Malcolm’s story

by Deborah Palmer

My husband Malcolm was one of life’s true gents; kind, understanding, quiet and he had a gentle soul. We were very lucky to have known each other for most of our lives and to have been happily married for almost 44 years.

His story began on September 26th in 2024. He had not been feeling too good, a crohn’s flare up we thought, slightly out of breath and puffy ankles, but something told me that maybe he should get checked over. As his GP surgery was closed we went to Urgent Care at Poole Hospital and by 11pm he had been admitted. The following morning he had a CT scan, and that very afternoon we were told that he had Lymphoma.

Malcolm was then told that although he could not be cured it was treatable with chemo but that would mean being transferred to Bournemouth Hospital as an in-patient. So one week after being admitted to Poole we were on our way to Bournemouth. Two days after he got there we were told the totally unbelievable news, “sorry but we cant do anything for you”, followed by “where would you like to spend your last few days/weeks?” Without a second thought he replied Forest Holme if I can? A phone call later and a bed had been arranged.

On the Monday we were taken to Forest Holme where we were warmly welcomed by the receptionist and taken to his room. I had already decided that I wanted to stay with him day and night and help look after him as much as I could. The staff were wonderful in letting me do so, for which I will be eternally grateful to them for.

On the evening of October 23rd, with myself and our two children by his side, my wonderful husband peacefully and quietly took his leave of this world. Nurse Carmel was our knight in shining armour that evening, telling us that she was just outside of his door should we need her.

We stayed with Mal for a few hours, saying our goodbyes and having a last cup of tea with him before we in turn took our leave, and with our heads held high walked out into the cool late autumn evening air.

We, as a family, will never be able to thank all of the staff at Forest Holme enough for their compassion, dedication, kindness and understanding that they showed, not only to Malcolm, but also to us, his family, especially Carmel, Clair, Annie and Dr Naz; our Angels.

As our son, Rob, said, you hear about the fantastic work that Forest Holme does but its not until you have a loved one there that you appreciate just how amazing they really are. So thank you all so very very much from the bottom of our hearts.