Links to various topics related to cancer, living with it or staying healthy in spite of it.

Cancer.Net: This site, from the American Society of Clinical Oncology offers information about various cancers, along with sections on coping and surviving. The site’s blog offers advice and health information of interest to cancer patients. Some is directly about cancer while other topics are more general tips on staying healthy while fighting cancer.

Everything You’ve Always Wanted to Know About Cancer: Ok, not really everything. But this very basic, short explanation can help you understand how cancers start and how chemo works to kill them. It packs a lot of information into a short video. It’s simple enough that it can help older kids and teens understand, too.

Cancer Terms: This is a dictionary of cancer terms from the National Cancer Institute. It explains cancer terms you might come across but not understand.

First Aid for People Living with Cancer:  This article links to information on both physical and mental first aid options. Some is fairly general, but other articles focus on the unique challenges cancer patients can face with things like preventing infection, dehydration, and anxiety.

Food Safety for People with Cancer: This guide, from the FDA, offers minformation on why cancer patients need to be especially vigilant about the safety of their food and how to avoid food-borne illnesses. Much of it is things you should have been doing anyway, but it’s even more important now.

Eating Well During and After Your Cancer Treatment: This guide, from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center offers a ton of great information. It starts with how treatments can affect your appetite and digestive tract and offers some general nutrition and food safety guidelines. Then it gets into specifics on how to get more calories & protein in your diet. And it offers a goldmine of information on foods to eat and avoid, depending on what treatment side effects you are experiencing.

National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship:  This organization advocates for cancer patients and their loved ones, working to ensure quality care for all patients. The website has a lot of information on coping with a cancer diagnosis, including a Cancer Survival Toolbox. This audio program covers many different challenges you may face in dealing with cancer. There’s also a Pocket Cancer Care Guide iPhone app to help you talk with your doctor and actually understand the answers.

PTSD and Life After Cancer: The stress of a cancer diagnosis and treatments can increase the chances you’ll get PTSD. This article explains that having some PTSD symptoms is normal, but if they’re severe or don’t go away, you may need more help to deal with them.

Where possible we’ve listed support groups for each specific type of cancer. But for some cancers, especially the more rare ones, groups either don’t exist or aren’t very active. And even when active groups exist, you might find they’re not right for you.

The resources listed here are more general. Many are open to people with any kind of cancer. Others are for people with one of a group of cancers. Check them out and see if you click with any of them.

CancerCare support groups: Find online, telephone and, if you live near one of their offices, in-person support groups for people currently in treatment. Some groups are for specific cancers while others are more general. There are also post-treatment support groups.

Cancer Support Community: This organization provides information on understanding and living with cancer. It offers support through local groups and a support helpline. It also offers a variety of online support options, from regularly scheduled chats to a discussion board and even the option to create a personal webpage to stay connected with family and friends.

Imerman Angels: This group connects patients and their caregivers with one-on-one support. They’ll match you with someone who has beaten the same kind of cancer you have (and who is the same gender and similar age) to encourage and guide you through your journey. This service is free.

Creating Your Own Community

Some sites let you create your own supportive space within the larger community. Within the site you’ll have a private area where you can blog, set up a calendar to keep everyone updated on upcoming appointments or other activities, and more. You then get to decide how private or public you want your space to be.

These sites are all very similar, but there may be certain things about one site you like better than the others. Or you might find one easier to use.

MyLifeLine.org: This non-profit organization gives you the ability to post updates, link to educational resources to help your friends understand what’s happening with you, and even ask for donations. The service is free and you’re in complete control of the privacy of your site.

Lotsa Helping Hands: This site not only lets you post updates and create a calendar, you can share photos and more.

CaringBridge: Share updates, photos and videos for free in an ad-free environment.

Although specific treatments and drugs may be different for different cancers, certain things are similar. Like chemo side effects. Or what to expect from radiation. Check out these resources for more information about common treatments.

Chemocare: Confused about chemotherapy? You’re not alone. Doctors try, but they’re just not good at explaining these things in ways their patients can understand. This site makes it easier to understand what chemo is, what each drug does and how you can manage their side effects.

Fatigue: No, fatigue isn’t a treatment, but it is a very common side effect of cancer treatments—and of the cancer itself. This page explains how it may affect your life and offers many options for dealing with it.

Treatment Side Effects & How to Cope: This article covers 7 common side effects (including fatigue) and some ways to deal with them.

Whether you’re looking for an oncologist (doctor specializing in cancer treatment), a treatment center or supportive end of life care, these sites can help.

