A Facebook post about a Vancouver womanās experience with ovarian cancer is not only helping women around the world spot signs of the disease, itās credited with saving lives.
Just weeks after giving birth to her second child in 2015, Erin Barrett was diagnosed with early stage ovarian cancer.
āItās not what you expect to go through when youāve got a toddler at home and a newborn daughter,ā Barrett told CTV Vancouver. āThe mass was so big, it was bigger than a volleyball and it actually turned out, size-wise, to be bigger than my baby.ā
While undergoing treatment for her cancer she wrote a heartfelt, confessional about her experience that she hoped would raise awareness among other women.
āThe symptoms of ovarian cancer are so vague and so subtle and so easy to miss and I had missed them,ā Barrett said of her decision to list them on Facebook.
Barrettās post has now been shared more than 300,000 times and has been raising awareness around the world.
It has even been credited with saving several womenās lives.
Debbie Pitblado, from Milton, Ont., got some troubling symptoms checked out after seeing Barrettās post on her nieceās page. She was diagnosed with a rare form of uterine cancer.
āThe tumour was about 13 cm and you know Iām so glad I saw Erinās post when I saw it because it was already starting to cause some complications,ā said Pitblado.
Across the pond in Yorkshire, England, Rachel Austin had a similar experience.
āI saw Erinās post on Facebook and it just hit a real nerve with me,ā Austin told CTV Vancouver.
Austin was later diagnosed with ovarian cancer.
āI just feel so so lucky because had I not seen that post until things had got more severe and I donāt know where I could have been by then,ā she said.
Three other women have also shared similar stories with Barrett.
āItās really hard to wrap your head around that an action so small, writing a post, could end up impacting five peopleās lives that way,ā said Barrett. āItās so much more than I ever had hoped for.ā
The symptoms of ovarian cancer Barrett described on Facebook include:
- Irregular periods or vaginal bleeding after menopause
- Lower abdominal pain
- Back pain
- Passing urine more often than usual
- Constipation
- Pain during sex
- A swollen abdomen
- A feeling of fullness or loss of appetite
- Tiredness
With files from CTV Vancouverās Maria Weisgarber
