59-year-old Dorah Mdhlakama is trusting God with her life since being diagnosed with breast cancer.
In 2009, she found out that her life would be going through some changes.
It started when she realised there was a lump, the size of a marble, she went to the clinic and the nurse told her not to think the worst and that there was nothing wrong with her.
She went back weeks later because the lump had grown in size, she was examined by a different nurse who referred her to the breast clinic at the Chris Hani Baragwaneth Hospital.
It was confirmed and she started treatment.
Accepting the diagnosis was not an easy transition but she did what the doctors advised.
In 2010 she went for chemotherapy but did not complete her treatment because the process is painful.
“It was so painful, I couldn’t bear the pain and emotional stress so I quit,” she said.
She decided to stay home and her health deteriorated.
She would be in bed most of the time, fragile and in pain.
One day in July, a neighbour called an ambulance after hearing that she was sick in bed.
“I was so mad at her for calling the ambulance but today, I am grateful for what she has done.
“I was hospitalised for a month, my breast had started being septic and had an unpleasant smell.
“To fight this, I have decided to take treatment again.
“Had it not been for her, God knows what would have happened to me,” she said.
Mdhlakama warns other women to get tested and pay attention to the doctor’s orders.
A cancer survivor, Sister Nelly from Baragwaneth has also been great support and motivator.
She said: “She pleaded and begged me to take treatment.
“She gave me hope and I am grateful.”
A precious girl, Mdhlakama’s foster child gives her the will to fight harder and believe she will get better.
During her time in hospital, she said she thought about her child more and she was worried about how she was doing.
“I leave it all to God, He knows the plans He has for me.”
She warns that not following treatment is a bad idea, as a result of her doing so, the cancer has spread to her hip and spine.
