Woman had 'lump' that doctors repeatedly dismissed — an Instagram influencer helped uncover a life-saving diagnosis

The woman had been to two doctors and both of them had dismissed her saying that she was 'young and healthy.'

PUBLISHED 5 HOURS AGO

(L) A woman doing a breast self-exam. (R) A woman scrolling on her phone while drinking coffee. (Representative Cover Image Source: Getty Images | (L) Witthaya Prasongsin; (R) Ezra Bailey)

Learning about other people's stories on social media can be very useful at times, as it sometimes helps in self-diagnosis. A mom experienced that when she received a life-changing diagnosis after seeing a woman's story on Instagram. The mom, Carli Williams, felt that an influencer, Delia Chatwin, whom she followed on Instagram, saved her life by sharing the story of her breast cancer diagnosis at a young age. Williams then decided to get scans and a biopsy for a lump in her breast, as reported by Good Morning America. That one decision ensured that she got timely medical treatment for her breast cancer.

A woman going through a mammogram. Representative Image Source: Getty Images | Tom Werner

It all started when Williams felt a small lump in her breast, but doctors told her that it was probably just a cyst. One of the doctors suggested that she could get an ultrasound if she wanted, but as Williams was a young mom of 3 and quite busy, she didn't schedule an exam. "I was like, 'She told me I did not have breast cancer, and I'm not going to go out of my way to schedule this. I'm a busy, working mom of three, and taking time for yourself when you are married and working and a mom is really hard." However, several months later, the lump began to grow and become thicker, so the mom sought a second opinion from another doctor.

A doctor examining a cancer patient's X-ray. Representative Image Source: Getty Images | Maskot

She was again told that she was "young and healthy" and should just keep monitoring the lump. It was most likely a cyst and not breast cancer. But then Williams came across Chatwin's story and things took a turn for her. Chatwin had breast cancer at 28, and Williams had been following her for quite some time. She had been diagnosed with stage 3 invasive breast cancer in January 2021 after doing a breast self-exam. But Chatwin decided to keep her diagnosis private from the 37,000 people who followed her on social media at that time, as she was going through a very difficult period.

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That changed in April 2021, as the influencer decided to share her journey with her followers after going through several rounds of chemotherapy. "I felt like I'd be doing a disservice. It was really hard. It was really, really hard putting myself in a vulnerable place like that, but I am so thankful that I did," Chatwin went on. Williams saw the post about Chatwin's diagnosis and decided to call her doctor for a mammogram. "I'm like, 'Wait, she's young and healthy. She's not a candidate. She's not in the statistics." Williams added, "And right when I went into mammography, they're like, 'This is very concerning.' The tone of the conversation switched very quickly."

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Williams was diagnosed with stage 2 ductal carcinoma breast cancer and it had spread to her lymph nodes. She went through several rounds of chemotherapy and had a mastectomy. "Because Delia posted and because I listened to my own intuition about my own body, I'm going to be in a position now where I'm going to be alive for my kids and I'm going to be OK." Williams called it the "beautiful side" of social media. The two of them have become close friends now and have supported each other through their journeys. They expressed that it has become really important to share such stories so women in their 20s and 30s don't ignore the signs of breast cancer and advocate for themselves.