Telling Others

I have officially started taking the next step in telling others. There will be three phases in me telling others.

Phase 1 - (Already Completed)
I told the immediate family who needed to be an emotional support. This included my wife (of course), my parents, my wife's parents, a cousin and friend who I have talked to previously when I thought it was Chronic Fatigue, and my assistant manager (who is also my cousin and friend). I did this within the first few days. It was important to me to inform some people so I could get it off my chest. I also knew it would be important to them to know.

Phase 2 - (Currently Doing)
Two weeks after being diagnosed with Fibro I have started telling others who see the results but don't know what is going on. This includes my brothers and sisters, my employees, and anybody else that would "need" to know. Basically I feel my reputation needs to be protected so others don't think I am "pushing them off" or being lazy.

Family and Friends - Originally I was going to wait for another month or two before telling family and friends. Now I strongly believe they need to know so I have a "support system." I have saying it that way but that is exactly what it is. The main goal with telling family is to make sure they push me to do activities that I have stopped doing. I used to love fishing and hiking. Now I don't do either and it doesn't bother. That has become a big warning flag for me. Things I used to love but now I don't ..... there is a problem there and I need to fix it. Family will be a good resource for getting out and about and pushing my body without pushing it too far.

It is also important for family to know so they don't think I am being lazy during family activities. I really do not want to be known as the "lazy butt" who never helps with yard work or doesn't run around a lot while playing football, etc.


Phase 3 -
Phase three will be telling others who don't need to know immediately. I do not plan on, and don't agree with, telling everybody and their dog. Some people just do not need to know. But occasionally there are circumstances where people will need to know. Ex. I was talking to a friend who was really wanting me to do some work on his sprinkler system. I kept telling him that it would be better to get somebody else because I had no idea how long it would take me to do it. He kept pushing for me to do it. After 30 minutes or so I realized it was sounding like I was pushing him off and was being wish washy. So I decided I had better tell him the real reason why he was not receiving a definite answer and why I wasn't wanting to do it. It was starting to hurt my reputation and it was apparent I was hiding something. After telling him he simply said he would find somebody else and he didn't want me to worry about it. He then asked a few questions about Fibromyalgia and I answered them. He was just fine knowing what I had and I felt good. I no longer have to tell "white lies" to him or sound wish washy.