Sometimes the most important thing is to know that you’re not alone. The overwhelming burden of receiving a diagnosis and undergoing treatment can be made easier when a patient can connect to other people who have similar feelings and experiences to share.

Carolyn is one patient who found this to be true. She had always been healthy and no one in her family had ever been diagnosed with cancer, so getting the news that she had chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) was a shock. Trying to educate herself about CLL was daunting because there was so much new information to take in all at once. Undergoing treatment was draining and isolating, too; Carolyn just wasn’t able to go out and connect with other people.

One day, Carolyn was checking her emails and saw an article about online support groups in an eNewsletter from The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). She felt that this was exactly what she needed and as soon as she joined a group she found empathetic friends.

“Suddenly dealing with the diagnosis of cancer and chemotherapy, being isolated in my fears and physical fight, and dealing with a huge medical system was overwhelming. I could not go to public places, I did not feel like going out, but online, I could connect to a world of people who knew exactly how I felt and who cared so much. It strengthened me as well, in that I could be supportive of others.”

The online support group that Carolyn has been involved with is provided through a partnership between LLS and The Wellness Community. The groups are private, password-protected and are led by professionals. There is a weekly lymphoma group held on Mondays at 8:00 PM ET, and a weekly general blood cancer group that meets on Tuesdays at 8:00 PM ET. And there are other groups that deal with more general topics, including bereavement, caregiving and living with multiple diagnoses.

To learn more or to join for free, visit http://lls.thewellnesscommunity.org.