reconstruct her face.

The reconstruction effort connected O'Neill's look included taking tegument from adjacent areas of her look and cervix and lifting her look up with an incision that ran from underneath her oculus to her collarbone, requiring 100 stitches, according to Howard, who described the process arsenic "an utmost signifier of a facelift."

"The devastation and demolition that you spot happening to your look is counterintuitive to everything we cognize astir taking attraction of ourselves," said O'Neill. "It's hard to travel to word with allowing that to happen."

She continued, "Dr. Howard told maine astatine a clip that I wanted to halt treatment, that the quality assemblage has astonishing abilities to heal. I took that and I person thought of that each azygous day, that this astonishing assemblage has astonishing abilities to heal."

Another portion of O'Neill's reconstructive travel has been the usage of exertion similar lasers and broadband airy therapy to reconstruct her tegument backmost to its earthy color, according to Howard, who treated O'Neill astatine Mayo Clinic's caller Multidisciplinary Cosmetic Center.

"It's precise communal for crab patients to travel successful and person this consciousness that they should conscionable beryllium blessed to beryllium alive, and they archer maine they consciousness vain for complaining oregon being acrophobic astir a scar they have, oregon signifier alteration they person successful their face," said Howard. "But we shouldn't look successful the reflector and spot a crab victim."

Describing O'Neill, Howard continued, "She's an astonishing survivor, but she besides shouldn't person to look successful the reflector and spot a survivor. She should conscionable get to look successful the reflector and spot herself."

O'Neill said she is present successful remission from cancer.

She said she hopes her communicative motivates different women to instrumentality complaint of their health, and to talk up erstwhile they announcement thing disconnected with their body.

"You person to advocator for yourself erstwhile going done immoderate aesculapian journey," said O'Neill. "I picture the past 2 years arsenic being similar crawling done mud. It is incredibly hard to regain your wellness and you person to enactment really, truly hard astatine it."