A Renfrewshire woman has described how her dad's 'whole life crumbled' after he was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour.
Jim Miller suffered a rapid decline in his health that left him unable to drive properly and he was falling asleep at his desk. The 49-year-old from Paisley was eventually referred to hospital where he was told he had just three months to live.
Barbara Graham said: "Dad went through such a rapid decline, it was horrible to watch. His whole quality of life crumbled.
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"He would put things in the wrong places, such as soap powder in the fridge. He also couldn’t drive properly, putting the car in the wrong gear. He would sleep a lot more his boss even found him asleep at his desk."
Jim was referred to Southern General Hospital, now Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, in Glasgow. An MRI scan revealed a tumour on his brain, and he was told it was inoperable. He was also told, without treatment, he would have just three months to live.
Barbara said: “I was in total shock and everything started happening so quickly. Dad rapidly became unwell and he was hospitalised with pneumonia and shingles. He was also losing a lot of weight so he became too weak to have any treatment.”
On 12 January 1994, Jim was found unconscious in bed by Barbara’s step-mum and was taken to the Royal Alexandra Hospital where he died two days later with Barbara and Rae by his side.
Three decades after his death, Barbara believes there is still a lack of awareness of the disease and is doing her bit to make sure more can be done.
Along with her colleagues at the HMRC call centre in East Kilbride, she will be taking part in Wear A Hat Day for Brain
Barbara added: “I was devastated and angry at the lack of knowledge there was about brain tumours, and I’m disappointed not enough is known now. Much more work is needed to be done in this area. I just pray something like this doesn’t happen to me.”
Wear A Hat Day encourages people to don hats of all shapes and sizes on the last Friday in March as part of its flagship Wear a Hat Day fundraiser, which has raised more than £2 million to help fund vital research into brain tumours.
Matthew Price, community development manager at Brain Tumour Research said: “We’re really grateful to Barbara for taking part in Wear A Hat Day as it’s only with the support of people like her that we’re able to progress our research into brain tumours and improve the outcome for patients like Jim who are forced to fight this awful disease.
“People can get involved in Wear A Hat Day in so many fun and easy ways, the list really is endless. Wear a hat and hold a walk, a party, a quiz night or a bake sale. Or get your thinking cap on and come up with something totally unique.”
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