Celebration of 2023 Cancer Day
Cancer survivor credits social media support for helping him through his fight
Worthwhile celebration of 2023 Cancer Day for Mwelase, with Social Media as part of his support system.
It’s 2022, the world is slowly getting back to normal. As things return to normal, you get a life changing job offer and an opportunity to change cities. That’s how life happened for Siyanda Mwelase from KwaMashu in Durban. In 2022, the 28-year-old left his hometown to pursue greener pastures in Johannesburg.
The young queer matriculated from Newlands East Secondary School, graduated at Richfield Graduate Institute of Technology and received a job offer and he took it. Everything was going accordingly; however, things took a turn for the worst, very quickly. He was diagnosed with Stage 2 Colon Cancer.
Mwelase revealed that after starting his job, he started getting sick but stalled when it came to seeing a doctor thinking he was just adapting to the new environment. “I stalled going to see a doctor until June when I really could not handle being in the office and I was taken to the ER and admitted for about three full weeks,” said Mwelase.
The “worst day” of his life was on the 20th of June when he was diagnosed. “To be honest, I felt like the walls were literally closing in on me. It was really the worst day of my life,” he said. On living with cancer, Mwelase revealed that his younger brother, Owethu, took on the role of caregiver since most of his family were in Durban.
“He cared for me and saw me at my worst. My mother was broken by the news at the time but my whole family was supportive. After I started adjusting to chemotherapy, they would fly up to check on me,” said Mwelase.
In an honest conversation, he revealed that chemotherapy is not the best, however, he was emotionally invested in winning his fight against cancer.“ It’s a draining process I won’t lie but it is worth it. It’s all about having a positive mind set. My oncologist encouraged me to just be strong,” said Mwelase. Although he is back at his job as an administrative assistant for Universal Health and did his last chemo, he admits that his body is still not at 100%.
“My life really changed. I’m weaker physically but I’m stronger emotionally and spiritually, but after everything I really did take a knock to my body, weight and mental health,” said Mwelase.
The biggest lesson he has learned in 2022, is that life is short, so live. “I watched movies with cancer patients. I never thought in a million I would be one, so live your best, love the best way you can. I’ve never felt so vulnerable and sick in my entire life, however, the support from social media helped me get through it. I fought because of people believing in me. But in all, just live!” he said.
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