In Tribute
In memory of Margie
Margaret Seaman, 58 years old lived happily with her husband Peter for 21 years enjoying life to the full. Peter proposed to her in 1998 while on holiday in Rhodes, Greece, and they were married the following year on the island of Lesvos. Both from previous marriages Margie had a daughter Lisa (37) and Peter a son Paul (42), and daughters Tracey (36) and Tanya (35).
Margie, (affectionately called ‘Floppy’ by Peter!) enjoyed regular holidays on the Greek Islands with Peter who described them as ‘incredibly happy times’.
Last March Margie woke up in pain and after 3 months of hospital tests trying to establish the cause of the pain, the family received the news they had been dreading that Margie had been diagnosed with bowel cancer. She was told by the surgeon that the tumour inside her had been growing for almost 10 years and that they would need to operate that day. The family were left shocked, but Margie stayed positive, smiling and reassuring everybody that she was going to be OK.
The operation went to plan and she came home from hospital 10 days later under the daily care of the district nurses. The family all believed everything was on the road to recovery and so it was bitter blow to discover soon after at a meeting with the surgeon that the cancer, a very aggressive form, had broken through the bowel wall in micro form.
The oncologists at Clatterbridge decided that a course of chemotherapy was needed to control the cancer and 12 monthly sessions followed ending in February 2010. This didn’t seem to faze Margie who “stayed strong, suffered no loss of hair and looked beautiful throughout” explained Peter. “She actually made quite a day of it each time and we always enjoyed a breakfast in the café before the sessions commenced!”
By the beginning of August though, Margie was finding her breathing difficult and after a hospital check Margie and Peter received the awful news that spots had been found on both lungs and she was diagnosed with just weeks to live. Margie’s last few weeks at home were made as comfortable and as cheerful as possible by her friends and family (“we even managed a Chinese Banquet one Saturday!” said Peter) but she sadly passed away on 30 September just 6 weeks after her terminal diagnosis. Margie was a very popular person, reflected at her funeral a week later with more than 200 people attending. Peter said “a carer by profession & nature she gave back to life and really made a difference!”
Peter along with two daughters recently came into the centre to thank all of the staff for everything they had done, and to donate £634.22 in Margie’s memory, collected from friends and family at the funeral in lieu of flowers. Peter explained his thanks, “the Clatterbridge Staff are simply fantastic, they don’t just do their job – they do it with real love, care and attention and the fact that Margie actually enjoyed coming for her chemo just says it all!”
Peter, who works at Wirral Grammar School as a music teacher is planning to raise more money in Margie’s memory for Clatterbridge next year by organising a major concert at the school. He said “I just can’t thank the staff enough for everything they did; Margie and our family picked up so much strength from them”.
Jade Barrett, Community Fundraising Manager at Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology said: ‘I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everybody that donated in Margie’s memory, especially Peter and the daughters for coming in to the centre to personally thank the staff here. Losing Margie has been an incredibly difficult time for the family, and to turn this into a positive situation raising money to help others is a truly fantastic thing to do. The family have asked that the money is split - 50% will be spent on the Delamere Ward here which is where Margie was treated, and 50% will be spent on cancer research done by our doctors. On behalf of our patients, their families and our staff a huge thank you once again to the Seamans.’
For more information about donating to Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology in memory of a loved one, including requesting donation envelopes please contact the fundraising team on 0151 482 7948 fundraising@ccotrust.nhs.uk
If you’d like to honour someone special in a lasting way, why not set up an online Tribute Fund. Every gift made acts as a tribute to their memory and will contribute to the work we do here to care for our patients.
To find out more, visit www.clatterbridge.tributefunds.com
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