Ability OnLine Support Network Web Site (http://www.ablelink.org): Ability OnLine is an electronic mail system that connects young people throughout North America with disabilities or chronic illness to disabled and non-disabled peers and mentors, providing opportunities to form friendships, build self-confidence, exchange information, and share hope and encouragement through email messages. With an extensive links page, Ability OnLine is also a valuable resource for families and friends anxious to know more about an illness and help manage it. For more information visit http://www.ablelink.org/.
Association of Cancer Online Resources Web Site (http://www.acor.org): The Association of Cancer Online Resources, Inc. (ACOR), located at http://www.acor.org/, offers a large collection of cancer-related Internet resources. ACOR aims to provide information and support to cancer patients and those who care for them through the creation and maintenance of cancer-related Internet mailing lists and Web-based resources. They provide subscribers with access to varied, credible and current information sources through and improve communication between patients and health care professionals through advocacy in a variety of public forums, including the media and professional journals.
Bone Marrow Transplant Information Network (http://www.bmtnews.org): This web site at http://www.bmtnews.org/ is designed to provide essential information to individuals contemplating or awaiting bone marrow transplant.
Cancer Care Web Site (http://http://www.cancercare.org): Cancer Care, http://www.cancercare.org/, is dedicated to providing emotional support, information, and practical help to people with cancer and their loved ones. Their web site contains a variety of information, but most noted, The Helping Hand Resource Guide, which is a searchable service database, and The Cancer Care Bookstore, where individuals can purchase recommended reading right online. Additionally, this organization offers a toll-free Counseling Line and teleconference programs, which can be accessed by calling 1-800-813-HOPE.
Cancer, Evolution to Revolution Web Site (http://www.hbo.com/cancer): Aside from the American Cancer Society site, this site, www.hbo.com/cancer, might be the most comprehensive layman's site on the web. This site, sponsored by HBO as a spin off to their television program Cancer, Evolution to Revolution, covers a wide spectrum of topics. Information you'll be able to find here includes descriptions and common treatment for various types of cancers, coping and surviving strategies, how to get the right care, links and contact information for various national cancer groups, and opportunities to participate in discussion groups.
PatchWorx (www.patchworx.org): PatchWorx provides a safe, secure, moderated online community for children who are seriously ill or disabled, with games, puzzles and more. Children can make friends with common interests and interact with Patches, the website mascot.
Patient-Centered Guides (http://www.patientcenters.com): When your life is turned upside down, your need for information is great. You have to make critical medical decisions, often with what seems little to go on. Plus you have to break the news to family, quiet your own fears, cope with side effects, figure out how you're going to pay for things, and sometimes still get to work and get dinner on the table. Patient-Centered Guides, http://www.patientcenters.com/, are a mix of medical, practical and emotional information, grounded in Western medicine, told by people who have been there. Select your specific disease from the menu on the left.
Shared Experience (http://www.sharedexperience.org): A collection of first-hand accounts of the cancer experience, along with great links and resources for researching your particular type of cancer and side effects of specific drugs. A "must" site for newly diagnosed families.