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More than Just a Box of Chocolates

Posted on: Thursday, 15 January 2009, 04:04 CST

Love Offers Strength, Hope and Recovery for Many Facing Health Crises

CHICAGO, Jan. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Does love truly conquer all? Millions of patients facing health challenges have found support and compassion through online communities such as CarePages.com believe it does. To them, love is more than a dozen roses or candlelit dinner on Valentine's Day - it's a matter of healing, strength and defying the odds for survival.

Just ask Lisa, who was diagnosed with Stage IV non-smokers lung cancer, which had spread to her brain, in April 2006. She credits her family's love and a community of more than 2,600 visitors extending from California to New England for fueling her fierce determination to fight the cancer. Lisa will soon embark on yet another line of treatment to battle the tumors, and although she and her husband are still weighing their options, they know they'll have all the support they could imagine.

"It is an incredible feeling to realize there are a number of different groups of people who are basically waiting in the wings for us to call for help when we're ready. We are thankful every day to live through repeated examples of how good people really are." (CarePage: LisasRoadtoRecovery)

Or ask Barbie, whose daughter was diagnosed with leukemia when she was just three, who also acknowledges her CarePages community for providing the much-needed support while facing her daughter's many spinal taps, blood transfusions and chemo treatments. With family far away, Barbie found strength to care for her young daughter and help her beat the disease to live a fun and fulfilled life.

"CarePages is my therapy. I get up every morning and I open my CarePage. And I go to bed at night and I read my CarePage... I don't know what we would do without this CarePage community." (CarePage: OurLittlePrincess)

A survey of nearly 900 caregivers and visitors to CarePages.com, whose mission is to ensure that no one faces a health challenge alone, found that 99 percent believed emotional support can have a positive effect on the healing process. With stories like Lisa's and Barbie's, it's hard not to believe that the Internet is transforming health care. Proving the true power of love, online health sites and social networks are helping doctors and hospitals treat the whole person - a patient's mind and spirit along with the illness. A recent white paper released by CarePages.com explores the implications of these trends and recent research.

"It takes more than medicine to heal. We must meet our most elemental needs for personal connections and community, too, and the Internet is rapidly evolving to meet those needs," says Dr. Sharon Langshur, co-founder of CarePages. "I'm continually touched by the powerful and inspirational stories of our members who find strength, healing and courage through their online connections."

In 2008, CarePages commissioned a Nielsen Online study of health sites, and more than 10 percent of discussions were dedicated to messages of appreciation, gratitude and the positive impact of receiving love and emotional support. The patients' Web sites, blogs and discussion forums on CarePages are no exception.

For more information, please visit our online press room (http://cms.carepages.com/CarePages/en/Press/index.html)

Ready to do more this Valentine's Day with your love? Get some pointers on how to comfort and support a loved one facing a health challenge from CarePages. Or, hear about the power of CarePages first hand from members like Barbie and Lisa by viewing our latest video (http://cms.carepages.com/CarePages/en/Press/video.html).

SOURCE CarePages.com

Source: PR Newswire

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