October marks Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and in this special edition of Style, we speak to a remarkable survivor. Thobekile Londa Shongwe, widely known as ‘The Breastless Londa’, is a 35-year-old cancer survivor and passionate health advocate. Born and bred at Nyakatfo, in the Hhohho Region of Eswatini, she was raised in a Christian-oriented, loving family (pastor’s kid). Londa is grounded in faith, resilience and service. She is a proud mother to a vibrant 12-year-old daughter, a daughter to her parents, a sister to siblings and an aunt to her nieces, who continues to be a source of strength and inspiration.
With a professional background in nursing, Londa is deeply committed to compassionate, patient-centred care. Her personal journey as a breast cancer survivor has since fuelled her passion for oncology, medical research, health advocacy and client engagement. She is particularly interested in improving awareness and access to care in underserved communities and she brings both lived experience and clinical expertise to her work. Londa is known for her unwavering spirit, empathy and dedication to empowering others through education, support and advocacy in the healthcare space.
Londa’s cancer journey began at her lowest point, just as she was grieving the loss of her one and only brother, whom she had a mutual understanding and shared love since they liked being spotted looking different from what is considered normal. That grief combined with the diagnosis made things incredibly heavy. Her brother’s precious life was abruptly lost on June 10, 2023, through a nasty motor vehicle accident. It felt like her whole world was crushing. On the last day of the 30-day mourning period, just before his cleansing ceremony, her own life changed for the worst. “It was early in the morning during our prayer routine when I felt a protruding lump in my left breast,” she said. She alerted her mother, who upon assessing it recommended that she seek immediate medical intervention. Londa recalled: “I had felt a lump on my left breast during the COVID pandemic—which used to come and go and I would think it’s due to pre-menstrual/ovulation period you know. This time around the lump was huge and protruding aggressively.”
On August 7, 2023, just a day after her birthday, Londa received the diagnosis of breast cancer Stage 3A. She chose to lean on her physician and his medical team—to follow the doctor’s guidance and take it one step at a time. She has since been through a mastectomy, chemotherapy, radiation-all the heavy hitters. Now, she is on Tamoxifen for the next five years as part of ongoing treatment. “It’s been two years of fighting—not just physically, but emotionally and mentally too. But I’m here. Still doing laundry. Still living. Still standing and pressing forward hey. I’m not just a survivor-I’m a woman who’s still becoming and I’m learning to own every part of my story, scars and all.”
For the mastectomy, her physician recommended a unilateral mastectomy as a preventative measure. “As we all know, cancer is notorious for rapid growth. The procedure was meant to ameliorate and curtail such risks,” she explained, adding she was immediately booked for the procedure within the following two weeks. Subsequent to the amputation of her left precious boobie, she couldn’t get her balance (it weirdly altered her walk and posture), which extremely broke her heart. She pleaded with her surgeon to remove her right one as well. At first, he was dismissive, but later gave in after she pleaded her case. She didn’t want to risk recurrence, especially since having one breast meant the continued existence of breast tissues and a probability of recurrence. On August 22, 2023, she completed her bilateral mastectomy.
Resuming treatment, she got referred to the Cancer Centre Eswatini which is in Manzini, Moneni and Mbabane Government Hospital where she was ordered to commence chemotherapy, which is the use of drugs to kill cancer cells in the system either by pills or injections. “I will honestly say chemotherapy is no child’s play but worth it,” she stated. She did six cycles of injectable chemotherapy which took like four hours in a day, each cycle occurring after 21 days. “It was not an easy ride with its numerous side effects like fatigue (body weakness), diarrhoea, loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting, hair-loss to mention a few that affected me.” Later on, she was lucky to earn the support of Phalala Fund to access further treatment in South Africa, which was Radiation for six weeks, which radically burns the root of the cancer, or Kushisa lemphandze labekunamdlavuza khona.
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