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By Alyce Collins
Senior Reporter
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"One appointment a year could save your life," Courtney Siley reminds people, after her demands for a biopsy of her skin led to a life-changing cancer diagnosis.
For many years, Siley, 36, had a small mark on her cheek. She told Newsweek that she believed it was simply "a weird birthmark." It was so small at first that she barely noticed it, but then it started to change in size and shape, leading to some concerned comments.
Siley’s family would point it out and encourage her to get it checked. She decided to heed their advice eventually and got it looked at by a doctor who tested it for melanoma. When the results came back, they were negative, and Siley hoped that would end any concerns.
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"I felt good and relieved that it wasn’t anything, and maybe I was right that it was just a weird birthmark," Siley, of Fort Bragg, North Carolina, said.
That wasn’t the case, however. A few months after the skin test, Siley found herself fixating on the mark once again. She kept looking through old photos of herself and realized that she hadn’t always had the blemish on her face, causing her to question what it really was.
By this time, the mark had grown significantly, and it was no longer perfectly round. It had jagged edges, which was another cause for concern.
Telling the difference between a benign mark on the skin and melanoma isn’t always easy, but melanomas are generally asymmetrical, mottled in color, and don’t have smooth edges. The Cleveland Clinic recommends using the ABCDEs of skin cancer to recognize the signs: A stands for asymmetry, B is for border, C is for color, D is for diameter, and E is for evolving.
"The following year at my next annual checkup, I told the doctor I wanted it biopsy, regardless of what the last test said," Siley said.
After pushing for more testing, Siley was diagnosed with Stage II melanoma in July 2023. It was a horrifying discovery, but she was nonetheless grateful that it had been found early.
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Melanoma is one of the most-common cancers in young people under 30, especially among women. It can affect any area of the body, and around 30 percent of cases begin in existing moles, according to The Cleveland Clinic.
Siley went in for surgery around six weeks after the diagnosis to remove the melanoma. She was initially told it would be a quick 45-minute procedure that she would be awake throughout. But the surgeon decided that putting Siley under was the best protocol due to how close the melanoma was to her eye.
As it turned out, the surgery took two hours to complete instead because the cancer was so much larger than originally thought.
Siley said: "I was in bed for about a week after the surgery. My eye was basically swollen shut, I didn’t have much of an appetite, and I also think I was slightly depressed with everything going on. I put on a tough face, but I was scared. I have two children I need to show up for. To think I went mistreated and how much worse it could’ve gotten if I didn’t demand that biopsy at my next appointment."
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The scars from Siley’s surgery go all the way from her cheek to behind the ear, and she had stitches in for several weeks. She has since made a full recovery and now has a full bill of health, but urges others not to ignore any warning signs.
Vigilance is key, as melanoma has a 99 percent chance of being cured when caught early. Siley urges anyone who is concerned about their skin to get it checked, as she said there is "nothing you will regret" by getting it looked at.
Siley posted about her melanoma experience on TikTok (@coko_1289) and it went viral with over 710,600 views and more than 9,100 likes at the time of writing.
"I get so much advice on how to cover up my scars and, honestly, they will heal over time," Siley said. "I’m a survivor and I think these scars have helped others realize how important it is to take care of their skin because you don’t want to end up like this. But I’m alive and I’m here for my kids, and that’s all that matters. I’m super grateful to have an amazing family that supported me through all of this."
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