When we were first dealing with my ALS diagnosis, Sheila and I used a variety of texting and Facebook to try to keep everyone informed. The issue is that we couldn’t keep up with everyone. That’s when we discovered CaringBridge.
What is CaringBridge?
CaringBridge is a website that is used to share your medical journey. People like us create a CaringBridge site which we use to journal about our illness and can coordinate care like meals. The site is free to use and very easy to use.
Our Vision and Mission
caringbridge.org
From the launch of the very first CaringBridge, we’ve been working toward a single vision: a world where no one goes through a health journey alone.
In order to turn this vision into reality, we’ve made it our mission to build bridges of care and communication providing love and support on a health journey.
Here is a snapshot from our journal.
How do we use it?
While going through the diagnosis period, we shared the details and frustration with the process. We also used it to help us coordinate our move to Kentucky. By using CaringBridge, we are able to keep people informed about what is happening in a single location.
We encouraged people to subscribe if they wanted to know what we are dealing with. If people wanted to know, they subscribed. Because we did this, we no longer worried about who to send a message to. This took a huge burden off of my wife. This was especially important as she transitioned to being my full-time caregiver.
One other thing I found helpful was looking back through older journal entries. If you’re like me, I don’t always remember how things happened even though I went through them. I have used those entries to share my story and just reminisce about our journey.
Why you should consider using it
CaringBridge is by far the easiest and most cost-effective way to share your medical journey. I have had a site for five years and it’s still effective. If you have a GoFundMe like we do, you can share it here as well.
This doesn’t require any technical training. You can set it up yourself or even have someone else do it for you. It also supports multiple authors which allows you to share the burden of updating. The barrier for entry is very low, and the benefits are worth it.
Why subscribing matters
One final comment on subscribing. You have the option to turn off subscriptions to view your site. If you are creating a new CaringBridge, I would recommend leaving it on. This will make sure that the people you want to keep informed about your journey get a message when you post. It is very annoying to have someone ask you for an update because they didn’t look at your site. After you have been up and running for a while, you can change the setting, but you don’t need to change it.
To everyone who follows or plans to follow a CaringBridge, please subscribe. This actually reduces the burden of those going through this tough situation. They know you are staying informed.
We thank you for your support!
Wrap up
CaringBridge is a huge help to those of us dealing with medical issues. Engage with us using comments. I know I read them all. I might miss them on Facebook, but not here. I look forward to hearing from you.
