Priceless hugs - Dawn's story
Patient and Family Stories
“We call them Priceless Hugs” Dawn tells me when she smiles as she explains how much she cherishes visits, chats, and most importantly a hug from our Community Clinical Specialist Nurse Louise.
Dawn was diagnosed with Glioblastoma, the most aggressive form of cancer that starts within the brain, in June this year. This is Dawn & Mike’s story…
“Sparks flew, literally” Mike says, when he recalls how he and Dawn met back in 2000. Mike was a Theatre Nurse, and Dawn was a patient at the time. As fate would have it, the day should have been Mike’s day off, and more than that….. it was Valentine’s Day. Mike sat up with Dawn as she recovered from surgery, and when they briefly brushed hands, they both felt a small electric shock. Sparks flew.
Dawn cheekily smiles when Mike says he spent the next 9 years asking her to marry him. She finally agreed, and the couple were married in November 2009. 10 years ago this year.
Following a previous battle against cancer in the 1990s, In May this year (2019) Dawn started getting painful headaches. The Doctor told her it might just be tension headaches, but that evening Mike found Dawn screaming in agony on the bathroom floor.
“It was like being hit in the head with a baseball bat, over and over again” says Dawn.
The Paramedics were called, and Dawn was taken to hospital. A first CT Scan showed a small bleed. A situation they both thought was curable. But then a Consultant was called and told them both that the small bleed was coming from the tumour…. A tumour neither of them knew existed. Dawn was diagnosed with Glioblastoma.
Louise was the first of the Hospice team to visit Dawn and a friendship was struck immediately. Louise helped to move the couple into priority housing for convenience, she helped sort PIP out, liaised with the Neurology Department at Sheffield Hospital, and referred Dawn to occupational therapy and relaxation classes at the Day Hospice here.
Symptom management was also key to the Hospice helping Dawn where we can. But most of all, Dawn cherishes what her and Louise call ‘Priceless Hugs’.
“I’d have Louise here every day. I have to have my priceless hug. I couldn’t have wished for a better person to be here”.
Four months later, in November 2019, and having decided to live life to the fullest, every day, Dawn and Mike renewed their wedding vows on their 10th anniversary. They had a big party afterwards and Dawn was even up dancing! Louise was there and tells us it was an honour to be present. Despite being almost entirely unable to walk, Dawn proudly walked down the aisle.
Dawn tells me that she’s amazed by the generosity of people they’ve met recently. Market traders on Rotherham Market provided flowers and cake for her wedding free of charge. And on a trip to London for Afternoon Tea at Harrods (something Dawn has always wanted to do), Harrods paid for it all, including £500 off a £545 dress that Dawn loves!
Harrods gave her a bouquet of flowers, and they even had their own pianist on the day. Dawn says she burst into tears at their generosity.
The company that Dawn has worked since she was 16 – KP – have been incredible and Dawn and Mike are grateful for how KP have supported them. They still pay her salary, and the couple recently got a lump sum pension which has meant they can do what they want to do.
Dawn’s determination to get things done, and her independence is hugely inspiring, and we wish both Dawn and Mike well as they continue to live their lives to the fullest, raising money along the way, and never forgetting those priceless hugs.
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