How Frozen Peas Started A Movement

"I had a gut feeling that the Frozen Pea Fund would take off -- that peas would 'go viral,' as we say online -- but even then it surpassed my expectations," Reece said.

All donations go directly to the American Cancer Society's Making Strides Against Breast Cancer program, Reece said, through a link on the fund's Web site, http://frozenpeafund.com.

Reynolds said the news she has heard from her doctors was positive, but she was waiting this week for a doctor's word on whether any follow-up plan would include chemotherapy.

Just by logging on to Twitter, she said, she feels plenty of support and "lightness" as the sea of green peavatars fills her computer screen.

She credits her husband, Bill, with first suggesting that she apply a bag of frozen peas to her breast. She said her four children, ages 22 to 36, also have supported her. She said that by writing and listening to her online community, she is less likely to overburden her family, which has plenty to cope with.

"I had people around me when I got the news, but I think it is hard for them," Reynolds said. "Some people need to be inward and reflective. I needed to talk about it. And I really reveal what I think on Twitter, that I was scared. That first night especially. And the response and the level of support from everyone was just stunning."

"There's nothing good about getting cancer," Reynolds wrote on her blog. "It helps [to] start conversations though."