How did you tell your family about your diagnosis?

It was the hardest thing I think I ever did. My mom lost her husband (my dad) to lung cancer when he was barely 49. He died six months after he was diagnosed. That was our history with lung cancer.

My husband and I decided we would put forth a brave and happy face when we told my mom and our son about my diagnosis. We told them that, yes, I had lung cancer, but that there was hope. Because that's what we told them, we had to live like we believed it.

I told them directly. It was far harder for them not knowing, so the diagnosis, while incredibly painful and unexpected, was still a relief. With knowledge came the power to plan, talk, express our feelings in real ways. Straight forward honesty has always been the best practice in my family, and that certainly proved true yet again in this situation. I just wanted everyone to have as many tools available as possible because this has the realistic possibility to go in an unfavorable, painful direction, and my prayer is that everyone be at peace however it turns out.