Her title was Mari Tisera. Her brief life is now captured in household images and movies of her dancing and glad.
The coed at George Mason College in Northern Virginia was a daddy’s woman who was handled like a princess by her mother and father and three older brothers.
“She did no matter she need with me,” her father, Gus Tisera, mentioned with a smile in a latest interview with News4.
It by no means crossed his thoughts that his daughter would die at 20 after melanoma unfold to her mind, neck and backbone. Her grieving mother and father now warn different households to pay attention to melanoma, as docs see a disturbing pattern amongst teenagers and younger adults.
‘Form of small, like a strawberry’
It began with a tiny birthmark on Tisera’s toe. When she was a freshman in school, the birthmark modified.
“It began rising, type of small, like a strawberry,” her father recalled.
A biopsy later confirmed the birthmark was melanoma. The most cancers was deep, and her toe wanted to be amputated.
The household thought the worst was over, nevertheless it wasn’t. As Tisera tried to proceed with life as a school pupil, her most cancers unfold. Docs tried to surgically take away what they may, nevertheless it was too late.
Tisera died in June 2023 surrounded by household and buddies.
‘It was a complete shock’
Her mother and father, who stay in Entrance Royal, Virginia, mentioned they nonetheless contemplate what they may have executed otherwise.
“I’m interested by what we did mistaken however I – you can not consider how organized we had been. We’ve calendars with all her appointments. We by no means missed any appointment,” her mom, Viviana Tisera, mentioned as she fought tears.
One appointment the household by no means thought to make early on was to a dermatologist for a pores and skin examine.
“It was a complete shock,” Mari Tisera’s father mentioned concerning the second they discovered she had melanoma.
That they had no household historical past of pores and skin most cancers, and her mother and father had believed melanoma primarily affected older adults, folks with lighter pores and skin and solar worshippers, which their daughter was not.
Docs seeing melanoma amongst younger folks
Melanoma is the second most typical sort of most cancers recognized in 15- to 19-year-olds and the commonest type of most cancers affecting younger adults age 25 to 29, in accordance with the Pores and skin Most cancers Basis.
Whereas solar publicity is the primary threat issue, individuals who have sure forms of birthmarks additionally may be in danger.
Look out for giant birthmarks specifically, mentioned Dr. Geoffrey Gibney, an oncologist at Medstar Georgetown College Hospital. Melanoma can develop inside birthmarks or moles, and even in elements of the physique not uncovered to the solar.
Potential purple flags for pores and skin most cancers embrace:
- a brand new mole
- a mole that has grown
- a mole that has modified in dimension or shade
- a mole that has began itching or bleeding
One in 5 adults will develop pores and skin most cancers of their lifetime.
“A mole that’s altering actually does warrant extra pressing analysis,” Gibney mentioned.
The sooner you get one thing checked out, the higher.
“After we do see an irregular pores and skin lesion, seeing a dermatologist is essential, and you shouldn’t delay it,” he mentioned. “We wish to catch pores and skin cancers earlier within the improvement, not later, when there’s the next threat for the affected person.”
Tisera’s mother and father mentioned they hope sharing their late daughter’s story will assist others. Time together with her is what they want they may have again.
“Coming within the door each weekend and saying, ‘I’m right here! The princess is right here!’” her mom mentioned. “That’s what I miss essentially the most.”
