After her nose was removed in life-saving operation, woman breathes through blowhole

While life-saving procedures do bring hope for people suffering from conditions like cancer, such disorders may leave people with terrible consequences. Surviving cancer is a courageous task, but life can be a daily struggle with life altering effects of the battle against the disease.

60-year-old Ida Deslandes defeated cancer but was left with a hole in her face since her nose and eye had to be removed during an operation. She now has to breathe through a blowhole above her right eye’s socket since her stage 4 cancer had spread.

Ida wasn’t prepared for the ordeal as she wasn’t warned that she may wake up without her nose. The mother of two says she wants a face before she dies and is trying to raise money for it.

The woman didn’t find out how she looked like after the surgery and was devastated to see her reflection five weeks later. She says people stare at her and say terrible things because of her appearance.

She has undergone eight operations to reconstruct her face since the procedure in 2014.