A social media influencer who used sunbeds without sun cream as a teen ended up looking “like Frankenstein” with 60 stitches across her cheek – after being diagnosed with skin cancer two decades later.
Anna Papalia, 48, noticed a spot on the side of her nose five years ago which a dermatologist told her was “just a cyst” and “no big deal”.
She went to an aesthetician for a facial and to extract the spot, they flagged a small mass behind it.
But Anna, from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, said they reassured her that she’d had it checked already, and it was only a spot.
Two years later she decided to get the spot removed because it would get irritated if she scrubbed her face too hard – believing it was purely a cosmetic decision.
But this time around a different dermatologist said it needed to be biopsied immediately, cut it off and sent it to the lab the same day.
Anna, a content creator with over five million followers, was told just days later that she had basal-cell carcinoma and the entire area of her skin needed cutting away which was two and a half centimetres in diameter.
She then needed long cuts made down to her chin and across her cheek to be able to stretch the skin over the wound where the skin portion of had been removed, and she woke from surgery with 60 stitches.
Three years on, Anna is healed and raising awareness of sun safety, avoiding sunbeds, and promotes getting spots checked. Anna, a mum-of-two, said: “I hadn’t been careful in the sun, I’m a child of the 80’s and 90’s.
“I didn’t wear suncream, I used sunbeds and I got burned all the time. I did all the things you’re not supposed to do. “When you’re in your teens and 20s you feel bulletproof, you get cocky – ‘it won’t happen to me’.
“The spot itself had been smaller than a dime — but when I opened my eyes after my surgery, I had 60 stitches in my face.
“It was unbelievably traumatising and shocking. I thought I’d look like Frankenstein forever.
“Now, it’s a daily reminder – I can’t say I love my scar, but I’ve learned to live with it. “I’m a cautionary tale.”
In 2021 Anna first noticed a small spot on her nose, which she initially thought was “just a tiny little zit” – although it wouldn’t pop when she tried.She went to a dermatologist and was reassured it was “no big deal” so Anna ignored it and got on with life.
But two years later she had grown frustrated by the spot which would occasionally bleed.
She said: “It didn’t change size tremendously but I grew irritated with it, every once in a while it would bleed. “It was slightly raised though, so I thought it was only when I might have scrubbed my face too hard.
“In July 2023, I went to a different dermatologist to get it removed, thinking at this point it was just cosmetic.
“But the dermatologist took one look and decided it needed to be biopsied.
“I realised then that something might have been hiding in plain sight for years – because the first dermatologist told me it was fine.”
The results came back showing that Anna had basal cell carcinoma (BCC) – primarily caused by UV light exposure which causes mutations in the skin cells.
Anna was booked in for Mohs micrographic surgery – removal of the tissue – and it was cut from her face under local anaesthetic while she was awake.
She said: “That was extra traumatic, you can’t feel it, but you know it’s happening.”
When she woke she was horrified to see the size of the scarring and stitches left behind – necessary so that the surgeon could stretch it out to cover the wound.
Anna said: “When I saw those stitches I honestly contemplated suicide.
“It was half my face when it had only been a little spot. “It was painful for the first year and a half. It took a long time to heal.”
After lots of different scar treatments including silicon and laser in the years since her surgery, Anna’s scar is now near invisible – although what remains still serves as a reminder of her journey.
She said: “My mum did tell me to use sunscreen but I ignored her.
“I had to go through this horrible and traumatic thing and I’m mad at myself for not paying enough care.
“Now I have two children of my own and I’m always bothering them about sunscreen and wearing a hat.”
