Kyedae health update: Streamer reveals details on her cancer diagnosis

On March 3, the Valorant community received sad news about popular Twitch streamer Kyedae, with her revealing that she had been diagnosed with cancer. In a Twitter post, the creator explained how it was acute myeloid leukemia and that she will be starting treatment soon.

Fans, fellow streamers, and content creators flooded her post with well-wishes. With over 2.2 million followers on Twitch, Kyedae has become one of the biggest content creators focused on Valorant over the last few years.

In a more recent stream, she also talked about withholding the news from her family and fiance, TenZ, until the recent Sau Paulo VCT, lest he gets distracted. The streamer has also opened up about how she has been coping with the news.

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"My way of coping": Kyedae explains how humor has helped her deal with the cancer diagnosis

"Kyedae" Shymko is a Canadian national of Japanese descent who started her streaming career in October 2021 while using esporting star TenZ's PC, her then-boyfriend. The two have practically become Valorant Royalties, having connected to the masses with their on-screen presence as both individual streamers and as a couple who stream together.

Her jovial and endearing personality is a big reason she has gained such a huge following in such a small amount of time. On her first stream after announcing the leukemia diagnosis, the streamer explained how she has been using humor to cope with the stress of having cancer.

She stated:

"I start chemotherapy very soon. So I hope I don't die ( Kyedae laughs). I'm sorry, I'm so bad at this. When I found out that I had cancer, too, I actually, I just, like laughed. I apologize if I trigger you, if I trigger any of you, or make you feel really uncomfortable, because like all I've been doing during this is, just been laughing."

Her practical approach to not feeling sad has been gaining quite some traction on the internet:

"Let's be real here. If I get sad and I'm just like, 'Oh, I have cancer.' 'Oh this.' Oh that.' Like, it's not going to go, 'Poof, go away!' You know what I mean? It's just like, my way of coping. Like, I'm sure, like, my community knows this. I'm always joking, constantly, when I probably shouldn't, and it's probably very... kind of like, inappropriate too."

Kydae informed her audience that she will be starting chemotherapy soon, and due to the nature of the treatment, her streaming schedule might get disrupted. The creator also talked about how she has been putting up a brave face, but underneath all of that, she has been dealing with a lot of complications. She revealed:

"Streams will probably get... less regular, considering like, with chemo. I'm sure a lot of you, or I'm sure some of you might know what it does to your body. And, like, I already feel quite sick. I'm trying, like, my best to put on a normal face in front. But I've been dealing with a lot of, like, health complications recently. Actually, for a little while now."

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Kyedae reveals hiding the news of her cancer from TenZ and family

Kyedae also revealed how she has been keeping the news of her cancer diagnosis from her family and partner. She divulged:

"So I found about my cancer probably about two-and-a-half weeks ago. So it's been pretty recent. But I didn't... tell anyone actually. Not even my mom or my dad, or Tyson, until after his tournament."

TenZ and her have been dating for quite a while now, and the two got engaged last August to much fanfare. As an esporting star, TenZ is an integral part of the Sentinels roster, and his fiancee didn’t want him to worry while competing in the recent VCT Lock//In Sau Paulo. She explained:

"I just wanted to make sure that he was fully focused on his game and his work, before I, like, broke the news.I obviously didn't want him to be in a different headspace for it. I don't know if Tyson's watching right now, but I know that he... has been very strong, and he's just been an amazing support pillar in all of this. So just make sure to give him love, too."

Acute myeloid leukemia is quite a rare form of blood and bone marrow cancer that requires emergency medical care but is treatable. Kyedae's fans and well-wishers across the world are hoping for a swift recovery.