Geoff Woodlock worked hard all his life. He left school at 14 to train as a carpenter, and worked in the trade for over 50 years, only retiring when his wife Kath encouraged him to do when he was well into his seventies.
Geoff was one of five children and was married to Kath for over 40 years. Sadly, not long he took retirement, Kath was diagnosed with cancer and died.
“I was really worried about him being alone, but he was very resilient, and he just got on with it,” recalls his sister Chris
Geoff had a very active social life, dancing Latin and ballroom up to four times a week, as well as teaching dance. When lockdown hit in 2020 this again was a cause for concern for his family – but Geoff kept himself busy cooking and going for a daily walk around the canal, as well as taking up painting. He even also got himself a rowing machine to keep himself fit.
In July 2021 whilst at his nephew’s wedding Geoff became very unwell and was admitted to hospital. Tests revealed he was suffering from prostate cancer. His doctors felt confident that he had a good chance of keeping the cancer under control due to it being caught early and him being fit and healthy for his age.
Geoff started treatment which controlled the cancer, and he carried on as normal with life and his dancing. Over time Geoff was admitted to hospital on several occasions but with regular check-ups and hormone injections the cancer seemed to be under control. Unfortunately, following his regular checks it was found that Geoff’s cancer had spread to his bones so this required further radiotherapy. It was found that the prostate cancer was no longer being controlled and he started chemotherapy treatment.
“He started having chemo in three-week cycles but, once he settled into a routine with the treatment, he wasn’t great, but he managed quite well,” said Chris.
Around this time Geoff was also struggling with a pain in his hip, and further investigation revealed he had a broken hip. He had a hip replacement and after recovering from this started further chemotherapy treatment. He completed his course of Chemotherapy, but following this tests revealed he needed a further course.
Unfortunately, the new treatment programme made him feel really unwell and his quality of life became very poor. In October 2024 Geoff made the decision to stop treatment for cancer. His doctor advised him if he did this it would mean he had weeks rather than months to live. Chris remembered: “This news was quite hard to take – we talked about where he wanted to be, and he wants adamant he wanted to be at home for as long as he could.” Geoff’s consultant then referred him to Birmingham Hospice’s Community Team so he could stay at home as he wished.
“Gemma from Birmingham Hospice at Home Team came in and she was so good – she sorted all his medications as he was taking so many different things, and it was very confusing – she was really patient and gentle with him,” said Chris.
As time went on, Geoff’s pain was intensifying and he was becoming more poorly, so Gemma suggested they needed to look at getting on top of pain relief, but as Geoff lived alone, and this needed to be done under supervision. It was plain coming into the hospice for this was the only option..
Geoff was against this idea but after another bout of feeling very unwell, he was persuaded him to come into our Selly Park Inpatient unit so staff could make him comfortable and sort out his medication to better control the pain.
“Once at the hospice Geoff’s attitude completely changed. He thought staff were lovely and he was on first name terms with many of them. He was a lifelong smoker and they would wrap him up and take him out for a fag or take him to the café for cuppa. He felt safe for first time in ages, and he felt looked after and listened to – this was such an important thing for Geoff and for all his family too,” said Chris. “It seemed that for the first time he was being treated as a person, not just as a patient”
“Christmas was fast approaching, and the hospice was a happy place to be”, recalls Chris. He had the option to go home for day if he wanted, but although given the option of going home, Geoff decided he wanted to be in the hospice. The ward nurses set up a bed for Geoff’s partner Carol so she could stay with him for a few nights over Christmas, which made Christmas special for him.
Chris, along with her husband Steve and brother Phil joined Geoff and Carol on Christmas Day at Selly Park and they all enjoyed some family time together and shared presents. “It would have been impossible to have that family gathering if he’d been at home,” said Chris. Geoff and Carol were then able to enjoy a lovely Christmas dinner provided by the hospice, and the staff even arranged for Geoff to have his favourite drink – rum and coke.
“It was the little acts of kindness my brother was so grateful for,” remembers Chris. “He remarked to one of the nurses – ‘it’s a pity I can’t get a CD player as I love listening to music.’ Before he knew it, they had arranged a player so he could listen to all his favourite albums – it cheered him up no end.”
“Geoff was cared for so well at the hospice, and as a family we were grateful for that because it meant we could spend lots of time just enjoying being with him and talking about old times not having to worry about his care or if his needs were being met.
Geoff was able to have lots of friends and family to visit which he enjoyed immensely. Overall, I think the care he had over those few weeks helped him to be with us for longer than he might have done otherwise and for that we are all grateful.
