Sylvia Mae Spann

Sylvia Spann
Passed 1st march 2008
Aged 70 years
Retired Paperbag Maker
of Radcliffe,Manchester.



Sylvia was divorced and had 3 sons and 1 daughter,she had 1 sister and 1 brother.

Sylvia had a good many grandchildren but sadly some of these she was never allowed to see for one reason or another.

The grandchildren she did see on a very regular basis she loved very much and was always there for them and there was never a better sight than seeing her play,kiss or cuddle "her babies" as she called them.

Sylvia was diagnosed with uterine cancer at the start of July of 2007,and had an operation to remove it all in the first week of Sept 2007 where she spent nearly 2 weeks at St Mary's hospital in Manchester,sadly the wound didnt heal even by November,so therefore her chemotherapy was unable to begin. Sylvia was admitted to hospital in November and was there for 7 weeks but most of that she was confused and didnt know who was who and she was very distressed and in a condition that the doctors couldn't at all explain what was wrong with her, this was a hard time for sylvias daughter and sons who had to witness their mother in such a state day after day,she didnt know who we all were, her eldest son had even come to see her one day but sadly this was the last time he saw her. we all thought mum would stay in that confusion.

Mum fought back.

During her last 2weeks there she became 100% her normal self except for mobilty issues,she was unsteady on her feet but tried and tried to get walking,she wasnt goin to give up and was walking down the ward and working on the stairs.

we thank god he gave her back to us for a little while

we were able to have a little family get together in her room on the 8th december for her 70th birthday where we put up balloons and took in a birthday cake,mum had asked her daughter to buy fairycakes for the entire ward which she did so everyone celebrated that day,a very happy day where mum saw everyone she loved,her 2 sons, their partners and children and her daughter and her husband and children and her sister,brother-in-law and her 2 nieces,amazing how we all fitted into that tiny room,luckily the cake helped with all the kids.

The hospital at Bury got her well (big huge thanks to ward 19)and they discharged her in January.

Sylvia spent 3 weeks at home where she seemed to get much better and was doing things for herself and getting better and stronger each day until she started to just fall over,the GP thought this was just a mobility issue and was not a mental issue or cancer issue and so he transferred her to a nursing home for 2 weeks to help with this,she only spent 1 night there as she started with a relapse of the same condition she was not diagnosed for,the home admitted her to hospital and the confusion came back after a couple of days and could've been due to organ failure on her kidneys as well as other issues some that could be explained and some that couldnt be explained.

Sylvia was admitted back to hospital the end of january to try and find the diagnosis of what was wrong with her and she spent 1 week on ward 20 then 2-3 weeks in intensive care in a coma of some sort.Again my mother fought her battle and woke up and was moved back to ward 20,she was able to understand everything and communicate with us, she was not confused which made the time very special,it was during this time she met her brand new grandson cameron who had been born on another ward,she was very happy at this time and wouldnt let go of cameron and was kissing him a lot and had a vice like grip on his leg so nobody could move him away.

we are so happy mum got to have this meeting with him as she was always talking about the bump and was excited waiting for him to be born.

At this time we all thought mum was gaining strength but it wasnt so, mum had chest xrays that showed a very bad lung infection again trying to find a cause of her illness but this was never sorted out,because Sylvia had contracted Bronchopneumonia which sadly took her from us on Saturday 1st March,we got told the afternoon before her death she would only have days to live, nobody thought it would be so soon,Mum knew she only had days and never showed any fear or emotion she was so brave on that friday and even said to her daughter she wasnt going yet.

Sylvias 2 sons and daughter and sister and partners and children all visited on that friday and found mum in a quiet but seemingly healthy state,she looked too well to be dying but we managed to say our god bless's, as there isnt really a goodbye.

We had been told days before her death that she wouldn't be strong enough to start any chemo so in a way I thank god for showing mum compassion and taking her to him with no pain and quietly.


Sylvia was a fantastic Mother and Grandmother,who worshipped her family,she will be missed so much.

Sylvia was also a Spiritualist Medium and was well known in the Radcliffe and Bury area, and did a lot of good and gave a lot of messages of comfort to a great many people.

I am very proud of my mum and the beliefs she had and I know she is safe and well now in the Spirit World.


DO NOT STAND AT MY GRAVE AND WEEP
I AM NOT THERE,I DO NOT SLEEP.
I AM A THOUSAND WINDS THAT BLOW
I AM THE DIAMOND GLINT ON SNOW.
I AM THE SUNLIGHT ON THE RIPENED GRAIN;
I AM THE GENTLE AUTUMN RAIN.
WHEN YOU WAKE IN THE MORNING HUSH;
I AM THE SWIFT UPLIFTING RUSH
OF THE BIRDS IN CIRCLED FLIGHT;
I AM THE SOFT STARS THAT SHINE AT NIGHT.
DO NOT STAND BY MY GRAVE AND CRY;
I AM NOT THERE,I DID NOT DIE