I noticed a tiny mark on my girlfriend’s face but she told me it was just an ‘age spot’. It was melanoma – and she only found out after severe eye pain hit

A Melbourne woman dismissed a suspicious mark on her face as an innocent sign of ageing for months, despite her girlfriend repeatedly urging her to get it checked.

Leish Kiprios was just 30 when her partner, Christina Podolyan, noticed an unusual dark spot beside a thunderbolt tattoo on her face.

At first, Christina was reluctant to mention it, worried that Leish might be self-conscious about the mark so early in their relationship.

But as the months passed, she became increasingly concerned, particularly when Leish revealed the spot had only appeared recently.

Her fears intensified when the couple watched an episode of The Kardashians in which Khloé Kardashian revealed she had been diagnosed with melanoma after discovering a suspicious mark on her cheek.

Christina was stunned by how closely the reality star’s skin lesion resembled the one on her girlfriend’s face.

Yet Leish remained convinced there was nothing to worry about.

It was only months later, when she developed severe pain around her eye while Christina was travelling through Europe, that she finally sought medical attention.

A biopsy revealed the spot was skin cancer, and Leish was referred for treatment to have it removed.

Now, approximately three years later, Christina has shared their experience in the hope of encouraging Australians to take suspicious skin changes seriously, particularly as the weather warms up.

‘I’m so, so, so big on getting your skin checked every single year,’ she said in a video.

‘I know a lot of people, we always feel invincible, right? We always think, “Nah, it’s never going to happen to me”. But I hope this story really makes you want to book that appointment in.’

Christina explained that she first noticed the unusual mark just a few months into their relationship.

‘It looked like a big freckle, but almost like a mole, but not a mole,’ she recalled.

‘I didn’t know if she was going to get offended, so I was just treading on thin ice.’

Eventually, she decided she could no longer ignore it. In the middle of a conversation, Christina casually asked Leish whether she had ever had the spot examined by a doctor.

Her girlfriend immediately dismissed the concern.

‘Oh, it’s just an age spot,’ Leish said at the time.

‘Hold on a minute, sis, you’re 30 years old, not 300 years old. What do you mean you’ve got an age spot?’ Christina asked.

When Christina asked how long the mark had been there, Leish admitted it had appeared recently. But she remained adamant that it was simply a normal part of getting older.

Christina continued encouraging her to book a skin check, aware of how common skin cancer was in Australia.

Then, several weeks later, the couple were watching The Kardashians when an episode caught Christina’s attention.

Khloé Kardashian had previously revealed that doctors discovered melanoma on her face after she had a persistent mark examined.

Christina immediately noticed the similarities, and she hoped seeing another woman experience something so similar would finally convince Leish to make an appointment.

But despite Christina’s increasingly urgent warnings, Leish continued to believe the mark was harmless.

Several months later, Christina left Australia for a long-planned holiday around Europe with her friends.

She was four weeks into the trip when Leish called her with frightening news. Over the previous 24 hours, she had developed severe pain around her eye and had visited her GP.

The doctor examined her and recommended an urgent skin check. Leish subsequently underwent a biopsy, which confirmed skin cancer.

At that stage, the couple did not know how extensive the cancer was or what treatment would involve.

Christina was particularly distressed that Leish had waited until she developed pain before seeking medical attention.

‘They didn’t know how much the cancer had spread at this point because she waited until it started hurting her to go get it checked,’ she said.

Because the area was causing significant discomfort, Leish was placed on a priority list for treatment. But with Christina still overseas, she faced the prospect of undergoing the procedure without her partner beside her.

‘This is really hard because obviously she’s in Melbourne, she doesn’t have anyone to come and support her,’ Christina recalled thinking.

Leish decided to fly to Brisbane, where her mother, a nurse, could help care for her. Her mother also helped arrange treatment at the hospital where she worked.

Leish underwent a procedure to remove the cancerous lesion from her face.

‘Luckily there’s been no sign of the cancer coming back,’ Christina said.

The experience has changed the way both women approach sun protection.

Christina admitted that although she had always been conscious of wearing sunscreen, she had occasionally forgotten to apply it.

Watching her girlfriend undergo treatment for skin cancer made her realise how easily people could underestimate their own risk.

‘It was a big lesson for me too,’ she said.

‘Ever since that happened, you forget how non-invincible we can be, and we always think it won’t happen to us, it won’t happen to anyone we know, but it really will, it really can.’

She urged Australians to book regular skin checks and pay attention to any new or changing spots rather than assuming they were harmless.

‘The sun has no favourites,’ she said.

‘Just sunscreen, sunscreen every day. Hopefully this is a lesson for everyone.’

Australia has one of the highest rates of melanoma in the world, with ultraviolet radiation from the sun a major risk factor.

Skin cancers can develop as new spots or changes to existing freckles and moles, and they do not necessarily cause pain or other noticeable symptoms in their early stages.

The Cancer Council recommends Australians become familiar with their skin and consult a GP promptly if they notice a new or changing spot, particularly one that changes in size, shape or colour, bleeds, or looks different from surrounding marks.

Sun protection is recommended whenever the UV Index reaches three or above, including sunscreen, protective clothing, a broad-brimmed hat, shade and sunglasses.

Importantly, a suspicious spot should be assessed by a healthcare professional rather than waiting for symptoms to develop.