Hi Sammy and welcome to the riprap forum. My name is Hilde and I’m one of the team here. What you’re asking is a very common question and I hope other forum members will get back to you and say how they’ve dealt with that situation.

In the meantime, what usually works best is to say exactly how you feel. Perhaps say that something really important is happening in your life and you want them to know as they are such close friends. You may say that you don’t want to be treated any differently but it may be good for them to know in case there are times when you may seem a bit distant and there may be times where you need to talk about it or you may just need a hug… I think as close friends, they would like to know when something like this is happening in your family...

If you ever want to talk to us here in the riprap team you can use the ‘get in touch’ form and we can ‘talk’ more privately over email. Warm wishes, Hilde

Hi Sammy, I completely understand how you feel. My mum was diagnosed in April. I felt I wanted to tell my close friends because it was such a big part of my life and it felt weird to be 'hiding' it from them. I have managed to tell some of my friends and they've actually been really supportive. The worst that can happen is that they wont be as supportive as you thought they might be but they definitely won't think you're attention seeking! If it helps I told them by explaining I was telling them to keep them updated on my life, not that I was explicitly 'asking' anything from them. Hope all goes well :)