It had started in his kidneys and had spread all over his body.  I took the news pretty hard – only a couple of months earlier I found out my Grandad had lung cancer too.

Over the next month or so I could see Tony deteriorating fast. He forgot things and was finding it really difficult to deal with what was happening to him.  
     
On the 27th of October my step-dad was told he needed to have an operation on his leg as the cancer had chewed most of his bone away. He was okay with it but I think he knew this was just to make him more comfortable in his last few months.

"What hit him hardest was that he would never be able to drive a car again."  

On the 30th of October he had a pin put into his femur bone. The surgery took about 6 hours and the wait was terrible. We sat in the hospital not having any food and with nothing to do, trying to imagine what was happening.

After 6 hours the doctor finally came out and told us that the surgery went well.  Tony was on crutches for the rest of his walking days.

On the 7th of November he started radiotherapy and chemotherapy to prolong his life. A few days later my sister decided to go and live with my dad. From then on I knew that

"I was the one in the house who had to look out for my Mum and my brother."  

From this point on everyone wasn’t doing so well.  Being too tied up with Tony, I didn’t get to spend much time with any of my friends.  On The 19th of December my step-dad had to finish work, as he was unable to continue there due to the rapid deterioration in his health.

Christmas just wasn’t the same; everyone knowing this would be Tony’s last. Just after Christmas Tony was unable to do many things for himself. He started palliative care and the ladies there were so lovely.

"On New Year's eve the doctor came around and said he had maximum 3 weeks left."

It was Tony’s birthday on the 1st on January. As he was very rarely out of bed, we knew the family should come and say goodbye to him at home. No one quite know what to do or say. 

A couple of days later Tony fell unconscious - we knew now he didn’t have long left and knew we would never have a conversation with him again. On the 8th of January at 9:52pm my step-dad passed away after 3 months of hell.

Organising the funeral wasn’t too hard as Tony had made it clear beforehand what he wanted. On the 15th of January it was Tony’s funeral and many, many people came.  I did a reading for him and I knew he would’ve been proud.