Pat is a bit older than me and her children are roughly my age.
Nearly 5 years ago she turned up at my door in floods of tears. Her middle daughter, Nicola, had been diagnosed with a very aggressive form of cancer called Myeloma. The prognosis was not good at all with not a great survival rate, and to add to the anxiety, Nicola was refusing the conventional methods of treatment.
In place of going through chemotherapy, Nicola was researching how to follow a strictly organic diet with lots of anoemas, vegetable blends and supplements - I don't know all the ins and outs.
The family were in pieces. They just wanted her to get treatment as quickly as possible, knowing no different.
However, everyone accepted that Nicola should be given the choice and they all supported her.
Nicola flew between America and Holland regularly to see special doctors and the family sacrificed so much to support her.
And in the end, the cancer stopped growing and it looked like Nicola was going to be on top of it. Everyone knew that it would never go away but they also knew that for now, Nicola was controlling it.
So much so, that Nicola fell pregnant and happily carried her baby full-term.
However, when Nicola gave birth to little Harriet, it was clear that the cancer had come back and when she had her scans done, it showed that the cancer had returned more aggressively that ever before. She had shadows on her vertebrae and brain, as well as in her abdomen. One of her vertebrae has disintegrated and two of her ribs had been crushed. She lost 2 inches in height.
Poor Nicola was forced to follow a route of chemotherapy, and was too poorly to properly enjoy Harriet, unable to hold her properly and without the strength to pick her up.
The family all pulled together to help her husband out and to make sure that Nicola was well looked after.
It was decided eventually that Nicola would have stem cell treatment which, if successful, would add another 10 years to her life. She kissed goodbye to Harriet and was admitted into hospital, unable to touch her baby until the risk of infection was over.
And Nicola did brilliantly. Despite all the awful side effects she went though - weight gain, water retention, hair loss, ulcers, peeling skin, sickness, hallucinations, itchiness - she kept her sense of humour and skyped with Harriet and the family daily.
Nicola was eventually discharged from the hospital, earlier than anticipated, to look after herself at home.
Several days later, Nicola didn't feel right. She went to bed feeling poorly and not well.
Through the night she started to fit, was rushed into hospital in an ambulance, and despite an hour of CPR, passed away in the early hours of the morning.
Nicola's death came as a massive shock to everybody.
Everybody knew that Myeloma would eventually get the better of her, but Nicola was doing so well in fighting it that we all thought that she had seen it off for now. Nobody could believe it.
Nicola's funeral was beautiful. 400 people turned up to pay respects. She had chosen a simple wicker coffin. Nicola had written to all of her family. She had made requests of how they would bring up her daughter Harriet and she had thanked them for their support and for their patience and love.
Nicola touched so many people.
In Nicola's last few years, she raised so much awareness of Myeloma and of Myeloma Uk charity. It's a little-known cancer but needs so much funding and so much research.
This weekend I completed my 2nd 10k run with Race For Life, raising money for Myeloma UK. I am doing another 5k race in October. I am just doing what Nicola would have done if she were still here and able.
If you would like to sponsor, I would just be so grateful and I would be so thrilled to be able to tell Pat and her family.
Thank you
www.justgiving.co.uk/beverley-peterson
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