Support When we Needed it Most

Support when we needed itmost

Janet Barclay’s husband Norval was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2017. Although Janet and her daughter Kyla adapted well to caring for Norval at home, a series of seizures led to Norval’s care being transferred to the Hospice. Here, Janet shares her story...

Norval and I celebrated 22 years of marriage in August last year. We met when I was still at school and working as a checkout girl in Safeway. Norval was a trainee manager at the time, he was tall, dark and very handsome. Our paths crossed again four years later when I was training to be a nurse in Aberdeen. My good friend Hazel got fed up of me going on about him and called Safeway to give him my number. We married after 18 months and Kyla came along to make our family complete in 2007. “I first noticed Norval seemed ‘different’ in July 2017. He was very “

tired, and began struggling to make what would normally be very easy decisions for him. “We ended up in the Emergency Department at the Royal Infirmary, where he was given the devastating news that he had a glioblastoma, a cancerous tumour which develops in the brain. He was too ill to take in the information, and he was swiftly sent over to the Department of Clinical Neuroscience at the Western. He had surgery, and we were delighted he got home 2 days later. We decided quite early on that we would not be dictated by the timeframes we had been given, and instead focus on managing as a family day to day.

“At this point, the Hospice team began to visit us at home and Norval began coming in for physio and a cup of coffee in the café. It was a lovely feeling knowing that this was a place we could come for support. He knew he could talk to someone if he wanted to.

“One night in June, Norval had a seizure during the night. It was to be expected, but he needed help. We knew it was time to have more help and thankfully Norval was already known to the team at the hospice so he felt happy and ready to be transferred there.

A lot of our family and friends were worried the

minute they heard he was coming to the Hospice, but without a doubt, his recovery was hurried on with the love and care he was receiving here and he was even able to come home for the day. We were never pressured by anyone to go home, but I knew when he wanted to be there he could. Our Occupational Therapist visited us so she could assess what Norval would need for his visits home. There was no obstacle she couldn’t overcome! “One of the highlights of Norval’s stay was when Gorgios, the incredible music therapist, played the piano in Pentland Ward one Friday evening while we were enjoying our family evening meal together. Norval was a musician so the two of them got together two

or three times a week and participated in some jam sessions.

“The nursing team also looked after me, Kyla and Norval’s family too. They knew when it was time to take over his care fully, when Norval was no longer able to come home. “Due to Norval’s condition he spent nearly five months at St Columba’s Hospice. It became a home from home for us and so when he died in October he did so where he felt safe, comfortable and totally cared for. It was such a privilege to spend the last few months of Norval’s life with such an incredible team.”

Norval was a professional musician Janet and Norval celebrated their 22nd wedding anniversary last year