Dr. Kimberley Nix: A final farewell and a message of hope on TikTok

On 8 May, at 31, Dr. Kimberley Nix passed away. A resident of Calgary, Canada, she began documenting her cancer journey on Instagram and TikTok in 2021. At that time, Dr. Nix was in her third and final year of residency in internal medicine.

In an interview with "People" magazine, Dr. Nix confessed that she tries not to make the disease the only content of her life. She explained: "I only have one thing in my life that is tough or hard right now. Yes, it is serious, but [it's] just one thing. Life is so much more. It’s friends, family, pets, your career, the perfect temperature first sip of tea, the beautiful snow-tipped mountains."

Dr. Nix was initially diagnosed with extra-skeletal osteosarcoma. Later, she found out she had undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma. The evolution of diagnosis is shared with sarcomas, as this type of cancer has over 100 subtypes. Sarcomas are discussed as the source of cancer cells in connective tissues.

On her social media channels, Dr. Nix urged viewers not to ignore symptoms. She explained, "Sarcoma symptoms are very important because there's no screening test. My symptom was the most common symptom of soft tissue sarcoma. Everything was completely normal—including all my lab results—except for a small but quickly growing lump on my left leg."

On the day of her death, Dr. Nix posted her final video on her TikTok account. This touching recording has already reached over 6 million users of the platform. Kimberly Nix began her message: "Hello followers; if you’re seeing this message, I have passed away peacefully. For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Kim, hi! It’s so nice to meet you, and you’re welcome to check out all the cool sarcoma facts, information and my lived experience with death and dying with sarcoma cancer."

Again, she thanked her husband, family, friends, and pets. She highlighted that these are the most essential values in life, not professional achievements, although she was proud of them. Dr Nix said goodbye to her followers with the words: love you all, thank you so much for this amazing opportunity. I’m in happy tears because you’ve all made me find so much purpose in the end of my life."

Source: deadline.com