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January 2017 was the start of a life changing time. At this point Dave was diagnosed with Diabetes but a few months down the line he started getting bouts of pain in his abdomen that radiated out towards his back. In May after numerous tests he was sent for a CT scan with contrast and this confirmed that he had a large pancreatic tumour that had wrapped itself around two of his major blood vessels and was inoperable. We were devastated.

Palliative Chemotherapy was the only option available to him.The best we could hope for was that the chemo extended his life. Chemo started in September 2017 and Dave struggled on with it until he was told in March 2018 that the type of chemo that he was having was not working and that the cancer had spread. He was also told at this point that he was too frail to start any second line chemo.

On advice from his oncologist he volunteered to go into Thorpe Hall hospice for symptom control. Dave felt a huge sense of relief when he went into the hospice.The last few weeks before his admission to the hospice he'd had many emergency visits to A and E and was scared. He felt at ease knowing that by going into the hospice he would have professional help at hand when needed.  

The hospice was exactly the right place for him at that time. I struggled with him going in but had to do and respect what was right for him. The hospice was actually a lovely place, beautiful gardens and all the staff were friendly and welcoming. I even took our 2 dogs in to see him.

Dave's sense of humour never totally left him even in his final days. He was asked by one of the staff if he knew anything about Paper Mache? An odd request but it transpired that the art group  were constructing an elephant and needed a volunteer to cover it!  Dave's response to the nurse was that he'd give it a go as he was a dab hand at Paper Mache as he'd done it before. Me and his best mate Andy and Andy's wife Teresa sat there in stunned silence trying to recall when this was?  It then came out that he'd done some at junior school!!

Dave passed away at 10.am on 18th April 2018. 

I am doing this walk as I need to give back something to the hospice so that they can continue to give their care to others in their time of need.

I type these words with tears rolling down my face. I never imagined that I would be without him so soon in our lives. We had so much more to do.

 I loved Mr Jones with all of my heart and miss him so much.I know that he was well loved and is missed  by many others too.

Please show your support by taking the time to sponsor me so that others in the same situation can have the care that they deserve.

Mrs J  (Vicki)