Warrior Mary conquers the midst of her battle
AS she sits at home in Ardcavan, blanket in lap with a cup of tea watching television, you’d never imagine the journey that 62-year-old Mary Thompson has been on.
Just a few short weeks ago, a priest had given her the last rights and her family had begun the devastating task of planning her funeral. However, nobody had banked on Mary’s fighting spirit – something which has now gained her the affectionate nickname ‘Mary Balboa’.
It all started for Mary back in November of last year. One evening while making dinner for the family, out of nowhere she roared out in pain, threw her hands in the air and collapsed on the floor. Initially, her family feared she had suffered a stroke, but this was just the beginning.
‘That moment our whole lives changed,’ daughter Anna said. ‘A dozen or more visits to the hospital by ambulance later and Mam was diagnosed with epilepsy. The seizures became a regular occurrence and I’d say she must’ve had about 20 of them before Christmas. We, as a family, felt there was much more to Mam’s deterioration. It started to affect her short term memory and her eyesight and we just knew something wasn’t right.’
Things eventually came to a head when Mary’s family – husband Seamus and children Anna and Bryan – insisted that she get an MRI. Sadly, it was to show a much bigger problem – a tumour on her brain.
‘Our hearts were shattered when they told us they found a mass on the front of Mam’s brain. Heartache, pain, fear, anger, sadness, you name it ran through us all. Two weeks later, Mam went for a biopsy in Beaumont Hospital and on January 26 we got the worst news possible. Mam had grade 4 Glioblastoma Multiforma – non-curable but treatable brain cancer.’
What followed was intensive treatment. Mary endured six weeks of chemo and radiotherapy at St Luke’s Hospital, during which time she couldn’t even get home due to concerns over her seizures. In the midst of all this, the hospital entered lockdown as the Covid-19 pandemic struck with a vengeance.
Having undergone her treatment, Mary was brought home, but it wasn’t long before the phone rang with more bad news.
‘We were told that there had been a confirmed case of Covid-19 on the ward where Mam was,’ Anna said. ‘Her own doctor, Anna Marie O’Brien in Wexford, was amazing and was on the phone to us every day. She deteriorated quickly though and we ended up having to call an ambulance to bring her to Wexford General a couple of days later.’
‘We were kind of shell-shocked. We didn’t know if we had just seen Mam for the last time or if we had just said goodbye.’
At Wexford General, things got worse before they got better. With her family unable to see
WE WERE KIND OF SHELL-SHOCKED. WE DIDN’T KNOW IF WE HAD JUST SEEN MAM FOR THE LAST TIME OR WE HAD JUST SAID GOODBYE
her, Mary dis-improved and updates from the hospital told Seamus, Anna and Bryan to prepare for the worst.
‘We were getting regular updates, but two weeks in we were told that she had deteriorated rapidly,’ Anna explained. ‘They said that they had tried everything and she wasn’t responding and that they had her on morphine and oxygen to keep her comfortable.’
At this point the family were asked to go in and say their final goodbyes.
‘It was horrible,’ Anna said. ‘We only got a half an hour. We had to get all gowned up and we weren’t allowed to touch anything. We just held her hand and I remember telling her “go and say hello to your Mam and Dad”. She kind of shook her head like she didn’t know what I was talking about.’
The heartbroken family left Mary there, presuming it was the last time they’d see her, and set about planning her funeral service. As if this wasn’t enough, Mary’s husband Seamus