IHadCancer.com - Connecting and Empowering

When you or someone you know is diagnosed with cancer, a strong personal support network and a source of reliable health information are immeasurably helpful on the road to recovery. Unfortunately, not everyone is lucky enough to have them. Cancer is alienating, and the prevalence of flawed information found online only contributes to the difficulty of dealing with the disease.

When Mailet Lopez, a young cancer survivor and partner at NYC's digital agency Squeaky Wheel Media, was diagnosed, she met a fellow warrior who told her about an alternative treatment option that later happened to save her life. Realizing the benefit of connecting with others who have been through similar experiences, Mailet and the Squeaky team founded IHadCancer.com.I Had Cancer an international award-winning social support network that helps people deal with life before, during and after cancer,  or in other words, a place for people to connect with someone who understands. To do so, users can search the community by age, gender, type of cancer, type of user (supporter, survivor or fighter), year of diagnosis and location – just check out their impressive map.The site offers a few additional features such as Discussions, Dear Cancer (a soap box where anything goes), Newsfeed, Resources and Events; they help facilitate connections for members within the community. Additionally, it is home to some of the biggest bloggers, writers and patient advocates in the field, making I Had Cancer an information hub for fighters, survivor and their supporters. Now that is the kind of entrepreneurship we always support.