Responding to the needs of the local communities in and around Seaton and Axminster, Hospiscare@Home provides 24/7 hands-on nursing support at home for people with a life-limiting illness in the final months or weeks of life. The service is provided by local charity Hospiscare and is generously supported by Seaton & District Hospital League of Friends and The League of Friends of Axminster Hospital.
Mrs Glenys O’Hara, aged 81 from Seaton and a Hospiscare@Home patient, explains why the service is so important.
“Before I had cancer my husband, Tom, and I had a very active...
Hospiscare’s annual Coffee Morning event is now under way. Throughout the area, people are signing up to raise funds for the local charity by holding coffee mornings in their homes, community halls and even their local parks. Businesses, too, are getting ready to bake and boil for Hospiscare.
Last year, Hospiscare supporters held more than 100 coffee mornings, together raising over £15,000. The charity is hoping to beat that target this year and hoping to raise a whopping £30,000.
Event organiser, Lianne Harding said: “Above all, we want people to enjoy themselves while...
Three years ago, local charity Hospiscare teamed up with Seaton & District Hospital League of Friends to start the Seaton Hospiscare@Home service in response to the needs of people in Seaton.
This service provides 24/7 hands-on nursing support at home for people with a life-limiting illnesses who are in the final months or weeks of life, enabling patients to be cared for and to die at home, if that is their wish.
It proved so popular in Seaton that some patients in neighbouring Axminster swapped GP practices to get access, which up until now has been unavailable. That,...
Hospiscare celebrates the theme of Hospice Care Week 2018, Heart My Hospice, by welcoming its third group of Heart2Heart participants at Searle House this October.
Earlier this year Hospiscare collaborated with Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust to provide the much needed fortnightly Heart2Heart sessions.
At the sessions patients and their carers learn about managing symptoms and the ups and downs of heart failure with the guidance of professionals like Kate Hetherington, an RD&E Heart Failure Specialist Nurse. Kate says: “The sessions have been hugely helpful...
Sally Payne, 43 from Exeter, has been on an unwanted roller coaster ride since 2013. Whilst working in London as a nanny, Sally discovered she had breast cancer. At the time she was only 38. Despite surgeries, chemo and radiotherapy, Sally now has secondary cancer. Local charity Hospiscare is supporting her in managing her illness whilst she continues to do the job she loves.
Sally shares her story.
“I felt fine. Not unwell at all. I was working in London as a nanny, loving life.
“I was getting out of the bath one day when I noticed a dent in one of my breasts. I...
“My two daughters were only nine and eleven years old when I was diagnosed with a brain tumour,” says Simon Dyke, 51 from Exeter, “So they have walked this path for a long time.
“It was 2006, I was 40 years old and we were on a family holiday in France when I first got sick. I came straight back to the UK and was diagnosed with a high grade glioma – a brain tumour.”
Simon Dyke, a former church minister, lived in London where he received radiotherapy, surgeries to reduce the tumour and numerous chemotherapy sessions. But in 2017 when he was told there were no treatment...
Bob Rutter, aged 76, and his wife Sue have lived in Seaton for the past 18 years. After a 40 year career as a pub landlord, Bob was enjoying an active and sociable retirement playing bowls and golf when he was diagnosed with a rare cancer, lymphoma in the brain.
Shortly after receiving the devastating news, Bob was referred to local charity Hospiscare and has been attending weekly sessions at Kings House Day Hospice in Honiton. Here, Bob has met and made friends with other people who are going through a similar experience to him. One of those friends was a patient called Gill. Bob...
As 2017 draws to a close, the year when local charity Hospiscare celebrated its 35th Anniversary, Dr John Rutter who worked for the organisation in the early 80s is back working there again now at the age of 69. He reflects on how it all started and looks back on his own career to share his thoughts on caring for patients with a terminal illness.
Dr John, who is married and has five daughters, has always lived in Exeter. He recalls: “Back in the 1980s I was caring for the father of one of my friends. He was dying of cancer. I remember visiting him throughout the night and...
There are many myths surrounding hospices, one of the biggest misconceptions is that if you get admitted to one, it’s because you are about to die. That’s certainly the impression Bronia Rosier and her family had when she was referred to local charity, Hospiscare.
Bronia, 56, from Ottery St Mary, was diagnosed with a tumour two years ago. After a course of chemo and radiotherapy which was unsuccessful in shrinking the growth, she underwent surgery to remove it. However, the cancer had already spread to other areas of her body and Bronia was given the news that no further treatment...
The wait is almost over. The hour is very nearly at hand.
Sunday (29 October) will see this year’s epic 7.5-mile Jolly Good Jaunt walk from the Deer Park Hotel through the breath-taking beauty of the autumnal East Devon countryside. This year promises to be bigger and better than ever.
Advance bookings including online registration ( www.jollygoodjaunt.co.uk ) closed on 24 October but you can still sign up on the day itself with entry being £20 for adults and £10 per child.
The NEW nature trail consisting of a scavenger hunt, nature bingo, crafting and storytelling...
