Nicole Dyer-Griffith tackles cancer diagnosis head-on

NICOLE DYER-GRIFFITH has always approached life with confidence – from her beauty pageant days, her entry into politics, as head of her non-profit organisation the O2N Foundation and everything else in between. The foundation aims to create forums for the public to learn from people who have shaped the past of Trinidad and Tobago.

So when she was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this year, the former Miss Universe TT and government senator remained true to character, facing what she deems "an invasive inconvenience" head on.

"I have not stopped doing what needs to be undertaken. The only adjustment is that during the chemo process I shifted to working from home to protect my immune system...

"Covid19 prepared us for these eventualities, so there is no excuse really. Life continues.

"(But) I pop into my various offices from time to time," Dyer-Griffith told WMN via e-mail.

The wife of National Transformation Alliance political leader Gary Griffith and a former nurse told WMN she has always maintained a clean, healthy lifestyle, so her diagnosis came as a bit of a surprise.

"I do not drink alcohol; I do not smoke; I exercise regularly; I eat well, in that I maintain a balanced diet; I do not place my body in any circumstances that may be harmful to my health; I maintain the regular checkups; I do my annual medicals; I do what I am supposed to do; I screen as I am supposed to screen, and here I am today, diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer –" which usually means the cancer cells may have started to spread into surrounding tissues.

"I have no family history of breast cancer in my family. I also had a genealogy test undertaken and I also do not have the mutated gene."

She said her symptoms appeared about a month before she scheduled a second medical in under a year, and included swelling, firmness and stretch marks on her breast.

"These symptoms can also be associated with a regular menstrual cycle and many even go unnoticed. It is important to note, I had no pain, the masses were not palpable, therefore could not be manually felt, and the mammograms I had previously only presented as dense tissue."

She said the only difference from her previous screenings was that an ultrasound was added.

"And that made the difference."

After that, Dyer-Griffith said she had a series of tests to confirm the diagnosis, among them a biopsy – the removal of a piece of tissue or a sample of cells from the affected area to be tested in a lab.

And by the time it was confirmed, because of the type of person she is, she was already formulating her action plan.

"As such, my ‘reaction’ was built around planning the trajectory forward to manage this 'invasive inconvenience.'

"I termed it an 'invasive convenience' as it presents as exactly that – an inconvenience," because having to deal with it takes time and focus from everything else in her life.

"Managing this takes one to two years of your life, specifically for handling the various phases, and for anyone, shifting focus from your plans proves a challenge."

But given her mindset that there is a lesson in everything, she said is using it as a learning tool.

"I decidedly framed my focus around, ‘What is the lesson to be learnt here?’ rather than, ‘Why did this happen to me?’ Shifting my paradigm of thinking certainly supported my intentionality to learn rather than to wallow."

She said sharing the news of her diagnosis with her family involved a great deal of planning, and, as with everything else in her life, she created a framework for how she would tell them.

"Gary and my mother were the first to know, as they were with me from the onset. As a matter of fact, they teamed up and insisted I return for my second medical in one year, as Gary noticed these changes."

Then she had to tell the children – her two stepdaughters and her son.

"I shared with Tyanna first amongst the children, to gauge her reaction and to enlist her support to share with the two others, T’Shauna and Gary III (The Kid). My sharing with him was the most challenging."

Dyer-Griffith made her diagnosis public in a video posted on Facebook on September 14.

She said her family, "by blood and bond," have been her pillars of strength, while allowing her to take the lead on how she manages her treatment process.

"One important factor for me is to maintain a sense of normalcy. You see, for many (people), having to manage any life-changing health challenge is difficult in and of itself, as such, maintaining a sense of normalcy aids with homeostasis.

"When you are managing the actual treatment process, this is where you require as much understanding and appreciation of your current circumstance as is possible. Each type, and treatment modality differs according to the phase and type of cancer that presents itself, as such, during the actual chemotherapy, radiation and surgical processes, support is crucial."

So far, Dyer-Griffith has completed eight rounds of chemotherapy and is getting ready for the second phase of her treatment.

"I was placed on a combination of therapies to include four rounds of dose dense Doxorubicin (Adriamycin) also known as the ‘red devil,’ and four rounds of Paclitaxel."

So far she has been able to manage the various side effects.

"I was also placed on hormone therapy to deprive the breast cancer of oestrogen and progesterone.

"This type of therapy presents its own specific range of side effects. As such, having to manage two very different ranges of effects (hormone therapy and chemotherapy) has been an interesting experience."

The next step will include a range of scans to review the effectiveness of the chemo and hormone regimen she has already undergone, and to decide on the surgical intervention and radiation therapy.

She said it is important to appreciate that different people will face the challenges of managing a cancer diagnosis in different ways, so a one-size-fits-all approach will not work.

"The point remains, this is an experience that requires management according to the individual’s circumstance...

"For women currently managing breast cancer at whatever phase, know this, this is exactly a phase; a chapter in your book of life. It doesn’t define your book. "Find ways to celebrate your achievements in managing this process as you know the challenges you have had to surmount. As such, in surmounting each challenge, recognise yourself for having so done, and know that it is okay to allow yourself to feel, to cry, to hurt, to be angry and to explore the full range of emotions. Once you have adequately done so, manage this!"

The O2N founder said the primary health care system needs a lot of work with regard to educating the public and creating awareness about breast cancer.

"Primary health care refers to the phase of education and awareness where we invest in screening, and prevention, to avert having to arrive at secondary and tertiary health management.

"I recently asked a woman in my employ, ‘When was your last mammogram?’ and her response was, ‘What is a mammogram?’

"This certainly means there is an educational and awareness gap that continues to exist, and our institutions and organisations need to evaluate the current methods of awareness to reach the masses in ways that can be understood by a mass target."

Editor's note: As part of the campaign to observe Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Newsday is publishing several stories about cancer survivors, tips on how people with cancer can cope and other breast-cancer-related stories. Read more in our Breast Cancer Awareness special publication here.