More Than 5,000 Women Facing Breast Cancer Find Support at MyBCTeam

On the heels of its first anniversary, MyBCTeam, the social network for women facing breast cancer, celebrates its rapidly growing member base of more than 5,000 women.

For women who’ve been newly diagnosed, are in treatment, or post-treatment, MyBCTeam is where women meet other women who’ve been in their shoes.  By finding women just like them who’ve faced breast cancer, and sharing tips and provider referrals, the members of MyBCTeam make true, lasting connections that they draw daily support from throughout their breast cancer journey, and beyond.

To date, there have been more than 70,000 connections made on MyBCTeam.  From frank conversations about everything from sex to chemo brain to radiation burns, the members of MyBCTeam converse openly and honestly about the issues that only those who have been diagnosed with breast cancer understand. MyBCTeam provides the platform that inspires the members to turn those connections into a real time support network.

“Our goal is to give those women facing breast cancer the best possible support experience. That means helping our members connect with women who are not only just like them, but also introduce them to women they didn’t even know they needed to meet.  We help them discover new methods of finding support that is personalized to their needs,” says MyBCTeam co-founder, Mary Ray. “We continue to focus on innovating the ways women get support so that we make that process as easy and effective as possible.”

MyBCTeam Product Features

• Activity Page: The heartbeat of the site, where members share their daily ups and downs with each other—triumphs are cheered and challenging moments are supported.

• Meet Others: Members can search for other women by diagnosis (both stage and type) and also by age and location and more.

• Provider Directory: A searchable directory (by keyword and location) of a variety of providers, submitted by members, specializing in breast cancer treatments.

• The Team: From oncology radiologist to nutritionist or hair stylist, members build and share their personal team of providers that helped them during and after treatment. Members also add other MyBCTeam women to their team that they find especially supportive.

• Q & A: A searchable database of questions and answers submitted by the community of MyBCTeam members.

• Pinboard: A discovery area where members visually share their journey with breast cancer and treatment. Pins include ways members manage their self-image, favorite recipes, family photos, or places they’d like to travel after treatment, among many others.

• “Hug” Button: The unique “hug” button is used to show empathy and understanding to other members.

• Mobile App: Members connect to the community wherever they are – a doctor’s waiting room, the chemo chair, at home or on the road. The free, MyBCTeam app is available on iOS andAndroid devices.

Member Highlights

While breast cancer may be the shared experience that brings the members of MyBCTeam together, it is the close relationships and connections that the women form that keep them coming back.  Here’s what they have to say:

“MyBCTeam is an amazing network of women who provide support to one another. For someone who has been through the whole ‘cancer process’, it means a lot to provide support to other women as well,” says 24-year old Justine Egan of Kingston, RI. As for what keeps Egan coming back on a daily basis, she explains, “I get the opportunity to read other women’s stories and see that there is life after this whole cancer mess. Everyone in my life is kind of ‘done’ with talking about my cancer with me at this point. MyBCTeam allows me to discuss all of my emotions without having others judge me for talking about it so much.”

“MyBCTeam means my safety net, my comfort zone.  The warriors of this community are like my sisters!” describes Amy Cliett of Los Angeles, CA. “Because we’ve shared similar experiences on this journey, my feelings are validated and not judged.  I’m understood and it’s a wonderful feeling. But my favorite part of the site is sharing our lives outside of cancer – we all have families, work and daily struggles that are the human aspects of this disease.”

“I started out on MyBCTeam to see if I could help anyone that is going through the same thing that I’ve gone through. And now I believe the network has helped me more than I’ve helped anyone else,” says new mom Kristy Davis of Chicago, IL. “It is so comforting to know that there is an entire community of women that are just going to listen, give you a ‘hug’, and give you the inspiration that you need to push the fears aside and move on.”  

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About MyBCTeam

MyBCTeam is a social network for any woman in the United States that has ever been diagnosed with breast cancer.  MyBCTeam makes it easy for women to find and connect with other women just like them, share tips and support, ask and answer questions, and even find first-hand referrals of great providers and breast cancer specialists.  MyBCTeam was founded in September 2012 and is the second health social network created by MyHealthTeams, a San Francisco-based company, that creates social networks for chronic condition communities.  MyHealthTeams’ flagship site, MyAutismTeam, launched in December 2011 and has nearly 50,000 parents of individuals with autism from across the country. To learn more about the full MyHealthTeams network, visit MyHealthTeams.com.

About MyHealthTeams

MyHealthTeams creates social networks for chronic condition communities. We believe that when you or a loved one are diagnosed with a disease, it should be easy to connect with people just like you, who can share their experiences, and help you discover the best people around to help you.