"Anxiety to Confidence to Success"

I was referred to the Walton after an MRI scan detected a brain tumour.

At this stage I was naturally anxious and did the usual research.

My first visit to the Walton was a consultation with the Neurosurgeon and it was during this that I became less anxious and began to develop confidence and trust; this happened because of the straightforward explanation of the scan, what the options were and the risks involved.

The Neurosurgeon was patient, respectful and highly professional.

I left the Walton that day even feeling uplifted. The tumour was there, they would deal with it.

Subsequently I had consultations with the Anaesthetist, the ENT Surgeon and the Specialist Nurse plus further scans and the full range of pre-op tests.

I was put on a course of steroids prior to being admitted.

These immediately relieved most of my symptoms as predicted by the Neurosurgeon.

On admission, the day before the operation, I was again visited by the surgeons and encouraged to raise any questions.

The whole process of pre-op, recovery, High Dependency Unit and first few days is never going to be easy but it was relatively pain free.

During this time, you feel the total care of the nursing staff, words simply cannot describe their dedication which they say is "just" about doing their job.

So in the next few days the whole team are involved in the recovery process.

I was discharged on the Friday after the operation on the Monday, quite miraculous.

So, anxiety to confidence to success; success they planned the operation to take 9 hours which it did, they predicted what would happen afterwards and were right.

I have had several hospitalisations, some quite serious and also have had many number of years working in the business world; and without doubt, the Walton is unique in everything it does.

I would find it very difficult to find any weaknesses.

To anyone who is going to be admitted, then I would say you are in the best hands anywhere in the UK, probably the world. Every single member of staff I came into contact with, support staff, nursing staff, clinical staff, demonstrated their care, professionalism and pride in what they do. We and our families are very very fortunate to be able to receive such treatment at the Walton.