Recently, many people on social media were sharing a picture of a red heart to support and spread awareness about breast cancer. But a woman on Facebook, Erin Smith Chieze, feels that posting pictures of a cute heart will do no good and people won’t actually know what breast cancer can look and feel like. Erin, who is herself a patient of breast cancer, explained in her Facebook post why it’s imperative for every woman, and also every man, to understand what a woman’s body goes through during this illness.
She wrote:
‘Someone once posted a picture on Facebook of what breast cancer can look like. Not feel, but look like. In December of 2015 when I saw an indentation that looked like one of those pictures, I instantly knew I had breast cancer. I tried to feel for a tumor, but my tumor was non palpable. I was diagnosed with breast cancer 5 days later and with stage 4 the following month. A heart did nothing for awareness. I knew what breast cancer was. I knew all about self exams, but a picture of what to look for keyed me into knowing I had a terminal disease. We need to give REAL information, not cute hearts. Without having seen a picture randomly with real information, I wouldn’t have known what to look for. Do us a favor, stop playing games with my life and start truly helping people. Metastatic breast cancer treatment research and real awareness.’
Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in women worldwide and it’s time that people know about it. We completely agree with Erin – a heart would do nothing to create awareness amongst people and so we all must know what it really is like. The image she shared with her Facebook post is going viral and here’s everything you need to know about it.
1. KnowYourLemons – Understanding what breast cancer looks like
A campaign called KnowYourLemons came up with this picture and if you look at it, it’s quite informative. This picture helps you identify whether or not you have the ailment. It’s the first step towards knowing the many different ways breast cancer can present itself.
Even if you know nothing at all about breast cancer, if you see this image, you can at least have an idea of what it might look like. If ever in your lifetime, you find something similar happening to you or to someone else, you’ll know what it is and be able to follow the next steps of going to the doctors, getting it diagnosed and so on.
Also Read: Breast Cancer Awareness Quotes
2. Breast exam – What to feel for during your check-up!
The website that’s running this campaign also talks about what breast cancer feels like during a checkup. With another graphic, we now know what a woman goes through if she has breast cancer.
The best time to get your check-up done is a few days after your period ends (or anytime postmenopausal).
Also Read: Breast Cancer Signs & Symptoms
3. How breast cancer is found!
The third step is about how breast cancer is found. In this image, you can see that once you have found the symptoms with the help of the above two images, you now need to see the doctor who’ll confirm whether you have breast cancer or not with the help of different processes that are explained in the image.
So guys, let’s all take a moment and genuinely support and spread awareness for breast cancer. Share this information with as many people as you can and do your bit to help with this ailment.
Images: worldwidebreastcancer.com
