We are bringing a new Easter Holiday On Stage project, Matilda Junior to Aylesbury. Auditions will take place on Sunday
During this three-week period you will be able to view the Precious Pink Peony display in the Rose Garden during
Christmas is special for many of us, as we spend time with loved ones and reflect on the year gone by. Sadly, hospice care is needed all year round, and, for some people, this Christmas will be the hardest of their lives.
Could you give £25 to pay for one hour of a nurse’s time over Christmas?
Having the Hospice to go to when a loved one needed end-of-life care meant the world to Craig as his wife Joanna was cared for at the Hospice in December 2022.
Craig has kindly shared his story with us, showing what it was like for his family to spend Christmas at Florence Nightingale Hospice.
Please help us provide compassionate hospice care in Buckinghamshire and its borders for families like Joanna’s.
“My wife Joanna and I met at University in Edinburgh. She was an amazing woman, one of those people who was tireless in supporting others. She was a wonderful wife to me and a fantastic mum to our two daughters.
In July 2022 Joanna complained of tiredness and tummy pain. She was referred to the GP for some standard tests which came back with abnormalities. She was referred for further tests and scans and, by the 18th of August, we were told that she had advanced bowel cancer.
In October she developed an obstruction in her bowel due to the tumour. She was admitted to hospital and needed an operation which meant that chemotherapy had to be paused whilst she recovered. In the six weeks after the operation she declined rapidly, losing lots of weight and becoming increasingly frail. On the 19th of November, her medical team said that she was now too frail to have further chemotherapy. The Hospice staff came to speak with us, and we agreed that she would be transferred to Florence Nightingale Hospice.
To have the offer of hospice care, with a medical team there 24/7 took all that worry away. At the end of her life, the weight of medical responsibility was taken off my shoulders and I was given the ability to just focus on being a husband and father. It was more than I could have imagined was possible.”
“We have a family tradition of buying Christmas tree decorations on holiday. It means our Christmas tree is like a big memory box which we open up every year. We had the opportunity, whilst Joanna was staying in the Hospice, to make some Christmas tree decorations with the Art Therapist Karen to add to our memories.
I realised that as Christmas Day approached, Joanna’s health was continuing to deteriorate and that it would be wise to bring our Christmas celebrations forward. The Hospice staff allowed us to use the Hospice Day Room so the four of us could have our replacement Christmas Day on 16th December. We tried to make the most of the day, swapping presents, having Christmas dinner and we watched The Snowman. Just the usual Christmassy things. We did what we could with Christmas that year, we did what we could with the time we had. It was amazing that the Hospice made it possible for us to have a Christmas Day together and create that memory.
Joanna died in the middle of the night on 21st December after a terrifyingly short battle with cancer; she was just 46. Being at the Hospice was as close to her being at home as possible. It made the most unbearable time just about bearable.”
A gift of £25 could pay for an hour of a nurse’s time over the Christmas period. A gift of £15 could pay for an hour of an art therapist’s time, helping families connect and make memories whilst creating something precious. A wonderful gift of £40 would pay for a visit with a nurse and health care assistant to a patient’s home for one hour.
Anything you can give will help a local family, like Craig’s, to enjoy the time they have left with their loved one who is approaching the end of their life. It will help to ensure that they have compassionate hospice care this Christmas.
On behalf of Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity and the families we support, we would like to thank you for supporting the Hospice. We wish you a fulfilling Christmas with your loved ones.
Florence Nightingale
Hospice Charity.
Registered Charity
No. 1119499.
The Hospice
The Charity
Fundraising
The Hospice
The Charity
Fundraising
