A young woman who found a new lump on her body every day for a week was terrified to learn the true cause.
Kaylee Engle was just 22 when she found a bump under her skin by her breast, which she initially dismissed.
But when she continued to spot new lumps forming in different areas, she knew something was amiss.
While doctors initially thought it was a cyst, a chest X-ray found the true cause – stage four melanoma [skin cancer], which had spread throughout her body, including seven tumours in her brain, and more than 20 tumours in each of her lungs.
“I found out in the hallway of the emergency room, after being there for nine hours, and was in shock,” Kaylee, who works as a nanny and is based in Toronto, Canada, told Need To Know.
“There were at least 20 tumours in each of my lungs – doctors were unable to count them all.
“They did so many tests, biopsies and scans – it was all such a blur.
“It was terrifying learning new information about my disease, which felt like every five minutes.
“And it was shocking knowing just how much cancer was in my body.
“They found seven brain tumours, at least 18 in my liver, and at least 20 in each lung, plus two beside my heart, and tumours in my spine and adrenal gland.
“It’s so widespread – it’s everywhere.”
The diagnosis came as something of a shock to Kaylee.
She said: “I had been feeling off for the past month or so, but it was nothing super unusual since I had just moved, gotten into a new relationship, and had a lot going on.
“I had lost 20lbs without trying, and felt nauseous and threw up a lot, and found I was getting tired easily.
“But it was nothing severe.”
Alarm bells started to ring in June 2023 when she found the lump near her breast.
Kaylee said, “The following week, I found another lump every day.
“The first two were in my right breast, then I found one above my ribs, on my stomach and my neck – and some of my lymph nodes were swollen as well.”
She went to get checked out at a walk-in clinic, and says her doctor initially believed the lump was a cyst, and scheduled an ultrasound for several months.
She said, “I was concerned and felt like it was something much worse.
“I did so much Googling before I ended up in the ER and was convinced it was cancer – something in me just knew something was not right.
“By the time I was diagnosed, I was already convinced I had cancer, but even so, finding out for sure was a shock. “But it felt validating that I knew something was wrong with my body.
“Before, when they were finding nothing, I felt so defeated because I just knew something was wrong.
“At first, when they said cyst, I thought it could be.
“But with how I was feeling that past month, not quite like myself, I was more concerned, especially with finding more and more lumps each day and feeling worse and worse.”
But when Kaylee’s health declined the following day after visiting the walk-in clinic, with her vomiting more, she went to the hospital, where she had a scan, which found the cancer.
She quickly started immunotherapy treatment, though she had to take a break after developing autoimmune hepatitis in her liver at one point.
While her diagnosis is stage four and the cancer is widespread throughout her body, her prognosis isn’t necessarily terminal, and doctors are optimistic about her treatment options.
As of May 2025, she is undergoing another round of treatment, having already had radiation to treat the tumours in her brain, and is currently stable.
Prior to the diagnosis, Kaylee was healthy, though she had benign moles that doctors felt could turn into melanoma removed several times in earlier years.
The young woman said, “This has quite literally turned my entire life upside down in every single way possible.
“I was unable to work for the first year after diagnosis, and with everything still so demanding and changing constantly, it’s quite hard to work even part-time.
“It has affected my relationships, my financial status, my mental health.”
Now, Kaylee is facing the prospect of being in continued treatment for the rest of her life.
She said, “I likely may never be cancer-free, but even just being stable is amazing news.
“There are so many more melanoma treatments coming out now, which is incredible, and there are a couple of trials that I may qualify for coming up soon.
“I will try anything to let me live a full life.
“But I’m just enjoying every day as much as I can and I have a lot of hope for the future, whether that be treatment ongoing, or becoming cancer free, which is the ideal goal for me – and which I know I can achieve eventually.”
She is now focusing her efforts on raising awareness on TikTok, where she has more than 10,000 followers and videos garnering millions of views.
Kaylee added: “It’s important for me [to share my story online] because I want to spread awareness for melanoma and also just advocate for ourselves in the medical system.
“I have had to quickly learn to advocate for myself, and I want to empower other people to know that they can do the same.
“We know our bodies best and should be listened to.
“As well as urging people to be cautious with their skin, wearing SPF, being careful of sunburns, avoiding indoor tanning, and doing yearly skin checks and getting things checked if we think something is wrong.
“Early detection for skin cancer saves lives, and although mine was not caught until stage four, that doesn’t have to be the norm.”
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