“She hid her face for 30 years, and then underwent the life-changing surgery.” After a long period of misdiagnosis, Starina finally received the help she needed. See her striking before-and-after photos in the article.
Starina, from Arizona, had lived with a facial tumor so severe that she would accidentally bite her own skin while eating. But after years of struggle, she finally underwent the life-changing surgery she had always dreamed of.
When Starina appeared on *Botched By Nature*, she hoped the experts could finally provide answers and a solution. Doctors had previously diagnosed her with a hemangioma—a condition where excess blood vessels form a benign tumor—but that diagnosis was completely incorrect.
The show’s lead surgeons, Dr. Paul Nassif and Dr. Terry Dubrow, quickly noticed that something was amiss. After examining Starina, Dr. Nassif revealed: “This isn’t a hemangioma. It’s a vascular malformation; blood simply pools in certain areas.” Unlike hemangiomas, which typically shrink with age, her tumor had continued to expand over the years.
Now that Starina had the correct diagnosis after 30 years, her treatment could finally begin. The doctors devised a two-step plan. First, they would perform an embolization—a procedure using a special foam to block blood flow within the tumor. The second step would be surgery to physically remove the affected tissue.
The procedure carried serious risks. Dr. Nassif warned that surgery near facial nerves and blood vessels could lead to bleeding, nerve damage, or further scarring. “This is a very delicate and complex surgery,” he explained. “We won’t know the full picture until we’re in there.”
Even so, Starina was ready to move forward. “I’ve waited for this my whole life,” she said. “I’m excited to finally be able to move forward.”
To maximize the chances of success, the team brought in Dr. Greg Levitin, a leading expert in vascular anomalies. Together, the surgeons began carefully removing tissue from Starina’s lower lip and mouth.
The post-surgery results were already promising. Dr. Nassif estimated that her condition had improved by “approximately 75%.” A second embolization was performed a few weeks later, and three months after the initial surgery, Starina returned to show her progress. Her smile was brighter, her speech more confident, and the results, in her words, were “incredible.”
Dr. Nassif emphasized that recovery takes time. “You can’t fix something that has developed over 30 years in just two months,” he said. “But we’ve taken a huge step forward.”
