‘I started planning my funeral' says Love Island star as she reveals terrifying cancer scare

The Sun

a day ago

A FORMER Love Island star has revealed she started planning her own funeral amid a terrifying cancer scare.
Liana Isadora, who appeared on the reality show in 2016, has shared the moment she feared for her future as a warning to those who still use sunbeds.
3
3
The star - who had a ten year addiction to sunbeds - shared a TikTok describing how she feared she had melanoma and believed it was a 'death sentence'.
Melanoma is the most serious type of skin cancer that has a tendency to spread around the body.
She explained: 'I literally went home, cried my eyes out and started planning my funeral. I was DISTRAUGHT, convinced I was going to die and it would all be the fault of my own ignorance.'
In the hard-hitting clip, Liana started: 'If this is melanoma, then it's a death sentence. Imagine hearing those words at the age of 28, because that was me exactly two years ago today. Full context, I was an extreme sunbed addict for 10 years.
'I had a sunbed in my house, I used tanning nasals, tanning injections, and then I went to a dermatology appointment, I had a symptom of melanoma, and these were the exact words that a dermatologist told me.'
She continued: 'I don't know if it was a bit unprofessional for them to be so abrupt, but I am so grateful that they did say the word death sentence to me, because it was the one and only thing that scared me enough to make me stop using sunbeds cold turkey. I've never been on one since, and I'll never go on one again, and I'll never use tanning products again.'
Liana was relieved to learn it wasn't cancer, but added 'who's to say this won't catch up with me in the future?'
During her time on Love Island, Liana was coupled up with Adam Maxted but they were separated when they were voted, by the rest of the contestants, as one of the weakest couples.
She was then coupled with Tom Powell before they got the boot.
She now has a child with her boyfriend and often shares videos about how different her life is now.
3
Controversial Love Island star reveals she's secretly become a mum
What is melanoma, what are the symptoms and how can you prevent it?
Melanoma is the most serious type of skin cancer that has a tendency to spread around the body.
It is diagnosed 16,000 times per year, and tragically takes the lives of 2,340 people per year.
The number of people being diagnosed with melanoma is increasing, and it is the 5th most common cancer in the UK.
But it is also one of the most preventable cancers, with 86 per cent of cases in the UK avoidable.
The best way to protect yourself from melanoma is to be sun safe - wear SPF every day, wear a hat and sunglasses and keep out of the sun in the hottest hours. It is also advised to avoid sunbeds.
People who are fair-skinned, have blue or green eyes, blonde or red hair and a large number of freckles or moles are more likely to get skin cancer.
Surgery is the main treatment for melanoma, particularly if it is found early. This will involve removing the affected tissue in the skin.
Radiotherapy, medicines and chemotherapy are also sometimes used to try and stop the cancer from growing. Treatment depends on the severity of the disease.
What are the symptoms?
The key thing to look out for are changes to an existing mole, or a new mole on your skin.
Most experts recommend using the simple 'ABCDE' rule to look for symptoms of melanoma skin cancer, which can appear anywhere on the body.
There are five letters/words to remember:
A symmetrical – melanomas usually have two very different halves and are an irregular shape
B order – melanomas usually have a notched or ragged border
C olours – melanomas will usually be a mix of two or more colours
D iameter – most melanomas are usually larger than 6mm in diameter
E nlargement or elevation – a mole that changes size over time is more likely to be a melanoma
A mole that changes size, shape or colour may be a melanoma.
But other signs to look out for include moles that are:
Swollen and sore
Bleeding
Itchy
Crusty
How deadly is it?
Melanoma is a deadly form of skin cancer.
The outlook of a person's disease depends on the stage of the cancer when it was diagnosed.
Survival is better for women than it is for men.
'We don't know exactly why this is. It may be because women are more likely to see a doctor about their melanoma at an earlier stage,' says Cancer Research UK.
The charity says that generally, statistics show that in England, more than 85 out of every 100 people (more than 85 per cent) will survive their melanoma for 10 years or more after they are diagnosed.
Around 100 per cent in England diagnosed with melanoma at stage 1 - when the cancer cells are only in the top layer of skin - will survive for five years or more after diagnosis.This drops to 80 per cent for stage 2.
Some 70 per cent live for a further five years when they are diagnosed in stage 3, which is when the cancer has started to spread to nearby lymph nodes.
At stage 4, when the melanoma has spread elsewhere in the body, almost 30 per cent survive their cancer for 5 years or more.
Cancer Research says the stage 4 data does not account for age differences. Age can affect outlook and younger people have a better prognosis than older people.
Age can affect outlook and younger people have a better prognosis than older people.
What is melanoma?
Melanocytes are cells in the skin that give us the colour of our skin because they produce a pigment, known as melanin.
When you sit in the sun, melanocytes produce more pigment (a sun tan), which spreads to other skin cells to protect them from the sun's rays.
But melanocytes are also where cancer starts.
Too much UV causes sunburn, and this is a sign of damage to the skin's DNA.
The UV triggers changes in the melanocytes, which makes the genetic material become faulty and cause abnormal cell growth.
People who burn easily are more at risk of skin cancer because their cells do not produce as much pigment to protect their skin.
Those with albinism are at the most risk because their skin produces no pigment at all.