Natalie & Rosemarie

Mum’s symptoms started

My beautiful mum Rosemarie was the best mum, wife, nan, mother in law and friend anyone could ask for. At the end of December 2023 mum started to feel unwell, suffering with sickness and diarrhoea. She contacted her doctors and they said there was this new strain of stomach bug going around.

She struggled to get diagnosed

The symptoms continued but eased slightly, however she now started experiencing pain in her stomach and felt very full although she wasn’t eating much. She was going back to the doctors for blood tests and stool samples but they were all coming back normal.

She was still not feeling well, they decided maybe an ultrasound would show something but unfortunately nothing showed up. Which was very frustrating as we were hoping to finally get a diagnosis. Mum then started feeling like she had terrible heartburn, but still feeling full.

We started to think it was serious

I got a phone call from my dad asking me to pop round as mum was looking a little yellow which I thought, ‘that’s strange’. I went over and as soon as I saw her I literally knew something was seriously wrong. I told her ‘I’m phoning the doctor’ and she said ‘it’s ok, I’m going tomorrow first thing for bloods’. I wasn’t happy, but – ok.

The woman taking her blood had concerns herself as she noticed how yellow she was looking and asked mum to get on the scales. She had lost 22 pounds in three weeks!!! The doctor said ‘you need to go for an emergency CT scan’. Mum went, unfortunately to be told the scanner was down and to come back in the morning. At this point she was absolutely exhausted and still not feeling well and just wanted to sleep.

The following morning mum went back for her scan. She was still waiting to be seen late afternoon when she finally went down for it. Something didn’t feel right as they wanted to keep her in. The following morning she had an MRI scan.

My life changed forever

I got a phone call from mum and this is when my life totally changed forever, hearing my mum telling me she had stage 4 pancreatic cancer.  She needed an endoscopy to fit a stent and drain the bile as it was blocking the bile duct and then the yellowing would fade.

This was the middle of July 2024. Unfortunately mum caught sepsis and we thought we were going to lose her, but mum being the fighter she is, fought that. However, all the strength that mum had left was now taken from her, leaving her bedbound. That was hard for all of us and then we all had to make the decision about mum’s care: does she stay in hospital, or does she go in a hospice or have hospice care at home? She wanted to go home.

From diagnosis we had nine weeks. We tried to make many memories before she passed. Mum and dad celebrated their 52nd wedding anniversary on September 9th and that was hard knowing it would be the last one they’d share together. Spending as much time as we possibly could with her. Mum couldn’t fight any longer and on Friday 27th September 2024 she gained her wings.

Losing mum gave me new purpose

I was determined that everyone should know the symptoms of this killer disease, using all the downloads off the Pancreatic Cancer UK website and sharing it on every social platform possible. November was Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month and we lit up the house purple and we tried to raise more awareness and funds.

2025 is the year I want more awareness, early diagnosis and for doctors to know the symptoms because that’s where it starts. I use the slogan ‘If you don’t feel right, it’s time to fight’.

Mum was the glue to our family and now she’s gone and that’s the hardest thing to process. She will always be forever in our hearts. 💜

Natalie 
January 2025