Nicole Dyer-Griffith battles back: Cancer ain’t ready for me!

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ryan.bachoo@cnc3.co.tt

“This is not going to manage me; I am going to manage this,” were the battling words of Nicole Dyer-Griffith, a former Miss Universe T&T who was diagnosed with breast cancer nearing the end of April this year.

In a video posted to her Facebook page yesterday, Dyer-Griffith announced she has stage three breast cancer.

“The journey thus far has been one from distress to discovery. I have unearthed such power, peace, and perseverance that I can safely say this chapter has truly made me find unique methods of oxygenating not only myself but also those who are traversing this journey along with me,” she said in the video.

She told the Sunday Guardian yesterday, “Cancer ain’t ready for me!” Dyer-Griffith thanked her husband, Gary Griffith, her son, Gary Griffith III, her mother, her brothers and friends for their support, saying they have been a “complete blessing” since the journey began.

She also confirmed she has been receiving treatment in T&T, recognising Dr Marisa Nimrod and Nurse Rhonda Peters as “complete angels.”

In a phone conversation with the Sunday Guardian after releasing the video, Dyer-Griffith said she chose to make it public because “it became burdensome” for her to continue managing it because people have been inviting her to events and asking her to give speeches.

She also hopes to inspire other women, and not only those who are battling breast cancer.

She added, “I really wanted to reach out to other women to encourage them to understand the importance of having a mammogram, but more than a mammogram by supporting it with an ultrasound.”

Dyer-Griffith said she had the mammograms, but it was only with the support of the ultrasound that the “invasive inconvenience” as she labels cancer was uncovered.

She is currently on her sixth round of chemotherapy and has another two rounds remaining. Then she will plan for phase two, which is surgery. She said once the surgery goes well, she will move on to radiation therapy.

She also praised her husband, saying, “You all see Gary Griffith on the media every day, and no one would have had a clue what he was managing at home. He has been really good at being there physically, psychologically, emotionally, and providing that support, and at the same time being able to hold it down for what he needs to be doing from a political and other perspective.”

One of the therapeutic things she does every week is bathe in the beach. She said, “This week when I went, I was the only person on the beach besides the two Garys, and I just looked around and said thank God for this beautiful country that we are blessed with. Sometimes we forget how wonderful this country is and how much it is worth fighting for. Sometimes when you are faced with issues of mortality, the real important things in life are presented to you.” Dyer-Griffith also served as senator and parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Communication. She is a former chair of the Congress of the People (COP) and was also the leader of the political party, the Alliance of Independents. She is also the founder of The O2N Foundation, also known as the Oxygen with Nicole Foundation, a non-profit organisation, while also being the patron of the Diabetes Association of T&T.

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