"Giving Palliative Care to Mum"

My Mum was taken ill in January 2022.  She was admitted to Daisy Hill Hospital for 4 days where they found nothing wrong and sent her home. She lay on the settee for a month not getting better. My Mum was a very active person, always busy, so this was very unusual. She began to have serious mobility problems and we called paramedics again.  She was taken back to Daisy Hill where a scan that evening found a large brain mass. Further scans and meetings determined nothing could be done and she had around 6 - 8 weeks left to live.

We were thankful for the care she received in Daisy Hill but had massive problems in getting updates about her while she was in. The phone was not answered once. Sometimes a nurse called to see what questions we had but they were never answered. Eventually we were allowed in one at a time once a day to see Mum.  By this stage Mum had lost the ability to use her mobile phone so we could not even call her ourselves. I cannot put into words how distressing this was. 

We were glad to get her home to look after her ourselves. The day after we brought her home with very limited mobility, the Banbridge district nursing team introduced themselves. This team, every member, was second to none. They became part of our family. We were glad to see them and usually they came just as we needed them. They were friendly, understanding and so caring. They cared not just for Mum but for us all as a family.