Cancer website cuts loneliness
(eastday.com)
Updated: 2005-04-15 08:59

Sitting in front of her computer, 51-year-old You Jindi isn't just a cancer patient, she is a volunteer who works with others who have the disease to make their recovery more bearable.

You set up a Website for cancer patients (www.betterclub.com) in July 2004.

In addition to posting health care information that most patients want to know, You also set up a message board for them to communicate with each other.

"Communicating with patients is different from communicating with normal people," said You. "Most of the time, only those who have the same experience can understand them."

A little more than six months after it was launched, the Website now has hundreds of members.

As the site's owner, You answers questions from cancer patients every day and organizes activities once a month.

"I was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 1998," You said.

After two operations in 1998 and 2001 to remove her womb and one of her breasts, You said she was depressed. "I couldn't find any hope for my life."

Her depression lasted for about one year until You took part in a club for cancer patients in August 2002.

"Many patients there were optimistic and had a strong mind," You recalled. "Their attitude encouraged me."

She soon became a group leader of the club in the Wujiaochang area of Yangpu District and began to learn computer skills.

"After I began to surf online, I found life is so colorful," You said. "There is so much information online that you can get almost all you want. I hoped more patients could enjoy it."

Under her encouragement, more and more club members joined the computer training program. Then You got the idea to set up their own Website and message board.

A 77-year-old patient who doesn't have any children said on the message board that he planted flowers on the balcony and fed birds every day. "I am so optimistic because there are so many members who care about me."

Another patient named Ma Weifang said the club and the Website is her spiritual homeland.

You believes a good mood will be very helpful to one's health.

She once learned a patient in her area was alone and never went out. You went to visit him several times, but he never opened the door for her.

"I talked to him through the door and finally he joined us one month later and became happier than before."

You doesn't have a regular job. But she seems busier than most people.

In addition to the communication online, You spends a lot of her time talking with patients on the telephone or face to face.

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