- In December 2023, Beth Riehle began experiencing a severe migraine that never went away
- From there, things progressively worsened. The 35-year-old, living in Austin, began noticing pain in her ear and jaw, discoloration of her tongue and difficulty eating
- Eventually, on March 11, 2024, Riehle was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma, the most common form of tongue cancer
- On Nov. 26, 2024, Riehle underwent a near-total glossectomy, neck dissection and tongue reconstruction
Beth Riehle was at the height of her career. At 35, living in Austin, she was working at an interior design boutique hotel, bartending and designing cocktails for their multimillion-dollar beverage program. But in December 2023, everything changed when she began experiencing a severe migraine that never went away.
From there, things progressively worsened. Riehle began noticing pain in her ear and jaw, discoloration of her tongue and difficulty eating. She initially attributed these symptoms to her TMJ and nightly teeth grinding. Her primary care physician, uncertain of the cause, suggested she see an ENT (ear, nose and throat) doctor.
One Friday, she went to her first ENT appointment alone. She recalls sitting in the chair when the doctor entered, examined her tongue, and immediately said, “We need to do a biopsy.” Riehle asked, “When?” and the doctor responded, “Right now.”
“That was the moment I knew I was sick,” Riehle tells PEOPLE exclusively. “She proceeded to perform a punch biopsy — using a sharp hole punch to collect cells. She told me there was a small chance it could be an autoimmune condition she wasn’t familiar with, but warned that in her experience, what she saw looked like cancer. I spiraled. I’ll never forget calling my mom from the parking lot, screaming and crying, telling her that I had cancer.”
“The only emotion I can remember was fear,” she adds. “At the time, I thought it was anger, but now I realize it was just fear.”
Beth Riehle undergoes cancer treatment.
Beth Riehle
On March 11, 2024, Riehle was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma, the most common form of tongue cancer, according to the Mayo Clinic. This type originates from the flat, squamous cells lining the tongue’s surface.
When Riehle received the diagnosis, she asked the typical questions: What stage is it? What caused it? Has it spread? But since she was still early in the process, most of those questions went unanswered. Instead, she was given two treatment options: surgery, which would remove the tumor but likely affect her speech and ability to swallow and eat for the rest of her life; or chemotherapy and radiation.
After consulting with a medical oncologist, she chose chemotherapy and radiation for the head and neck. Her first course of treatment involved 35 sessions of radiation, Monday through Friday, for seven weeks, alongside weekly chemotherapy.
“The radiation treated my entire mouth, neck and lymph nodes,” she says. “I was initially on cisplatin chemotherapy, but after a couple of weeks of ringing in my ears, they switched me to carboplatin.”
“I didn’t have a feeding tube during the first round of treatment,” she adds. “I lost the ability to eat solid food by the fourth week due to radiation burns. I’ve never been so hungry in my life. I was weak, tired and terrified. There’s a lot you can endure, but I didn’t think I would survive not eating for two months. Those were long, hard days.”
Beth Riehle undergoes cancer treatment.
Beth Riehle
On June 17, 2024, Riehle completed what she thought would be her only round of treatment. That day, she rang the bell — symbolizing the end of treatment — but it wouldn’t be the last time. Two months later, she began experiencing excruciating shooting pains across her forehead and neck.
At first, she assumed it was a delayed reaction to radiation. She went to the emergency room in late September, where she was kept overnight for pain management and given a CT scan to check for clear margins. Her oncologist visited her in the hospital, but even he wasn’t sure what was causing the pain.
Four days later, Riehle learned that her cancer was treatment-resistant and a second tumor had developed. Her medical team at Texas Oncology recommended she seek care at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston to explore clinical trials.
“When I found out about the second tumor, I was heartbroken,” she says. “My spirit felt broken. Then the pain started. The location of the tumor caused searing pain, radiating from behind my eyes all around my head, into my ears and down my neck. I couldn’t move without screaming out in pain. My friends and family watched as I struggled in agony while waiting for surgery. Those were the longest weeks of my life. Sometimes, my screams still haunt me.”
“When it all started, people would tell me, ‘You’re so strong,’ or ‘You’re so brave.’ I would tell my fiancé, Donald, ‘I don’t know why they think that. I’m such a baby.’ But cancer has proved otherwise. I am strong and brave. I think something lies within all of us, when forced, to show up for ourselves. There’s an inner strength that comes out when needed. For me, my strength comes from the belief that when this is over, I will still be here — a new version of myself, but still me. And I refuse to give up on me.”
After consulting with a team of doctors at MD Anderson, Riehle was told she would need a total glossectomy — surgery to remove part or all of her tongue, as well as her lymph nodes. Reflecting on this, she admits she thought she might never speak again.
Before her surgery, Riehle had searched social media to find someone her age — or at least someone similar — who had undergone a glossectomy, but found little. Everything she found was either a horror story or the story of someone much older.
