Connecting Young Cancer Survivors Online

Posted on Jun 9th, 2012

From http://www2.mdanderson.org/cancerwise/2010/05/connecting-young-cancer-patient-online.html

Lynn Lane is a young prostate cancer survivor who founded a website,  VoicesofSurvivors.org, where video and written stories give a voice to cancer survivors from all over the world.

Marisa Mir is a program coordinator for MD Anderson’s Anderson Network, and organizer for Cancer180, a program developed to provide support to survivors ages 18-39. She was diagnosed with colon cancer while in her 20s.

In a recent Cancer Newsline episode, they came together and talked with host Lisa Garvin about how their cancer journeys inspired online and offline outreach efforts to other young survivors.

Mir explains how many of the young patients that she came in contact with at MD Anderson were not comfortable sharing information in support groups not structured for them. She says many struggled with the existing Anderson Network support system because they didn’t like the idea of “talking to a stranger on the phone about their cancer.”Online and social media as a basis for building that support system seemed a better fit for this audience.

Listen to Cancer Newsline -Social Media Connections for Young Cancer Patients
Listen on iTunes U- Social Media Connections for Young Cancer Patients

Lane recounts, “When I was diagnosed, all I did was sit online all day and night and just chat with people. You don’t have to wait for that once-a-month support group meeting, they were always there 24 hours a day. Someone’s always online willing to talk to you about what you are going through or what they are going through.”

Thanks to pioneers like Lane and Mir, there are a number of support resources available online.

Online and Social Media Cancer Survivor Resources
MD Anderson Young Cancer Connection (Facebook)
Cancer180 (Facebook)
Anderson Network (Twitter)

Voices of Survivors
Planet Cancer
AYA Cancer Patients and Survivors: Teenage, Adolescent and Young Adult (Facebook)