A young woman living with aggressive bile duct cancer shared an emotional Christmas video message from the hospital.
Sydney Towle, from California, has been documenting her journey with the disease since she was diagnosed in August 2023, when she was just 23 years old.
In a video posted on Christmas Eve, Sydney, now 24, became emotional about something she heard while receiving chemotherapy-immunotherapy.
“Being in chemo and hearing someone ring the doorbell knowing that they and their family will receive the best Christmas gift ever,” she wrote in the clip.
The short video showed her sitting on a brown hospital chair for her treatment, wiping tears from her eyes.
Sydney’s fans quickly rallied around her with heartfelt messages of support.
In response to the comments, one user said: “And you will call that one buttons.”
Echoing a similar sentiment, another wrote: “Can’t wait until you can ring that bell.”
A woman battling aggressive bile duct cancer named Sydney Towle shared an emotional Christmas video message from the hospital.
She fought back tears while receiving treatment after hearing a patient ring the doorbell.
“It may not mean much coming from a stranger, but it’s amazing that you can still find happiness for other people after everything you’ve been through with this,” a third added.
“You are a sweet and empathetic girl,” said a fourth. “I can’t wait for your turn to ring the bell.”
A fifth added: ‘It will happen to you darling, it will happen to you! It’s a mother’s intuition. I really feel like you’re going to be okay. You’ve got this.’
Sydney has spent the week receiving chemoimmunotherapy, a cancer treatment that combines chemotherapy and immunotherapy to treat cancer, for the first time.
“I’m so grateful to be with my family, but I feel very, very sick,” she said in another recent TikTok.
‘I’m very nauseous and very tired, so I occasionally fall asleep in a dark room until I feel better.
“Sometimes all you can do is sleep, but I’m still very happy to be here.”
Bile duct cancer, also known as cholangiocarcinoma, is an aggressive type of cancer that begins in the bile ducts.
Sydney has spent the week receiving chemoimmunotherapy, a cancer treatment that combines chemotherapy and immunotherapy.
He admitted that he felt nauseated and tired after the treatments.
Sydney was first diagnosed with bile duct cancer in August 2023.
It can affect people of different ages, but is most commonly diagnosed in adults over 50 years of age.
Sydney was diagnosed with the disease after doctors discovered a “sizable mass” in her stomach that had been growing for four months.
“I’m normally an active person, but I suddenly started feeling short of breath and a strange burning sensation came over my stomach,” she previously told DailyMail.com.
The young woman admitted that she had initially ignored her symptoms and urged other people not to miss their regular medical check-ups.
‘After ignoring my symptoms, I finally decided to go to the doctor. “They did an ultrasound, then an MRI and a biopsy,” Sydney explained.
‘When I received the initial MRI results and they showed a solid mass in my liver, I knew it was cancer.
‘I immediately called my family, with tears streaming down my face. It took me a long time to fully understand the reality of my diagnosis.’
Sydney, whose tumor arose from a genetic mutation, admitted the most challenging aspect of her journey has been dealing with the unknown.
“It’s hard for me to plan for the future or hope for anything when everything is so fragile around my diagnosis and treatment,” she said.
‘It’s also very difficult to plan short-term, such as dinners or outings with friends, when I don’t know how I will feel physically or emotionally on a given day.