Would you date a cancer survivor?

BY LACEY MEYER | JULY 20, 2009

Dating and finding the one and only person meant for you--your soul mate--isn't an easy feat for anyone, and a cancer diagnosis most likely won't make things any easier. And while numerous online dating services have popped up over the last decade, one sticks out above the rest when you're talking cancer.

Founded by a cancer survivor in 2007, "C is for Cupid" is one of the first, and few, online dating services designed specifically for people whose lives have been affected by cancer. The service is free, run by a handful of cancer survivors, and aimed at providing a comfortable and fun environment for members to connect with others who can "relate." As of March 2009, there are more than 1,000 members.

The Spring 2009 issue of CURE featured an essay--"When Do I Tell Her?"--by cancer survivor Jasan Zimmerman about the complexities and challenges of dating after cancer and when and how much medical history to reveal during the process.

C is for Cupid lets members complete at profile for others to view and it is up to them to decide how much personal medical information to reveal. And the private messaging system and mailboxes allow members to pursue relationships--friendship, companionship, or romantic--without sharing detailed information about themselves, such as a personal e-mail address, until they are ready. The site also includes links to other cancer-related websites and organizations.

Although dating another cancer survivor may not be for everyone, I think it is a great opportunity and resource for survivors and other people affected by cancer to be able to connect with someone who has "been there" and who may have other similar interests as well.

A few other online dating sites for people with cancer include Prescription4Love.com (this one is for people with all types of illnesses, including cancer) and CancerMatch.com.

Survivorship Care Plans

BY LACEY MEYER | MAY 29, 2009

Since the article "Mapping the Journey" was published in the Winter 2008 issue of CURE, more survivor care plans and tools have become available.

The University of Pennsylvania Abramson Cancer Center's OncoLink (www.oncolink.org) and the Lance Armstrong Foundation (www.livestrong.org) collaborated on a new computerized care plan, the LIVESTRONG Care Plan Powered by Penn Medicine's OncoLink (www.livestrongcareplan.org), just released in mid-May. The new plan is based on OncoLink's original OncoLife Survivorship Care Plan, which had been available since 2007.

The National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship has also collaborated with the UCLA Cancer Survivorship Center, WellPoint, Inc., and Genentech to develop Journey Forward (www.JourneyForward.org), which promotes physician and patient understanding of the post-treatment effects of cancer. Journey Forward launched in five pilot states in February with survivorship care plans for colon and breast cancer survivors and will later include plans for survivors of other cancer types throughout the country. The website includes a custom-made "Survivorship Care Plan Builder" for use by oncologists and an electronic "Medical History Builder" for patients.

At the recent AACR annual meeting Penn researchers reported that 97 percent of people who used the OncoLife tool rated their experience with it as "good" to "excellent," and 84 percent said they planned to share their plan with their health care team. Penn researchers surveyed more than 3,000 people who created OncoLife care plans during an 18-month period between 2007 and 2008; 62 percent of OncoLife users were cancer survivors and only 13 percent said they had received survivorship information in the past.

Poll: Have you received survivorship information from your doctor in the past? Click Here to take poll

Here are some other interesting articles about cancer survivorship care plans:

You've Survived Cancer, Now What?

Penn's Online Survivorship Care Plans Empower Cancer Survivors, Caregivers

Oncology Times article