Sarah Kuttner will film her chemotherapy to help others facing cancer

Sarah Kuttner is about to start chemotherapy, and she wants to take you along. The German presenter and author, 47, has breast cancer and plans to document her treatment on video.

What happened?

On Instagram, Kuttner showed a dark brown wig lying in a cardboard box on a wooden floor. A second photo showed her tools: several combs, hair clips and scissors.

She seems to be cutting the wig herself. "Second hair and the final boss of second hair. The salon is open and I'm cutting my new old hairstyle myself," she wrote. She invited her followers to watch and said she would film it and put it on YouTube in the coming days.

In another video she was open about how she feels. "Today is the last day before chemo, so I'm a bit tense," she said. She asked her community to describe their own mood in two adjectives, and went first: tense and impatient.

Why a video diary?

The planned YouTube vlog is meant to be a kind of diary of her treatment. Kuttner says her updates should help people "who are also scared". She liked watching clips like that herself: "I thought it was great to watch videos like this."

She is honest about the limits, too. "No idea if I'll stick with it. We mustn't forget that I also have ADHD and I plan things that then don't happen."

Why chemo after all?

For a long time it wasn't clear she would need it. Kuttner had first assumed that anti-hormone therapy and an operation would be enough. Then a so-called Onkotest, a test that helps decide on treatment, showed that an important threshold had been exceeded, though only narrowly.

She explained this in early November on her podcast "Das kleine Fernsehballett", which she hosts with Stefan Niggemeier. "My tumour is a bit bumpier than expected," she said.

What's next?

The chemotherapy is planned to last four and a half months. The operation is scheduled to follow afterwards.