A woman in Australia has shared an image of her breast cancer to highlight the different ways the disease can appear.
Kylie Armstrong took to her Facebook page last week to share a close up shot of her bare breast – with three very subtle dimples on it.
Attached to a photo she issued this warning:
“Please take a good look at this photo,” she wrote.
“These 3 very, very subtle DIMPLES on the bottom of this breast are a sign of BREAST CANCER! This is what MY BREAST CANCER looks like.
“I felt no lump.
“The GP felt no lump.
“However, she listened to me when I said my breast looked different to usual and when I raised my arm I could see very, very feint dimples on the underside of my breast.
“The GP sent me for a mammogram to be sure.
“It wasn’t obvious on the scan so they sent me for an ultrasound.
“The ultrasound found the cancer deep in my breast close to the muscle.
“These 3 dimples have turned my world and my families world upside down.
“We are shocked, we are numb, we are emotional, we are sometimes ok, we are pretending it’s not happening, we are trying to absorb information, we are dealing with tests, we are crying, we are trying to continue as normal. We are angry, we are sad. We have more questions than answers. We are doing our best to cope. The messages and phone calls to me, my husband and my children sometimes help and sometimes make us all cry. I am sharing this because I hope I can make people aware that Breast Cancer is not always a detectable lump. Please go straight to your GP if you notice ANY change in your breast. It could save your life. Please share to spread awareness.”
The image quickly went viral on social media, with 119 thousand people sharing the image to their Facebook feeds.
Many women commended Kylie for sharing her symptom, in the hope that others will catch their cancer early too.
“Thank you for sharing and for being so brace. This must have been really hard for you. I wish you a speedy recovery” wrote Jen Ingram on the Facebook post.
