orchardcorner

Hi, My dad (74) was diagnosed with bowel cancer in August 2018. He had emergency surgery to remove tumour and his colon. He was living with an ileostomy bag and having to change his eating habits enormously. His cancer spread to his peritoneum and was told it was terminal. He managed to receive 1 round of chemo but this made him very poorly. In hindsight, I wish he hadn’t had it. His kidneys began to get infected and he had numerous water infections. Then they found the cancer was pressing on his ureter so fitted a lephrostomy. He was then in and out of hospital a number of times between November and January, although he was with us Christmas Day. On January 27th (his birthday) he was taken back into hospital again as he kept being sick and couldn’t eat. After a few days of tests we were devastated with the news that he had a bowel obstruction. He was out in a course of steroids for 3 days to see if they could shrink the obstruction. They couldn’t. We were told he didn’t have long and I don’t think I’ve cried so much. We talked about hospice care or going home. We opted for a hospice as we wanted to be with him as a family and not as his carer. He moved there the next day (Tuesday 5th). He seemed ok and had many, many visitors. On Thursday 7th February we didn’t have any more visitors. We were told it would be that day. Dad didn’t wake up all day and at 11:30pm lost his battle. It’s been a couple of months now and I think I’m doing ok. Life with a husband, 2 children and a job in teaching keeps me pretty busy. If I stop, then I’ll cry for ever. We’ve raised nearly £3,000 for Macmillan and Myton Hospice through generous donations.