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Apr 5, 2007 4:28 pm US/Eastern
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Web Site Lets Cancer Patients Easily Communicate
by Kellye Lynn
BALTIMORE (WJZ) ―
Battling cancer is challenging, but so are efforts to keep family members up to date with a patient's condition.
As
Healthwatch reporter Kellye Lynn reports, a unique web-based program is helping relatives stay connected across the globe.
With the click of a mouse and a few hits on the keyboard, a patient in Baltimore can let all of their family members, no matter where they are, know how they are doing instantaneously.
Harold Adler is a 77-year-old patient fighting leukemia.
Adler was able to use the web site called CaringBridge.Org to update family members about his condition.
The site allows users to create their own personal blog and send out group messages that can inform hundreds or even thousands with messages and updates.
Adler said he has received words of encouragement from places as close as Bel Air and as far away as Israel.
"It gave me a lot of company in a place where company is very restricted," said Adler. "It's a window to the outside world."
University of Maryland Manager of Patient Resources Anne Williams said the web site is making quite an impact.
"It just helps ease the burden of communicating to multiple people all over the place because our families spend a lot of time on the phone and it frees them up to be on their loved one's bedside," said Williams.
Those who have created a blog on CaringBridge have said it is simple and only takes a few minutes to make their own personalized page.
Adler said the site is helping him keep his spirits up as he fights his sickness.
CaringBridge is currently available for patients in 10 Maryland hospitals.
More than 50,000 Americans have an individual web site on CaringBridge.org.
Click here for a direct link to the CaringBridge.org web site.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)