My 'sinus infection' turned out to be a one in a million nasal cancer at just ... trends now
A 28 year-old California woman has described the shock of being diagnosed with a deadly sinus cancer that affects fewer than one in a million people - and led to the removal of her right eye.
The 'golf ball-sized tumor', which had spread throughout her face, was first mistaken for a sinus infection by the woman's doctors.
Annika, who posts about her condition on TikTok, woke up one morning in 2023 and noticed that the inner corner of her right eye was sore.
While she at first thought nothing of it, by the time the evening rolled around, 'my face started to really, really hurt on the right side,' she said in a video.
The next day, her face swelled around her right eye, prompting her to seek medical attention.
Annika, 28, was diagnosed with a rare nasal cancer after doctors mistook it for a sinus infection. She initially went to the hospital with swelling around her eye
Annika was diagnosed with stage four sinonasal carcinoma SMARCB1 (INI-deficient), which had spread to her face, lungs, and lymph nodes
A CT scan in the emergency room showed inflammation around Annika's eye, leading doctors to suspect she had a sinus infection. The swelling reduced over a few days, only for it to return about a week later.
During Annika's second visit to the emergency room, 'the doctor felt
