11th June 2019
Carers Week: John's story
“Knowing that I would be able to go to bed and get four to six hours sleep helped enormously..” This week is Carers Week and we’ll be focusing on how we support carers and sharing some of their stories.
John Hatton’s wife Elizabeth was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2017 aged 71 – she had had COPD for several years and had previously been treated for breast cancer. John was her main carer.
Nottinghamshire Hospice supported Elizabeth and John with overnight Hospice at Home care, enabling John to have a break and get some sleep.
John said: “My wife was dying of lung cancer and they came in once or twice a week. They were absolutely wonderful. Knowing that I would be able to go to bed and get four to six hours sleep helped enormously because I knew it would be full on again in the morning. My wife got on with them very well too. I can’t speak too highly of them.
“The people I dealt with on the phone were absolutely splendid too and would do whatever they could to arrange help for us. Wherever possible they made sure it was the same nurse that came so Elizabeth wasn’t getting a different person each time.”
Hospice at Home support meant Elizabeth could stay in her own home in Sutton in Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, until caring for her became too much for John. She then moved to a bedded hospice unit where she died in March 2019.
“Although she wasn’t at home when she died she was able to stay at home for a lot longer than she otherwise might have due to the hospice nurses coming overnight,” said John. “It was one of her main aims to live to see our grandson Isaac make his first communion at church, which she did. This meant a lot to her.”
Since Elizabeth’s death John and his family have kept in touch with Nottinghamshire Hospice, supporting fundraising events and giving regular donations.
Caring for someone at the end of their life can be extremely stressful and isolating. At Nottinghamshire Hospice we provide practical and emotional support for carers.