Telling the world

I too only told those who needed to know in the beginning, and as time has passed some others, then others, etc.

I don't have a large family nor a large "network" and wanted to deal with things in my own time. It was a relief in a way not to be responsible for everyone else's reactions to what was happening, so the "slowly, slowly" approach worked for me.

As well as the above, the subject of other people's insensitivity has been raised in this forum many times, and I was initially feeling so raw emotionally that I shied away from the possibility of the "horror" stories that we hear from people who seem not to realise what they are saying when they over-share.That's not to say I wasn't sometimes shocked and hurt by insensitive comments.

I think it is a purely personal decision to make when telling others, based on our personality type and our circumstances. I am largely OK with how I managed it, and how my family respected my wishes about passing on information to others.