{"id":1596,"date":"2021-10-18T20:29:55","date_gmt":"2021-10-18T20:29:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.pocket.health\/?p=1596"},"modified":"2025-05-12T16:18:33","modified_gmt":"2025-05-12T20:18:33","slug":"have-you-heard-about-breast-cancer-social-media-join-the-bcsm-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pockethealth.com\/patient-resources\/have-you-heard-about-breast-cancer-social-media-join-the-bcsm-community\/","title":{"rendered":"Have you heard about Breast Cancer Social Media? Join the #BCSM community!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Knowledge is Power Series<\/h2>\r\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re sick, or even when you\u2019re well, information and camaraderie help.<\/strong>\u201d That\u2019s how health researcher Susannah Fox opens her excellent 10 minute video<\/a> on \u201cPeer to Peer Health Advice<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

\"YouTube<\/a> Image sourced from susannahfox.com
<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n

Breast cancer has never struck my family, but through my work in healthcare social media I know many whom it has \u2026 and they often express how important it\u2019s been to them to connect with others who are in the same boat<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Peer health advice played a vital role in my own cancer: I\u2019d never known a soul who had my disease, so all I had was fear and bad predictions. It was inspiring to talk to survivors who\u2019d been as sick as me, and to be honest, it was great to be able to get answers in the dark of night to questions that I really didn\u2019t want to bother my doc with: \u201cWhat will the treatment really be like?<\/em>\u201d, \u201cHow much does it hurt?<\/em>\u201d, and \u201cIf I do survive, will my life change?<\/em>\u201d
Best of all was that my fellow patients answered questions from my perspective: the sick person<\/strong>.\u00a0

Here\u2019s one inspiring example that for me was transformational: they gave me hope. \u201cDoctors are trained not to give us false <\/em>hope when odds are bad,\u201d they said. \u201cBut hope itself can be therapeutic.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

There was another secret bonus: amid my own peril, it felt great to discover that I could help others in their journey, too.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Of course, as with everything else online, you\u2019ve got to be thoughtful about what you read online and who you talk to. So for Breast Cancer Awareness Month we thought we\u2019d offer you some websites and patient communities<\/strong> recommended by my savvy friends in the breast cancer social media world, which they call #BCSM<\/strong>:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n