THE BEETING CANCER BLOG

Welcome!

Hi! My name is Natalie. I am a 24-year old human with a life altering story to tell in the hope that what I share can help & guide others.

In 2017, CANSA released a fact sheet on oral cancer in South Africa which you can go ahead & read here. What is important about this report is that in the year of 2017, only 5 cases of oral cancer were registered for women aged 20-29 in the entire country with a population of around 59 million people. This makes my diagnosis rare. What makes it even more unusual is the fact that I do not have or indulge in any of the potential risks and causes of this cancer. Primarily, I don’t drink nor do I smoke. Yet somehow, as of May 2023, I was diagnosed with stage 3 oral cancer (specifically squamous cell carcinoma). Finding a space & resource that can guide me through this experience in a more personal way than medical reports has been nearly impossible to find.

While my illness sometimes affects my ability to speak, I will not allow it to silence me. So, I created this blog to share the experiences I have had & document those yet to come. Stayed tuned as I will be adding & updating this website throughout the journey.

Why Beeting Cancer Blog?

First things first – why the name The Beeting Cancer Blog & why the super funky logo? Well, I made use of the double ‘ee‘ in beeting as an ode to my slogan & mission for this blog ‘Educated Patients – Empowered Patients’. This is something my doctors have shared numerous times & while I am lucky enough to have a medical team who do share as much information about this experience as possible with me, not everyone is so fortunate. Empowering others to know what an experience like this entails & potentially making it that much easier, would be such a privilege. Plus, I’m learning new tricks everyday so why not share for those who may find some use out of it?

On this blog you’ll find a timeline of my story from diagnosis to present day, planned days to come, a page dedicated to the best products on the market to help out with all the weird and wonderful ailments that come with having cancer & other informative posts about the experience, procedures I have had, expectations vs. reality – all with the hope that what I share can possibly be a space for others to learn.

So with that I welcome you to what is & will undoubtedly be a crazy journey in the road to recovering from an illness that still baffles the medical world today.

Should you ever wish to reach out to me privately, you can find me on Facebook @TheBeetingCancerBlog