Christine's story
I met Keith in 1972, he was 18 and I was 17 years old. We met on a blind date and I was so nervous! But I shouldn’t have been, he was so handsome in his Ben Sherman shirt, stay-press trousers, and crombie coat (the fashion of the time!) but best of all was he had a Lambretta scooter! I was smitten. We married two years later, and it was a magical day!
Fast forward a few years and we bought our first house and then had two lovely boys. As a family, we loved the outdoors and spent many weekends and holidays exploring the beautiful British Isles. Keith enjoyed sport, watching it on TV, not participating! He was such a fan of Rugby Union and cricket, when he was able he’d excitedly try to go to a match. His other passions were touring, cycling, hurling, and bowls. I’d often find him watching broadcastings from all over the world.
Keith worked all his life in manufacturing which was very physically demanding. Over the years it took its toll on his body so after a nasty injury requiring surgery he decided to retire early. Shortly after this, a tremor that he’d had for years became much worse. He was deemed suitable for brain surgery to ease the symptoms which seemed promising. He then had surgery to place a source of power into his chest to stimulate the probe in his brain. The surgery wasn’t a cure but it did give him some relief. Unfortunately, it came with side effects which affected the muscles in his neck and the ability to swallow.
Keith then developed a very painful issue with his ankle which really affected his mobility. By this time I also had retired from work in education and we were looking forward to a celebratory ‘push the boat out’ holiday with no restrictions or costs of school holidays. Sadly, this never happened. In August of 2022, we were both invited to have a lung health check by our GP. As I’d answered ‘no’ to all of the questions in a telephone appointment, no further action was needed. However, Keith had smoked so he was invited for a scan, He was then invited back for a deeper scan. Alarm bells started to ring for both of us when he received an appointment to see a specialist. The scan clearly showed white dots which we were told were small tumours, a tumor in his oesophagus had also been found.