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 I intend to walk 56 miles from the 2nd November till the 30th November .😅

My Husband Colin Bridgen was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer in June 2017 and died in March 2018. Colin was 56yrs old, relatively fit and strong but his chances of survival in percentage terms were in single figures. Its quite shocking when you realise your chance of surviving 5 years is under 10%.

Pancreatic Cancer otherwise known as the Silent Killer is the 3rd biggest killer in the UK. In the UK alone over 9,000 people die from Pancreatic cancer every year.

 Colin Bridgen was  a man who loved to tell jokes good or bad, he also had a love for music and love to educate you with interesting facts , whether you wanted to hear or not. He was a family man with a great love for his children.
We were an ordinary family with 3 grown up children, 2 at university and 1 working in I.T. up the city. Like many of you we worked hard to support our family and pay a mortgage.This left very little in the kitty for anything else but we were a close family and happy. All in all we were doing ok, we had our struggles just like millions of others but we also had our great times too.

The last few years, as the kids left home we were enjoying life as a couple and actually having a bank account in the black. I am sure a lot of people know that feeling.
We had just booked our first holiday in Barcelona to celebrate our 25th Wedding Anniversary and were both excited .
My husband was rarely ill the odd case of man flu but nothing major.

Colin had previously lost some weight quite quickly (several months), he was feeling exhausted and was looking forward to the Bank holiday in May 2017. We put the weight loss down to more exercise and eating healthier and the tiredness down to being busy time at work. ( later we learned this was a sign for Pancreatic Cancer.) He then noticed his urine was dark and we left it for a few days thinking it was nothing to worry about , maybe something he had eaten. ( the next sign, another is lower back pain or abdomen pain)

After a few days he went to the doctors had a few tests , that same day his skin started to take on a yellow hue , the doctor
called and asked him to go to the hospital for admittance after several days and tests we were told my husband had Pancreatic Cancer that was the beginning of our heart ache.

Treatment started and the nightmare began, Chemotherapy every fortnight and in-between, the sickness, diahorrea  and just when he started to recover the next treatment started. Of course there were bouts of Sepsis and he would be taken into hospital for a week or so.

Colin had lost a lot of weight by this stage and was having trouble finding food he could eat and keep down. The Chemotherapy had not worked so Radio therapy was the next treatment , which meant hospital every day for treatment. Radio Therapy  was a lot more intense and made chemo look like a walk in the park. 

Colin's pain increased, his appetite was very poor and his bouts of sickness had increased. By this stage he was so drugged up with pain relief he could hardly keep awake. As you can imagine it was an awful thing  for the family and friends to witness. Sadly it got worse and I admitted him, by his request to St Francis Hospice  where he passed away.

Theres not day that passes that we don't miss him . 

I don't want other families , friends to go through what we did, thats why I am supporting Pancreatic Cancer UK.