A Canadian woman has bravely documented her leg amputation amidst a battle with bone cancer.
Emily Cox, 24, was first diagnosed with osteosarcoma — the most common type of bone cancer — in 2018 and underwent 10 rounds of chemotherapy and a limb salvage surgery to remove some of her bone and save her leg.
But unfortunately, the Victoria, British Columbia native learned this summer that her cancer had returned, and needed to undergo another surgery to remove her entire leg.
Emily admitted that her heart ‘absolutely broke’ at the news, but the upbeat young woman has been able to focus on the fact that the surgery saved her life — and she gamely documented the before and after in a viral TikTok video that has earned abut 40 million views.
Sharing: A Canadian woman has bravely documented her leg amputation amidst a battle with bone cancer
Countdown: Emily Cox, 24, gamely documented the before and after in a viral TikTok video that has earned abut 40 million views
In her viral video, she films herself one week, five days, three days, one day, and three hours before amputation, posing with her leg out each time
@embomcox 50% off pedis let¿s gooooo #cancersurvivor ¿ original sound – lmao
Emily’s cancer journey has been a dramatic one, but she has maintained a smiling face on social media.
In August of 2018, Emily went to the emergency room thinking she was suffering from a torn MCL after a big hike.
‘I had a ton of pain [in my knee] and needed to go to the emergency room,’ she told BuzzFeed.
‘[Doctors] took an X-ray of my knee and they could tell right away that it was bone cancer. From then on, my life was flipped upside and filled with appointments, fertility treatments, etc.
She started off treatment with chemotherapy, followed by a limb salvage surgery to remove the bottom half of her femur and knee joint. These were replaced with a steel prosthetic.
She went on to do more chemotherapy, ten rounds in all, over the course of several months.
Documented: Emily’s cancer journey has been a dramatic one, but she has maintained a smiling face on social media
The final moments: An hour before, she filmed herself in the hospital bed
‘I am lucky to say that because I caught it so early on I’m only stage I or II, I’m young healthy and fit and ready to fight a hard battle,’ she said on Instagram at the time.
‘I have all the support behind me and unconditional love! Right now I’m doing everything I can to prepare my body so it will be strong enough to fight it off.’
She updated friends and family on Instagram along the way, sharing photos of herself in the hospital.
By the summer of 2019, she had clear scans, and continued to have good scands through 2020.
But in August of this year, she shared some terrible news, revealing she’d been experiencing ‘an absoltue nightmare.’
Flashback: Emily was first diagnosed with osteosarcoma in 2018 and underwent 10 rounds of chemotherapy and a limb salvage surgery to remove some of her bone and save her leg
Getting better: By the summer of 2019, she had clear scans, and continued to have good scands through 2020
‘Recently I had noticed a small little lump on my lower femur and thought maybe I was over working my leg or had built up some more scar tissue,’ she said. ‘On July 12th, what would have been my 2 year NED scans, I had follow up X-rays done and some bone “irritation” was found.’
She soon learned that it was, in fact, a new tumor, also high-grade osteosarcoma.
‘This news absolutely breaks my heart,’ she admitted. ‘I thought I had finally been on the road to recovery with starting a new job, moving into a new apartment, and planning trips for the near future.
‘Also getting over huge mental and physical battles along the way, I have this awful feeling of failure because it came back like I didn’t do enough to prevent it but that’s out of my control and I need to focus on what is in my control now.’
Buit as terrible as it was, she said she was ‘trying to head into this with a strong positive mindset knowing a hell of a lot more than I did the first time.’
When she was told that amputation of the leg was her only option, she told BuzzFeed, it was ‘difficult to accept’ — but learning about others who had undergone the same surgery helped her come around.
Update: But in August of this year, she shared some terrible news, revealing she’d been experiencing ‘an absoltue nightmare’
‘This news absolutely breaks my heart,’ she admitted. ‘I thought I had finally been on the road to recovery with starting a new job, moving into a new apartment, and planning trips for the near future’
‘I had started doing research and reaching out to people who had this surgery before, and that’s what really helped normalize the thought of having this serious surgery,’ she said.
‘I still have my moments, but I know this was my only option for good reason, it was the surgery that would save my life.’
On September 21, she brought TikTok along for her journey, documenting the days leading up to the surgery.
In her viral video, she films herself one week, five days, three days, one day, and three hours before amputation, posing with her leg out each time.
An hour before, she filmed herself in the hospital bed.
Then, finally, she cut to the result, filming herself in shorts while holding herself up on a single crutch.
‘I still have my moments, but I know this was my only option for good reason, it was the surgery that would save my life,’ she said
Love: In addition to her family, she’s had her boyfriend of nearly ten years there to support her
She kept a sense of humor about it, too, captioning the video: ‘50% off pedis, let’s gooooo.’
‘Tbh still haven’t adjusted to looking at myself — feels like someone edited out my leg in all these pictures,’ she said on Instagram.
‘Sometimes I just sit back and think about how a month ago I thought I was healthy and living my normal life and now I’ve just lost a leg,’ she added.
About three weeks after the operation, she spoke to BuzzFeed about getting through the difficult ordeal.
‘Being able to be strong throughout this journey of mine has been hard at times, but having the love and support I have going through this has been the key to pushing through the hardest parts of it all,’ she said.
In addition to her family, she’s had her boyfriend of nearly ten years there to support her.
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