Hi Everyone,
I thought it would be strange to post from my Dad's account, so I made my own.
I am Edward, Philip's youngest son. I was alongside him on Monday 6th October with my Mum and wife when he sadly passed away very peacefully around 6PM.
Posting on here had been on our list of things to do, but we just didn't have the time alongside sorting out everything that unfortunately comes after a death.
We were sat in the solicitors waiting room earlier this week and I decided to check the forum and was really thankful to see that Adrian was able to provide the update around a week later instead of us leaving you all in the dark up until now.
We are overwhelmed with the lovely messages on here and are incredibly thankful that this forum exists. This forum was a big part of his life, more than we realised. Being on here since his death and reading new as well as past messages has really helped us grieve. We were there for him the whole way but knowing he also had the support from everyone on here as well and to see him provide support back really has filled us with so much love.
I would like to share more about my Dad's last few weeks. I know it's not a nice thing to write or read, but even though this forum is about supporting each other, it is about sharing your knowledge from your experiences because not everyone's journey is the same.
Dad had been in the hospital for around 2 weeks by the time he passed. He was admitted for pain in his side, which after some scans they found the cancer had spread to his liver this was only 2 weeks after finding out it had also spread to his lungs.
At this point he had been off Radium 223 for around 5 weeks because he was getting too bad side effects from it - During most of the radium treatment he was incredibly tired and worn out, sleeping most of the day and probably awake for around 4-5 hours a day - The worst side effect by the time he stopped it was his bone marrow was barely working, even one doctor classing it as "failed" when he was in the hospital mid-September. In this failed state it was not producing enough haemoglobin and platelets and in the last 4 weeks prior he had 3 or 4 blood infusions which spiked the values, but they would just slowly fall again. I am not saying Radium 223 is bad in this case, this is just the experience my Dad had with it and at the time for him it was the best treatment to fight the cancer that had spread to his bones. He could not complete the full course, so we don’t know a lot about whether it worked, I do recall at one point that a bone scan did show it hadn't spread much more, but it's hard to remember all the results at this point. During the last few days the blood tests did show that his haemoglobin had stabilized at an acceptable value, so his bone marrow was recovering slowly.
Unfortunately, the ward he was on had a case of COVID, which he caught. It was a recipe for disaster, and he couldn't fight the cancer, the weakness related to the bone marrow as well as COVID. We are very thankful that the hospital team helped us manage his pain and comfort at the end and he really did pass away so very peacefully, no longer having to put up with all the pain, tests and treatment.
We have asked close family and friends that if they wish to do something in memory of Dad that it would be lovely if they could donate to Prostate Cancer UK. I'm happy to say that we have raised nearly £1,000 and it's still going up.
Again, thank you so much for all your messages on here and support you provided to my Dad. We are so very grateful for the support you gave him, and we don’t think he would’ve been in such high spirits if it wasn’t for this forum.
From our family to yours, we wish every single one of you nothing but the absolute best in your journeys. We hope that you have many many many years full of love and joy with your families.
Please message me if you want to talk or even ask any questions.
Thanks,
Ed
Edited by member 30 Oct 2025 at 22:33
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