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Zoleka Mandela is at home and able to sleep in her own bed after an eight-night hospital admission.
Mandela was in the hospital from Saturday, 13 May, where she received radiation to her spine and pelvis. She was also awaiting chemotherapy for the progression of the cancer in her body.
“I can’t believe I was admitted for eight nights and now, finally sleeping in my own bed,” she wrote on social media. “So thankful for the dedication, the outstanding efforts and selfless contributions of the entire oncology department together with the occupational therapy team, palliative care department, physio team and the incredibly dynamic team of doctors.”
On Sunday, the granddaughter of struggle stalwarts Winnie and Nelson Mandela shared that she had her last radiation treatment and the first session of chemotherapy. She also shared some side effects she could expect, including numbness of her fingertips and toes, watery eyes and nose and “more of a burn” in the radiated area due to the closeness of the radiation and chemotherapy.
In an April interview with Kaya 959’s Phemelo Motene, Mandela spoke candidly about planning for the eventuality of her death as she battles the disease for a third time. She was previously diagnosed with and beat breast cancer twice.
“I think it probably will sound strange, but I think I’m blessed enough or fortunate enough to be in a position where I’m in my planning stages,” she told Motene. “I’m having conversations with my siblings about what happens in the days leading to my passing; what happens after I pass away.”
She further said she had learned to “just be okay” with the eventuality of her death.
Mandela announced that her cancer returned in August last year after she was diagnosed with bone metastasis. She began treatment for the cancer in her lungs, liver, ribs, spinal cord and hips a month later.
Treatment, this time, she told Motene, was aimed at improving her quality of life and reducing her pain.
Earlier in the month, she shared that she had her 10th and final radiation treatment to her brain. She also said she had cancer in her “entire brain” and not just in its left hemisphere, as a CT scan had previously shown.
