Hui, 49 certainly is quite late to find out such a big thing about yourself :D
There surely is going to be some badmouth coming to you in one form or the other, so let me give you a tip:
It is not others that make you angry.
It is you who decides being angry about others.
You decide if you feel attacked or be a stoic.
I tend to be independent of the good opinion of others. I may be changing a bit late in life but i am happy . So it doesn't matter to me ,