A Facebook post about a Vancouver woman’s experience with ovarian cancer is not only helping women around the world spot signs of the disease, it’s credited with saving lives.

Just weeks after giving birth to her second child in 2015, Erin Barrett was diagnosed with early stage ovarian cancer.

“It’s not what you expect to go through when you’ve got a toddler at home and a newborn daughter,” Barrett told CTV Vancouver. “The mass was so big, it was bigger than a volleyball and it actually turned out, size-wise, to be bigger than my baby.”

While undergoing treatment for her cancer she wrote a heartfelt, confessional Facebook post about her experience that she hoped would raise awareness among other women.

“The symptoms of ovarian cancer are so vague and so subtle and so easy to miss and I had missed them,” Barrett said of her decision to list them on Facebook.

Barrett’s 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 women’s lives.

Debbie Pitblado, from Milton, Ont., got some troubling symptoms checked out after seeing Barrett’s post on her niece’s page. She was diagnosed with a rare form of uterine cancer.

“The tumour was about 13 cm and you know I’m so glad I saw Erin’s post when I saw it because it was already starting to cause some complications,” said Pitblado.

Across the pond in Yorkshire, England, Rachel Austin had a similar experience.

“I saw Erin’s post on Facebook and it just hit a real nerve with me,” Austin told CTV Vancouver.

Austin was later diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

“I just feel so so lucky because had I not seen that post until things had got more severe and I don’t know where I could have been by then,” she said.

Three other women have also shared similar stories with Barrett.

“It’s really hard to wrap your head around that an action so small, writing a post, could end up impacting five people’s lives that way,” said Barrett. “It’s so much more than I ever had hoped for.”

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 Vancouver’s Maria Weisgarber