Willen Hospice: Ann’s story

Willen Hospice is a local charity in Milton Keynes, supporting local people with life-limiting illnesses. Hospice care is about providing wrap-around care, looking at the patient holistically and not just seeing to their physical needs. For Ann, this has been invaluable for her, improving her quality of life, independence and her outlook on life. Ann […] The post Willen Hospice: Ann’s story appeared first on MK Pulse.

Willen Hospice is a local charity in Milton Keynes, supporting local people with life-limiting illnesses. Hospice care is about providing wrap-around care, looking at the patient holistically and not just seeing to their physical needs. For Ann, this has been invaluable for her, improving her quality of life, independence and her outlook on life.

Ann was referred to the Hospice’s Lymphoedema service by her GP when she moved to Milton Keynes from the south-west in 2021. While Ann was having her treatment, the expert staff at Willen Hospice were able to spot what other therapeutic and wellbeing support she might need.

“Cancer is the big C and at first you think, ‘this is it’. But it isn’t. You can live with cancer. Actually, I don’t like that. Cancer lives with me! I’ve got to put up with it, but it lives with me; I don’t live with it.

“In the last six years, I’ve been diagnosed with blood cancer, breast cancer and lung cancer. Last year I had an operation to remove half of one of my lungs. Almost straight afterwards, I caught pneumonia and was back in hospital for three and a half weeks. I was in bed most of the time and felt totally weak. I live on my own so I decided I needed to get myself fitter. I also wanted to improve my breathing.

“I’ve been coming to the Hospice for about two years for lymphoedema treatment. At an appointment with Carly, one of the Hospice’s specialist lymphoedema nurses, she asked me how I was. I said ‘I feel so weak. I need to do some exercise.’ And she said, ‘We can sort that out!’ She told me about the Therapeutic and Wellbeing team at the Hospice and referred me. Very quickly I had an assessment with Emma, a physiotherapist.

“The first thing I did was join the exercise group. I loved it. I was quite surprised really. Everybody’s got their own story and we’re all very different, but it’s geared very much for your own condition and needs. There’s normally about six of us in the room, but each one of us is doing our own exercises. I’ve certainly improved my stamina. But we have fun as well. We tend to come a bit early so we can have a natter beforehand. It’s good, because you can share with people and they understand.

“I’ve had a pedicure, a manicure and reiki. I’m going to start going to the walking group on Thursdays. I’ve also been to yoga. I’d never done it before, and I thought, ‘I don’t know about this.’ But I really enjoyed it. We had a garden party in the summer, which I thought was lovely.
“Emma taught me how to improve my breathing. I get very fatigued and tired.”

Emma said, ‘We’ve got somebody here who can help you with that.’ That was a lady called Jenni, an occupational therapist. I’ve always got up, showered, dressed, sorted the bathroom out, had my breakfast and made the bed. You still think you can do all that. And you just can’t. Now, after talking to Jenni, if it doesn’t get done, it doesn’t get done. A lot of it is common sense, but sometimes you just need somebody to make you see that.

“Everybody I’ve met has been absolutely fantastic. Emma was the one who picked up that I possibly needed to talk to somebody and recommended counselling. So I had some chats with Anna-Marie, a Hospice counsellor. She didn’t tell me how to do this or do that. She just seemed to get me to focus, so I could see things clearly for myself. I thought I’d coped with everything I’d gone through. I realised that actually I hadn’t coped with it at all. I’d just pushed it all to one side.

The counselling helped me come to terms with it, so I’m very grateful. “The biggest benefit I’ve got from the Hospice is the positivity, if I’m being honest. It sounds a bit silly, but it’s given me hope for the future. I live on my own and I’m very concerned about what might happen. I don’t want to die alone in my house. The other thing is if I get to the stage where I can’t do things for myself and I’m in bed. I said all this to Anna-Marie one day and she explained about the Willen at Home team. I’d never heard of this service.

“It has given me a different view. You can have cancer and you can still exercise, meet up with people and do things. You don’t have to stay indoors and hide yourself. You have to stay positive. That’s one of the biggest things I’ve learned. And literally take one day at a time. Things that you thought were so important, don’t matter at all.

“This place has really been a godsend for me. I probably would have ended up with depression if I hadn’t been able to chat and get some of it off my chest, and come here to exercise. People don’t just come to the Hospice to die. Friends ask me what I’m doing this week, and I say, ‘Oh, I’m going off to Willen Hospice.’ They say, ‘What are you going there for?!’ I say exercise class or a pedicure. They look at me really strangely! I tell them it’s all there! I talk to everybody about it.”

The post Willen Hospice: Ann’s story appeared first on MK Pulse.