Jean McInerney, 78, from Casino, NSW, tells her story
Warning: Graphic images within this article.
I plonked my handbag on the dining room table and headed straight for the kitchen to get cooking.
โThank god thatโs over,โ I said to my husband, Reg.
It was Christmas Eve and weโd just been at the doctorโs to get a skin cancer frozen from my nose.
It had been itchy and red for days and when my doctor confirmed it was cancerous, he arranged to remove it immediately.
Thankfully, he got it all, so I was free to enjoy Christmas with my three grown-up kids and two young grandsons.
Life carried on after that. I pottered round in the garden and played weekly bingo.
I was devastated when my daughter passed away suddenly, but Reg and my two sons helped me through my grief.
One night, I was in the shower when I felt something hard on the side of my nose. It didnโt hurt and you couldnโt see it, but there was definitely something there.
โFeel this, love,โ I said to Reg.
โYouโd better see the doc,โ he frowned, prodding the hard flesh.

The surgeries were tough. Pictures exclusive to Take 5.
I was referred to a dermatologist and mentioned the skin cancer Iโd had removed earlier.
โItโs nothing to worry about,โ he said. โIโll have another look in six weeks.โ
I was relieved, but afterwards, the stiff skin seemed to be spreading across my left cheek and around my eye. It couldnโt be normal.
Again, the dermatologist was unfazed by it when I went back.
โCome for another check-up in 12 months,โ he said.
12 months!
Reg and I stared at each other, dumbfounded. We werenโt doctors- were we being overly worried about this?
โMaybe itโs just part of ageing,โ I said as we headed home.
Weeks later, I was at the optometrist when his fingers happened to brush the firm flesh on my cheek.
โIโve been told itโs nothing,โ I explained.
He frowned and gently touched the area, tracing it all the way up to my eyebrow.
โThis doesnโt feel like nothing,โ he frowned, arranging for me to have a biopsy.
I was in my living room when my doctor called with the results.
Regโs face turned white as he realised what I was hearing.
โCancer?โ he asked, and all I could do was nod.
It was something called squamous cell carcinoma with cranial infiltration, which was basically face cancer. They werenโt sure if it was related to the one Iโd had removed from my nose 10 years earlier.
But it was extremely aggressive.
If Iโd waited 12 months like the dermatologist had recommended, Iโd be dead!
I was horrified.

The hole in my face. Pictures exclusive to Take 5.
Straight away, I met with various specialists and plastic surgeons, discussing how they would remove the cancer from my face with minimal damage.
Reg squeezed my hand as the doc talked me through it.
โTo get it all, weโll have to remove your left eye,โ one specialist warned.
I gasped.
I couldnโt imagine living with just one eye, but what was the alternative? I valued my life too much to risk losing it now.
โJust do what you have to,โ I nodded, swallowing a lump.
Reg and our son Garry were there as I was wheeled off to the operating theatre.
โLove you, Mum,โ Garry said with worry in his eyes.
When I groggily came to, it was three days later.
Regโs eyes lit up as I looked over at him.
โWe werenโt sure you were coming back,โ he smiled.
My head and half my face was bandaged, as well as my wrist, where the surgeon had taken skin grafts. They had discovered the cancer was just 1cm from my brain and was quickly spreading to the right side of my face.
โWe think we got it all, but thereโs a long road ahead,โ the doctor said.
Iโd have more cosmetic surgery and countless rounds of radiation.
When the bandages were removed and I looked in the mirror for the first time, I was disgusted. The graft was a chunk of flesh across the left side of my face, like a pirateโs eye patch.
โYouโre as beautiful as ever,โ Reg told me.
But I knew that simply wasnโt true.
โI donโt want the grandkids seeing their nanna like this,โ I told him.
They lived a few hours away, so we kept in touch through phone calls instead.
The pain meant I couldnโt chew properly, so I lived off soups and yoghurt. Naturally, the weight fell off me.
Garry, Sophie, me and Ben. Pictures exclusive to Take 5.
Reg looked after me at home, but then I started feeling horrible things beneath the new skin on my face. It was like a thousand creepy-crawlies scuttling around under there.
โI canโt stand it,โ I whinged to my specialist, shuddering.
They worked out it was nerve endings moving in my face, making it feel like hundreds of bugs. It lasted months!
Then, the flesh of the graft started dying and I was left with a giant, gaping hole in my face.
โIโm revolting,โ I cried, but Reg assured me that I looked fine. It mustโve been exhausting for him to keep hiding his reaction, but I was very grateful he did.
โThanks for lying to me, love,โ I smiled, tapping his hand.
A surgeon did another graft, stretching skin from my forehead so it could fit over the area.
That one covered most of the hole, but I still had a noticeably large nostril on my left side. My surgeon suggested another op.
I refused. Iโd gone through all this to save my life, it was time to start living it again.
โThe way I am is the way Iโll stay,โ I decided.

My left eye had to be removed. Pictures exclusive to Take 5.
It was hard going out in public at first. Strangers stared at me and muttered things under their breath.
I learnt to shake off. They had no idea what Iโd been through.
My friends and family were just incredible.
It took three years of recovery before I found the courage to return to bingo. The old crowd gave me the warmest welcome.
โWeโve been saving your seat, Jean,โ one grinned.
My grandsons Edward, 25, and Ben, 22, barely even reacted when they saw me for the first time since the surgery.
โIโm still the same old Nanna,โ I promised, hugging them.
Now I have two adorable great-granddaughters- Sophie, one, and Allana, seven weeks. Theyโll never know what I looked like before, but if I hadnโt gone through it, I wouldnโt be here to cuddle them and watch them grow up.
I might have lost half my face, but Iโve got a very big heart, and itโs full of love.