On May 4, 2013, I created a new feature on the Let Life Happen website with the addition of a category titled “In the News”. The intention was to post at least one article daily from all of the news that I was finding regarding a variety of healthcare issues so that people would be better able to keep up on the latest information pertaining to their individual disorders. Therefore, for the last 365 days, an article has been published each and every day but what I found was far beyond my wildest expectations.
I can’t begin to tell you how much information I have learned from all of the source material that I have read in the past year. My goal for the daily postings in the main folder has been to highlight the breakthroughs and research findings that are most recently being discussed in the search for cures and treatments.
The work that is being done in research is phenomenal. The trials that are taking place are providing participants with hope. The events that are being held to raise funds are unprecedented in numbers as are the events being held to support and assist breast cancer survivors in so many different ways. As a result, in addition to the article feature each day, there are numerous articles and stories and updates being sent out all day, every day.
I can’t begin to tell you how much information I have learned from all of the source material that I have read in the past year. My goal for the daily postings in the main folder has been to highlight the breakthroughs and research findings that are most recently being discussed in the search for cures and treatments. While I initially started with a large variety of diseases and the reporting of findings, I have had to limit my postings to those pertaining to cancer only since I don’t have the resources to provide all of the information pertaining to a variety of diseases and I don’t want to mislead anyone into thinking that what I am posting would in any way be a fair representation of all the work that is being done outside the world of cancer.
One benefit of this new feature is one that I never considered. I quickly found that there were a lot of other people out there who were very vested in the information about cancer, and particularly in breast cancer, which I was posting. I soon found that many of these people were not the breast cancer patients that I thought would be my largest audience because of their direct connection to the disease and a desire to know what was occurring in order to be in a better position to discuss their options for treatment with their medical professionals.
Rather, those who had associations with the cancer world in a variety of other capacities were the ones with whom I have had the greatest contact and with whom I have been having some fantastic discussions. I greatly appreciate all of the feedback that I have received from those who have found interest and value in the information that I have posted. I find it so rewarding that there are those in the medical technology fields who realize that their work does have a great impact on the lives of so many of us who have no medical background but are willing to learn what they are doing in order to have better conversations with our doctors about possibilities for our treatments for a brighter future.
With this past year in mind and the outcome of what has been the feedback from those with whom I have been fortunate enough to interact over that time, I have decided to continue this process. It has been a program that seems to have so many positive results that the time that it takes to keep it going is very well spent. Therefore, until such time that the benefits no longer outweigh the positive results of this undertaking, I will keep this feature as a part of the website that truly belongs to all of you.
Barbara Jacoby is an award winning blogger that has contributed her writings to multiple online publications that have touched readers worldwide.