Dear Dáithí: I have a life-changing disease, but I don't want to tell my family

"I think you should pick a day and time and go for it. You probably know yourself which one of them to call, just do it."

"We should focus on what we can do and, in this case, how we can make things better for you from now on."

I recently received a pretty devastating diagnosis from my doctors. It is a degenerative disease that can only be managed but not cured.

I have three grown-up children, all have families of their own, and none of them live nearby. The closest is about a three-hour drive away, and two are in London. My husband passed away four years ago.