Viral FB post-What bc can look & feel like

I have recently received numerous FB pms requesting I put a heart on my FB page for bc awareness. Perhaps some of you have, too. I did not respond or post a heart. I am way beyond something that cutesy, I know most of us are.

Today, a friend (who does not have bc) shared a post from a woman with stage iv bc, Erin Smith Chieze,in response to the heart requests. I think I read that the post has gone viral. I found it informative and much more effective than a heart. I shared it on FB, including my own comment that I received the heart requests with the loving well-intentions they were sent, but that we must move past ineffective displays of "awareness" and distribute more effective information on the disease.

Here is the post I shared.

Erin Smith Chieze

January 10 at 8:03pm ·

In the past few days, I have received quite a few private messages about a "game" going around where you post a heart, then you are secretly supposed to state it is for breast cancer awareness. This is my response to all of these messages.

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.

This is a photo I have found that is very similar to the one I originally saw. PLEASE, stop playing games that do not actually promote awareness, they often cause people to tune out anything that might even mention the word awareness. So if you truly want to help people WITH cancer, or those who will GET cancer, share photos like this one. I wish I remembered who posted the original picture I saw, it truly did make a difference for me.

I found this photo at http://www.worldwidebreastcancer.com/what-does-breast-canc…/

Editing to add. I have been contacted by the designer for the photograph that I have used Corrine Ellsworth Beaumont and while I did cite the URL that I found the picture from, I would also like to add the Facebook page of the organization that started the know your lemons campaign. Credit absolutely must be given to the wonderful people who are working so hard to get accurate and memorable information out to the public. I just happened upon this photo and used it in order to make my point, but I am SO thankful that other women and men may see this and know what they are possibly looking at and seek immediate medical attention.

https://www.facebook.com/worldwidebreastcancer…