Six months on....

After the past six months or so, we have all begun to settle back into something resembling normality; however I think it fair to say that we are all still very bitter at losing Hilary at such a young age, and at a time when she should by rights have been enjoying the fruits of her previous efforts and endeavours.

It is becoming easier, but the process of grieving is necessarily a slow one and something that has to be tackled on a daily basis - nobody can simply 'switch off' the sense of loss we feel after 30-odd years together, it simply isn't possible.

This Christmas has been a poignant one in many respects, being the first since her passing; typically of her, she had made several arrangements as regards presents for all the family, even though she knew full well that she wouldn't be around to see them opened - such was the selflessness of Hilary and the way she tried to look after everybody.

Politically I have taken the back-road of disappearing into the undergrowth, at least for the time being, as the fire that once kept me working day and night on behalf of local residents has been redirected against the NHS system that failed Hilary so badly when she needed it most.

I am currently "negotiating" with the complaints departments at both Heart of England and Coventry & Warwicks Healthcare Trusts, with th ultimate aim of finding out what went wrong, why it went wrong and how we can prevent that sort of thing happening again.

I have to say that so far, the answers that I've been given have been highly unsatisfactory to put it mildly, having evaded the basic issue of why she was discharged from hospital on five occasions with no definitive diagnosis, and why treatment for pancreatitis was continued despite her worsening condition.
We knew that her pancreas was inflamed, and furthermore we knew what was causing the inflammation - an alleged cyst - yet nothing was done about it until it was far too late and the tumour had spread to her liver.
I don't think it unreasonable to ask the question of 'why was nothing done?'

I live in hopes that I might get a coherent answer to that question; meanwhile I' like to wish all of you a very happy New Year, and now that I'm back in circulation as it were, I hope to see you at some point in the next month or so.

JB.

Six months on....

Written 24th June 2008.

It's now a matter of history that my dear wife Hilary passed on after a short, but unequal battle against pancreatic cancer on the 26th of May, 2008, at the Marie Curie Hospice in Solihull.

Her funeral service was arranged and ably conducted by Wm. Painter & Sons at Robin Hood on the 3rd of June, which was very appropriate as that would have been her 55th birthday.

The turnout at the service was staggering; the Mayor of Solihull, Cllr David Bell led the corporate list of mourners, accompanied by eight Councillors, the CEO of the Council Mark Rogers and several senior departmental directors - their support for us as a family was deeply appreciated.

Our thanks also go out to those many friends, neighbours and associates who turned out to pay their final respects to a very special lady whose life was cut short by several years by that deadly disease.

Let us now hope that she is finally at rest, and the family and I can move on with the remainder of our lives, always mindful of her memory and presence in our hearts.

JB.