When Nandini Ashwar-Doobay goes to the hospital for her chronic back pain in October of 2021, she never expects a doctor to accuse her of faking it. But one month later, after advocating for her health, she is given a life-altering diagnosis: stage 4 metastatic breast cancer.
Ashwar-Doobay immigrated from Guyana to Canada at the age of 23 in 1994, unaware of the extremity of cancer due to the country’s stigma surrounding serious health issues like cancer and AIDS.
“Cancer was never discussed. It was very taboo. All I heard were whispers when someone passed away, but no one talked about it openly. I didn’t know how it was treated; I didn’t know what caused it — nothing,” Ashwar-Doobay explains. “So, when it happened to me, I felt fear and concern for the brown community.”
Before her diagnosis, Ashwar-Doobay maintains an active lifestyle through activities like yoga, dancing, gym workouts, and regular walks while also prioritizing healthier eating. However, her treatments take a toll on her in every way. Her mobility declines, leaving her with limited functional abilities; her eyesight worsens; and she is unable to have a thriving social life. Life as she knows it has changed. Like many facing a life-threatening illness, she not only has to cope with physical changes but also the emotional weight of her diagnosis.
For cancer patients, life shifts in an instant as they struggle to navigate a new, unsettling reality, starting with understanding their own emotions. Confusion, fear, and anger collide, making it hard to process everything happening. The overwhelming mix of emotions can distort the facts, causing confusion and numbness. But it is faith, resilience, and community that provide the strength needed to navigate the bigger picture.
For Nandini Ashwar-Doobay, her cancer diagnosis is marked by numbness and disbelief.
Diagnosed just before her 50th birthday, Ashwar-Doobay is at a loss for how to respond when she receives the devastating news through a phone call with her family doctor. There are no tears at that moment; she sits in silence on her crimson sofa, alone, trying to process what she is told. After the call, Ashwar-Doobay texts her family through their family group chat, asking them to meet that evening. It isn’t until she tells them the news that the reality begins to sink in, and the tears fall.
“I wasn’t prepared to be stage four. I wasn’t prepared to be terminal,” Ashwar-Doobay explains, describing the helplessness she felt during her diagnosis. “When I saw my oncologist, he said I barely had a few months to live.”
After immigrating and becoming a part of the “brown community” in Canada, Ashwar-Doobay meets others diagnosed with cancer, but even in their new environment, they refuse to discuss their reality.
So, when she creates a TikTok account to share her experiences, she hopes to shift her community’s perspective and encourage people to prioritize their health; however, it is not surprising when she faces backlash from the very community she is trying to reach. “Some people were initially shocked that I was talking [publicly about cancer]. I remember someone once commented, ‘Why do you need to spill your personal story on TikTok?’ But it’s not personal. It’s cancer, and it can happen to anyone,” Ashwar-Doobay shares.
Since its launch in 2016, TikTok has become a popular platform for content creators to share TikTok dances and trends while others use it to raise awareness about global issues. With breast cancer accounting for 25% of all new cases in women, Ashwar-Doobay sees TikTok as a powerful way to share her message. She often posts videos relating to her doctor visits, what she learns, and any new updates on her condition.
Samantha Shah, one of the Guyanese viewers and dedicated followers of Ashwar-Doobay’s TikTok, is immediately captivated by her content when it first appears on her For You Page nearly a year and a half ago. She often reaches out to Ashwar-Doobay to check in with her when she notices she hasn’t posted in a while.
Shah, a registered nurse at a local hospital in Orlando, Florida, USA, spent 5 of her 24 years in the field specializing in oncology nursing. Describing the mindset of the brown community, Shah recalls an encounter with a former chemotherapy patient. “A lot of [patients] confided in me that their families did not know they were actively fighting cancer. One woman wouldn’t even tell her [adult] children. It’s very lonely.”
In September of 2024, Ashwar-Doobay’s posts take a more serious turn. After undergoing recent scans, she shares with her 4,500 followers that the cancer has spread further; it has reached the lining of her brain. When her doctor calls with the results, he delivers the devastating prognosis: she has only a few weeks, possibly a few months, left to live.
“I didn’t think it [would] escalate to my brain, but I was feeling it. I had absolutely no energy,” says Ashwar-Doobay. “This impacted me more than my initial diagnosis of cancer.” With her daughter’s wedding approaching, the thought of not being there brings tears to her eyes, but she refuses to give in. Her faith becomes an anchor as she continues to share her journey with her viewers.
“My faith is everything, but I don’t believe God [will] come down to help me. Prayer guides me. [Prayer] strengthens my hope and my belief to fight and survive another day,” Ashwar-Doobay describes. “I don’t know what I would have done had I not had [faith].”
Her candidness on TikTok about her faith’s role throughout her journey also influences her viewers. Shah, for instance, now makes an effort to thank God each day for her health and prays for continued wellness.
Ashwar-Doobay has since exceeded her recent prognosis, and though the cancer remains in the lining of her brain, it is now stabilized, offering her a renewed sense of hope. She continues to share educational cancer videos on TikTok. Her viewers consider her an inspiration, admiring her positivity and transparency throughout her journey.
With the hope of inspiring at least one person, Ashwar-Doobay encourages everyone to perform self-checks and urges others facing similar challenges to share their story as she explains that love and support are the true keys to survival.
Sandhya Maharaj 