"It has been a difficult time"

In January 2006 I had an accident at work where I hurt my knee. It kept swelling up and then going back down. I just bandaged it up, but, eventually went to the doctors because it was hurting by standing up at work. They sent me to Royal Hallamshire Hospital for an x-ray which showed it was not broken but had damaged ligaments. When I was on my way out of the I saw nurse Maxine who I knew and she suggested that I have a appointment at the Wellman clinic. She said that she had a space there and then and did I want to have a check up. She took various blood tests etc and these came back showing that I could have something wrong with my white blood cells. So lots more tests were done in the July and over the next few months. I was told in November 2006 that I had non-hodgkins lymphoma. If it had not been for the nurse I would have not had those original tests. I went to the Hallamshire then for a CT scan and bone marrow scan; I found that it was in my bone marrow. They then referred me to Dr Wright at Weston Park for treatment and I have been looked after by them ever since. Both the care at the Hallamshire Hospital and Weston Park has been 100% excellent care from the nurses and doctors.

In 2007 my spleen became very large and Dr Wright suggested I had it removed. In September it was removed at the Hallamshire by the fantastic surgeon Mr Wyman. I received brilliant care as nothing was too much trouble. I am regularly treated over time at Weston Park and someone also rings to see if I am alright. In March 2009 I felt unwell, so my daughter took me to A&E at Hallamshire where they arranged for me to see someone from the haematology department. This was on a Sunday so they kept me in hospital. I was put in ward E2 for tropical and contagious diseases and this concerned me as I had had my spleen removed so my immune system was low. But they assured me that it was all filtered and because it was individual rooms I would be fine. I never caught anything and there were no beds anywhere else. By the Monday morning Dr Wright from Weston Park Hospital was there to see me. What excellent care. I stayed in for several days and had excellent care. I will soon be going into Weston Park for some more treatment. All of the staff are excellent. It has been a difficult time, I lost my job due to my illness, but I’d like to thank all of the staff who have showed such care towards me.