A brave woman has told how she arranged her own wedding knowing her terminally ill partner had only months to live.
Susan Galbraith wed her partner of 21 years only weeks before he lost his battle against cancer and his death also came shortly after her beloved mum had succumbed to the disease.
Her husband Colin, passed away at Ardgowan Hospice on August 12, aged 63, just weeks after she lost her mum Betty McGill at the age of 65.
Susan, 45, of Greenock, Renfrewshire, said: “It was the worst year of my life.
“It’s been a very emotional time, there were two big losses and my son Jason had just left school and come back from a sixth year holiday on the morning my mum had passed away.
“It’s a lot for a boy of that age to cope with losing his dad and gran. People don’t realise what it’s like until it happens to them.
“Some days I don’t want to get out of bed. Every day is a struggle but I’ve got to keep going for Jason’s sake.
“Coming up to the first anniversary brought it all back – I’m okay when I’m when other people are there but it’s when I’m home on my own I get upset.”
Susan’s mum had kidney problems and attended the renal unit at Inverclyde Royal three times a week but the family were distraught when doctors discovered a lump on her throat and she was given three to six months to live.
Susan said: “It was a real shock to us because she was on dialysis and we thought there would be some problem with her kidneys – we didn’t expect cancer.”
Betty’s condition was too advanced to be treated but she managed to remain at home and live a normal life right up until the day before she passed away.
More tragedy was to come when just weeks later Colin was diagnosed with cancer of the oesophagus.
Susan, who works as a dinner lady, said: “He was a delivery driver in Glasgow for a printing company and had started choking on his food, but he thought it was just because he was always rushing about.”
Colin was given three lots of chemotherapy at the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre.
Susan said: “The consultant told us that it was treatable and they would do what they could.
“But the treatment didn’t work and it didn’t shrink the cancer.”
Susan, who then had to divide her time between her husband and her mum, added: “When I went to see my mum, she used to tell me to go back home and sit with Colin.”
Knowing the dreadful news that Colin did not have long to live, the couple took the decision to get married and tied the knot at Greenock Registry Office on June 17.
Susan said: “When we told my mum we were getting married, she did perk up.
“Even the nurses in the renal unit said that and I’m glad she was there to see it.
“It was a happy occasion.
“Even though we knew what was happening in the background we tried to make it a happy day.”
Just weeks after the wedding Betty was admitted to hospital with breathing difficulties and she passed away the following day at Inverclyde Royal.
Susan said: “Me and my sisters were up the night before and she was chatting away telling us that she wanted crisps and the newspapers brought in the next day.
“We left at 8.30pm that night and we got a call to say she had died at 11pm.
“We were expecting it but it was a shock when it did happen.”
The day before Betty’s funeral Colin was admitted to hospital with pneumonia.
He was taken to Inverclyde Royal Hospital and then later sent to the Royal Alexandra in Paisley after his lung collapsed.
When the doctors said there was no more that could be done for him, it was decided that Colin should spend the time he had left at Ardgowan Hospice.
Susan said: “He wanted to come home but he needed 24-hour care.
“The hospice staff were fantastic, they did everything we wanted them to do and consulted me about his care.
“All the family were there at his bedside when he passed away.”
Susan says that the heartache of seeing two strong people in her life diminished by the terrible toll of cancer was extremely hard to take.
She said: “My mum brought me and my three sisters up on our own and was strict but fair, so it was horrible to see her like that.
“It was the same with Colin, he was always strong and dealt with everything.
“The chemotherapy took its toll and it was heartbreaking for everyone to see a strong person like Colin suffering, knowing there is nothing you can do about it.
“Colin had a sister and a brother, as well as two children, and they took him to all his hospital appointments and it was a horrible time for all the family.
“But he never once complained and only took morphine the day before he passed away.
“He’d never been to the doctors and was working right up until the day he took ill. He was fit and always on the go.”
Susan’s childhood friend Jacqueline McVicar is another person who knows only too well what it is like to lose a loved one, after her daughter Jayde was killed in a car crash in 2010.
And Jacqueline says she has been inspired by the way that her friend has coped with the terrible ordeal she has suffered.
It motivated her to raise funds for the hospice and IRH’s renal unit in tribute to Susan’s late loved ones.
Jacqueline, whose daughter Jayde was only 18 when she lost her life, has been fundraising for good causes in her memory every year since.
She says she wanted to do something for Susan and her family too, as Jayde was close to her.
The £550 she collected at a pyjama party recently held at the Victoria Bowling Club will now be divided between the hospice and hospital.
Jacqueline, 43, said: “We’ve been friends since we were kids and I just felt I wanted to help Susan.
“We usually raise funds for children’s charities because Jayde loved children but she loved Susan as well.
“I think Jayde would be proud knowing that she was helping Susan.”
Susan said: “It means such a lot to me that Jacqueline wanted to help me and my family in this way. Both the hospital and hospice did a fantastic job.”
