I never know how much to share. Do you? When someone asks, “How are you?” sometimes they really want to know and sometimes they don’t. But most of the time they don’t want a 20 minute answer, so it’s easy to keep things short. So who does want the 20 minute answer?
The other night a close friend was asking me for details on my treatment plan. It’s been many years since I’ve had a plan, so having one is really exciting. There’s no guarantee it’ll work, but it’s wonderful to have actions I can take. The thing is, she’s not the first to ask about it. It’s sort of long, and I’m tired of explaining it. So I was thinking I’d send a mass email to everyone.
A great passive way to share this kind of info is with a blog. But I don’t want to start a blog about my treatments. First, I’m way too private for that. Second, I’m already running two blogs, and that’s already more than enough. I could do it on here but this is anonymous, and most of my friends and family don’t know I’m writing at all, much less have the site address. So even though blogs seem to work well for several of my friends to spread health updates, it’s not for me.
I figured email is the next best thing. I started the email by telling people I won’t be offended if they ignore it. It’s only for the people who want to read it. I also told them that if they don’t read it, they can’t expect me to repeat it all later. I hate to clutter up people’s inboxes, but the whole point of this is to just say it once. So I deliberated, then sent it to everyone. I kept it straightforward. It’s detailed enough to be clear, but I avoided technical, medical terms so that I wouldn’t confuse anyone. I laid it out in stages, so it’s clear what I’m trying first, second, third, and why.
So far so good. I’ve gotten several responses, which is more than I expected on the Sunday afternoon of a long weekend. So I think I did this right. I think people are glad to be getting updates. And if not? Well, they can ignore the email.
I don’t have a crystal ball. I don’t know how much info people want. But I know how much I want to give, so I’m going with that. As usual, I’m letting my instinct be my guide. The worst that could happen is I share too much, and it’s not like I’ve never done that before!
Chronic Rants 
I have a hard time making deciding how much people really want to know when they ask. Good idea on email!
Sometimes I just come out and ask how much detail they want, but I don’t like doing that with *everyone*. Good luck with whichever way you do it!