Janice has bowel cancer and has been supported by our Willen at Home community nursing team since 2021. She’s currently staying in our In-Patient Unit for help with managing her symptoms.
Despite everything the family have to contend with at the moment, Janice and her daughter, Philippa, were keen to help boost our Christmas appeal. They kindly agreed to be filmed and interviewed by ITV News Anglia to show the importance of the care we provide to the local community.
“I’ve been here three days and the care has been absolutely marvellous,” said Janice, who lives in Sherington. “I was getting really worried about my family. Because Philippa’s helping look after me, and Jamie, my son, he’s been looking after me for the last two years. Also, my husband has got lung cancer. So there’s been two of us to look after. My neighbour came and saw me yesterday and said the stress had disappeared off Jamie’s face. Knowing I’m safe and comfortable at the Hospice has helped him so much.”
“It’s like a family here. It’s not just the nursing care, it’s the other care too.”
Janice and her daughter, Philippa
Philippa explained just how difficult it had been before Janice was admitted to the Hospice. “We’ve had a really traumatic couple of weeks – Mum collapsed last week. She was in a lot of pain and was shouting for help. We called the Hospice’s Palliative Care Hub and the nurse said, ‘You need to get an ambulance for your mum,’ so we did. The next day they arranged for Mum to be given a bed here. So it was the community team that saved us at that point.
“The In-Patient Unit team have given Mum a really good quality of life now, which she hasn’t had. We couldn’t have had a conversation with each other last week, like we can now. Mum was really poorly.”
“The Hospice staff don’t just look after Mum; they look after us as well,” Philippa continued. “We’ve had several moments where we’ve been a bit upset and there’s always a member of the team there to check that we’re ok. I’ve never been offered so many cups of tea or coffee in my life! We’re not used to somebody taking care of us because we’ve been doing the caring for Mum and Dad. It really felt like the angels were coming to look after us.
“Even small things, like the detail of the pretty covers on the bed – you come in and feel like you’re at home. The Hospice is a really special place.”
