After receiving the terrifying news that she had stage 2 breast cancer, Lisa Royle took time before her mastectomy to try to help others: She posted a picture on Facebook of the dimpled skin on her left breast, the first sign that led to her diagnosis. "Very subtle dimples underneath that could easily be missed when we're all rushing round getting ready in a morning," Royle, a mother of four from Manchester, England, wrote in the caption. "Please take time to look at your boobs. It could save your life ?" Since May 11, when Royle posted the photo snapped by her husband, it has been shared from her Facebook page more than 69,000 times and has captured headlines worldwide. Royle, 42, had surgery on Monday and was not available for an interview Wednesday as she was hospitalized with an infection, her sister, Claire Osmand, said in an email interview with TODAY.com. Through her sister, though, Royle said she cannot believe how many people have seen her slightly fuzzy picture, which she shared to let friends and relatives know what to look for. "I just hope it encourages everyone to check their boobs regularly, not just feel for lumps but to look for changes too," Royle wrote in a text message to her sister Tuesday that Osmand shared with TODAY.com. Royle noted that only five weeks have passed since she went to the doctor after noticing the dimples while on vacation in Egypt. "I knew once I saw them something wasn't right," she wrote, adding that an ultrasound detected a lump. She says she will soon be treated with chemotherapy followed by radiation and targeted therapy, and she is optimistic. "Hearing you have cancer is the scariest thing but it could have been a lot worse had I not spotted it as early as I have," she wrote. "I am a positive person and have such amazing friends and family supporting me and I know I'll beat this." Osmand praised her sister for her bright outlook. "She's a beautiful, strong mother, daughter, sister, wife and aunty," Osmand, 40, said by email. "She's really good fun and extremely positive, she's ace!" Dimpling and puckering are among the skin changes that can occur with breast cancer. They happen when a tumor pulls healthy skin toward its center, said Dr. Anees Chagpar, director of the Breast Center at Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven Hospital. She estimated that 70 to 80 percent of breast cancers in places like the United States and the United Kingdom are generally detected earlier through mammograms before skin changes occur or lumps can be felt. Still, awareness that skin changes, which also include redness or thickening, can be a sign of cancer, she said, "is not as high as we would like." (The changes can also occur in people without cancer, too.) "I think women in general don't know that often times breast cancer can present as skin changes," Chagpar said. "They may be only looking for a lump. "Women need to be proactive about understanding the warning signs of breast cancer and seek medical attention," she added. "If women have these signs, they should not stay home in fear thinking it is too far gone. Go see your doctor. This can be treated very effectively." Chagpar praised breast cancer survivors for spreading awareness as Royle did. "It's wonderful to see patients so engaged to really try to be our partners in getting the word out so that more people understand the need to be aware of all the different manifestations of breast cancer," Chagpar said. "The more people who see this picture, who then can look in the mirror and say, 'Gee, do I have that?' and who could potentially catch breast cancer earlier, the better." And like so many photos that go viral, Royle hadn't meant to send a message so far and wide but she is pleased nonetheless. "It wasn't her intention for the photo to go viral," Osmand says, "but she's happy if it helps people to make breast awareness be a habit for life." Source
