Girl Undergoes Bizarre Surgery of Four Balloons Implanted In Her Face to Remove Large Pre Cancerous Birthmark

5She had to get worse to get better

Xiao’s treatment and surgery of the balloon implants took place at Shanghai Ninth People’s hospital in eastern China. The condition was so bizarre that it meant before she got better, she had to suffer and get worse. The procedure had to be done because Xiao’s mole started causing her discomfort and pain in March 2017.

Congenital melanocytic nevus can become cancerous but with varying conditions.  Some have a 5-10% risk of becoming cancerous while others may be as low as 1-2%. Yan said she would not have minded living with the mole her entire life.

'Despite the big black mole on my face, I enjoyed my childhood playing with my friends,' Ms Yan said, adding: 'I was carefree. ‘But as I grew older, the fact that I was "different" became increasingly magnified,' she said

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6Subject of ridicule in her village

Xiao’s mother mentioned how her daughter was the subject of ridicule in their village where she almost begged people not to make fun of her. Xiao was the talk of the village because of her disfigured face which was totally black on one side.

Doctors implanted the egg-sized balloons into her face stretching her face four opposite direction to grow more skin required to perform a facial graft once the mole was removed.

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7Bizarre surgery stretching her face four ways

In order to save Xiao’s life, doctor’s inserted egg-sized balloons into her face so that her skin can be stretched enough to successfully remove it. This is being done so that the area removed by the mole can be replaced with skin from elsewhere on her face.

Xiao’s parents are poor people but yet they managed to raise the huge sum of $15, 658 (a lot for them) to start the treatment. In October, Xiao underwent surgery to implant the expanders into her face. She also gets saline injected into her face twice a week.

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8Always a positive attitude

Xiao mentioned that there were times she would feel sorry for herself but she has the support of her family and that has always made her feel positive.  “I used to feel sorry for myself,” she admitted, before adding, “But I’ve grown up under the support of my family and now I’m much more positive.”

She has been given the name of the “gourd doll” due to the weird shape of the balloons that resemble various gourds.

weird shape of the balloons