There are many personal websites for cancer patients, and one thing they generally share is an almost obsessive passion for their chosen subject matter. The best ones also have a distinct advantage in that hey understand the hearts and minds of their community and make a clear connection to the patient learning process. It's the 'been-there-done-that' experience giving them the edge.

In the case of Bladder Cancer Web Café, site editor Wendy Sheriden, has had more than her share of family cancer: it affected her father, two sisters (one with bladder cancer), and then came to her eventually in her breast. Wendy projects a compassionate and mellow tone to a site that is in fact all business. Though originally from the States she and her husband live a quiet life on a houseboat in Amsterdam and his professional, thoughtful and comprehensive resource center is obviously a labor of love and of no small commitment on their part. The site has been recognized by the National Cancer Institute in their facing Forward Survivor Series, and has received many other awards for excellence.

Well organized and easy to navigate, the site covers bladder cancer from every conceivable angle. Aside from the diagnosis and treatment coverage, there is a distinct and welcoming community provided here, opportunities for patients, families or other interested parties to find information, talk to experts, reach out, ask questions, and be unafraid to discuss even the most sensitive of issues that become necessary when catheters and chemo are part of life. There is also a section called "Voices of Warriors" and it is a circle of sharing for those who want and need to deal with the most profound life-changing events facing patients with end-stage disease. It is the ultimate support group with resources only possible in web-based, dynamic interactive environment.

Bladder Cancer Café is written in clear, concise, and patient-friendly language - although information and resources here are of professional level quality, Wendy has made sure that it's accessible to everyone. Look, feel, language, and content are consistent throughout which in itself has a comforting quality. You just feel like you are in good hands here.

From the editorial staff of the Salick Health Care's Patient Resource Center , who chose WebCafe as their site of the Month, Sept, 2003