Beautiful author and activist and granddaughter of Nelson Mandela, Zoleka Mandela, previously battled breast cancer (after being diagnosed at the age of 32), thought she had beaten it five years ago.
However, the 36-year-old found out something that no cancer patient ever wants to hear: the cancer had returned and she was diagnosed for a second time.
Since then Zoleka has bravely used social media to chronicle her fight, and to offer support to other cancer patients and survivors by showing what life is really like with breast cancer. On Instagram she has posted of her hair falling out, her chemotherapy sessions her medication, and a celebration of life with family and friends.
But there’s a bigger reason why she’s documenting it.
“My journey with breast cancer and my now recurrence after 3yrs of remission is to highlight the importance of early detection and how it keeps saving my life, explains Mandela.”
“Last Neupogen injection that i have to administer myself at home to help boost my white blood cell count (it’s at 0,32 and needs to be at least 1),” says Mandela. “My Oncologist has increased the dosage to an extra 2 injections due to the reason that my count is much lower, this means that body is unable to fight off infection. I wake up in the mornings feeling it’s side effects – soreness in my head, chest, lower back and my entire body at the worst. Still in pain…
…this morning and exhausted but functional, time to get everyone ready for their day! 4 more nights until Chemo no. 8 of 12, I’m almost there … Thanking you all for your prayers and well wishes, I’m feeling stronger already. I love you.”
Chemotherapy drugs are powerful enough to kill rapidly growing cancer cells, but they also can harm perfectly healthy cells, causing side effects throughout the body. Chemotherapy can interfere with the body’s ability to produce healthy blood platelets, red blood cells, and white blood cells.
Through her journey, Mandela also gets real about the daily struggle the disease brings—including early menopause.
“I’m 36 years old and menopausing for the third time, some medication in chemotherapy causes damage to the ovaries which results in menopause,” she wrote. “It’s strange, you’ll lose the hair on your head but gain hair on your face and never mind the hot flushes, mood swings, low sex drive, insomnia, vaginal dryness, sleeping problems, losing control of the bladder, depression, urinary tract infections, skin changes which are all symptoms of menopause.”
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