Over 100,000 people subscribe to 12-year-old Talia Joy Castellano’s YouTube page so they can watch her bubbly and seriously impressive makeup tutorials. (She may have just convinced me that primer has a purpose, something I’ve been denying for years.) But Talia’s not just another millennial YouTube celeb; she’s been a cancer patient since 2007, and says she uses makeup as a “wig” that makes her feel comfortable and confident even while going through shit that most of us couldn’t even begin to fathom.
Earlier this summer, Talia jumped up and down in her chair as she told fans that she couldn’t wait for 7th grade. But last night, she uploaded a vlog titled “idk what to say” and announced some horrible news: she now has two cancers in her body at once. “Well pre leukemia which is a start of leukemia in my bonemarrow,” she wrote on the site. “Its very rare to have neuroblastoma and leukemia at the same time.”
“Basically there are not really a lot of options for treatment anymore,” Talia explains to her viewers with the wisdom of few adults we know. One of them is a bone marrow transplant, which would be very tough on her body because she’s had “so many surgeries it’s crazy.” She says she’s leaning towards not doing it, which means she would only have four months to a year to live.
“I’m going to decide whether or not I want to do the bone marrow transplant, or whether or not I just don’t do it and live the time I have remaining,” she says. “This is not fair to me anymore. I’m only 13. I shouldn’t have to be doing this…it’s really not fair for kids to have cancer. It really frickin sucks.”
Talia’s not sure what her next steps are, but she does know she’ll keep making videos. “I’ve gotten so many benefits from [cancer],” Talia says. “Having a YouTube channel, having to inspire people and having people look up to me…I adore, I love makeup, using it as my wig…it’s amazing…the journey of having cancer was amazing. But every journey has an end. I hope you guys understand what I’m saying, and understand where I’m coming from.”