Hi all,
My mum Elizabeth (Liz) sadly passed away after having a very short illness. An illness she was not even aware of, though I don't know how, even to this day, how she didn't know but nor how did anyone else know either.My mum was simply brushing her teeth, yawned, and laughed about something I had said to her. Yawned and laughed at the same time when suddenly she felt a pop in her jaw, then soon after a couple of days her jaw became really swollen, painful, affecting her ears, her balance, her eye, her sinuses making it difficult for her to eat due to the pain and feeling nauseous and making her unable to drive.
Thankfully, I can drive now so I can take Mum to the Westmorland General Hospital as she started having symptoms of a possible infection within her jaw. She saw the A&E doctor who asked my mum, " Why have you waited this long you should have come to the hospital much sooner than now," and was prescribed with some antibiotics and referred for her to see a maxillofacial specialist in Lancaster. My mum didn't have to wait for a very long not at all, in fact, the next day she had a consultation via the telephone and then a face to face consultation in the next 2 days. Which surprised us all as this was with the NHS, not privately.
Anyway, she saw the Maxillofacial specialist team had an ultrasound scan of her jaw, which came back inconclusive with a sign of an infection even though she was presenting similar symptoms of an infection being present. A second appointment was arranged a week later. She finished her week's course of antibiotics and then about a day and a half later. She came into my room breathless, with a temperature, and the pain in her jaw became worse, affecting her neck and back. So I said right, I'm taking you to the Royal Lancaster Infirmary, and she was admitted into hospital with much disgust, but the reason for that is a different story. They put her on some IV antibiotics and stronger pain relief, had a CT scan of her jaw and neck, deciding whether she needed an operation, and they took some samples from the swollen area of the jaw.
Mum was in hospital for just over a week. Dad and I went in to see her during this period. Then, on Sunday, the 24th of November, dad and I went to visit her in the evening. Mum said to me that she felt a little bit better, even though she was still breathless and complaining of having a sore back. Mum did suffer with a bad back caused by repeative strain due to being a nurse for the elderly and also working on the family farm.
So when going home, dad and I felt much more at ease. But then the next morning, my dad and I received a phone call from the hospital. My mum wanted us to come in that morning to meet up with the team whom she was under, believing we've got a treatment plan in process. Maintaining positively, I told my dad to head in first, and I'll catch up with you after popping into the nearby hospital pharmacy for a few things from myself and for mum. When I reached the ward, I was met by one of the nurses who was looking after mum. I saw her bed cubicle curtains were closed, unaware of how bad things had gotten since the night before. Behind the curtains, I was met by the team, two of the maxillofacial specialists, two of the acute surgical nurses who were caring for my mum, and a palliative care nurse as well. And then I saw mum in a very weak state, struggling to catch her breath. Every breath was a fight. That bad she couldn't make a full sentence. In the early hours of the Monday morning, she started to deteriorate drastically. The maxillofacial specialist demanded the radiology team for a full body CT scan to be taken and to try and find out what on earth was going on. After the scan, the results were bloody unbelievable. They found presents of cancer in her bowel, her liver, her spleen her stomach, her lungs, wrapped around her aorta, and the swelling/solid mass measuring 7.4cm on her jaw could also have been a cancerous tumour as well. Jesus, Mary and Joseph, and the fecking wee donkey. I literally screamed the bloody place down using terrible foul words and forgetting where I was at the time, forgetting there were other patients and staff members within the ward. I was so fecking angry and I was rude towards the team, which later I apologised for that and they totally understood and said no need to apologise as you were in shock. I asked them what treatment is there for her. And they said there's nothing we can do. Your mum is far too poorly, and it's far too late for any possible treatment. All they could do was to, try and keep her as comfortable as possible during her final stage before passing away. So, on the 24th of November, the Monday morning, Dad and I arrived at the hospital between 9:00am and 10:00am and then, six hours later her lungs started to fill up with fluid, drowning internally, and then just minutes later, that was it she was gone. Both dad and I were right there with her, right there to the very end, we spoke to her the whole time whilst our hands were linked together. She passed away on Monday at 4:45 pm. Dad and I didn't leave the hospital until just after 8:00 pm or so. My dad wanted to go home, but I couldn't just leave. I didn't want to leave my mum's side because to me, it felt wrong leaving her with strangers. That's why we didn't leave till just after 8:00 pm because I was the one who drove us there and back because my dad hadn't been added as a designated driver to my motability car as I am also an amputee. And I had to make sure I was stable enough to drive us back home that night.
Still to this day, dad and I can't t believe she didn't know. Only to be diagnosed and display symptoms of cancer less than than 24 hours before passing away.
. Lots of love xx
