NB: I am transitioning over to Substack, which I’ve read is more user-friendly for readers. This same post can be found here. https://hollywardlow.substack.com/p/the-young-people?r=ph0w2
I remember now how I discovered Sydney Towle. I can’t believe I forgot. I feel bad about it, so I’m going to blame the chemo brain and just plain tiredness that I had in the fall of 2025. On my TikTok feed, before there was Sydney Towle, there was Kaelin Bradshaw (Kae). https://youtu.be/FR2RtdsOqik?si=mQ-x6sROGhhMGdiE
She was also an online influencer, also had cholangiocarcinoma, and TikTok put her in front of me first, and then, because I watched Kae’s videos, TikTok gave me Syd. In fact, she and Syd became friends, and Syd made a very moving video about her when Kae went into hospice. I only discovered Kaelin Bradshaw near the very end of her life. https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSVd7uhKc/
She was diagnosed when she was 28, and died when she was 29. She played violin, and could poke gentle fun at herself (please watch this video https://www.facebook.com/KaelinEspinosa/videos/311376178410750/?fs=e&idorvanity=692124331951538&s=TIeQ9V&fs=e ) The tumor in her liver was very large by the time it was discovered by chance, and because she was so young she was initially told it was a benign hemangioma and not to worry. No one was thinking cancer. The tumor probably grew while she was happily not worrying, though I don’t know how much time went by between that initial diagnosis and the one where she was told she had cancer. Chemo stabilized things for a while and then stopped working.
And I know another young person, a young man, I think in his late 20’s, or maybe he’s 30 by now, who also has cholangiocarcinoma.
Too many young people are getting this cancer that supposedly only affects those over 60. Everyone should know, and this really should have been the message in all those news stories about Syd: this cancer is rare, people, but not as rare as they once thought, and increasing in incidence, and increasingly affecting young people. They don’t know why. More money needs to go into research that will enable early detection of this cancer, and whatever test they manage to come up with needs to be given to young and old.
My Liver Cancer Blog 
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