In my case, I am the head of a school and my treatment had me off campus for part of most days for six weeks for radiation and then out for a month each following LAR surgery and then reversal 6 months later. I had to tell my community what was going on and received incredible support from folks. I also just feel more comfortable not having to have this part of my life be any more isolating than it already is. I feel like cancer has put me in an alternative reality that I have to live alongside my everyday life and that can be lonely. I do think it's important to wait for confirmation of the diagnosis and the plan so that you don't have to revise what you are telling folks. And everyone who spoke to keeping this private makes excellent points as well. I just didn't feel I had much choice in my situation and it has worked out ok for me, even as it's true that some folks simply don't know what to do with information like this.

My latest development is metastasis to my liver, after clear scans in January, so the journey continues with another surgery in June and liver targeted chemo for six months following that. I will not be sharing those steps broadly, but have with my family and closest colleagues.