Our Mother Mandy Stokes

Hi my name is Victoria and I am raising funds to support Myton Hospice in Warwick who did such an amazing Job at looking after my mom until the very end. In 2021 my mom was diagnosed with Lung cancer. At only 62 years old and always a very fit and healthy woman it shocked us to the core. I had not long given birth to my second son he was only 6 weeks old so to have my biggest supporter told that she had stage 3 cancer felt like my right arm had gone. But my mom was a fighter, she always has been! Determined not to be defeated by this horrific disease she told her consultant you do anything or give me any treatment to give me time with my family! After having her lung and lymph node's removed. Followed by a heavy dose of chemo we were told the cancer had gone and not spread. We thought we had hit the jackpot but less than 4 months later after some additional tests because mom was having problems with her eyes we were told that she was not in remission but actually had 3 cancerous tumours in her brain that were to big to operate on. Once again our world came crashing down but mom staid strong and battled through another 2 rounds of chemo, immunotherapy and even had whole brain radiation to try and give her more time. Mom really changed the bigger the tumours got. It changed not only her physical capabilities but also her mental capabilities to a catastrophic amount. There were times she didn’t even remember who we were and simple tasks such as using a knife and fork became impossible for her. It was like having cancer and dementia all in one! Two of the most awful conditions known to man. After multiple blue light visits to the hospital and the tumours progressively getting worse we told in October 2023 that mom has around 3 months to live. My dad has taken care of my mom throughout all of this and became not only her husband but her full time carer so we could keep her at home with us as long as possible. This meant my dad having to give up work. In December 2023 mums medical team said she needed to be in a hospice due to her multiple medical needs and she was taken to Myton hospice in Warwick. Being abit of sceptic of the hospice at first as we had wanted to take care of mum at home till the end how I was proved wrong! They took care of our Mom as if she were theirs. Nothing was ever to much trouble the medical staff made sure mom had everything she needed to make her comfortable and the nurses made sure she kept her pride and dignity till the end. Even on my moms last day of life they still bathed her in bed and did her hair and came to check on her and us constantly. They gave us a room with 2 beds to sleep on so we didn’t have to leave her and use of a flat at the end of the corridor to wash and take some much needed time. It was truly a home from home and words enough will never express our gratitude to them for how they helped mom and us. Thanks to them the last moments of my moms life were pain free and peacfull. We now have the gut wrenching task of organising her funeral and I want to give her the send of she deserves. She spent most of her life putting herself last and making sacrifices so her family and other would not go without. So all donations will be received with more thanks then we can ever say. I will be donating what ever is raised to Myton as a small token of thanks for all the amazing work they do. Thankyou, Victoria and family ❤️