‘I feel really privileged to be here’

“I feel really privileged to be here, I honesty do. I don’t think I’ll be leaving here, but I’m not frightened.”

Being supported by St Catherine’s is giving Sue Taylor and her family ‘peace of mind’, and she says she feels ‘lucky’ to be receiving the hospice’s specialist care.

Sue, a mum-of-two and grandma-of-five, was diagnosed with lung cancer in May this year, and has undergone chemotherapy and radiotherapy. She made the decision to come to St Catherine’s in late October.

“I was given the choice to have more chemo but I declined it,” she explains. “It might have bought me a few extra weeks, but I would have been so ill and in pain. Here, they can’t do enough for you, and I do feel like myself again. I feel comfortable, and the staff are so caring and devoted. It’s a marvellous place.”

Sue, who worked as a secretary and PA for chartered surveyors before becoming her mum’s full-time carer, was initially visited at home in Hutton by one of our community Clinical Nurse Specialists.

“The nurse Emma told me what the hospice is like and she reassured me about coming here, and I’m so glad she did,” Sue says. “I was a bit reluctant at first because I was concerned about how my mum would cope, but my daughters are helping and I know they’re all ok.

“They know that I’m in good hands and in the best place as well. None of us have to worry about each other anymore.”

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