1 minute read
Nigel's story
When 73-year-old Nigel from central Bristol was diagnosed with cancer in November, his number-one priority was seeing his daughter one more time.
With the pandemic in full force, and Nigel’s daughter living in California, it wasn’t going to be easy. This is where we were able to step in and help.
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‘Leading up to my diagnosis I had pains in my leg. A friend took me to the doctor for some tests and an ambulance was called immediately. They said if I’d waited one more day I wouldn’t have made it. Following a scan, I was given the news that I had advanced bowel cancer that had spread to my liver and my lungs. I was given three to six months to live.
The Hospice came on board immediately, and I told them about my daughter. There was a lot of paperwork involved that they helped me with, including an emergency to travel letter. Due to the rules around isolation, we had just three precious days together. It was the first time we’d seen each other in two years. It was very emotional to be together: we got all of the old photos out and reminisced about the past. That wasn’t the only thing the Hospice helped with. Jeanette from the Social Work team came round to see me and we went through everything together. Thanks to her, I was able to access benefits which meant I could do things like get a cleaner, and get a taxi to the supermarket – things that had become impossible for me to do on my own. Without Jeanette, I wouldn’t have known I was entitled to the help.
The Community Nurse and Occupational Health teams helped me loads too. Sam found loads of practical ways to help me, like tips for getting in and out of the bath, and having extra banisters installed.
The Hospice have been phenomenal. I find it staggering what they do. It’s for this reason that I’ve decided to leave all of my possessions to the Hospice in my will. I know that they’ve had a tough time this past year or so, and this is my way of being able to help’.
