According to the National Cancer Registry, 1 in 27 South African women face a lifetime risk of developing breast cancer – that means women are more likely to develop breast cancer than any other form of the disease.
It does not discriminate by race, class or income. Chances are … at some point or other, someone you love will face breast cancer.
That’s as true for our SweepStars as it is for anyone else. One of them, Menelisi Mncube, who was kind enough to share her story.
Menelisi’s mother was first diagnosed with breast cancer 5 years ago and is currently undergoing her latest round of chemotherapy.
Understandably, it has been tough on Menelisi and her family.
“The children in our family don’t know what’s happening to her because her appearance is starting to change and we don’t know what to tell them,” she says. “They’re too young to understand.”
Additionally, the family have also had to pick up unexpected costs along the way. Not only are they paying for private hospital treatment to ensure that her mother has the best possible care, they also have to pay increasingly high transportation costs. Menelisi adds: “My mom lives in Mpumalanga so we have to transport her to and from Johannesburg every few weeks to attend her chemo treatments.”
Menelisi, the eldest of 5 children, also has to accompany her mother to hospital for her treatments. While this is still tough, the flexibility afforded by our platform means that she doesn’t have to explain this to an employer every time (she need to take off).
Even so, Menelisi can’t spend as much time with her mother as she’d like. “Generally we only spend time together weekends and that’s only if she is here in Joburg with us,” she says.
Having seen what her mother’s been through, Menelisi is a staunch advocate for early detection and treatment.
“We became aware of the lump in her breast but didn’t think too much of it, more so because we didn’t even know that much about cancer,” she says. “I wish we’d treated the lump as soon as we came to know about it.”
This October we have teamed up with Pink Drive in support of the work they do, advocating for breast cancer education and awareness.
For every home clean booked in October using the code SSAWARENESS, we will donate R75 to Pink Drive. Book now and let’s all do our part.
Let’s support the fighters, admire the survivors and honour the taken this Breast Cancer Awareness month!