Commission on Cancer (CoC) Accredited Hospitals : Your insurance may limit which doctors and treatment centers it will pay for. But you can still evaluate your options. Don’t just accept the first one your primary care doctor suggests. The American College of Surgeon’s CoC accredits facilities with the best cancer care. You can use the site’s search function to see if there’s one near you. Even if your insurance says it doesn’t cover you to see the center’s doctors, you may have the option to ask it to make an exception it’s your best chance of good treatment.

National Cancer Institute Cancer Centers: The NCI has designated certain hospitals as cutting-edge cancer treatment centers. These centers offers top-notch treatment possible access to clinical trials. Check out the map of cancer centers to see if there’s one near you.

Hospice Foundation of America: When treatment can no longer help, the caring support of hospice workers can make your final days more comfortable. This site can help you learn more about how hospice helps both patients and their families cope with the idea that death is near.

Getting sick can be expensive. Even with good insurance, cancer treatments can wipe out a family’s savings (if you even had any). But there are programs that can help.

Patient Advocate Foundation Co-pay Relief: CPR helps patients afford their prescription co-pays. It pays for drugs for certain conditions.

The Brenda Mehling Cancer Fund (BMCF):  After successfully battling breast cancer in her late twenties, Brenda Mehling founded this fund in 2001 to support young cancer patients (age 18-40) during treatment. Small grants (typically $500) pay for things not covered by insurance, like co-pays, groceries, rent and more. Since its founding it has helped more than 400 young adults in 30 states. Sadly Brenda could not win her second battle with cancer, but she lives on in her foundation.

Cancer Financial Assistance Coalition : On the CFAC website you can search the coalition’s database to find financial resources to help you pay for medications, treatments, housing during treatment and more. The database is searchable by either diagnosis or by type of resource. The site also offers information about taking control of your finances, finding help in your community and more. The coalition does not offer financial assistance itself, it just helps you find available sources.

CancerCare Co-Payment Assistance Foundation:  This organization provides grants to help you cover your medication co-payments. How much you qualify for depends on a number of things, including your income, insurance coverage and how much funding it available. It doesn’t cover all diagnoses, and the ones covered change periodically. You can see the currently covered diagnoses here. Or contact them directly to ask if your diagnosis is covered.

Good Days: This fund helps you pay your insurance medications co-pays. It covers a range of chronic diseases, including many cancers. Funding all comes from donors; it receives no government funds. So the conditions covered can change throughout the year.

NeedyMeds: This organization helps you find programs you may qualify for to get your medications for less or even free. It also offers a Generic Assistance Program (GAP) to help low-income people without prescription coverage get generic medications free. The GAP program relies completely on donations, so isn’t always open for applications. The website does stay up to date with other sources of assistance. There’s also a drug discount card available.

The Chain Fund:  This non-profit helps you pay household expenses, including rent, utilities and more while you’re undergoing treatment. You let them know your biggest needs and the fund pays your bills directly. You do need to supply proof, like copies of your rent agreement, utility bills, prescriptions, etc.

The SAMFund:  This fund provides grants to young adult (age 21 to 39) cancer patients and survivors to help with expenses ranging from medical bills to homeowners insurance and more. It has two grant cycles per year, and it looks like applications are accepted for about one month starting in January and again in June.

Air Charity Network: This organization is a network of volunteer pilots who provide free air travel for people who need it, including patients who need treatment at distant medical facilities. The pilots use their own planes and donate the costs of the flights.

National Cancer Legal Services Network: You have enough to worry about with fighting your cancer. You shouldn’t have to worry about legal problems, too. The network helps cancer patients with legal issues related to your cancer, like insurance problems, advance directives, employment issues and more.

Cleaning For A Reason :  Don’t be fooled by the pink ribbon on the site. This foundation provides maid service to women living with any kind of cancer, not just breast cancer. They have partner service providers in all 50 states.

R.A. Bloch Cancer Foundation :  Founded by Richard Bloch after he successfully beat a “terminal” lung cancer diagnosis. The foundation offers a variety of free services, including support (from survivors of your type of cancer), books, help finding a second opinion and more.

Native American Cancer Research : Cancer rates among Native Americans keeps rising, and NACR wants to change that. This organization offers educational resources for Native American cancer patients and caregivers. It also promotes research into prevention, detection, and better treatments for Native Americans.

LIVESTRONG Fertility: If you’re hoping to have a child after cancer treatment, you can learn more about your fertility risk from cancer treatments. You may also qualify for the LIVESTRONG Fertility Discount Program to preserve your fertility.