Woman celebrates living without cancer for a year

Exactly a year ago Muriel Zothi Thembo received the devastating news that she had been diagnosed with stage three breast cancer. Today (Monday, 9 August), she celebrated this year’s Women’s Day with the great news that she had gone into remission. 

“It’s been an extremely tough journey, but I’m truly grateful to my loved ones for the amount of support they gave me since day one,” Muriel said. 

After losing her mother to cancer in 2015, Muriel and her family were devastated. When Muriel was told that she had a small lump in her left breast, she took it lightly, assuming it couldn’t be a genetic thing. 

“ I wish I had acted sooner, it wouldn’t have gotten as bad as it did and I would’ve been a five-year survivor,” she said.

Before she knew it, her condition worsened and she was forced to take action. 

Being a social worker for 20 years, Muriel shares that the journey wasn’t easy.

“Some days were extremely bad. Although I felt I didn’t need counselling because of the great support I received from my family, there were days where I would just switch off my phone and want to be alone,” she added.

By God’s Grace, Muriel finally sees light at the end of the tunnel and uses her journey to inspire others. 

“Through this disease, I have learned that I am much stronger than I ever thought I was and that I can get through anything,” she said.

This coming October, Muriel plans to host an awareness campaign. 

“I want to inspire women to do regular checkups. If you’re feeling a slight change in your body, attend to it as soon as possible. Don’t ignore it until the last minute as I did,” she concluded.