Let’s share this image … it could save someone’s life
Did you notice people posting red hearts all over Facebook recently? According to the Internet these posts were doing the rounds in an effort to spread breast cancer awareness. One woman battling the disease saw the posts start to go viral – and she totally called it out as B.S. because “cute heart” isn’t going to help save lives.
In a Facebook post (which was already amassed over 14,000 likes so far), Erin Smith Chieze writes that she discovered she had cancer after seeing a picture on the social network of what the disease can actually 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,” she writes.
READ MORE: 4 Breast Cancer Risk Factors You Might Not Know
Just five days later she went to the doctor and her fears were confirmed… it was stage four breast cancer. “A heart did nothing for awareness,” she writes. “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.”
Chieze stresses that people need to give real information on the disease, not “cute hearts.” “Without having seen a picture randomly with real information, I wouldn’t have known what to look for,” she says.
She also posted a photo that was similar to the one she saw, and encouraged people to pass it on. So, that’s what we’re doing.
The image she posted is part of the Know Your Lemons campaign started by the Worldwide Breast Cancer Organization. It’s an incredibly informative graphic that both men and women should use for self-exams.
READ MORE: 5 Most Common Cancers…And How You Can Outsmart Them
“If you truly want to help people WITH cancer, or those who will GET cancer, share photos like this one,” she says. “I wish I remembered who posted the original picture I saw, it truly did make a difference for me.”
Find out more information about the Know Your Lemons campaign here, and check out Erin’s full post below.
Looking for more info on cancer and your breasts? Here are seven ways to keep your breasts healthy.
