Tess Halbert's Cancer Journey
- Tess Halbert was a senior in high school when she was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma.
- Halbert, who has more than 400,000 followers on TikTok, creates videos that are raw, honest and funny.
- She uses humor to show the more stranger side effects of chemotherapy such as her nails falling off and gaining weight.
Halbert has a massive following on TikTok with over 400,000 followers where she documents her cancer journey in raw, honest and funny videos. She even makes fun of herself for having cancer. In one video, Halbert says, “I make cancer jokes because they’re funny. Avoid the crippling reality of my fragile mortality.” When most people think of chemotherapy, they may think of a cancer patient having side effects like nausea, fatigue and loss of appetite. Halbert, however, shows her followers the more unusual side of chemo treatment, including her nails falling off and gaining weight, instead of losing it. Halbert also finds a new way to cope with hair loss. She embraces her baldness by using a face mask on her whole head. Halbert is taking self-care to another level. “My scalp is going to be so unreasonably soft and healthy after this,” Halbert says. “I don’t know if you guys have ever felt bubbly scalp.” When looking back at 2019, Halbert jokes, “I mean I was healthy and super in shape. And I had hair. But I didn’t have TikTok followers.” She has graciously agreed to allow us to use her content in order to help our community.
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