Dad

My dad passed away in January 2017 after a short battle with Pancreatic Cancer. After living a healthy-ish active lifestyle, when being diagnosed with this disease there was no doubt that it came as a complete devastating shock. We eventually found the strength to get positive and find whatever we could to try and beat it. The cancer was inoperable but we still had other options. First came the strongest chemo which in itself almost killed my dad off, we knew that it was no quality of life. A weaker more manageable chemo came next which wasn't as intrusive and gave him a little bit of life. Things seemed to be steady until my dad started to get a pain in his hip which he tried to convince himself and everyone else that it was something small, ultimately that turned out to be a secondary cancer in his hip. Of course this brought on complications as he needed an op to get rid of the tumer in his hip but that meant stopping chemo 2 weeks before and 2 weeks after. With a terminal disease this is risky business, however dad was determined to try everything and so ahead we went with the gruelling operation. After successfully removing the timer in his hip we got the news that the primary pancreatic cancer had spread and there was nothing that could be done. To hear those words as a family member is obviously devastating and as one nurse described, having cancer is like throwing a pebble into a lake and the ripple effect is the impact it has on mum, children, friends and distant family. It effects us all in some way. As the days went by dad became weaker and weaker, he spent a few days at the hospice to give my mum some time to breath from caring 24 hours for my dad. The hospice was fantastic and helped us all in some way. My dad however just wanted his comforts and wanted to be home, so to follow his wishes dad came home and spent his final weeks with us all around him where he belonged. To watch someone who you love and was once a clever, strong and brave man just disappear into what I can only describe as weak and frail and almost a skeletal is just unimaginable. No family should go through what we have, everyone fighting this horrific disease should be given a fair chance to survive, not just be dealt the worst possibilities to live. With some of the worst survival rates I feel if we all share a little awareness people can at least have a fair fight.