A woman says a rare type of cancer left surgeons forced to remove an estimated 80% of her nose and reconstruct it using cartilage from her rib.
Mel Frisby, 39, was on holiday in Turkey in September 2022 when she jumped off a boat into the sea and realized upon surfacing she was having a nosebleed.
After returning home, she noticed a small pimple on the top left corner of her nose that felt like “bone.”
Her nose continued to change in shape, and her husband, 41, urged her to get it checked at A&E at Leeds General Infirmary, where she was referred to ENT.
Nine days later, it was discovered Mel had osteomyelitis – an infection of the bone on her nasal bridge, which she had surgery to drain, needing an eight-day stay in the hospital.
But Mel’s nose continued to swell in size, so she returned to A&E and a CT scan revealed a “soft tissue” mass which was biopsied.
Three weeks later on November 7, 2022, Mel was diagnosed with high-stage sinonasal squamous cell carcinoma – a rare and aggressive type of cancer that develops in the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses.
Mel underwent surgery on November 24, 2022 to remove around 80% of her nose, before undergoing a further reconstructive surgery a week later.
Surgeons used cartilage from Mel’s rib and skin from her forehead to reconstruct her nose, called a forehead flap procedure – which was connected four weeks later.
She then underwent 30 rounds of radiotherapy over six weeks – where, sadly, Mel’s new nose collapsed due to the radiation.
Three years on, Mel is now cancer-free but has been told there is “nothing more than [sic] can be done” to fix her nose by her hospital.
She has been sharing her story on social media to help others who may be going through something similar.
Mel, a stay-at-home mom and content creator from Leeds, West Yorkshire, says: “I woke up from the surgery to repair my nose and my face was so swollen I couldn’t speak or open my eyes.
“It was a suffocating experience and I looked like a monster.
“I was a 35-year-old woman, and I’d like to think I was quite pretty.
“I was a woman and they took my identity, and the feeling of terror that they could take my face and I’d still die or it would come back – it was hard.
“My nose collapsed as the radiation damaged my bone grafts.
“I’ve been told there is nothing more that can be done for my face by my hospital.
“When I tell my story I feel a responsibility to tell it honestly but not to the point it terrifies anybody to get checked.
“I am living proof of it – I survived.
“I don’t want it to all be about the nightmare.
“You are never going to meet anyone more grateful for their life than me.”
Mel was on holiday to Turkey with her son, 17, when she had a nosebleed after jumping off a boat into the sea.
After discovering a small lump to the side of her nose, she headed to A&E – only to find nurses “baffled” as to what the cause was.
After being referred to ENT, Mel needed surgery for an infection of the bone in her nose.
Despite clearing the infection, her nose continued to swell in her recovery.
“Even at that point it was devastating to be told my nasal bridge had collapsed,” Mel said.
“I noticed my nose getting bigger and redder, and I’d been told it was swelling from the surgery I’d had.
“I went back to A&E.
“I was admitted and went in for a CT scan.”
It was here Mel was told that the “grey area” diagnosed as an infection was still there and had grown, “which could indicate a soft tissue mass.”
“They took the biopsy, and in Leeds General Infirmary there’s a blue slope and I walked down that and sort of midway through the slope it dawned on me,” Mel says.
“I remember saying out loud, ‘there’s cancer in the middle of my face.’”
Three weeks later, Mel was diagnosed with high-stage sinonasal squamous cell carcinoma.
“I had to come home and tell the children,” she says.
“I told them that evening and it was probably the most difficult conversation I’ve ever had.”
Mel went straight into surgery three weeks later, with doctors removing an estimated 80% of her nose – but managed to save her nostrils.
“The second surgery was by far the most difficult physically.
“They reconstructed my nose using a rib graft.
“They did a skin graft using a forehead flap.
“My head was packed.
“My face was gone.”
Six weeks of radiotherapy followed, and Mel was struggling so much to eat she was fitted with an NG tube.
She said: “My mouth was ruined and I couldn’t eat – all my skin was burnt.
“I was being sick relentlessly for weeks.”
Now, she has follow-up checks every three months through a camera up her nose.
Mel was also fitted with her first prosthetic nose two years ago which is handmade and tailored to her and says the difference it makes when she wears it is “amazing.”
“I’m still here and I’m raising my family and all of a sudden building a career,” she says.
“I get to raise awareness for head and neck cancers, in general I find there’s just none.
“I think if people don’t know certain cancers exist how many people are going to get them looked at in good time.”
Currently Mel is undergoing consultations that may potentially lead to her nose being amputated to improve her “quality of life” but she remains “hopeful” there are other options and it can be saved.
