In June of 1998, Nancy Berger, a Woodbury resident, went for a routine examination at her gynecologist and was given a blood test. The results indicated that Berger had Chronic Myologic Leukemia - one of the deadliest forms of Leukemia.

Second opinions and further tests revealed that Berger, the mother of three young children, had three months to live unless she had a bone marrow transplant. The community mobilized and held blood drives to try and find a match, but unfortunately no one in Berger's family or community proved to be a match. No one on the National Register matched Berger either and the clock was ticking.

Berger, who is a clinical psychologist, was used to being on the giving side in the medical world and now, for the first time, she was on the receiving end. "It is hard being so dependent," said Berger.

She turned to the Internet to research her disease rather than sit back and die. "I found the general search engines to be of little help," said Berger. "Also, most of the health sites I visited had the same type of information - glossaries and vitamins. I thought to myself that if I did beat this disease, I would make it easier for the next person to find the information they required."

On the days that she was able to gather enough strength, Berger devoted most of her waking hours to cataloging sites, which would be useful to her and also to others in the future. She ultimately cataloged thousands of sites and the information she gathered led her to a course of action that played a big part in her long, but successful, recovery.

A donor was found for Berger and the transplant was a success. She is now showing few signs of the life-threatening disease that coursed through her body only a short time ago.

On Oct. 11, Berger launched www.OceansofHope.com. The site is radically different from any other health site that currently exists as it is intended for anyone interested in improving his or her health both physically and mentally. Berger stresses that her site is useful to most of the population, not only people affected with chronic illnesses.

"We are a gateway to over 10,000 resources accessible through the site," said Berger. "My philosophy has always been that as we journey though life, there is no one who is exempt from the throes of disease or trauma, whether it touches ourselves, a beloved family member or friend. In each case, we come to the edge of life and we are faced with our own mortality. It is our belief that these times of crises are also a time of great opportunity. The evolution of this website is based on the notion that the way we view each crossroads in this journey can have a profoundly transforming effect on our lives. Ocean Of Hope was created to help people turn personal crises into windows of opportunity: realizing dreams and entering life in new and fulfilling ways. We have thousands of resources, articles, message boards, real-time chat and links categorized into easy-to-use sections."

While Berger was at the Hutchinson Institute in Seattle to receive her bone marrow transplant, she stayed in touch with her family and friends through "Nancy's Place"; a web site which she and her husband updated on a daily basis. "We now offer anyone wanting a free Stay-in-Touch website the ability to create one in minutes on OceanofHope.com," said Berger. "They can post daily progress and upload pictures and people can post well wishes for them."

Berger is on the site daily and people can interact with her personally on any number of matters through the message board and chat. They can also interact with the thousands of other people who visit the site. "I answer every piece of mail sent to me personally," said Berger.