Give Support to a Colon Cancer Patient

I know it's been awhile since I've checked in with Cancer Nerd. Been quite busy with my MBA and a blog I have started with the women in my class, which you can check out here.

But today I write with something way more important. I received an email from a very good friend of mine, forwarded from a friend of hers. Please take a moment to read this and follow the link to Audra's Journey:

As most of you know one of my very best friends since the age of 9, Audra, has been diagnosed with Stage 4 Colon Cancer that has already metastasized to her liver. She is only 37 years old and after a long battle with infertility and losing her first son in-utero very late in the pregnancy she finally had Adam and Olivia her twins just 9 months ago.

Obviously, we are all devastated and shocked by this news, we are choosing to believe in the infinite possibilities and miracles!

I have started a website for her in which people can log on and read her story and journal entries. On this website you can also log onto her guestbook and send her a message of inspiration and support. Most of you know her but even if you do not please take the time to check in on this website occasionally and send her messages. Audra is a big believer in the power of thought and the more people who are sending love and light and energy the better for her healing and for her psyche to fight! I am begging that you do this for her. Lets make it a movement for her.

The website is www.caringbridge.org and her website name is: audrasjourney.When you get to the site it will say "visit a caring bridge website" this is where you enter, audrasjourney.

Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart.

Here is a direct link which should also work.

Please reach out and show your support to Audra today!

Another Fabulous Website: CaringBridge

I feel like I've been posting a lot about websites lately, but there are so many great free resources out there to help people, I can't help but get excited. This whole "Web 2.0" movement, as I am coming to understand it, has the potential to do such great things and enrich people's lives. It brings out the best in good people who sit at their computers wanting to do good things for the world. Who can argue with that?

Case in point: CaringBridge. It seems as if this website has been around for about 10 years, and I sorely wish I had known about it when my stepdad was sick. The site (and the non-profit organization that runs it) provides free websites to "support and connect loved ones during critical illness, treatment and recovery." Whether the critical time stems from a cancer diagnosis, a car accident, a complicated pregnancy, or anything similarly serious, this site allows for the creation of an interactive website with features including an online journal/blog, guestbook, photo gallery, an online communities so that the families on CaringBridge can reach out to each other.

When my stepdad John was sick, I remember sending out mass email after mass email, adjusting each email depending on the group to which it was sent - my mom's family, my dad's family, my college friends, my coworkers, my mom's colleagues. I didn't mind doing it, but there were many other things I could have been doing with that precious time. It would have been amazing to be able to have a website where we could post just once to update everyone, and be able to show John the guestbook entries written in support of him.

Well, if it couldn't happen for us, I'm glad that 100,000 other families (!!!) have used this service, and I hope that this organization continues to thrive.

To donate to CaringBridge, click here.