CaringBridge

This post comes with a bit of personal experience.

I have a friend and fraternity brother who is nearing the end of his battle with a very rare and incurable form of cancer. Although he has been with us much longer than what was originally diagnosed, it still breaks my heart and is devastating to all who know and love him. Particularly his unbelievably strong wife and their young children. Breaks my heart what they are going through right now.

What has been absolutely magical, though, is how all of us have been able to be a part of his journey through social media. Hopefully supporting him in some small way.

Truthfully I have not seen him in years, but over the course of the last eighteen months or so, we have all reconnected over Facebook. So as he and his wife have been on this roller coaster called cancer, their friends and family have been sitting next to them on the ride. Not physically, but spiritually. Connected in ways never possible before things like Facebook.

And then there's CaringBridge. CaringBridge has also been a tremendous help in keeping their extended network of family and friends informed and involved. Not sure if you have ever heard of it, but you need to understand how helpful this website is at times like these. I know many people have used this great service at CaringBridge.org.

On the website, my friend and his wife have been keeping a journal of their activities and treatments, both happy and sad, and then we are able to post back comments. They get to read and feel the love that all of us so much want them to feel. I am sure it's an outlet of sorts for them as well, a place where they can express all the emotions that they are going through. The posts then get added to places like Facebook, and we can share all the updates and send back support.

If you are in any kind of a healthcare crisis, check out CaringBridge. Get all your friends and family involved in your journey. They want to be. And if you are a marketer, consider supporting this great service and others like it -- an amazing way to truly add value to your consumers' lives.

In the meantime, all my thoughts are centered on my friend and his family as they go through this horrible time. At the very least, we have a venue to tell them that we are right there by their side.

What's your experience? Jim.