Jeanne PhillipsDEAR ABBY: I’m writing in response to the man who wants to keep his cancer prognosis secret until he nears the end (“Keeping It to Myself,” Jan. 11).
My mother was diagnosed with metastatic lung cancer that had spread to her brain. Her dizziness is how we found out. She didn’t want to tell anyone for a while (which surprised me because she had always been a drama queen and a hypochondriac), but she ended up telling. It was the best thing she could have done.
The four of us kids were there with her through her treatments, she became much closer to the sister she had spent decades hating and she found out who her true friends were. Mom lived four years, until she finally passed in 2006. It’s still raw for me. But I’m grateful for the time we had to get closer and share our lives.
I hope “Keeping” takes your advice and tells his friends. If he does, he may find these hard times to be some of the “best” times. That’s what my mom said. – CLAUDIA IN NEW JERSEY
DEAR CLAUDIA: Thank you for sharing. I opened the question to my readers, and like you, most – but not all – agreed with my answer. Read on: