Breaking the "C" word to the family

Who would you tell first? 

After finding out that I had Cancer I left calling anyone for a few hours as I thought it would be best if I did not get upset whilst talking to my family and close friends but I also knew that my mum and sister would call that day to see what happened.

A few hours later my sister text me and I did not want to tell her before telling my mum so I tried to stall having a conversation for a bit by saying I need to talk to her later, then I rang my mum. 

We started off talking by having a normal conversation until she asked how the appointment at the hospital went, where I replied saying we were waiting for ages to be seen. Eventually I got round to telling her the results. She was distraught which is obviously understandable. Her reaction made me cry a little bit and I tried to calm her down saying not to worry and everything is OK and it is going to be OK but I don't think that helped. 

My sister/ twin kept on trying to ring me so I answered. She sounded upset so I asked why she was upset. She said she had a bad feeling and asked me to tell her about the hospital appointment. I told her I had bad news and asked if she was away from people. She said she was around people as she was about to start work which made me not want to tell her but she was persistent on hearing the news so I just came out with it. She burst out crying whispering " I knew it" and I tried to calm her down and reassure her that everything will be OK.

My dad was rather chill about the whole ordeal, acted normal and seemed to be fine. It was as if we were having a normal conversation. It was nice and the reaction that I needed at the time to make me feel a bit better about myself. Later on though I found out that he was just as upset as the rest of the family but did not want me to know about it. He had told my aunt as he needed to talk to someone and I got a text off her telling me to stay strong.

My little brother did not take the news very well and was very upset, he did not even want me to ring him but that was most likely my fault for telling him in the wrong way. I won't make the same mistake with my little sister.

Instant reactions

I am still in the process of telling family the news and it is hard as you don't know how to tell them. Everyone reacts differently. I seemed to get quite a few people using profanities and questioning what they heard quite a bit. I think that the best way to tell them is to just be honest and blunt about it so that it is over and done with and then support them whilst they are upset. I think it might be the shock of hearing that someone you love has Cancer, it just gets to a person as you don't expect someone you know to get it. When telling younger people I don't think they need to know all the details as it might sound too scary, they will most likely be happier with just the basics as they will probably find alone a lot to take in. 

How am I feeling about it all?

At the moment I am very unsure on how I am suppose to feel or how other people in the same situation are feeling. I don't feel any different and therefore I don't act any different. I feel fairly numb apart from a few times when I get butterflies in my stomach or my heart starts to beat quite fast when I think about what is ahead. On occasions I might feel like I want to cry for a few seconds but then I am able to hold back the tears and carry on as normal.


Provided here is a link to help you figure out a way of telling the people you love and care for. I found it when I was thinking of how to tell my younger sister about the news:

Macmillan Cancer support- telling your friends and family.

My next post will include me going for my MRI scan and signing the papers for the thyroidectomy. 

If you have any questions just leave a comment and I will try to help you.