MENUBlogging Through It
Patients, families use blogs to cope with cancer
Check out our Our Blogging Picks
Not long after 4-year-old Ari Mabry was diagnosed with leukemia in 2006, his mother Johanna started a Web page to update family and friends. It was a tool -- a way to keep phone calls to a minimum, a way to ask for help.
Since then, it has evolved into a daily journal about life as it is for the Mabry family. And life for the Mabrys is filled with challenges: Ari continues a three-and-a-half-year cancer treatment regimen. Baby sister Eliana was born in April with serious birth defects -- the effects of which are still unclear. And middle child Hunter struggles with what it means to be a sibling to a brother and sister with serious medical problems.
"It has really been a way for me to feel heard. Not necessarily understood, because not everyone can understand what we go through, but to be heard," Johanna Mabry said. "I'm not exaggerating when I'm saying this: The CarePage is like a lifeline for me."
Cancer patients and caregivers are increasingly using blogs -- short for Web logs -- as an emotional outlet and practical resource. Wondering if you should launch one? Here are eight reasons to consider it.
8 Reasons to Blog
1. Inform Family and Friends.
Talking to family and friends about what you're going through can be draining -- especially if you have to repeat your story over and over.
2. Writing: It's good for you.
Researchers are just beginning to study the effects of blogging on cancer patients' wellbeing, but we know that writing about emotional experiences has its benefits. Early research has shown that some types of immune system function improve after writing. Participants in a study published in Psychological Science also reported long-term improvement in mood and well-being, despite initial pain related to writing about upsetting experiences.
Ed Chacon-Lontin, whose stage IV non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is in remission, said he's found writing to be an emotional release. He started a blog in July.
"Sometimes I'm on top of this stuff and sometimes it's on top of me," he said, referring to the anxiety and pressure cancer brings to his life. "And I also have a family and all that regular stuff. Writing helps me move through it. I write my way through y challenging places. It's a passion for me."
3. Set the tone.
A lot of people don't know how to talk about cancer. A blog gives you the chance to set the tone of your conversation about cancer and let people know where you're coming from. It can help them understand that you are still you: You have scary times and funny times. You find insight into life one day, but the next day life just sucks. By sharing your experience, it may help to shoo the elephant out of the room next time your friends call to say hi.
4. Get rid of your guilt.
It can be difficult to say no, but you have to when you're managing life with a cancer diagnosis. For Mabry, it's still difficult to accept she can't do things like bring a crockpot full of food to a friend whose father is in the hospital.
"I can post about how paralyzing it can feel to be in this situation and maybe people will get that," she said. "People can forgive me for things that they may not otherwise understand because they don't have the backstory."
5. Get a virtual pat on the back.
Sometimes you can use a boost. Blogs offer readers the opportunity to post comments in response to your posts. Sometimes they're messages of encouragement, but other times, they're just good laughs.
6. Document your experience.
This is a life-altering moment for you. It could be something you wish to document, particularly if you have young children who may want to learn more about it when they're older. If you're not sure you're ready to share your experience with other people, make your blog completely private and treat it as an online journal.
7. No experience necessary.
Mabry never felt confident in her writing. As a certified art therapist, she always considered herself a more visual person.
8. It's free.
Who doesn't like free stuff? Several services provide free blogging. WordPress and Blogger are among the most popular. Just be sure to check your privacy settings to be sure you're not sharing more than you want to. Chacon-Lontin uses a pseudonym and is careful not to post anything that would allow strangers to identify himself or his family.
Our Blogging Picks
Interested in checking out what other people with cancer are blogging about? Here are our picks to get started.
If you find a blog you enjoy, consider subscribing to it. Some blogs feature "RSS feeds," which automatically send new posts to a "feed reader" site. That way, you can monitor several blogs without going back to each blog individually. Popular reader sites are available through Google and Yahoo.
Read the Winter, 2009 issue of Thrive.