facing life

Soap Alum Robyn Griggs Shares Intimate Details Of Her Journey With Stage 4 Cervical Cancer

- Devin Owens

For most folks, staying upbeat, even joking, while battling Stage 4 cancer seems incomprehensible, but Robyn Griggs is determined to face down the disease with the same positive attitude she’s maintained for all of her life. “I was told from an early age that I’d always be okay if you found something that made you laugh or smile before you went to bed,” shares the actress. “My memories of singing on stage and being on soaps and everything else are such great moments and if you can just smile about something, you’re gonna be fine.”

However, there was nothing joyful in the moment she learned that she had cervical cancer. Leading up to that game-changer, Griggs admits she had chosen to ignore some alarming symptoms. “Every time I had my menstrual cycle, I kept saying to my husband, ‘I can feel my ovaries,’ and I’m sure he thought, ‘Oh, good grief, what the hell is wrong with this chick?’ ” she chuckles. “I bloated from so much fluid that I looked like I was nine months pregnant. From the get-go, Mark told me, ‘You’ve got to go to the doctor,’ but I’m very stubborn. There were signs and pain but I’m one of those people who just push through whatever.”

When it got to the point that Griggs could barely urinate, she finally made that appointment. “A Pap smear showed a huge mass on my cervix and after the CAT scan, the nurses were looking at me strangely,” she recalls. “They asked, ‘Are you in a lot of pain?’ and I said, ‘No ... what’s going on?’ Then I heard, ‘You have masses on your stomach that are squeezing your organs.’ ”