One other side of the bright and cheery attitude is, people see you smiling and cracking jokes they may think "it's not that serious, he doesn't seem to be suffering at all". I know that when I went to visit my co-workers at the office or out on the job, They really didn't understand why I wasn't back at work. I was just too damn cheerful. Then I went home and threw up.

The hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life was tell my seven year old son, a year after his grandmother died of cancer, that I had cancer. He looked at me and said "Daddy, I don't want you to die!" Use it as the strength you need to go down the path, if not for you, for them.

I cried writing that.

David you are so right about that. After the hell that was rad/chemo and before surgery I showed up at my hotels employee party...they don't know or can fathom it.