pleasant surprise and a potentially great resource

Last Monday, I was asked to participate in a conference call.

I loathe conference calls. There is something about not being able to see people's faces that seems to bring out the worst in all participants. I usually avoid them like I would like to have avoided cancer.

So when I received an email request from Revolution Health to participate in a conference call prior to the launch of their online breast cancer support group, I cringed.

I get a lot of these kinds of requests.

But there was something in this email that stood out for me. It was very clear that Tim, the staffer who'd written to me had actually taken the time to read my blog and think about what I'd written there. I was impressed.

So, I agreed to be on the call.

It was amazing.

The Revolution Health team members all appeared to be genuinely interested in what we had to say. Hester (an oncology social worker and herself a survivor) and Carolyn seemed genuinely committed to the building of an online community for those whose lives have been affected by breast cancer.

But the best part for me was the interaction with the three other breast cancer bloggers on the call. Amazingly, we were all under 40 when we were first diagnosed. We were all very well-informed and highly opinionated. I have never, ever had a conference call fly by that quickly.

I was so happy to meet Minerva (a Woman of Many Parts), Jeanette (Two Hands...) and Jenny (At Least it's a "Good" Cancer). We pretty much took over the call, from the first question. The energy and the passion that we all feel was palpable.

Revolution Health claims to be trying to build "the best breast cancer resource on the web." I haven't had time to really explore the site yet, but I have been impressed with what I have found there. Their online support group just launched yesterday (I just joined). It remains to be seen how well this will work (support groups, are after all, what the participants make of them) but Revolution Health appears to have laid down a good foundation.

Let me know what you think.