Celebrity chef and author Fatima Sydow has opened up about her journey fighting cancer, saying she is grateful for the outpouring of love and support she received from fans during her radiation therapy.
Even while undergoing the gruelling seven-week treatment, Fatima continued to share her popular cooking videos online.
She completed 35 radiation treatments at the Life Vincent Pallotti Hospital, and celebrated her final treatment last Tuesday, saying on Facebook that she was “moeg nou”.
Today marks the end of my 7 week treatment where I went in every morning of the week for radiation treatment , 35...
Posted by Fatima Sydow Cooks onTuesday, 13 April 2021
Her latest cookbook, Fatima Sydow Cooks, was released this month and is already the country’s top-selling cookbook.
Fatima co-hosts the Kaap, Kerrie en Koesisters TV show with her twin sis, Gadija.
She says she discovered she had cancer in her foot after taking a walk last year, reports the Cape Argus.
“During lockdown last year, when we were allowed to do exercising again, I started to walk.
“I loved walking in the morning. One day I felt this pain in my left foot, and I just thought it's a little injury, but then this little knob became bigger.”
After several tests, soft tissue sarcoma, a form of cancer, was discovered in her left foot. Surgery, followed by radiation therapy, was required.
“I've always felt, no matter what I was going through, I still wanted to be there for my followers and bring them this place where they can feel a moment of reprieve, so I carried on,” she says.
“I did some videos in my wheelchair when I had energy, because the radiation and the foot was still healing.”
With therapy taking its toll, she still thought it important to stay connected and shared how the continuous showering of support had helped her throughout her treatment.
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