Lenka is a joyful 5-year-old and Paula is an interior design student in her early twenties. You wouldn\u2019t think that they have anything in common but they do. They both have cancer and they both have blogs describing their fight with the disease. <\/p>\n
These blogs are good examples of how today\u2019s blogosphere is evolving. They prove that a blog doesn't necessarily have to be just an online diary: it may become a very powerful social media tool.<\/p>\n
Paula<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n In one of her first posts Paula describes the moment when she was diagnosed with a potentially deadly disease:<\/p>\n It felt like someone just smacked me in the face with a frying pan<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n And how she later realised that a diagnosis doesn\u2019t necessarily mean the end:<\/p>\n It was like a spark; a spark of hope and willingness to fight. Something that made me believe that despite what was happening I could live a long life and my body could fight any disease, no matter how deadly.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Paula\u2019s cancer turned out to be a very rare one and soon after the operation she was told that there is not much conventional medicine could do to help her. ‘Your tumour is malignant and we don't know how to treat it,' said the Polish doctors throwing up their hands. Luckily, Paula\u2019s sister found out about a clinic in Boston<\/a>, which had successfully treated patients with the same problem. Paula contacted the American hospital and soon received an invitation to a consultation. The doctors were happy to start the treatment, the only problem was its cost, a staggering $250,000. But Paula didn\u2019t give up here either. She started using her blog to ask for financial help. Thanks to the generosity of her readers and other bloggers linking to Paula\u2019s website, the money was soon raised and in August last year Paula flew to the United States to undergo an operation. <\/p>\n Today she still has numerous tumours in her lungs and needs more treatment, but she remains positive and optimistically looks into the future. In an interview for the Polish edition of Newsweek<\/a> she was asked whether she was still scared. She said:<\/p>\n Yes, but when I am scared I think about my arrival from Boston. My friends are waiting at the airport. They are all happy, jumping and waving at me. It is a sign that everything went okay. I\u2019ve decided that I will live and so I will.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n
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