In 2004, Karen Schlowsky-Fisher started a small Yahoo group dedicated to serving spouses of young cancer patients. In 2005, Matt Herynk joined the group after he too became a young cancer spouse. Members frequently commented that they felt alone and were seeking out the support of others who understood what they were going through. For almost two years now, this Yahoo group has served as a major means of support for both Karen and Matt, as well as for others. Although most of the group's members have never met in person, they share a bond that only the significant other of a young cancer patient can understand. However, there are many other young spouses of cancer patients who have not been reached and are struggling in their daily lives to cope with the emotional and logistical issues of being their spouse's primary caregiver, raising a family, trying to hold down a full time job, as well as other issues.
While many cancer advocacy groups attempt to provide support for cancer spouses, they are inadequate at best. Spouses - particularly young spouses - are the part of a cancer journey that no one wants to talk about or deal with, either in "real life" or on the Internet. The only available support groups are family groups with parents of adult children, or 60-something spouses. Young spouses of cancer patients do not fit in, which only makes them feel further isolated. On cancer websites, there are often sections for "family", which do not fit a young spouse's situation any better than the in-person general family support groups, or there are rudimentary, ill-used spouse sections. It is hard for young cancer spouses to feel welcomed or understood anywhere.
Matt and Karen realized all of these issues that young cancer spouses deal with come with a steep learning curve. They also recognized that the knowledge they had gained from their experiences could help others - if they could pool their resources and experiences. As the idea of a web page was discussed, it became clear that although Matt and Karen's backgrounds are very different, they have shared very similar experiences when it comes to dealing with the issues of being a young cancer spouse.
In May of 2006, Matt and Karen, along with Greg Johnson, began creating this website to serve the 400,000 plus spouses of young cancer patients. They wanted to give them a place to feel welcome by creating a site that will never brush them aside because they are not the one with cancer, or because they are young and thus somehow less important to their spouse's fight against cancer. They also strived to provide useful information based upon personal experiences, in the hope that they could help shorten the learning curve of cancer. Their ultimate goal was for young cancer spouses to work together to take better care of themselves, their families, and their spouses throughout the cancer journey.
Incredibly, the first marketing and design company Matt contacted in his native Houston was extremely interested in helping out, pro bono. Matt, Karen, and Greg are indebted to Edge Creative Strategies for their time, energy and dedication to helping YoungCancerSpouses become a better website much sooner than was thought possible.