Jeremy and Julie's story

Jeremy was a paramedic with the ambulance service for 37 years until he retired in 2022. He first met Julie when she was caring for his mum. They both have a passion for motorbikes and travelling and married in 2018. Julie has been working as a personal care co-ordinator at Farleigh Hospice for four years.

In March 2024, Jeremy started to feel pain in his right thigh. “I thought I’d just pulled something while swimming, but then it spread to my left thigh and pelvis.

“I’ve had back problems for many years so I assumed it was related to that. The doctor gave me diazepam to relax the muscles and ordered blood tests.”

Jeremy was struggling to walk and then Julie noticed a lump on his spine. He went to a specialist that he had seen before, who agreed that there was something seriously wrong with his back.

Feeling very worried, Julie took him to the accident and emergency department at Broomfield Hospital. He was admitted and given an MRI scan.

Jeremy said, “It showed that I had a spinal cord compression. My first lumbar vertebra, where Julie had seen the lump, had collapsed because it was riddled with cancer cells. The blood tests confirmed it was multiple myeloma - a blood cancer that can be treated but cannot be cured. This was a huge shock to us both."

Jeremy had five fractions (sessions) of emergency radiotherapy at Southend Hospital. After ten days, he was sent home in a spinal brace to stop his back from getting worse.

Julie said, “I needed help to care for him, so I contacted Farleigh Hospice. As he had been given a terminal cancer diagnosis, they accepted his referral, which was a huge relief.

“I had regular calls with a Farleigh Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) which was such a comfort. When Jeremy was in more pain, I worried that his back was collapsing. She explained that it was just a symptom of the radiotherapy, which was really reassuring.

”Jeremy then had four months of weekly chemotherapy and had to take a lot of medication. It often left him feeling weak and struggling to do anything - he could not even talk to Julie.

She explained, “Our relationship totally changed. I was caring for him and running everything at home while still working, which was really hard. Having Farleigh there to help manage his pain and control his nausea and other symptoms made such a difference.

“One weekend, he needed some medication. I called the CNS who sent a prescription through to a chemist that was open, which meant I could get it straight away. Otherwise, we would have had to go to accident and emergency. As Jeremy is very vulnerable to infections, this would not have been safe for him.“

Farleigh arranged for the couple to have massage which they both found very relaxing and calming.

Julie also had six weekly counselling sessions with a Farleigh therapist. “You make so many plans for the future and then everything in your life changes. It was helpful to take time to talk about it and process it.”

In September 2024, Jeremy had a stem cell transplant at St Bartholomew's Hospital in London, to replace his damaged blood cells with healthy ones. He then had two more months of chemotherapy.

In January, the couple were told that the treatment was successful and the cancer is now in remission. They are hopeful that it will be at least five years before it might recur.

Jeremy has to have monthly blood tests. He continues to be very vulnerable to infections and takes bone strengthening infusions and maintenance medication. He is no longer being supported by Farleigh Hospice.

They are now looking forward to a much-needed holiday and Julie has booked him a special trip taxiing along a runway in a Lancaster bomber!

Jeremy said, “Life would have been a lot harder and more stressful without Farleigh’s expertise and specialist support. I am feeling happy and much more positive now, but it is reassuring to know that the hospice is there if we ever need that fantastic care again.”

This story is taken from the 2025 Summer Lantern #114 magazine.

(Article first published 14 August 2025)