A word about Keeping your illness private

To a Famous Author

Bruce Just wanted to say it was especially poignant for me to see you and to hear your first admission to a Nashville audience about your recent health struggle. The confidentiality part gets better and better and perhaps it already has for you. I pray that you find the balance between your privacy, concern felt by others and your popularity (and message). Two of my best friends have recently been diagnosed with very scary illnesses and the privacy part is one of their first concerns. I had a double transplant 9 months ago... after my kidneys failed (i had a somewhat rare pancreas and kidney transplant. Diabetic since i was a little child). I lost zillions of pounds, was in the hospital for more than 40 days stretched out over 3 months. Now I'm better than 5 years ago. My real estate business relies on my...errr...Popularity and Sanity and Consultive skills. So I was paralyzed with fear about people dumping me as their realtor when they heard that I was sick. Turns out, I did get dumped by a few and I don't care now. Turns out, everyone knows and strangely enough I even relied on their curiousity as some sort of support - and still do. Of course there are bountiful other wonderful things that people will do for you if you will just let them. Ooops. Didn't mean to go off on all of that. What I wanted to say is that you looked very healthy and I was dying to ask you more questions about your treatment, your children, your wife, etc, but I didn't want to keep the autograph line waiting. I pray that everything is going well for you. It sounds like you have managed to keep and collect the perfect group around you. I'm looking forward to reading the book about the dads, etc. Am now going to follow your blog. TAKE CARE and all prayers to you (whenever this heathen can actually remember to pray - yoga helps) xoxox "coco" fennell