One of the most difficult things that happens during breast cancer treatment, or any serious illness for that matter, is keeping family and friends up to date on our status. As much as it means to know that there is an entire world of people "out there" who care about us and want to know how we're doing, sometimes it's just too much to tell the story over and over to everyone who calls or stops by to visit. We're exhausted.

Often the responsibility falls on a family member, who becomes the "go to" person – a kind of human switchboard, as it were, relaying messages back and forth. We feel badly knowing their time is consumed acting as our spokesperson. How many times have we thought it would be easier to record a message on the answering machine and just play that to everyone who calls in? A lot of us have already done that!

Those of us who are lucky enough to have someone "tech-savvy" within reach (or who are techie ourselves) may have created our own website to post messages and updates that keep loved ones in the loop. Of all the uses for the internet, this has to be one of the best, but most of us are so intimidated we wouldn't even dream of trying to set up our own site. Now, however, we have a solution, in the form of a company called CaringBridge, that can handle all of the details for us.

CaringBridge is a website that hosts free, private, personalized webpages to assist us in communicating with family and friends during a time of health crisis. Their website boasts the following impressive facts:

- 150,000 families have created free, personalized websites

- over half a billion visits by family and friends

- 20+ million guest book messages of hope and encouragement

- 150+ new personal CaringBridge communities created daily

- used in 190+ countries around the world

CaringBridge makes it easy for anyone to set up a website. There is no special software required – only an internet connection – and no special training is necessary. With easy, step-by-step instructions, most people have their site set up within a few minutes.

Security concerns are also addressed – the site that is created is not searchable. In other words, the site cannot be accessed by search engines such as Yahoo! or Google. Additionally, visitors can be required to register with the site before they are allowed access. A password to access the site can be added, as well.

All services are offered by CaringBridge free of charge. CaringBridge is a nonprofit organization whose revenue comes primarily from individual donations. Click on the link below for further details.