THE heartbreaking final posts of a TikTok star have been revealed after she died at 27 from liver cancer.
Rachel Yaffe fought the rare disease for seven years before her death on October 11.
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The TikToker was known for documenting her health to over 55,000 followers on the social media platform.
In her final post on September 1, over a month before her death, Yaffe looked frail as she spoke about her latest round of radiation.
Yaffe said she felt weak but seemed in good spirits, captioning the video, “Finding the little [joys] helps me stay motivated even on my worst days.”
The social media star shared in the update that she was back in her New York apartment but said bluntly that the journey had “not been easy.”
READ MORE ON TIKTOK STARS
“I lost so much of my strength when I was getting radiation and I’m starting from day one,” she said.
“It’s been so hard for me to get up and force myself to move so I’m working on doing that.”
She said she was working on exercising and sticking to a strict food regimen because she’s had a low appetite.
“I’m really just focusing on the small things that bring me joy and really, really prioritizing my mental health as well.”
Yaffe was 20 when she was diagnosed with fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma, a rare form of liver cancer that only affects 200 people worldwide every year.
The cancer uniquely affects mostly young and healthy people.
The Maryland native previously said on the platform that she felt sick throughout her late teenage years, but that she pinned it on a possible gluten intolerance until a specialist found a tumor in her liver.
In February of this year, Yaffe’s health suffered a setback due to a lung hemorrhage.
She said in a TikTok video that the hemorrhage was caused by a tumor pressing on her heart, preventing her lung’s ventilation and causing it to bleed.
Yaffe began radiotherapy and immunotherapy to decrease the tumor and stop the bleeding, causing her to be intubated for three days.
Who was TikTok star Rachel Yaffe?
TikTok star Rachel Yaffe died at 27 on October 11 following a fight with a rare form of cancer that lasted seven years.
Yaffe documented her battle with fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma to her 55,000 followers on TikTok.
Throughout her videos, Yaffe revealed that she felt like something was out of the ordinary with her health in her late teens but that she wasn’t diagnosed with liver cancer until she was 20.
FL-HCC typically affects young people without underlying liver disease.
After visiting a doctor, she was referred to a specialist who found a 20-centimeter tumor in her liver.
The Maryland native was diagnosed with stage 4 FL-HCC and rushed in for surgery to remove the tumor – but the cancer returned to her liver and lungs three months later.
Over the years, Yaffe documented her journey with multiple types of medicine to ease her pain. She often tried alternative methods like bee venom therapy and seeking out non-toxic food and products throughout her fight with the disease.
After living in Los Angeles, Yaffe moved to New York, where her sister lives, in September 2023.
In February 2024, Yaffe suffered a lung hemorrhage and had to undergo multiple emergency procedures. While she was intubated for three days, her parents gave consent for her to start radiation and immunotherapy to try to stop the bleeding.
In June, the TikTok star reported that she started proton therapy after doctors were worried about a tumor in her abdomen.
After resting at her parents’ home in Baltimore, Yaffe returned to her New York home in August.
She posted her final TikTok on September 1, where she appeared physically frail and spoke about staying optimistic while feeling weak.
Her death was announced on Friday, October 11.
“She is survived by her devoted parents, Linda (nee Bass) and Wayne Yaffe; cherished brother and sister, Jordan Yaffe and Jessica Yaffe; dear grandmother, Sydney Bass; and loving dog, Layla,” Yaffe’s obituary reads.
In June, Yaffe said she received scan results that showed some “very positive parts and some not-so-ideal parts.”
FANS PAY TRIBUTE
Since her death was announced on Friday, tributes have poured in for Yaffe in the comments of her final posts on the platform.
“Rest high Angel. You are no longer hurting in pain anymore. You are free now,” one fan wrote under her last video.
“I just found out about you today. I watched several of your videos. What a sweet lady you are. What a loss. Please watch over your family. I’m sure they’re devastated,” another shared in a comment.
Another commented, “I have been looking for an update everyday. I have been following Rachel for years. I am so heartbroken. Rest in peace sweet girl, I know there is peace on the other side.”
If there is one thing that I’ve learned, it is to trust your body. Don’t let anybody make you feel like you are wrong or crazy for feeling certain things.”
Rachel Yaffe
In a TikTok pinned to the top of her page, Yaffe says her message is for other people to get checked out by doctors if they suspect something’s wrong.
“I feel like everybody was making me feel like it was my anxiety and like I was crazy and I know a lot of people have stories like this,” she said about her symptoms in the video posted in April 2023.
“It made me stop trusting my body and the signals that it was sending me…because everyone was telling me that I was wrong and they couldn’t find anything.
“If there is one thing that I’ve learned, it is to trust your body. Don’t let anybody make you feel like you are wrong or crazy for feeling certain things.”
Yaffe is survived by her parents and grandma, her brother and sister, and her dog, Layla.
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