Decisions, decisions

One day, there you are fit and well, the next, you are living with a devastating bit of news for which there is no real preparation.  The weird thing is that I AM fit and well.  I don't look, sound or feel any different.  So, in this wholly unreal scenario, what am I supposed to do now?  Who do I tell?  What do I tell them?  How much will they want to know?  How much information am I happy to share?  What do I do about work?  Should I carry on, or should I pack it in and make the most of the free time I have left?
All difficult decisions, so, since getting my diagnosis, I have spent a fair amount of time thinking about all of those things.
Last things first: I told my head of department the very next day - she could not have been more supportive.  "Tell me what you want to happen and I will move heaven and earth to achieve it."  For now, I have decided to keep on working.  I think it helps to have another focus for your thoughts.  Not only that but I haven't had a day off sick since I joined the organisation in 2001 so I feel 'entitled' to some paid time off if I need it!
Family members have to be told, always difficult, made the more so because I wanted to tell them all myself, face to face wherever possible.  A phone call is a poor substitute and email even worse.  I also spoke to as many friends as I could, although there is a limit to how often you can repeat this stuff without losing the plot!
Work colleagues next - made all the more difficult because senior managers have to keep your information in confidence unless you give them express permission to share it.  And then you have to be able to say who you want them to tell.  We got there in the end and the grapevine is now starting to work.  The early trickle of good wishes is turning into a bit of a torrent but, having had this news for over a fortnight, I am much better able to cope with it.
My approach to this whole thing is entirely positive so I really hope that the wailing and gnashing of teeth can wait until the appropriate time.  I was particularly dreading meeting the grandchildren as I wasn't at all sure how they would react.  I just knew that I would crumple if they did!  In the event, that meeting was a light-hearted affair (in the circumstances) and all went well.  I am sure that my own attitude is contributing to that.  Inevitably, we have all had little 'wobbles' at odd moments but I hope that's a phase we all have to work through.
The main decision now is how to make best use of my time.  I have an embryonic bucket list, of which more later on.  Carl, Caroline and Luca are off to Abu Dhabi this weekend and will probably be there for a couple of years.  There is nothing that can be done about it, even if we all wish it were not so.  I have seen a lot of them since my diagnosis and I am truly grateful that they were in the UK at this critical time.  We intend ticking another item off the bucket list before the weekend, unless the weather intervenes.  Duxford here we come!