BreastCancerStories.com is an online community where people touched by breast cancer can stay in touch with loved ones and connect with others who are going through a related experience.

Description:
Breast cancer patients are provided with their own web space where they can upload chapters and photos as they progress through their treatments. This is an easy way to keep loved ones updated without having to relive each experience with each telling.

Friends and family members can visit a patient’s website, follow their progress and leave loving messages of support. It's often difficult to know what to say – this format gives them a comfortable way to reach out.

What truly makes BreastCancerStories.com different from a traditional blog site is that the stories are all searchable by location, age, type of breast cancer and type of treatment. It's healing to find others going through a similar situation, read their stories and even connect through email.

WHO WE SERVE AND HOW THEY BENEFIT

Breast Cancer Patients: Each year over 200,000 women and men are diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States alone. Many hospitals and treatment centers have tremendous support systems in place from support groups to resource sharing to one-on-one counseling. However, there is still a vast population of breast cancer patients that are either unable to attend a support group due to scheduling or illness, or perhaps they don’t feel comfortable in a support group setting. Studies have found that it is critical to a patient’s well being and healing to connect with others who are going through something similar. By having access to BreastCancerStories.com 24 hours a day / 7 days a week, a patient can visit the site when it’s comfortable for them, search through and read the experiences of others in a similar circumstance, and even write about their own if they so desire.

Family Members and Friends of a Breast Cancer Patient: When a family member or friend receives the news that their loved one has been diagnosed with breast cancer, they often feel helpless and uncertain how to respond. Some feel comfortable reaching out while others don’t want to interfere or “bother” the patient. They’re not sure what to say so often they say nothing at all. Providing them with the ability to leave caring messages in a writer’s guestbook not only helps them to stay in touch, but it also provides much needed encouragement to the breast cancer patient.

History:
Since its official launch in June of 2006, BreastCancerStories.com has received overwhelming response from patients, physicians, oncology nurses and the media. To date, over 175 registered story writers and as many as 10,000 visitors reading their stories each month are using the site. We expect these numbers to dramatically increase as we continue to expand our outreach effort.

The website was started by Wendy McCoole who was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 42 (the same age her mother was when she was first diagnosed). She kept an online diary – affectionately nicknamed Bald Wendy – to keep family and friends updated as she progressed through her treatments.

She shared candid thoughts about how she was feeling physically and emotionally, and displayed photos of her head being shaved in preparation for chemo, her chemo treatments, the team at the cancer center, and even photos of her nieces and nephew painting her head like an Easter egg.

The site was shared by hundreds of people – many of whom she didn’t know – and was often referred to as "inspirational." Because she understood first hand the impact a breast cancer diagnosis can have on someone and their family, she decided to create a similar site so others could share their story as well.

Contact person: Wendy McCoole, Executive Director, (phone), (email)
Office fax number: (866) 559-3892

Address:

PO Box 1576 Portsmouth, NH 03801

Miscellaneous Information

Name of Executive Director (or equivalent) if not listed above:
	Wendy McCoole
Type of organization
	Nonprofit 501(c)3
Is your organization a Health and Human Service agency?
	Yes