This is the lovely Colleen, one of our respite guests, who has been visiting the hospice for the past five years. Colleen has sadly faced a lot of pain in her life, as she’s lost several people close to her in a very short space of time, including her son and daughter-in-law who both used to care for her. She struggles with her own health as she has had two different types of cancer, and she also looks after her husband. Collen said: “I try to be brave, but I can’t always. Life can be really difficult.” She is still living at home, but after being referred to the hospice for respite care by her Macmillan nurse, she now comes for a short stay with us every six months. When she’s here, Colleen says: “They really look after me, and by the end of my stay, I feel like I can cope with everything.”

One of the things Colleen most loves to do while she’s here is going to the Retreat Spa. This time she’d gone for beautiful, pearly pink nails and a fresh haircut. She said: “I also got to go in one of the special jacuzzi baths yesterday, which was absolutely lovely and so relaxing. I really get pampered”.  It isn’t just getting a makeover she enjoys though; she’s always keen to get stuck into the arts and crafts groups taking place, and she’s discovered she’s got quite a creative flair. Colleen told us: “I’ve never been artistic, and I didn’t think I could do it, but the staff say, “come on, you can try”, so I’ve always given everything a go. I made my granddaughter some beautiful little trinkets for her 21st birthday that I painted and put butterflies on, and she was so thrilled. She said they’re brilliant, and I was really pleased because I’d never done anything like that before.”

While we were visiting Colleen, she had been celebrating her birthday, and her room was full of flowers, cards, gifts, and cake, which she said the staff had a helping hand with. She said: “They arranged a cake for me from the kitchen, and all the nurses came and sang happy birthday and brought me little gifts. Everyone needs looking after sometimes, and I really do feel like I get looked after at St Andrew’s.  It’s nice that my friends and family can come and see me too. My grandchildren are happy to come for a natter while I’m here and they’ll make me a coffee, and my sister enjoys visiting so we can spend some time in the hub and participate in whatever events that have on – we both like to go for a sing when they have live music on in there.”

Though our respite amenities are Colleen’s favourite, they are just one of the hospice services that have helped her. The Macmillan team based at the Peaks Lane site were by her side when she was going through her illness, and the bereavement team were there for her when she was dealing multiple family losses in one of the most difficult times of her life. Colleen said: “The Macmillan team were so good. I used to have panic attacks, but my nurse would sit on the phone with me and come and see me right away if I was really struggling. We’d talk regularly and that’s ultimately how I ended up coming for respite. And the bereavement team really helped me open up and talk about things I’d never been able to talk about before. I felt like I could offload to them and get everything off my chest.”

Colleen simply sums up the hospice by saying “St Andrew’s and its staff are absolutely brilliant”. She tries to enjoy the present and not think too much about the future, but she said: “If I do know that I don’t have long left, I would like the end of my life to be here.” Hopefully for a long time though, we will get to keep seeing Collen for her respite visits, and we can continue sending her home with a big smile on her face, with her feeling like the “new woman” she tells us she is when she leaves. We only wish (as does she) that we could see her more often!