Breast cancer survivor says think twice about #NoBraDay trend
Breast cancer survivor had mastectomy on #NoBraDay last year
On #NoBraDay last year, Andrea Towle wasn't posting a selfie without a bra on.
She was lying in an operating room on Oct. 13 having her left breast removed.
The breast cancer survivor from North Bay, Ont. posted a photo on her Facebook page this week showing her mastectomy scars and criticizing the online trend that encourages women to post a braless photo of themselves on social media.
#NoBraDay is intended to raise awareness for breast cancer.
"I thought I would show the actual brutal reality of what breast cancer looks like," Towle told CBC News. "It's not pink and fluffy and sexy."
"It's brutal and painful."
Encourage breast exams, not selfies
Towle, who is 33 years old, said instead of posting a sexy selfie, people should be using the day to talk about breast cancer screening.
It's not pink and fluffy and sexy. It's brutal and painful.- Andrea Towle, breast cancer survivor
"Younger people need to do self-exams," she said. "In Ontario, the breast cancer screening program starts at 50 [years old]. I was 32 when I found a lump," she said.
"I had to fight to get a mammogram, and I know that's the case for a lot of women that I've met."
Towle said she first discovered a lump on her breast last April.
"I went to my doctor. He said, 'you're 32, I'm not sending you for a mammogram. I can't see anything wrong.'"
By August she returned to her doctor again, who agreed to send her for a mammogram. Within two weeks she was diagnosed with stage 3 invasive ductal carcinoma, which had spread to her lymph nodes.
On Oct. 13, 2015, she had a radical mastectomy on her left side.
Adjusting to life after losing her breast has been difficult, and Towle said posting a braless selfie isn't the right way to show solidarity.
"Society already pressures us to look beautiful and look a certain way," she said.
"It's hard enough already to see people on a normal day, but for them to be posting these pictures that are purporting to say it's for us...if anything it just makes us jealous. We would love to be able to post those pictures as well."