I am Cynthia Mathe (47), and I reside in Randfontein in the West Rand. I am a mother of three children. I was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer in August 2018. 

At the beginning of 2018 I felt like I was at my healthiest. I had just turned 40 and decided to join the gym in January as part of my new year’s resolutions. I changed my diet and began being conscious about everything I ate. 

I was taking a bath one morning in February, when I noticed redness on my right breast. I did not worry about it because I didn’t feel any pain. About three weeks later, I started getting headaches and my underwire bras would cause some discomfort. 

My daughter, who was 20 at the time, said I should go see a doctor because it might be something serious. I listened to her considering the redness I saw before. My doctor examined me and said that he felt a lump, but we needed to be sure. He referred me to the Parklane Radiology and Mammogram Centre.

When I got to the centre I didn’t know what to expect because I never thought that I’d find myself at a mammogram centre. I was asked to change into a hospital gown. They took each breast and placed it in a machine that pressed the breast on both sides. It was not a painful procedure but rather an uncomfortable one.  

I was given my images and a brief report. I couldn’t wait to get home. I sat at the reception area and opened the brown envelope. I read the report first and I remember at the bottom it said ‘’recommends a biopsy” .

From the mammogram images of the right breast there were two lumps of different sizes. One lump was the size of a grape and the other was the size of a pea. 

The following day my daughter accompanied me to our GP because at this stage I could not think straight. My doctor had this worried look on his face. He tried to be as gentle as possible when he explained that I have breast cancer. 

He wrote me a referral letter to go to Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital in Johannesburg where I received nine cycles of chemotherapy treatment. The treatment took five months from September 2018 to January 2019. 

Travelling from Randfontein to Johannesburg was a nightmare. I kept on thinking about my children, and my job. I had some regrets of not attending to my health earlier. Another thing I was confused about is that we don’t have a history of breast cancer in my family. 

In March 2019, a lumpectomy was performed on my breast. This is a form of surgery that is used to remove the cancerous tumour and the surrounding tissues in the breast. This surgery was done at Helen Joseph Hospital.

A month after my surgery, I underwent a few tests which confirmed that the surgery was successful. My oncologist at Helen Joseph referred me to Charlotte Maxeke for oncology radiation. I was told that there is a backlog of patients waiting for radiation because the oncology department only had one working machine. 

In October 2019, I was called to Charlotte Maxeke for radiation planning which was explained as a process that involves medical tests to determine if my body is ready to undergo radiation therapy. I also underwent a process of contouring which is a process of identifying cancer cells and marking the skin to direct the radiation beams. 

Although I underwent that process, I still haven’t received radiation treatment. In 2020 while waiting for treatment, I suffered a recurrence of the cancer. I had to go through six cycles of chemotherapy over four months. 

In December 2020 I underwent a full mastectomy, which is a surgical procedure where my right breast was removed completely. And again, my oncologist at Helen Joseph Hospital referred me for radiation. 

In 2021, I was again called to Charlotte Maxeke for radiation oncology planning and the same markings were done on my skin as before. 

I suffered a lot of side effects from the chemotherapy. I was vomiting, my hair fell out, I lost a lot of weight and couldn’t taste anything, there were many sleepless nights, and my body ached all over.  

I had to resign from my assistant nursing job in 2018. My eldest recently got employed. But as a parent, it does not sit well with me that she has to provide for my two other children and I. 

I am still on the backlog waiting list for radiation and I hope that the department of health will hear our cry before I die of breast cancer. – Cynthia Mathe, Randfontein

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