However, it wasn\u2019t until September 2023 when Cook\u00a0\u201cbegan to feel dizzy, tired, and low in confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe went to the doctor, who said it was depression and prescribed antidepressants,\u201d Bowkett recalled. \u201cWhen she didn\u2019t improve, she went back, but they told her to give the tablets more time.\u201d<\/p>\n
She continued, \u201cNot long after that she followed my stepdad, Dave, downstairs one evening and forgot why she was there. She was frightened, and that was when he realised something wasn\u2019t right.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Brain](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/c9f768241b1db3e2c76368f9a7dfedc3.jpeg\"\/)
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Brain Tumour Research \/ SWNS<\/p>\n
Pamela Cook wearing her radiotherapy mask<\/p>\n
Cook was taken to the emergency department by her husband before being given an MRI scan.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the early hours of the morning, I got a call to say they had found a tumour in Mum\u2019s brain,\u201d \u00a0Bowkett said.<\/p>\n
Her mother was given steroids to help with swelling \u201cand for a little while it felt like we had her back,\u201d Bowkett continued.<\/p>\n
But sadly, Cook was subsequently diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive and fast-growing brain tumor. According to the Mayo Clinic<\/a>, glioblastoma is a type of cancer that starts as a growth of cells in the brain or spinal cord.<\/p>\n Brain Tumour Research \/ SWNS<\/p>\n Pamela Cook with her dog Frankie<\/p>\n \u201cMum had surgery at Queen\u2019s Medical Centre in Nottingham in November 2023,\u201d Bowkett said. \u201cThe surgeons managed to remove a large part of the tumour but not all of it. She started six weeks of combined radiotherapy and chemotherapy over Christmas and into the new year.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt was brutal,\u201d she continued. \u201cShe became weak, developed infections, and was admitted to hospital several times.\u201d<\/p>\n Then, in February 2024, Cook was told that another tumor had grown back in the same place.<\/p>\n \u201cDoctors told us there was nothing more they could do,\u201d Bowkett said, adding that the family decided to bring their mother home.<\/p>\n After celebrating her birthday, Cook\u2019s health deteriorated and she began having seizures before losing her speech and mobility.<\/p>\n She died on March 24, 2024, 10 days after her daughter\u2019s birthday.<\/p>\n Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter<\/a> to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.<\/p>\n “It is so hard to make sense of how fast it all happened. She went on a cruise in August 2023, looking perfectly well, and by March she was gone,\u201d Bowkett said. \u201cGlioblastoma is such a cruel and invasive disease. It strips a person of everything: their movement, speech, and independence, piece by piece.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Brain](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/150459cf1e9bbaf32ee6ba7413849962.jpeg\"\/)
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