Pennsylvania cancer patients find hope, healing through app
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Photo: Courtesy of CancerBuddy
Even after losing one of his eyes to uveal cancer, Jeff Abramowitz says he sees more clearly these days.
Why it matters: The retired lawyer from rural southwestern Pennsylvania figured his chances of finding someone else with his rare eye cancer were slim — until CancerBuddy connected him with a man in Oregon.
The big picture: Abramowitz is one of about 8,000 people nationwide using the app, which pairs people who know firsthand what it's like to live with cancer.
- "We both lost our eyes within weeks of each other," he tells Axios of his match.
The app gives people at every stage of their cancer hope and a safe place to connect with others who simply "get it," several Pennsylvania users told Axios.
- Many friendships continue long after treatment ends, while others are cut short by the disease.
- But through it all, it's a community where no question is off limits — from chemotherapy side effects to conversations that can be hard to have with family and friends, 25-year-old Sammy Wilson tells Axios.
Zoom in: Diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia at 21, Wilson says his anxiety skyrocketed when treatment left him homebound for weeks with a compromised immune system.
What they're saying: "I remember when I was diagnosed, being like, oh man, if I could just be like a greeter at Walmart, I would be the happiest person in the world," he says. "I would do that 24 hours a day."
- Through CancerBuddy, Wilson found a friend, Jake, who answered all his questions and inspired him to keep exercising during treatment.
- Then Jake's cancer returned, and a few months later, he passed away.
"I love this guy. It was really eye-opening for me," says Wilson. Now preparing to graduate with a political science degree, he says he honors Jake's memory through the way he lives his life.
How it works: CancerBuddy works much like a dating app. Users make a profile with information about themselves, their cancer and where they live.
- Then they swipe through potential matches.
- The app is available for free in the App Store and on Google Play.
Founder Christina Merrill has big aspirations for the app, which she spent the last two years testing and promoting ahead of its official launch.
- Merrill tells Axios she hopes it finds its way into the hands of millions of Americans affected by cancer.
Like in Lock Haven, where Jessica Green, a 42-year-old who has metastatic breast cancer, connected with a woman named Mallory who shares her birthday.
- They're hoping to meet at next month's CancerBuddy retreat in New York, hosted by the nonprofit behind the app, the Bone Marrow & Cancer Foundation.
- The timing couldn't be better. Green learned this week that her latest scan showed no evidence of disease.
"That was the best news I could have ever gotten," she says. Though there's no cure for metastatic breast cancer, Green says having no evidence of disease on her scan shows the treatment is working — "and hopefully it will work for as long as possible."
The bottom line: Cancer is unpredictable, but finding someone who's been there can make it a little less lonely.
- It's even inspired Abramowitz to get back inside the batting cage after two years away.
- "Cancer doesn't get to take my day, cancer doesn't get to take my hour, cancer doesn't get to take my minute," he says.
- And it doesn't get to take away his swing.