S4 – EP8 Love, Vinyl and Bowel Cancer: Cath Holland on Caring for Andy and Life After the Music Stopped

About this episode

Cath Holland shares her experiences of caring for her husband Andy during his battle with bowel cancer and the aftermath of his passing.

In this episode Rosie Moss is joined by writer and lifelong music obsessive Cath Holland . Cath brings her husband Andy vividly to life, a thoughtful, principled “music buff” whose love of records, gigs and humour carried them through 25 years together and somehow held on right until the end. The conversation begins in the life before. Liverpool gig scenes, record shops, and a shared vinyl collection built over decades. Cath still laughs remembering the moment Andy first asked her out, by ringing her landline like it was 1987. Then comes the rupture. Cath walks Rosie through the brutal speed of Andy’s bowel cancer diagnosis. The failed prep. The endless hospital wait. Being told there was an “84% chance” of cancer just days before Christmas. Early reassurances quickly turned into the reality of stage four disease. Together they talk about the parts people rarely say out loud. Stomas, infections, DNAR conversations, and the relentlessness of becoming a carer while watching the person you love slip away. Cath also speaks about the strange intimacy of keeping someone at home after they die. From there the conversation moves into the long tail of grief. Funerals. Ashes sitting on a…

People in this episode

Host: Rosie Moss

Guest: Cath Holland

Topics covered

• grief
• caregiving
• music
• love
• cancer
• loss

Keywords

• bowel cancer
• caregiver
• grief
• music
• love
• Liverpool
• vinyl

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Beatles

Places: Liverpool

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