Mum left with huge dent in her head after partner spotted ‘something different’ about her

WHEN Barbora Hájková’s partner said she looked “a little different,” she brushed his concerns aside.

The 38-year-old had a bump on the side of her head which her partner Ilya, 41, said had changed her face.

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But when he finally convinced the mother-of-two to see a doctor, after extensive testing, she was diagnosed with a rare skin cancer called dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DFSP).

After surgery to remove the tumor, Barbora’s 15-month-old daughter Margaret did not recognize her mother.

DFSP is a rare type of skin cancer that often looks or feels like a pimple under the skin, according to Sarcoma UK.

It can affect people of any age but is most common in people between the ages of 20 and 50.

When Barbora, who lives in the Czech Republic, first went to see her doctor, she was referred to an ear, nose and throat specialist.

She was then sent for a sonogram and biopsy, which led to her diagnosis.

The tumor had spread to her skull, and medical professionals told her she was one of an estimated seven people worldwide with the condition in the skull.

She now says that if it weren’t for her boyfriend, she never would have gone to her doctor.

“I have to say that the tests annoyed me a bit and I didn’t want to go anywhere else because I was convinced that there was nothing wrong with me and at most I had a lump of fat on my head,” she said.

“However, the sonogram showed it was probably not that trivial, so I was sent for a biopsy.

“At this point I got a little worried, but I wasn’t imagining any horror scenarios.

“The wait was uncomfortable, but the results were even more uncomfortable: Dermatofibrosarcoma Protuberans.

“The doctor told me it was great news and to celebrate. I was honestly overjoyed. It sounds strange now when I think back on it.”

Barbora said she figured she’d just have to come in under general anesthesia to have the knot removed.

However, she was shocked when the surgeon called her personally to say they needed to remove part of her skull.

“The doctor told me, ‘if you had it on a limb, for example, the optimal treatment would be to treat it by amputation, but we just can’t amputate your head,'” she said.

“I couldn’t sleep at night.

“It wasn’t entirely clear what they would have to cut out of my head and how much the tumor had dug into my skull.

“All of that would only become apparent during the operation.”

The operation left her with a hole in her head, which initially devastated her.

But now she says she’s learned to embrace her scars and has taken part in campaigns to raise awareness about the cancer.

“Apart from the pain in my head and the rest of my body after the surgery, I wasn’t doing very well mentally,” Babora said.

“I was still waiting for the pathology results and was tense for several weeks.

“Margaret hugged me for the first time a week after the operation. Until then, she was afraid of me.

“I have to admit that with the swollen head, the bruises and the bandages, I didn’t look like me.”

Now Barbora said that she was doing very well and that she no longer bothered that her head was not quite round anymore.

“After the operation I did not have to undergo any further cancer treatment.

“The surgery was a very radical solution and I am being closely watched by the doctors as this monster tends to come back.

“Time is very precious to me and I don’t want to waste it.

“I work as a PR Specialist for the F*** Cancer Project which aims to raise awareness and help cancer patients and I am also involved in other health awareness projects.

“This experience has given me patience, a new perspective on the world and life values, and a feeling that I really have something to struggle with.

“But most of all, I’m thankful that I’m healthy and able to live my life, which I don’t want to waste,” she said.