Jane and Bill’s story
The staff at Ornua Nutrition Ingredients chose us as their Charity of the Year 2019 because we have supported one of their colleagues, Jane, and her husband Bill, following his brain tumour diagnosis. Jane shared their story with us whilst Bill was going through treatment, and before, sadly, he passed away.
On Saturday, 4 August 2018, our lives changed completely and beyond anything we could have imagined.
Bill and I were driving for a day out when suddenly Bill started to drive on the wrong side of the road. I was in shock and shouted to Bill, but he was unaware that he was doing so. Fortunately, there was no oncoming traffic, and we managed to avoid an accident.
At home, Bill complained that his head was hurting, and he started to have a seizure. I can remember the paramedics saying what a lovely home we both had as they sat at the end of the sofa doing tests on Bill, who was ready to rip his head off and rapidly feeling very poorly, his blood pressure dropping, and he could hardly walk.
A CT/MRI scan revealed a shadow over the right lobe – a Grade 4 glioblastoma. The consultant described this as “a beast” and the most serious, aggressive type of cancer there is for brain tumours. This news blew our world apart. We had already booked our dream holiday, going on safari in Africa with friends and lots of other short breaks too. All is now in jeopardy, and we were uncertain if we could go on any.
Brain Tumour Support contacted me to offer us both support in the form of a forum where others in similar circumstances can discuss and share their problems and experiences. Brain Tumour Support also offered help with any financial issues and offered attendance at monthly meetings and weekend activities if we wanted to get involved. The best thing about Brain Tumour Support’s Members’ Forum is that it is there 24 hours a day to offer support during times when we feel we cannot cope. This made us feel that we were not alone, as someone is always there if needed, and there have been plenty of times when we have had our own meltdowns.
This type of cancer is dreadful; the impact is horrendous. Bill had bought himself a new VW transporter, his pride and joy, but following his seizure a few days after the purchase, he had to sell it as he could no longer drive. Bill has worked hard all his life with his own plumbing business, but can no longer work, and we have to live our lives on a day-to-day basis.
Following surgery and several rounds of radiotherapy and monthly chemotherapy, Bill sadly passed away in December 2019. We continue to support Jane and are very grateful to her for sharing their experience.
