Online Message Board Answers Questions and Reduces Isolation

“The Message Board did not exist when my daughter was ill,”Sherri Barger “Oh, how I wish it had. I was so scared, and I wanted to know that there was a chance for her to survive — and for me to survive.”

Barger’s feelings are common among parents whose children have been given cancer diagnosis. Parents who have children with cancer experience anxiety and fear, sometimes even isolation. Christine Leeper, manager, National Children’s Cancer Society Care to Share Message Board (and a case manager for N.C.C.S.), says it can seem that everyone else has healthy children.

“Once they get through that initial shock, parents have lots of questions, want advice, support, prayers or just to talk to someone who is going through the same thing,” says Leeper.

The N.C.C.S. Care to share online message board launched by the N.C.C.S.www.thenationalchildrenscancersociety.org/forumsTo help parents of patients with cancer find one another, The forums are divided into sections for survivors and caregivers. They provide an open forum where you can discuss your active treatment and the life after it, as well as find support and resources.

“The Message Board is available to families 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so they can reach out to someone and get a response when they need it,” says Leeper.

Heather Barger and her daughter Heather, who were once told by doctors that she had a 0% to 5% chance of survival in her childhood battle with leukemia, are regular contributors for the Message Board.

“When Heather was battling for her life, I was desperate to talk to someone who had survived the disease so I could cling to that hope,”Barger.

Barger and her child now offer hope to parents and patients via the Care to Share Message Board.

“I have learned that for parents who have children with cancer, it is very helpful to be able to chat with another adult and ask questions, gather information, and vent their frustrations. It is also helpful for children to be able to talk to another child who has experienced some of the same things that they have,”Heather. “This has made me want to be able to share my experiences with others and hopefully be able to make a difference in another person’s life.”