Sharing Your Cancer Diagnosis – guest post

For a lot of us this problem presents itself right at a time when you really have too many other things to worry about:  you are newly diagnosed with cancer.  Who to tell?  When to tell them?  For Dee, today’s guest blogger, the problem was magnified by the extra sensitivity surrounding her diagnosis of vaginal cancer.  Dee just started her blog in January at WHAT kind of cancer? Please give her a visit. Sharing your diagnosis….to tell, or not to tell Having a cancer diagnosis, particularly a vaginal cancer diagnosis, brings with it the awkward position of either having to tell people what’s going on or trying to keep it to yourself.  In my case, I wasn’t inclined to broadcast to friends and family that I had cancer of the vag….so I told only those I had to.  Like my bosses, and my direct reports–both of whom would obviously notice the sudden departures from work for treatments.  The curse of being a workaholic is that everyone comes to expect that you’re always at work, so when you’re not, it’s somewhat conspicuous.  So in total, probably about 5 or 6 people at work knew I had cancer.  I gotta say I think it would have been easier if it had been breast cancer, or lymphoma, even bladder or colon cancer.  Anything but telling your co-workers (all men) that you have vaginal cancer.  Sharing that information was to me a curse worse than death.  So I snuck out when I could, never called in sick,...
Source: Being Cancer Network - Category: Cancer Authors: Tags: Guest Post * Living with Cancer Newly diagnosed Acceptance Anxiety Vaginal cancer Source Type: blogs