Memorial service in east london

Hi everyone.

We have now had confirmation of the service at the city of london crematorium. It will be on tuesday 11th at 12.30pm. After the service we will be having refreshments. 

Russ

Donations

Hi everyone

We are asking that people make donations instead of flowers for mums funeral. She had a long service badge from st francis hospice where she used to volunteer and also where our day was going to before he died and we also want to send half the money to the exeter leukaemia fund (ELF) where she had the majority of her treatment.

Russ

Funeral details - update

The address of the Church for Mum's funeral is not shown on the Church website and Google Map cannot find it. The Church is next to Tarka Books whose address is:

5 Bear Street
Barnstaple
Devon
EX32 7BU.

The church does not have a car park but there is one just south of the church, a 2 minute walk away.

Further update:
Although she didn't specify, when it was Dads funeral she wanted to collect money for charity rather than flowers so we are planning the same.
Any money donated will be split between St. Francis Hospice (based in Havering - Mum did voluntary work there for a number of years) and Exeter Leukaemia Fund (who helped to look after Mum while she was undergoing treatment).

Funeral details

Mums Funeral in Barnstaple will be at Christ Church on Thursday 6th June, starting at 1:30pm. Her cremation will follow.
Church website:
http://www.christ-church-barnstaple.org.uk/

The service in London has not yet been arranged but is likely to be early the week after.

Sorry for lack of details

The first step after someone passes is that the Medical Cause of Death Certificate is issued. This is done on the working day after. As Mum passed on the Friday before a bank holiday it means this certificate will not be issued until Tuesday. The reason this is important is that her belongings cannot be collected until this certificate is issued, and her wishes regarding her funeral are in her notebook, in her hospital bag. Once we have this we can start making arrangements and will share with everyone.

Thank you for all the phone calls, emails, text messages, blog replies and Facebook messages people have sent to Russell, Sylvia and\or myself.

Sad news

I am sad to report that Mum passed away at 1:30pm on Friday 24th May. Sylvia, Russ and I were at her side as she left this world to join the next one.

We were told on Thursday afternoon that she wasn't responding to the heavy steroids they had given to repair her lungs and that in the last two days her blood stats had dropped like a stone. This unfortunately meant there was no chance of her recovering so the decision would be made on the Friday morning to cease the life support systems, which they did at noon.

Although it was difficult for us at the end we are grateful to have been there and that she didn't feel any pain.

In due course we will give details of what happens next but the plan is a funeral service in Barnstaple followed by a memorial service at Wanstead, east London.

I want to say a big thank you to everyone that prayed and kept her in their thoughts the last few months and weeks. It is nice to know she touched so many people's lives.

Sorry for the lack of updates recently

Last week Mum was stable so there was little to report.

Towards the end of last week Mums breathing deteriorated so she is back on full sedation with breathing taken care of by the ventilator.

On Friday/Saturday they gave her chest a CT scan, to check on the current condition of her lungs. The results are that areas of her lungs are damaged and will take a long time to repair. The reasons for the damage are a) the ventilator itself can cause some damage, b) the lung infection she had that put her in ICU and c) the transplant itself can initially damage parts of the body. All this means that she is going to be in a poor condition for months rather than days or weeks.

The fight is not over yet but it is going to be longer and harder than originally anticipated.

Russ is down until Wednesday, Sylvia will be visiting Wednesday/Thursday with her/Mums cousin Helen from New Zealand and I am planning to visit on Saturday.

If there is an update one of us will post something; next time we'll try not to leave it so long. It is good that people are so interested in how she is doing. I'm sure she would show her appreciation if she could.

Thanks again for your thoughts, wishes and love.

Stuart