Mom Discovers She Has Cancer After a Small Mole on Her Head Leaves Her With a Swollen Face

A young mother, Hillary Castenada, has opened up about her frightening journey after learning that a small mole on her forehead was actually melanoma, a dangerous form of skin cancer.

Hillary explained that the battle has lasted four years, beginning with what appeared to be a harmless dark mole growing along her hairline in 2019, when her children were still very young.

Concerned about its appearance, she visited a dermatologist and had the mole removed through a biopsy. However, within just two weeks, the mole grew back—an alarming sign that made her even more uneasy. She shared: “I had a bad feeling, but the doctor didn’t think to biopsy it since it looked the same as before, so I went along with what they thought.

“But that summer it grew so fast.”

As the mole continued to change, Hillary returned for another biopsy in October 2021. This time, the results confirmed the worst: the mole was invasive melanoma, reaching a depth of 2.1mm. She was immediately scheduled for surgical removal.

Only days later, further testing revealed that the cancer had already progressed to stage three, meaning it had begun to spread beyond the original site. Since starting treatment, Hillary’s face has also begun to swell as her body responds to the cancer and medical interventions.

How she felt, she added: “I was crushed.

“I got the news in a phone call when my husband was out of town on a biking trip without good phone signal.

“I immediately went on to Google and started researching everything about melanoma including doctors in my area – this all while my toddlers played around me.

“I was in a mode of shock that put me into action.

“All I knew how to do was to look at how to fight this, and I did.”

Hillary went through several procedures to remove suspicious spots on her face, and eventually needed a skin graft taken from her abdomen to cover the raw areas left behind.

She began immunotherapy, hoping it would finally put an end to her health struggles — but unfortunately, it was only the start.

Because the melanoma on her scalp was so aggressive, she had to receive immunotherapy infusions every four weeks for two years. Throughout that period, doctors continued performing biopsies and wide-margin excisions to keep an eye on any changes.

The treatment eventually took a toll on her body, and Hillary developed painful arthritis. In August 2023, she decided to stop immunotherapy, and thankfully, her scans showed she was cancer-free.

She said: “I felt hopeful that it was over, but I always had that thought that it might come back.

“I knew I needed to be followed by my oncologist closely with scans.

“Anxiety around scans was a real thing, but thankfully my scans were clear.

“I was honestly hopeful it was never going to come back, and my doctor was too.”

In March 2024, Hillary noticed that a lymph node had become hard. She immediately contacted her oncologist, and after it was removed and tested, doctors discovered it was metastatic melanoma. She was placed back on immunotherapy, which made her extremely unwell.

Since then, Hillary has continued to find new tumours — including another hard lymph node in May 2025 and a concerning spot on her right lung.

In October 2025, she began TILs therapy, a treatment that uses a patient’s own T-cells to fight cancer. Starting the therapy required a long preparation process, including chemotherapy.

As part of the treatment, she received IL-2 immunotherapy to help multiply the T-cells in her body. This caused significant swelling in her face, adding to the difficulties she was already facing.

She added: “It got to the point where my left eye was swollen shut and my neck was even full of fluid.

“My left ear and skin were secreting fluid from how swollen it was.

“The pain was excruciating.”

It was decided to end the treatment after three of the six planned doses, and Hillary has been recovering at home since.

She said: “Parenting during the TILS process was hard.

“I couldn’t risk getting infected with a virus, so I had my maintain my distance.

“It hurt my heart, but my parents and husband really stepped up to take care of everything.

“I still tried to be involved from afar – wearing a mask to talk to my kids, and asking them about their day.”

“I do feel like my tumour is shrinking, and the swelling is down.

“My pain is finally gone as well.

“Now, we are just waiting to the TIL cells to work their magic.”

How her ailment has impacted on her family, she said: “I was diagnosed when my youngest was three years old, so I do not think he remembers a mother without cancer.

“That affects my heart so much because you never want your children to have to face something like this.

“What helps us is our faith, which has brought so much hope and peace during this time.

“My faith tells me everything is going to be OK regardless of what is going on around me.

“This peace that I have had throughout this process is really supernatural.”

How she feels about life despite her ailment, she said: “I feel like the best thing you can do is to stay busy as much as you can to keep your mind off of everything. Emotionally there has been some hard times, mostly when I have bad reactions from the medications.

“Feeling ill when you don’t have an end in sight sometimes can be exhausting and daunting, but I just pray through it.

“I also tell myself I have no other choice but to fight because of my kids and my husband, and my love for them.

“’Smile through it’ has been my quote throughout my whole journey – no matter what, there is always joy to be found.

“And learn to advocate for yourself – I learned that no one else was going to.

“I asked for a different dermatologist that would actually biopsy what I wanted biopsied, I researched the best surgical oncologist and melanoma specialist in the area, and I made appointments, and scheduled everything before I was even told what to do.

“I definitely went into action.”