Christine Parker, 77, a retired PA from Hazlemere, says the hospice, based at Butterfly House in High Wycombe, aided her recovery as it provided somewhere for her to go to meet others in a similar position.
She feels it is vital for patients to talk openly about their emotions with either fellow cancer sufferers or trained counsellors, and it was at South Bucks Hospice she was able to do this.
Christine was diagnosed on February 13 in 2023 with low-grade non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Her consultant told her the disease was not curable but ‘very treatable’. She began a six-month programme of chemotherapy later that month at Stoke Mandeville Hospital.
In April of that year, she was referred to the HOPE course run by Macmillan Cancer Support which was held at South Bucks Hospice. She says she benefited hugely from attending this course. It was here she met a group of fellow sufferers who were able to share their experiences, and they have now become friends and support each other.
Christine said: “I found that when I was with other cancer sufferers it was much easier for me to talk about how I was feeling and exchange stories. I didn’t feel alone. Bottling things up doesn’t do any good and the only time I felt I could openly talk about how I felt was by talking with fellow patients as they can completely empathise with you.
"My partner, family and friends, who I love dearly, were very supportive but I couldn’t really open up as I felt it would be upsetting for them and I didn’t want to put them through this.
"When I first walked through the door of South Bucks Hospice I had a feeling of calmness. Even though the staff may be very busy, I never felt they hadn't time for me. There’s no hustle and bustle and people rushing around."
It was during Christine’s visits when attending the Macmillan course that she found out how many South Bucks Hospice services were available to her at Butterfly House. She was able to get a referral and after an initial session with one of the nurses, she was able to join the waiting list for all the sessions they run.
She recalled: “They offered massage, counselling, tai-chai, chair yoga, painting, flower arranging and support groups – and I thought my goodness this is amazing, and I said put me down for everything.
“I was offered a 12-week counselling course which was amazing. It was a life-saver for me in terms of handling my diagnosis and coping with living with cancer. I was able to talk to my counsellor about things I couldn’t talk to with anyone else about. When I first met my counsellor, halfway through my chemo, she said we would have 12 weeks and I replied I won’t need 12 weeks as thought I'd only need this when I was going through chemo. On the 12th week when we had finished, I said what if I need more? She laughed and said: ‘I remember you said you wouldn’t need 12’.”
Thanks to the chemotherapy, Christine’s spleen – which had doubled in size – returned to normal but Christine said she felt especially needful of the hospice’s services after her chemotherapy ended in August 2023 because she felt ‘exposed and vulnerable’.
“When I was having chemo, it was like a comfort blanket. When you are going through the treatment, you feel it is healing you - but when that’s finished, you think what do I do now? My comfort blanket has gone and I feel vulnerable.
“I will always have lymphoma – it’s a very slow progressive cancer which can spread. Once you have been diagnosed with cancer you learn to live with it because it never goes away and it is always at the back of your mind," she said.
She reserved special praise for the staff at the hospice, saying: “South Bucks Hospice is caring, it’s somewhere I feel I can come at any time and am always made welcome. It’s like therapy walking through the door – I know I don’t have to explain my presence to anyone, I know I can have a coffee and can chill. I will be forever grateful that South Bucks Hospice, with its wonderful caring staff, exists.”
