The Internet can provide help and fear when it comes to researching cancer
A woman diagnosed with endometrial cancer chronicles her journey through various cancer web sites:

After I calmed down, I tried to take a reporterly approach to online cancer research.

Here’s what I found:

* Even rock-hard facts may not bring calm. There is no evidence, on the Web or elsewhere, that my cancer has environmental causes. My family is getting the soil from the vegetable garden tested anyway.

* Material aimed at the pros only increased my anxiety. The patient information on the National Cancer Institute’s Web site was helpful; the “health professionals” version gave me a new list of worries.

*• Don’t surf for cancer information when you’re feeling rotten, since what you find is unlikely to improve your mood. Likewise, don’t surf at work.

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