Courtney Mangan was 29 when she was given a deadly stage four cancer diagnosis and an 18 per cent chance of survival.
The business owner, from the Gold Coast, had been to the GP twice about a 'concerning' mole on her back, but they insisted she was fine. It wasn't until she went to a skin specialist that the worrying truth was revealed.
'I had my first skin check at 29, which was already too late,' Courtney, now 38, told FEMAIL.
'I had a mole on my back that I never really saw - but my family told me it started to change and urged me to see a doctor.
'The specialist checked my whole body and said everything looked normal but I expressed my concern about the mole on my back so he took a cutting and sent it to pathology.'
Courtney recalled the doctor asking her to call back on Monday and said the receptionist would give her the all clear - but alarm bells went off when she received an urgent call from her doctor on Friday morning.
'I was at work at my family business with my father and brother mere metres away from me. My doctor said that unfortunately, my mole had come back as level four melanoma and that he had to refer me to a specialist in Brisbane,' she said.
'I immediately went numb - my uncle had died from melanoma just a few years prior. My whole world changed in that moment. I couldn't think of it as anything other than a death sentence.'
Courtney Mangan was given a deadly stage 4 cancer diagnosis with an 18 per cent chance of survival - but the young Gold Coast woman has beat cancer four times in the past decade
'I had my first skin check at 29, which was already too late,' the now-38-year-old told FEMAIL
She hadn't been given a stage four diagnosis at this point. 'Level four' refers to the depth of the melanoma's invasion in the skin. There are five levels. The 'stage' is whether the melanoma has advanced beyond the skin.
Courtney felt isolated in the wake of her diagnosis.
'All my friends were looking for spare bedrooms for their children when they buy houses, or they had to-go bags in case they went into labour at night,' she said.
'But I had a hospital bag in case my body started to shut down from my cancer treatment. I was looking at apartments with extra rooms in case my mum had to come stay with me.
'We had very different realities.'
Courtney went for check ups every three months after doctors removed the mole from her shoulder.
One day over a year later, she suddenly felt a lump on her arm and suspected it was a boil yet to come to the surface.
Courtney also suddenly experienced pain when she ate – and described the feeling as an 'uncomfortable blockage' in her gut.
'I also have irritable bowel syndrome so I wasn't sure if that was it,' she said.
A PET scan revealed suspicious activity in her bowel – but a colonoscopy came back all clear.
Doctors then performed an endoscopy where they found a concerning mass.
'I woke up after surgery and saw a huge scar down my abdomen,' she recalled.
'I was alone, all night, in my hospital room, and then at 5:30 the next morning the doctor came in and told me the cancer had spread to my internal organs and was now at a stage four.'
The exited left soon after informing Courtney about her diagnosis and was left alone with her thoughts.
'It was pretty scary to be in your mid-thirties and hear that. I knew I'd have to undergo more surgeries, more invasive treatments, and the survival rate is not high,' she said.
The fourth time, doctors found a mass on Courtney's thigh and decided they couldn't cut it out.
'I had to get treatment for it because they wanted to know if it was actually working. If they just cut it out, the cancer could've popped up somewhere else three months later,' she said.
Courtney's mental health has suffered greatly because of her diagnosis - but she always tries to look on the bright side
Courtney said having to get scans every three months made her feel like she was living on borrowed time
'It was so weird to know that I was just going about my day but there was cancer in my thigh, festering and spreading.'
Courtney's mental health has suffered greatly because of her diagnosis - but she always tries to look on the bright side.
'I've been living with cancer for nine years now and it's been difficult. I've read a lot of books on the subject and tried yoga and meditation. I wanted to keep myself in a positive head space.
'Nobody coddles you; there's no sugarcoating cancer. The doctors just give you the facts.'
She shared that having to get scans every three months made her feel like she was living on borrowed time.
'It was just an endless cycle of going to the doctor and waiting to go to the doctor the next time.
'I overthought every ache and pain I had; I was so hyper-aware of every symptom I had. I was so aware of my body and thinking about it constantly.
'Then, there's this horrible pit in your stomach while you're waiting for the results to come back.'
Courtney said she overthought every ache and pain while she was going through treatment
Courtney felt a 'pit' in her stomach while waiting for her results
'I've never been to the emergency room as often as I have when I was in treatment because you never know how the cancer will present itself.
'If there's some inflammation, you get a biopsy. Then a PET scan. Then an ultrasound. And then there are so many other follow up tests.'
She said that she felt like she could 'only breathe for three months at a time'.
'I was never happy or free of it. Melanoma is so aggressive - it can just keep coming back.'
Courtney relied a lot on her loved ones for support.
'As a single woman, having a close relationship with my friends and family was so important. They really helped me through my darkest days.'
Her oncologist spoke to her about her fertility options and they decided to freeze her eggs before she underwent treatment.
'I was about to start something that would hopefully save my life - but I had to put it on hold to protect my fertility. I was single at the time and not really thinking about kids. I was just thinking about how to stay alive.'
Despite being cancer-free for three years now, Courtney still feels the weight of her health journey on her shoulders.
'You can never really shake it; there's a dark cloud hanging over you all the time.'