Announcing my private health crisis

Health crisis like cancer are not uncommon. Many people must navigate life amid chronic health conditions, ongoing hardships, and other challenges. Hearing “you have cancer” is was shocking. Anyone who has been told they have a life-threatening disease is forever changed. So is their family.

Rick was with me when the on-call doctor in the emergency room at Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula told me, “You have a 20-cm tumor on your right ovary. We quickly got over the shock then got to work setting up appointments for the week after we returned from the Pebble Beach golf tournament we were attending with our 16-year-old son.

We kept the news to ourselves for one week. After surgery was scheduled, I slowly began telling people. Each time I recounted what I thought was only 1 tumor and 1 type of cancer, family and friends joined my world, one they never escape.

St. Petersburg is Florida’s 5th largest city, but it can still be a small town. I was born here, grew up here, graduated from a local university, and raised our family here. Even before my husband was mayor in 2014, I knew a lot of people. This was my personal health crisis. I was slowly adjusting to my new status as a cancer patient. Thankfully, a 3-hour surgery successfully removed 3 tumors and a few organs and lymph nodes. On the day of my first chemotherapy treatment, a reporter from the local newspaper asked why Rick was out of the office for “family business.”

Rather than ignore this reporter’s incessant questioning, Rick and I decided that I would announce my diagnosis, on my terms. I would give no interviews or additional statements to the press. I would write the announcement, not his communications team. It was my news to share. My statement would stand as-is.

Medical information is protected under HIPPA rules and regulations. By no means was I legally required to disclose my condition. But, it was important that I was the only one to discuss my condition publicly. I briefly lamented my husband’s status as a well-known political figure. No one I knew that had ever faced a health crisis had to prepare a public statement. However, I needed to insure that nothing about my cancer was misstated, I soon viewed the crafting of this statement as an opportunity to seize power when much of my life was out of control.

Read here for how I used a popular social media platform to announce a very private and scary moment in my life.