A young mum has been battling gruelling treatment after a small mole in her hairline turned out to be a sign of stage-four cancer.
Hillary Castenada was 28 with two young children and in the best shape of her life when she made the discovery.
It was the start of a four-year-long fight against melanoma, a form of skin cancer, which has spread across her scalp, lymph nodes and lung.
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Now 32, and still undergoing treatment that has left her with “excruciating” facial swelling, the mum-of-two has spoken out to share her story – and warn of the importance of advocating for yourself when you know something is wrong.
“My health prior to this was perfect,” Hillary, a stay at home mum living in Kansas City, US, told Need To Know.
“I had no major health concerns, was 28, and in the best shape of my life.”
Hillary, who shares two sons, aged six and nine, with her husband Gerardo, first realised something was amiss in 2019, when her children were just one and three.
She discovered a “dark, raised, ugly mole” growing around her hairline on her forehead.
Not expecting it to be particularly serious, she decided to have her dermatologist look at it during her next visit, and a biopsy was taken, removing the mole.
Within two weeks, the mole had grown back entirely – which is when Hillary started to grow concerned.
The biopsy found it to be benign, and her dermatologist advised her waiting until her next appointment in April 2021 – by which time, the mole had grown.
Hillary said: “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.”
In October 2021, Hillary had another appointment to biopsy the mole, as well as a skin-coloured mole that was growing behind it, and they called back two weeks later with worrying news.
The skin-coloured mole had come back as invasive melanoma with a depth of 2.1mm, and she was immediately scheduled for surgical removal of the mole.
Within days, a prognosis came back of the cancer being at stage three.
Hillary said: “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 more rounds of removing areas of concern on her face, eventually having a skin graft from her abdomen to cover the raw areas left on her skin.
She started immunotherapy and hoped that would be the end of the health scare – but it was sadly just the beginning.
The infusion of immunotherapy was given every four weeks for two years, due to how aggressive the spread of melanoma on her scalp had been.
During that time, she continually had biopsies and wide margin excisions done to monitor the situation.
Due to the treatment, Hillary developed arthritis pains and quit immunotherapy in August 2023, with her scans showing she was in the clear.
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.”
But in March 2024, Hillary felt a lymph node had grown hard and immediately contacted her oncologist for removal.
The pathology results found it was metastatic melanoma, and Hillary was put back on immunotherapy treatment, which made her very poorly.
Hillary has continued to find tumours – including another hard node in May 2025 and a worrying spot on her right lung.
She started TILS therapy – which involves using a patient’s own T-cells to fight cancer – last month (October 2025), following a lengthy preparation, which included chemotherapy.
The process involved a form of immunotherapy called IL2, which is used to multiple to T-cells in the body, which has caused Hillary’s face to dramatically swell.
She said: “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.”
While the future is uncertain, she remains hopeful.
She said: “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.”
While she waits to hear if the treatment has been successful, Hillary continues to be closely monitored by her doctors.
Reflecting on her journey, and the impact it has had 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.”
Incredibly, Hillary has been able to maintain a relatively normal life throughout these past few years of treatment, continuing to work out when she can, and see family and friends.
She added: “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.”
