My uncle Bob was recently diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. Prior to this diagnosis, Bob was a vibrant, healthy, athletic father of two and devoted husband. He’s run marathons and exercises regularly, and is a very healthy eater. The last time I saw him was a month before his 60th birthday, a couple of weeks before he started to feel confused and not well, at his son’s Evan’s wedding in New York. He appeared to be his normal self, outgoing and funny and telling classic “Bobisms,” which are really corny jokes—and he was beaming with pride and joy. You would never have thought in a million years that within a month he and his wife would move their lives to New York from Fort Lauderdale to be near top cancer specialists, and their two sons. We are all hopeful.

I get updates from my mom, or from my cousin who gets them from her dad. On occasion, Evan’s new wife Allison sends email updates to friends and family members scattered around the country. I forward them to my husband and he forwards them to his mother, because they both want to know how he is doing.

So when I heard of a site that keeps updated information on a patient’s progress in one place so that concerned friends and relatives can know what’s going on, I thought – this is a really good idea.

TheStatus.com, started back in 1999 was the first one of its kind. Surviving the dotcom bust is good sign that the site was a good idea that provided a needed service. The company’s founder, Mark Pearson, came up with this good idea when he set up a web site for his sister-in-law after she was hospitalized.

“Mark created the page because ‘Mary’ needed a way to communicate with friends and relatives without burdening herself or her close family. It became the main source of information, allowing Mary to spend less time responding to inquiries and more time recovering. Family and friends could get the latest update on her condition, see pictures of her, and get important contact information.” Other friends started asking him to create similar web pages for their relatives and, thus, theStatus.com was born. And speaking of being “born”, Pearson has since launched thebabystatus.com for expecting families.

Setting up a web page is super easy with this site. They walk you through everything step by step and explain everything in detail, leaving no question unanswered. But, most importantly, theStatus.com is a site that offers a wonderful service to families in need.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 26th, 2006 at 12:06 pm and is filed under General, Finds.