“I actually begged my doctor not to ‘mutilate’ me or take my voice away,” she says. “Losing my voice felt like losing my life. I’m the loud one, the funny one, the one quick to make a friend. It’s why I thrived in the service industry. So when I found out I was losing my voice, it felt like someone took my life from me.”
Beth Riehle undergoes cancer treatment.
Beth Riehle
On Nov. 26, 2024, Riehle underwent a near-total glossectomy, neck dissection and tongue reconstruction. The 12-hour surgery removed 80% of her natural tongue and 75% of her lymph nodes. Doctors used muscle from her leg to reconstruct a “flap” to replace her tongue.
After the surgery, when doctors capped her tracheostomy and asked her to speak, she feared nothing would come out. But to her surprise, her voice was still there. “I think I still sound like myself, but my speech is much different now,” she says.
“I’ll have a speech impediment for the rest of my life. Certain letters, like C, D, G and TH, are harder to pronounce. I get frustrated and embarrassed, but it’s still so new that I refuse to believe this is how I’ll sound forever.”
Since the surgery, Riehle has been in recovery. Her pathology report came back clear, and she does physical therapy twice a week, focusing on exercises like riding a stationary bike or walking laps, using light weights or doing body resistance movements for repetitive motion. Her speech therapy is similar, focused on consistency. She does swallowing exercises, hoping that once her mouth has healed, she will be able to eat solid food again. For now, she’s only able to eat through her PEG tube.
During her recovery, Riehle found solace in online shopping. “Honestly, shopping when you’re feeling down is pretty satisfying,” she says. “Plus, my body was constantly changing, so I ordered a lot of clothes. I had tons of cute outfits and nowhere to go. I was also newly terrified of the world.”
Then, one day it dawned on her that she could film OOTD (outfit of the day) videos for TikTok where she would get dressed and show her outfits off while facing her fear of public speaking, and have all the videos to look back on and see her progress.
“I thought maybe if I put my story out there and used the hashtags I had looked up myself before my procedure ‘glossectomy’ and ‘tongue cancer’ that I could help someone else my age,” she says. “That at least there would be me to show them what life might look like post-surgery.”
The day Riehle posted her first video, she went to the mall alone. Inside a store, she asked a young woman for help with a fitting room. After repeatedly asking, the woman finally looked at her and said, “Are you talking to me? I can’t understand a word you’re saying.” Riehle set down her items, went to her car and broke down for nearly an hour before she could pull herself together to go home. “I thought I might never go anywhere again,” she recalls.
“That day, I decided no one would ever make me feel that small again, not after everything I’ve been through to stay alive,” she says. “Speech impediment or not, I deserve to take up space in the world. People around me were telling me they could understand me, and hearing myself on video helped me see what sounds I struggle with. It forced me to slow down and think about what I want to say.”
Since then, Riehle has continued to post continuous OOTD videos to share her story. Then, one day while with her sister in Houston, she noticed an influx of friend requests and likes on her video.
“I turned to my sister and said, ‘I think I’m going viral,’ ” she recalls, adding that it all started thanks to one woman who found her page and made a video about her. Thanks to her, she’s built a community of more than 63,000 followers.
“There’s a lot of excitement,” she says. “At first, I was a little embarrassed that so many people would see me talk, but then I remembered why I did it: to be brave and show someone like me. Messages from people who had been through something similar, or had a speech impediment or were just fighting cancer started flooding in. I knew I had done the right thing. That really brought me joy.”
“I never imagined I’d get this kind of reception when I started posting to practice my speech,” she continues. “It’s overwhelming at times, but it feels like a gift to be a voice for the voiceless. The outreach I’ve received and the stories people have shared with me have floored me. My journey is helping others. I thought I was going to lose my voice, but now that I’ve found it again, I’m determined to use it to help others.”
Riehle adds how she’s had a handful of young women who have had glossectomies reach out to her, along with people whose mother or brother or sister went through it as well. She says they tell her how when they see her sharing her story on TikTok, they feel hopeful.
But one woman in particular who reached out, Riehle recalls, moved her to tears. The woman said she watched her videos all morning while her mother was in surgery having her tongue reconstructed.
“Even though I was nervous about all these people watching, I knew that I had actually done something worthwhile,” she says. “Many of the messages say I’m an inspiration or that they’re so proud of me, that they look up to me. And I appreciate it but I have a hard time believing that I’m anything other than a normal person who got dealt a crappy hand and is doing their best.”
“Recently treatment has been extremely difficult and I’m pretty transparent with my followers about it,” she adds. “I will say having them encourage me to continue is extremely special. Not that I don’t have a support system, but to be told by strangers that you matter and that the world needs you … makes your heart feel warm and fuzzy.”
