I'm Twalking Twitter People!

This post has been long and coming as I've vacillated for months about coming out of the Twitter closet (there I said it). But to my credit, I've been running a Twitter feed for the past 2 years for two business' and frankly tired of not being able to #follow who I damn well wanted to. Instead of being PC in Twitterville, I decided I wanted my own, personal account so that I could get all the latest and greatest deals from Groupon, Travelocity and track the food trucks in L.A. just for fun.

But that didn't last especially long because within a month of getting my own big girl account, I received news that I had cancer. So, my elation for Groupon deals swiftly wained as news of this third diagnosis was a total buzz kill. Instead I sheepishly started seeking out resources for breast cancer and started to connect with some fellow survivors. Next thing you know I have more than 600 followers (people who follow me) and Monday night live chats for my online support group #BCSM (Breast Cancer Social Media).

My language swiftly changed from friending and liking on that other social media website with a lowercase 'f' to hashtags and followers on my new social networking platform with the little birdie. With 140 characters at my fingertips, I rapidly learned that hashtags like #cancersucks and #breastcancer would lead me to a community of sassy warriors and people in my malignant new world.

So vastly different from my first diagnosis of getting into the car once a week to drive to the nearest cancer center support group, I have come to find solace and anonymity with my online gal-pals going through breast cancer of all different stages. I even found a '3-peat offender' like me and an immediate twriendship was made.

We have supported each other in ways that I never expected. We're blogging about this prolific disease, discussing the politics of the Susan G. Komen Foundation and debating about the out-of-control pink culture of finding a cure for all of us. With names like 'thescarproject,' 'bustedfd,' 'ItsTheBunk,' 'BoobsOnTheMove,' 'LovelyKatieLumps,' 'CancerHAWK,' 'ChemoBrainFog,' 'StupidDumbBreastCanc' and 'TalkAboutHealth' and 'AFreshChapter' - we're connected in a way that is frankly, safe, bold and downright authentic.

Wishing each other good luck on important procedure days and offering up helpful hints for chemo, surgery and doctors, we're running in a strong pack. With no time to waste, the 140 character restriction allows us to get straight to the point. And when we're mad as hell at times as we've lost a few gals this past year to this beast of a cancer, we're all trying to take charge of our own journeys in a virtual and supportive fashion. And for this, I am eternally grateful to my kindhearted and spirited tweeps.

So, follow or hashtag me @DeeAnne_Barker to catch up with me in the twittersphere! In the meantime, #peaceout.