kristy.ramnarine@cnc3.co.tt
“An invasive inconvenience.”
That’s how Nicole Dyer-Griffith has termed her stage three breast cancer diagnosis.
Confidently rocking her new bald head, the former Miss Universe Trinidad and Tobago made Guardian Media studios her runway as she walked towards the interview set.
Dressed in pink, the colour used to raise breast cancer awareness during the month of October, Dyer-Griffith assumed her usual elegant demeanour.
“It is inconvenient and invasive. Instead of saying battling or fighting, I am managing it,” Dyer-Griffith said.
“Managing it needs a process, and I created a process in my head. How am I going to manage this scenario? That is how I had faced most of the fires I have walked through; creating a process to manage it.”
In September, Dyer-Griffith announced she had stage three breast cancer via a video posted to her Facebook page. She was diagnosed with the disease the same week she hosted O2N Style at O2 Park.
Three weeks post-diagnosis, she started penning her first book, Distress to Discovery. A journey to Affirmation.
“That book, the way in which it is written, takes you through every emotion and every process throughout my journey up to the point when I started like round four of chemotherapy,” she said.
“Some of the things you will see in this book are things that you will not ordinarily get from me. I am reading it back and asking, Do I want to put that out there? Do I want to say that? Do I really want people to know how I felt? There are chapters in there about Gary, some really personal chapters; I had to give it to him and say you’re okay with this. It really gets deep into the understanding of who I am and how I am. I am really excited about that, a little bit trepidatious.”
The former government senator, whose book will be released in 2025, said during challenging times she usually gives herself seven days to feel sad.
“Seven days to deal with the drama and emotion and get over it and move on to the planning on how you are going to treat with things,” she said.
“For this invasive inconvenience, I didn’t even give myself seven days.”
Dyer-Griffith recalled that a month before the O2N Style event, the executive director of the O2N Foundation said she started noticing signs.
“I just thought it was normal menstrual cycle issues,” she said.
“Every year I do an annual check-up. Every year I do all the tests that you’re supposed to do. But this time I felt the breast in itself looked edematous. Edematous meant it looked swollen and something was just not right.
“My mother was on my case, and she and Gary teamed up, and I went and did a second medical.”
‘A long list of things left unchecked’
Her mammogram results showed density in the breast tissue.
“I didn’t see anything really; it was just dense,” she added.
“The doctor suggested let’s do an ultrasound so that we could see a little bit more and have a better look and feel of the mammogram.”
It was during the ultrasound that Dyer-Griffith said she shed her first tear.
She recalled, “The ultrasonographer, a doctor from India who knew who I was, said, ‘Nicole, what are your plans for your future?’ And I said, What do you mean, what are my plans for the future? He said, ‘Are you going to be back in politics?’ I said, Why is he asking me this? I said there is always a possibility, but I’m not sure.
“He said, ‘I need to know what your future plans are because what I am seeing here is very serious.’ I said, What are you seeing? Show me. He kept saying, ‘This is very serious.’ One tear was shed because I was thinking I had so many things to do; there is a long list of things left unchecked.”
Immediately Dyer-Griffith went into business mode. I said okay, this is the scenario; let’s see what’s next.
“I went to an oncologist, and we started planning,” she added.
“He was looking at me, expecting a break coming. I was already at the point, let’s get to the plan. I get it. This is serious. Let’s get to the plan.”
The biopsy followed her scans.
“I did the biopsy at a hospital with a great set of young doctors, and I think they were more shocked than me,” she said.
“By that time I had already prepared myself psychologically for the outcome.”
Using her experience as an example, Dyer-Griffith highlighted, “An important point I want to make is that mammograms are very important, particularly for women 40 and older, but I take it down to 30 because you are seeing breast cancer emerging in younger and younger women. 30 and up, make sure you get your mammograms; however, ensure you get an ultrasound. An ultrasound will be able to detect what is the cause of the density.”
‘Mummy and Gary said you have to be honest’
Dyer-Griffith’s second tear was shed when she had to tell “The Kid” Gary Griffith III, her son, of her diagnosis.
“It was the most difficult part of all of it,” she said.
“The first time I told him, son, I want to tell you something; I have to treat with something, and I’ll be fine. His first response was, ‘What? Is not cancer, right?’ And I was no, no, no, it’s fine. ‘Mummy and Gary said you have to be honest,’ he added.”
Sighing, she continued, “That was hard, that look on his face after I spoke to him. I don’t want to see that look in life again. It was the most challenging part of this entire process.”
It’s a process which Dyer-Griffith has taken control of and is ready for whatever the outcome may be with God’s grace.
“There is no other explanation for the scenarios I’ve had to deal with,” she said.
“It is only by God’s grace and by creating a process to manage your personal emotions. Utilising strength in a way that can empower others. That is where the strength comes from, impacting others.”
Nicole wants to continue breaking the silence on breast cancer
Having just completed Phase one of her treatment, chemotherapy, Dyer-Griffith is headed to Florida for further scans before moving into phase two of her treatment.
“Chemotherapy is one of the therapies you can use to manage the type of cancer,” she said.
“For my particular type I had four rounds. The first of the four was called the red devil, and the red devil is one of the more toxic types of chemotherapy which takes your hair. But thank the Lord above, I have not had the intensity of the reactions to chemotherapy.”
Immediately after chemotherapy, a patient’s white blood cells drop.
“It means your immune system gets a bit lower, and you need to protect your immune system and protect yourself from getting any infection,” she explained.
“If you were to get the slightest infection that could impact you severely, unless you get your blood test done and your white blood count normalises, it is best to stay away from people.”
While speaking about cancer can still be quite taboo, Dyer-Griffith intends to continue breaking that stereotype.
“In Trinidad and Tobago, one in ten women can be diagnosed with breast cancer; one in eight women have to manage this disease,” she said.
“There are so many facets and aspects of the management of cancer that we are still not very much aware of. That we do not talk enough about. That is still so inaccessible for women on the street.”
In giving back to T&T, Dyer-Griffith’s O2N Foundation will be partnering with Caribbean Radiology to offer 100 mammograms.
“It is part of my give back because, Kristy, I will tell you, I was so shocked at the outpouring of love, support, and concern,” she said.
“Just this week someone came back from Medjugorje and brought back a Blessed Sacrament.”
Her aim is to make mammograms more accessible to women.
“For many women in Trinidad and Tobago, when you pay for school books, fees, rent, and electricity, this and that is the last thing on your mind,” she said.
“Many people take this for granted. I asked one of the ladies working with me, When was the last time you had a mammogram? And she asked, ‘What is a mammogram?’”
Dyer-Griffith said there were gaps that needed to be filled in the education of women about breast cancer.
