‘Sinterklaas news’ presenter Dieuwertje Blok must undergo nasal amputation due to cancer

‘Sinterklaas news’ presenter Dieuwertje Blok must undergo nasal amputation due to cancer | Showbiz

showbizThe presenter of the Dutch ‘Sinterklaas news’, Dieuwertje Blok (66), has skin cancer on her nose, which must therefore be amputated. She puts down all her work and disappears from public view for the time being, she says in an interview with ‘de Volkskrant’.

Dieuwertje Blok called the newspaper herself to tell her story. “I find it very strange to seek publicity myself,” she says. “But I want to be in control. At some point I will have to go outside again and then I like the idea that people know what it is and how I feel about it. Because what needs to be done is very rigorous.”

The presenter felt a ‘very small hard spot’ on the inside of her nose more than a year ago. The doctor thought it was a wart and treated it with nitrogen, but it did not go away. After further investigation it turned out to be skin cancer. It was only in her nose, which made her eligible for a treatment in which the cells are irradiated from very close range. “The specialist almost hugged me, because that helps in 95 percent of the cases, so this just went away.”

But it didn’t help, a bump actually appeared on the outside of her nose. The presenter has also tried immunotherapy. But that didn’t work either. “It already didn’t feel good,” she says. “It also smells a bit in my nose.”

“It was my nose or my life”

“It was then discussed for the first time that part of my nose might have to be removed, and the doctor had an artificial nose in her hand. My first reaction was: if that’s what I have to do, then I don’t really know if I want to live anymore. Not dramatic, but more like: OK, I’ve had a nice life for 66 years, and I don’t know if the rest of my life will have enough quality if I have to continue like this.” She now looks at it differently. “Now I think: Go, get rid of that cancer. It was my nose or my life. And then there was no longer a moment when I wanted to choose my own nose.”