Pregnant with Cancer: Staying Connected
Between contractions while giving birth to her second child, the last thing on Sara’s mind was being pregnant with cancer. But that’s exactly when she found out she had leukemia. Fortunately, she was blessed with a healthy baby girl – her little miracle who helped find the cancer in its earlier stages. But while her new baby went to the nursery, Sara began four weeks in an isolation room. During that time she set up a CaringBridge website to stay in touch with loved ones.
“My nurse informed me of a website called CaringBridge,” Sara wrote in her online journal. “The second she told me about it I could feel myself getting excited as I knew this was something I would like to do.” A laptop was ordered and delivered to her room that day – it became her window to the world. Her husband told 15 people about the website and they were amazed at how quickly the word spread.
CaringBridge websites make it easy to share health news and receive support from everyone who cares. Using CaringBridge reduces time and emotional energy spent on repeated phone calls and emails and connects a patient’s entire support community. By following a few simple steps, a personalized website complete with privacy options can be started in just minutes.
“On the first day I created my CaringBridge website I received 120 hits. I never could have communicated with 120 people in one day without this website,” said Sara. “This was certainly the time when I realized that the advancements made in technology were going to give me the ability to communicate with others when I would need it most, where otherwise it would’ve been impossible.”
Sara credits her CaringBridge site with giving her the chance to find self-healing during her cancer and pregnancy journeys. She made time for herself each week to sort out her feelings and write them down. “When I started my website it was just a way to let people know what was happening and how I was doing. When the guestbook entries started coming in I knew that this was going to be so much more than that,” Sara wrote in her final entry. “Your amazing outreach has touched my heart and life in ways I find hard to express.”
To learn more or create your own CaringBridge website, visit www.caringbridge.org