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Beauty blogger and ovarian cancer survivor Francine Marques, 33, is not your typical wellness warrior.
SHE'S an exquisitely beautiful cancer survivor with a beauty blog that shares health and lifestyle advice alongside gorgeous photos of herself and her fiance.
But Francine Marques, who lives in Melbourne with her fiance Ian, is about as far from wellness blogging fake Belle Gibson as you can get.
The 33-year-old researcher can't stand pseudoscience, and started her Chemo and Beauty blog after her diagnosis two years ago to help people get to the truth.
"As a researcher, something that really annoys me is misinformation for patients, many of whom are in a fragile state," she told news.com.au. "A lot of blogs take advantage of that. There are people talking about diets and new treatments that haven't been tested.
Beauty blogger and ovarian cancer survivor Francine Marquex, 33, is not your typical wellness warrior.Source:Supplied
The researcher says losing her hair was a "horrible" experience.Source:Supplied
Francine shares her experiences and advice with other women who have ovarian cancer on her practical, honest blog.Source:Supplied
"I wanted to do something positive, practical but also science-based."
Francine only discovered she had ovarian cancer thanks to her gynaecologist sister in Brazil, who insisted she fly over for more tests after doctors found a cyst. Her GP in Australia, where she has lived for 11 years, said she should wait six months for an ultrasound. If she had, she might not be alive today.
"If my sister hadn't tested me, I might not be here," she said. "I was diagnosed at stage three, I would have been stage four.
"Most women are diagnosed very late, when the prognosis is poor. When I was diagnosed, within five years there is a 50 per cent chance you won't be alive, and many who survive are in a poor condition.
"With breast cancer, within five years there's a 95 per cent chance of survival."
The cardiovascular researcher was diagnosed at 31 while living in Ballarat. She kept working part-time throughout her chemotherapy, but says it was at times incredibly hard.
Francine can't stand the misinformation spread by wellness bloggers like fake cancer survivor Belle Gibson. Picture: Brent Parker JonesSource:Supplied
"You lose so much," she said. "I lost my ovaries and uterus at 30 without having kids. You lose your confidence, part of who you are.
"You don't have energy. Your body hurts with the chemo and sometimes the injections. You just feel flat, like you have a really bad cold and don't have the energy to get out of bed. And it doesn't stop. It took me a year to feel normal."
Francine is not afraid to admit she cares about her looks, as well as being a hardworking, intelligent researcher with a PhD. Losing her long hair was tough. She began a "scalp cooling" treatment that felt "like an ice cream headache but far worse" to try to keep her locks.
"It worked for a couple of months," she said. "Then you run your hand through your hair and it stays in your hand. It's quite a horrible, shocking thing."
She decided to make a video of her head being shaved, and she shaved her fiance's head, too. "We had a really good day," she said. "I had come to terms with it.
She will marry her fiance Ian in two weeks.Source:Supplied
Francine wants to help other women with the truth about cancer and what no one tells you.Source:Supplied
"For the first year, it was just short, a pixie, sometimes very short. Now it's a long bob after 18 months.
"It was very upsetting, when I finished the chemo in October, I had no hair.."
Francine still recommends the scalp cooling treatment on her blog, but also runs competitions to win wigs and talks about her own experience. Francine wore scarfs, and kept her own hair to be made into a wig, which she says helped her feel like herself.
The young woman is due to get married in two weeks and is enjoying life again. Her aim is to help other women and encourage more research into treatment and early detection of ovarian cancer.
"I really think having a healthy diet and exercising is part of the reason I'm alive and well at 33," she said. "It is important to eat healthy, but that has to be combined with treatment."
Take note, Belle Gibsons of the world.
The researcher back at work with her super-short pixie crop.Source:Supplied
Source: Beauty blogging cancer survivor is the Belle Gibson antidote we needed
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