Staying connected

I lost a good friend last week, to colorectal cancer, at the age of 34. He leaves behind his wife and a three year old son. There is a lot more that I need to write and will write about this as time goes on.

For now, I wanted to highlight a small, good thing: the power of social media to bring connection and support. My friend used a site called CaringBridge – there are others like this – which provided a forum for him to journal about his experience, and for followers to provide words of encouragement as he battled his disease.

In his last days, this site allowed followers to say goodbye and to pay tribute to such a remarkable man. Now that he is gone, the site allows for the many friends and family he has throughout the country and world to write letters and words of grief and condolence, and to share happier stories about Brant from better times, in order to provide a long-lasting source of comfort for his family. Nothing is going to replace Brant. But a site like CaringBridge helps – just a little bit – with the pain that we feel from his loss. I would recommend these kinds of social media to you so that your patients and families can gain a similar measure of support during some of the most difficult times in their lives.