On January 31st, I made the decision to go public with my new diagnosis. I had actually gone a few weeks without telling anyone in the beginning because I didn't want to ruin anyone's Christmas since when my tests hadn't been completed even though we pretty much knew what we were about to deal with. At this point though, I had only told my immediate family and very close friends. I didn't have answers so I didn't want to tell people until I could answer questions without I don't know. But I knew I was ready for my support team to know so they could support me. I started by announcing at an all employee monthly meeting at Peter Paul Electronics (PPE), where I work and tell them that my cancer had returned. I wanted my PPE support team to hear it from me with the same message at the same time.
This was not easy! These are 150 friends who I consider family and telling them this very shitty news was very difficult. As I approached the front of the meeting room to tell them, I heard the sighs and the"no's" from our 150 employees. Before saying a single word. Most of them knew, it was just a matter of seconds until they heard it out of my mouth. I had to take a few deep breaths before I started speaking to be sure I cold keep my composure. I made sure I didn't make eye contact with certain employees because I knew I would lose focus. There weren't too many dry eyes but we all knew in the end what we had to do.
I also went public with my blog using Facebook and twitter. I wanted to be sure all my loved ones were hearing it from me and not anyone else or worse dramatic rumors.
This was not easy! These are 150 friends who I consider family and telling them this very shitty news was very difficult. As I approached the front of the meeting room to tell them, I heard the sighs and the"no's" from our 150 employees. Before saying a single word. Most of them knew, it was just a matter of seconds until they heard it out of my mouth. I had to take a few deep breaths before I started speaking to be sure I cold keep my composure. I made sure I didn't make eye contact with certain employees because I knew I would lose focus. There weren't too many dry eyes but we all knew in the end what we had to do.
I also went public with my blog using Facebook and twitter. I wanted to be sure all my loved ones were hearing it from me and not anyone else or worse dramatic rumors.