In August 2025 Michele Van den Heuvel was one of the guests staying at the Cancer Society’s Margaret Stewart House in Wellington as she underwent cancer treatment at the nearby Wellington Hospital.
Michele has been active during her life. She loves to travel, and keeps herself busy with running, bicycling, and playing squash. Back home in Blenheim, Michele spends her free time gardening and cooking.
From your first interaction with Michele, it becomes clear that she has lived an amazing life and is full of stories to tell.
In May of this year, she returned from a holiday in Rarotonga. Although she felt fine at first, her and her husband were awoken to her having a seizure at 10pm.
Michele was taken to the hospital in an ambulance and her husband Patrick followed behind in his truck. After a series of test, she was told she had an inoperable brain tumour.
Michele admits her first thought (which she declared out loud) was “I can’t go yet! I’ve only just learnt the art of sourdough!”
“I’ve fed so many birds with my breads that didn’t work, and now I’ve only just figured it out, I can’t go yet!”
Not long after the news of having an inoperable brain tumour and having been told she had less than 5 years to live, Michele’s doctor found another suspicious shadow over one of her lungs.
This news resulted in her flying to Wellington and Nelson for further testing. While recovering from this, her Wellington doctor rung to tell her they had found an additional lump that was more serious than the one found prior, and they were going to begin operating the following week.
Regardless, Michele recounts her persistent optimism throughout this process.
“At least I wasn’t riddled with it!”, she recalled.
The day before flying to Wellington to treat the newly found lump, a doctor from Blenheim called to say the lung biopsy determined that the tumour wasn’t as serious as originally suspected.
“It’s low grade, slow growing, and non-aggressive”
At the beginning of August, Michele arrived at the Margaret Stewart House, as she continued her treatment.
“It is so comfortable. The bed is great. Everything is good.” Michele said, reflecting on her stay at Margaret Stewart House. “I’ve felt like I’ve been on holiday the past three weeks!”
When preparing for her stay, she inquired about bringing her newly bought sourdough starter with her.
Over the three weeks, she’s often found herself with the other residents in the kitchen. She has baked sourdough loaves, focaccia, and fruit loaf, just to name a few. “There has been lots of recipes swapped along the way” she said.
“I’ve given my starter to three people already, and ladies were asking about how to feed the sourdough, so I’ve started giving lessons and demonstrations to other residents.”
“I’ve made a good group of friends. Another lady makes scones, and we all just leave it on the table for everyone to helps themselves,” said Michele.
As well as baked goods for the other residents, Michele has spent her time at Margaret Stewart House assisting in the communal herb garden.
During a weekend day at Margaret Stewart House, Michele noticed the communal garden and asked if she could ‘have a play’.
“On nice days, I’m out there gardening and chopping things down. It’s been lovely!”
Michele said half-way through her stay at Margaret Stewart House that she was looking forward to getting back to her daily life at the end of her stay and, in time, travelling the world again.
Michele toys with the thought of heading to Italy, Spain, and Canada with her husband Patrick.
“I won’t be traveling anywhere for the next year or so, though. Instead, we’ll do some camping trips, and a tiki tour up the North Island.”
If you or a loved one are planning to stay at Margaret Stewart House and have something out of-the-ordinary that you’d like to bring along, reach out to us at 04 385 5999. We will try our best to accommodate to your lifestyle and make your stay as comfortable as possible.
