Sarah’s Story: “I didn’t think I would ever go home, but ‘amazing’ Weldmar made it happen.”

Sarah Howell is now living back at home in Weymouth, having spent most of this summer in a hospital or hospice bed – something she said she’s been able to do thanks to the ‘amazing’ care from the team at Weldmar Hospicecare.

On April 6th, Easter Monday, Sarah visited the walk in service at Weymouth Community Hospital with discomfort from mouth ulcers. She was immediately sent to Dorset County Hospital in Dorchester. A stay in hospital in Bournemouth followed, where Sarah was sadly diagnosed with leukaemia.

With signs that Sarah was coming towards the end of her life, she expressed a wish to be nearer to her family. A move to Weldmar’s hospice was arranged – although the journey in the ambulance was thought to be a risk, given her weak condition.

Slowly, but surely, at the hospice, things improved.

“It was amazing,” recalls Sarah. “I was ‘out of it’ for the first couple of days, but I soon started to feel a lot better. I started to be able to move. I started to eat again. Everyone was so good with me.”

“The nurses were just brilliant. They would make me laugh, and we would have banter between us. Laughter really is the best medicine! Even the gardener outside would have a chat and a laugh with me.”

Sarah says that one thing that particularly lifted her spirits was being allowed to see her cat, Nigel, who was brought along to visit her at the hospice. “It’s little things like that which really make a big difference,” she says.

The Catering and Nutrition team worked with Sarah to get her eating again. “I hadn’t eaten for a few weeks and just didn’t fancy anything. But they kept persevering and trying new things. One of the side effects of the chemotherapy was that everything tasted very salty, so they would reduce the salt in what they gave me. I started having some soups, and gradually got my appetite back.”

The input of the Allied Health Professionals at Weldmar – specialists in both physiotherapy and occupational therapy (pictured below) – was a crucial part of getting Sarah well enough to return home. “When I arrived at the hospice, I didn’t really have the strength to move,” says Sarah. “They started by taking the slide sheet off the bed so that I had to do things myself – they were sneaky like that! It helped me get my muscles going again. You wouldn’t think it makes you stronger, but I could really feel it. I remember being able to lift my head off the pillow for the first time.

“Then, it was trying to get off the bed. Then, walking with the help of a frame, and then taking small steps myself. Before I came home, they also practised going up and down some stairs with me, and showed me how to do it sideways to make it easier.”

Sarah was discharged from the hospice in August, and returned home for the first time in four months.

The support from Weldmar continued. The Allied Health Professionals visited and assessed Sarah’s home, and arranged for an additional handrail for the stairs, as well as handrails at the front door and in the bathroom – all to assist Sarah to maintain her independence and allow her to have a better quality of life in her own home.

A Weldmar Community Nurse from the South Dorset Specialist Hospice at Home team has visited Sarah too, checking in on how she’s doing and giving advice. Weldmar have also helped with the practical side of things, such as arranging for a bus pass for Sarah and a blue badge for her mum’s car.

The hospice doctors have been ‘brilliant and supportive’, and prescribed drugs and creams that are helping to make a difference, as Sarah continues to undergo treatment.

Sarah remains optimistic, and says it’s thanks to Weldmar.

“I had worked in care myself, so knew that Weldmar was special. Until you need them, you just don’t know how special. Without them, I simply wouldn’t be here now.”

Thank you so much to Sarah for sharing her experiences of care from Weldmar. Stories like this are a wonderful way of demonstrating the impact of hospice care, and the breadth of services that we provide. If you are interested in sharing your story, please contact james.oneill@weld-hospice.org.uk