CarePages is a social site with meaning

You may think Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and the other top social networks are a waste of time or, more succinctly, that social networking is just for kids.

Think again. I’m going to tell you about one social site that is so useful, but I hope you never need to create a profile. If you do, you will be overwhelmed by good wishes.

The site is called CarePages, and the Chicago company was born in 2000, before those other social sites were even conceived. It is a very emotional place.

CarePages is for the parents of 7-week-old Zachary Ethan Biegelsen, who was born prematurely and is battling a severe infection that has led to the removal of 40 percent of his large intestine and part of his small intestine. He remains in intensive care, but as Mom recently wrote, “He has started to give us some quick baby smiles when we play with him.”

CarePages is also for a husband who has watched his wife of 32 years dwindle to less than 100 pounds as she fights a rare form of cancer. If you ask her how she’s doing, her husband writes, she cheerfully says, “Oh, fine!”

And pardon me for getting personal, but CarePages is a site that would have been welcome for the long hospital stays both my parents endured before they passed.

If you’ve ever experienced the difficult illness of a loved one, you know how draining it is to respond to everyone who reaches out.

You want to, but you can’t. You feel terrible, even guilty.

That’s what CarePages is, a blessing for communication.

Here’s what Zachary’s grandfather has to say:

“It enables the parent or caregiver to give information once. You don’t have to repeat the long story” of what happened to everyone, said Rabbi Harold Loss. More important, “it enables the friends and family to respond, to tell you you’re not alone. This means a great deal to the family members.”

Can you imagine how many calls you would receive from the sincere, well-meaning congregants of a rabbi if you were his daughter and your newborn son was in intensive care? How many families has this man consoled at times of extreme stress?

Thousands. The number of messages on Zachary’s page reflects that appreciation.

On Zachary’s page, I can read about his progress and his complications. I can see adorable pictures his parents post, and I can read notes from well-wishers, something the rabbi does every day.

“I like to read the messages from friends of the family and from the friends of my daughter and son-in-law,” he said. “There are many people I don’t know, but it’s pure support.”

The notes from friends and the updates his daughter, Jennifer, writes — when a new post goes up, well-wishers are alerted via e-mail — are of great comfort to the rabbi and his wife because his congregation is in Michigan and his new grandson’s family lives in New Jersey.

The Internet is exceptionally good at keeping people connected.

The rabbi, in fact, has been using “CarePages for a couple of years, to stay in touch with congregants [in need] in distant places. I can respond more effectively to those families.”

Now they are responding to his family, and he appreciates the site even more. If things continue to go well, Zachary should see his home for the first time in about three weeks, Jennifer Biegelsen said.

CarePages was started in 2000 by Eric and Sharon Langshur, who learned in 1998 that their 5-day-old son had a heart condition and needed surgery. That led to the creation of a personal Web site, or care page, for Matthew to keep far-flung family members updated.

After receiving about 2,000 unique visits per day, the Langshurs realized that other families had to be in the same situation, and they started building a business called CarePages. Matthew, who had three open-heart surgeries before he was 18 months old, has grown too. He’s in elementary school now.

CarePages was sold in 2007 to Revolution Health, a health-care portal started by AOL co-founder Steve Case, for an undisclosed sum. Eric Langshur called it a “happy number.”

Anyone can set up a CarePage, but the vast majority of people sign up through the 700-plus hospitals that offer the free service. It is easy to recognize the value.

CarePages is not for people who have outpatient surgery. It’s for families going through a long-term stay.

“These pages are important,” Langshur said. “It is about life and death. It’s not about ‘poking’ you, [a Facebook term], or a site where you see what someone looks like after 20 years.

“It’s about helping with people’s emotional health,” he added. “Often, that’s missing in health care.”

First-time mom Jennifer Biegelsen, a legal recruiter, said her emotions have been “honed to the most simplistic state: When Zachary has a good day, we have a good day.”

Is it useful to the patients? Consider the couple I mentioned earlier. The husband reads new messages to his wife every morning. She wants them to keep coming.

So here’s wishing a long life to all those patients, both young and old, who use this important social network so effectively each day.

X Eric Benderoff writes about technology for the Chicago Tribune. Contact him at ebenderofftribune.com.

2008 Chicago Tribune