As many of you know, our beloved wife, mother, grandmother, daughter, sister, aunty and friend Debbie Slater passed away on 5 November at the early age of 56.  Much loved by everyone who knew her, Debbie succumbed to a long standing health battle with a brain tumour.  As such, we (her family) are asking for donations in Debbie’s name to The Brain Tumour Charity.

This is Debbie’s story:

In October 2008, Debbie was diagnosed with a brain tumour.  Prior to this, she had suffered with memory blanks, minor seizures and had her own mental health battles.  After undergoing an MRI scan she was diagnosed with a benign brain tumour, but when analysed, malignant cells were evident.  With the support of her family and friends Debbie underwent surgery to have the majority of this removed in May 2009.

Due to further complications, Debbie remained in the Queen’s Medical Centre for over a month.  She was then transferred to the stroke unit of Pilgrim Hospital after suffering with left side paralysis following the surgery.  She underwent intense physiotherapy to help her walk again and to build up the confidence that she had lost.  Debbie was eventually brought home but her treatment journey had only just started with a course of Radiotherapy sessions and MRI scans. 

Over the next decade Debbie tried her best to resume normal life, struggling with mobility - she had many falls whilst trying to maintain her independence.  Medically pensioned from her job and unable to drive, Debbie spent her time as active as possible – swimming, shopping and walking our family dog Metz. 

Her husband Steve retired in 2018 after a significant decline in Debbie’s health and wellbeing.  Although being a 24 hour carer for Debbie, they spent their time travelling the local area in their VW camper, out riding the tandem bike and even took part in charity events for The Brain Tumour Charity.  Debbie and various members of the family helped raise awareness and money to support the charity too, and the charity offered different pathways of support through talks, events and support groups both in person and through the means of social media. The website also provided support in understanding Debbie’s decline and what this inevitably looked like. Without a doubt, these last 12 years would have been significantly harder without them, in fact, it is hard to put into words just how grateful we are for the work that this fantastic charity do and advocate.

In June of this year, Debbie and those closest to her, became aware of significant declines in both her physical and mental health. Debbie voiced her concerns too, and at times although this was heartbreaking to hear, it was her cry for help. We liaised with various different professionals who had been involved in some of her journey and managed to put some interventions into place that we all felt would be of huge benefit in supporting her, however due to Covid-19 restrictions this made things very challenging.

In September, Debbie was admitted to hospital via ambulance after having a nasty fall resulting in seizure activity shortly after. She underwent a CT scan and remained in hospital for observation. A few days later, Steve and Debbie met with the rehabilitation doctor to confirm that the next move would be to see Debbie transferred to a mobility ward in Lincoln. After consultation as a family, we made the decision that Debbie would stay in hospital to be later transferred to the ward when a bed became available, however there was to be a waiting period of two weeks. As mentioned Covid-19 protocols meant that only one visitor was allowed to visit Debbie for an hour a day, something that both Debbie and the family found increasingly difficult as time went on.

On Friday 16th October, after initially receiving a letter about her recent MRI scan that stated that the brain tumour had become active again, did Debbie and Steve receive the heartbreaking news that this was no longer treatable via chemotherapy due to Debbie’s poor health. It was then decided that Debbie should return home as soon as possible to be surrounded by her close family and friends. The ward and various professionals liaised together to ensure the right palliative care package was implemented at home and that Debbie had equipment available to her that was required.

Meanwhile due to a Covid lockdown on Debbie’s ward, the day after this news was delivered, contact with Debbie was stopped. This lasted 10 days, Debbie had no physical contact with anyone for this period. On the same day that Debbie was due to be discharged, did we receive the news that Debbie had tested positive for Covid-19. This was a devastating blow to both Debbie and her close family and friends, utterly heartbreaking.

Over the course of the next few weeks, Debbie’s fine and gross motor skills declined quite significantly and it was at this time that Steve received the news that they had started end of life care. Steve was granted special permission to visit Debbie, however this still only happened every few days. Family and friends continued to cling onto the hope that as soon as Debbie tested negative, all the necessary arrangements would be made to have Debbie brought home. However this wasn’t meant to be. On Wednesday 4th November Steve visited Debbie and was told by the palliative care nurse that Debbie was now too poorly to return home. He asked to see her again the following day, to which they agreed. Steve, once again delivered this devastating news to Debbie’s close family and friends, and on the morning of Thursday 5th November he received a call from the hospital to say that Debbie had unfortunately passed away.

A darling wife, a mother of three, grandmother of seven, a daughter, a sister, a loving Aunty and a treasured friend;  Debbie will be sorely missed by all who knew and loved her.