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When Nancy Andrews of Seal Harbor, Maine, was admitted to BWH to undergo a rare cardiovascular surgery, her partner, Dru Colbert, found herself inundated with a barrage of calls from concerned friends across the country.
Colbert spent most of her time at Andrews’ bedside and did not have time to relay updated information on Andrews’ condition to every caller. Instead, she and Andrews’ brother, Paul Andrews, created a CaringBridge Web site to ease this burden and keep all of Nancy’s supporters in the loop, while providing them with an outlet to express concern.
CaringBridge is the oldest, most widely used free online service to keep patients and loved ones in touch. The service, which BWH began sponsoring this fall, allows patients and families to easily create a secure Web site and sign in at any time to post journal entries and photographs. Visitors use a personal, confidential Web address and password to read updates and post encouraging messages.
“The CaringBridge site unburdened me of calls from so many people who really care about Nancy,” Colbert said. “The Web site allows those friends and family the ability to check on Nancy’s progress and send her their love and support.”
Colbert and Paul found the site easy to use, and they update it regularly with notes on Andrews’ condition and photographs. The site quickly assumed a life of its own—one that helped Nancy, Paul and Colbert cope during a difficult and uncertain time.
Messages of support and love poured in. Paul even started a limerick contest about Nancy on the site, which she joined in when she felt up to the challenge. “It’s one of the high points of my day,” said Colbert, who prints the messages for Nancy to read. “It brings friends and family from all different realms into one forum.”
The site is just one of the “tremendous” resources Colbert found at BWH. “Our experience at Brigham and Women’s Hospital has been wonderful,” she said. “If I had to sum up the care here, I would say ‘connection and compassion.’ Doctors, nurses and care givers know how important family is, and they really strive to maintain that connection.”
Leo Buckley, director of Business Services for Patient Care Services at BWH, created a CaringBridge site when his sister-in-law was a patient at BWH. In addition to providing updates, Buckley set up a schedule for people to cook meals for her four young children. “People were always asking how they could help, and this enabled them to do something that really helped her family get through a very difficult time,” Buckley said.