Things have been pretty fraught throughout this week and it was looking like things were going to have to be delayed at one point, however it seems we are back on track for Monday's arrangements now. Here is a copy of the announcement being published in today's Bristol Evening Post:

"GOODCHILD

Mary Grace (née Woodford). Passed away at Kings College Hospital, London on 25^th October 2006 aged 67. Dearly loved mother to Chris & Niki. Sadly missed ‘Nanny’ to grandchildren Natasha, Stefan, Bethany & Joshua. Now reunited with her beloved John. Funeral service to be held at Westerleigh Crematorium on Monday 6^th November at 1.30pm. Flowers or donations to the British Liver Trust c/o F. Woodruff, 118-120 Station Road, Yate, Bristol BS37 4PQ. Tel. 01454 320005."

We have also booked the 'New Inn' at Westerleigh after the funeral service and anyone is welcome to come along for refreshments.

For your information here is a link to the receipient of any donations which can be made through the Funeral Director listed above:
British Liver Trust

Funeral Arrangements

As you can imagine, the last few days have been a haze of disbelief, adjustment and arrangements and I have been aware of needing to keep those watching these posts, up-to-date with the proceedings.

Due to the fact that Mary died away from home, in London, there have been a few complications associated with getting the death certificates arranged and this obviously has a knock on effect with the funeral arrangements. However, it looks like we have got a plan taking shape now. The funeral will take place on Monday 6^th November at 1.30PM at Westerleigh Crematorium. There are some detail of this venue HERE.

Niki and myself are still working on the details regarding flowers, donations and other things you may like to know and I will post more details back here as they are decided.

Again, if you have any questions or comments please feel free to post them here.

Chris

Mary passed away at approx. 5.30AM this morning.

There had been a significant downturn in her condition over the previous 24hrs and it was considered that the kindest thing to do was to not replace medication as it ran out except to continue with a painkiller/sedative to make her as comfortable as possible. She had Myself, Niki, Fiona (my wife), John (Her closest freind in recent years) and Sharon ( a close friend of Niki's for support) with her right up to the end. We have just returned home and shall be trying to get a little sleep ourselves shortly, after being up all night in the hospital.

I will post details of any arrangements here for those that are following the posts.

Please feel free to add any comments you wish at the foot of this post.

Chris

Unfortunately, despite all the medication that Mary is on, she has not been responding and has had a turn for the worst in the last 24 hours.

The doctors have said that they are currently having to significantly increase the drugs that are being used to support her blood pressure and heart. She has also been bleeding from the gut.

Family and close freinds have been asked to go to the hospital as the care has now switched from being one of treatment to being one where they are simply making sure she is comfortable.

With all that is going on with Mum's care at the moment, I felt that another method for people to keep track of what's happening would be useful. I hope to add updates as often as possible to help you all keep up to date whenever you want to.

(The picture is of Mary visiting newborn grandson 'Joshua' in June 2004)

Here is a brief summary of what has led us to this point:

Sometime during 2005 (I can’t remember exactly when), Mary was diagnosed with NASH "non-alcoholic steatohepatitis", a liver disease which closely resembles alcoholic liver disease but occurs in individuals consuming little or no alcohol.

During Spring 2006 Mary had various complications associated with the Liver problems and after lots of consultations and test she was put forward to be assessed for suitability to have a liver transplant. In early summer she went to Kings College Hospital in London where she spent nearly 2 weeks undergoing tests and was finally accepted onto the transplant waiting list and told that the wait could be 18 months.

Over the next couple of months Mary’s condition seemed to deteriorate quite quickly and as well as having to go into Frenchay Hospital several times for fluid to be drained she also lost her appetite and was suffering from frequent bouts of sickness and diarrhoea. This was all contributing to an overall weakness limiting her mobility and making her feel very unwell.

At the end of September Mary suffered a fall at home due to her weak condition and was taken to Frenchay hospital by ambulance. Over a period of 3 weeks she went up and down, seeming to make some sort of recovery before being knocked back down again. This culminated in the hospital calling myself and my Sister Niki to the hospital at 4.00AM on 16^th October where we expected the worst to happen.

At around 7.00AM Mary was moved to Frenchay HDU and we were warned that she may only have a few hours to live. Her Kidneys had stopped functioning and the toxins were gradually poisoning her.

Throughout this day the doctors tried to kick-start the kidneys and although they had a little success for a while, things then went back into decline.

At around 5.00PM we were thrown a bit of a lifeline, we were told that Kings College Hospital had said that if they could stabilise Mary’s condition, then they would accept her into their own Liver ITU to see what could be done.

By sedating Mary and inserting a ventilator, the transfer to London was achieved the following day and Niki and I followed to Kings to see Mum settled in. At this point the sedation meant that we were unable to communicate with Mum in any way.

This almost completes the picture of where we are up to today. Niki and I have visited several times since her admittance to Kings. On Thursday 19^th, we were at her bedside when she opened her eyes and we were able to communicate with her via yes no questions to which she was able to nod or shake her head. She was in some discomfort but this was soon rectified with some Morphine being given. She has since been resting and we were with her yesterday (22^nd) although she showed no signs of her awareness on this occasion.

The clinical situation at present is that Mary is in a Critical condition, she remains stable and is having organs supported with machinery and drug intervention. There is a fungal infection present in her bloodstream, which needs treating and seems to be the key to getting her in a condition where they could still perform a transplant. She has also picked up a couple of hospital superbugs along the way, namely CDIF and MRSA, but these do not seem to be phasing the doctors and seem to be expected in someone who is in her condition and who has spent so much time in hospital. These conditions are being treated with antibiotics.

Mary is currently being extremely well cared for, she is attached to goodness knows how many tubes and pieces of equipment and has 1 to 1 care 24 hours a day with multiple alarms attached to all her major functions.