About this episode

Holly Matthews shares her experience of anticipatory grief and parenting through the loss of her husband to brain cancer.

What happens when you have to grieve the person you love before they’ve even gone? This week I’m joined by Holly Matthews. Holly is a former actress, TEDx speaker, founder of The Happy Me Project, and was widowed at just 32 when her husband Ross died from grade four brain cancer, leaving her to raise their two young daughters alone. But before any of that, there was a Pimm’s promotional job, an instant connection, and a love story that moved at lightning speed. Holly and Ross built a relationship full of adventure, brutal honesty and the kind of laughter that makes two people feel like they’re speaking a language nobody else understands. Then came headaches. Anxiety. Focal seizures that were dismissed as panic attacks. Until one scan changed everything. Holly talks candidly about anticipatory grief, watching the person you love slowly disappear while they’re still alive, and the impossible conflict of desperately wanting more time while also wanting their suffering to end. We also discuss what good healthcare communication looks like, why Holly later stood in front of a room full of brain surgeons to tell them exactly where they were getting it wrong, and how a single…

People in this episode

Host: Rosie Moss

Guest: Holly Matthews

Topics covered

• anticipatory grief
• parenting through loss
• healthcare communication
• dealing with grief
• love and loss
• raising children after loss

Keywords

• grief
• brain cancer
• parenting
• loss
• anticipatory grief
• healthcare
• communication
• honesty
• children
• widow

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Happy Me Project, TEDx, brain surgeons, healthcare

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