Our Baby Was 13 Days Old When My Husband Had a Seizure | Anne Byrne

Content warning: death, cancer (glioblastoma), end-of-life care, parenting after loss. When Anne Byrne gave birth to her daughter Elizabeth in May 2020, she should have been settling into the beautiful, exhausting chaos of life with a newborn. Thirteen days later, her husband Javi had a seizure at home. A scan revealed a brain tumour. Javi was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive and incurable brain cancer, and died just 15 months later. In this episode, Anne joins me from Dublin to talk about becoming a first-time mum and a carer almost simultaneously, navigating Javi’s treatment during Covid, and trying to hold onto hope as scan after scan brought more bad news. As Javi became increasingly unwell, Anne found herself caring for both her baby and her husband. In the final month of his life, they moved to Spain so Javi could be close to his family and friends. He died there in September 2021, with Elizabeth still only a baby. We talk about the strange reality of becoming a solo parent when you have barely had the chance to learn how to be a parent at all, and the responsibility of keeping a parent’s memory alive for a child who was too young to really remember them. Anne shares the ways she keeps Javi present for Elizabeth through photographs, videos, stories and pieces of his clothing, as well as the little glimpses of her dad she now sees emerging in her daughter. We also talk about spirituality after death, the signs Anne believes she has received from Javi, and how Reiki became an important part of her own grief. Anne has since trained as a Reiki master and now runs grief support groups, combining sharing, breathwork and Reiki to create the kind of space she struggled to find when she was newly bereaved. There is sadness here, obviously. But there is also humour, gratitude and a really lovely conversation about what can grow around grief. As Anne says, it can be easier to be grateful for the small things than to chase happiness. 🎧 Listen to Widowed AF wherever you get your podcasts. Find Anne on Instagram: @annbyrnecoaching Find Widowed AF:Instagram: @widowed_afFacebook: Widowed AFWebsite: www.widowedaf.com Widow Wednesday is my free weekly online community for widows and widowers. Find details and sign up via Widowed AF. If you enjoy the podcast, please follow, rate and review Widowed AF. It genuinely helps more widowed people find us.