"Incredible care and compassion"

A recent routine appointment with Louise at Borders General Hospital  became a turning point in my life  due to her incredible compassion and kindness, which made me feel able to open up about my history of childhood abuse, and finally make a decision to deal with it.

My appointment was made to discuss my ongoing  IBD treatment, but Louise could tell there was something  else  wrong with me from the moment I walked in, as I was tearful and emotionally unstable, having  just been through a very disturbing episode with the people who abused me as a child and was trying to hide this from her.   Louise went on to very gently  encourage me to speak about whatever was bothering me, and reassured me that the staff at BGH were there to help with anything at all which was affecting either the physical or mental wellbeing of one of their patients. I could tell that she was being genuine, and went on to tell her about the horrible abuse I'd been through from being a young child, in floods of tears.

She was the first person I've felt able to tell about this apart from my husband, and while I was mortified to be speaking about it, I'm so glad I did, as she very carefully reassured me that it hadn't been my fault, something I have been needing to hear for decades. She encouraged me to seek out help for this problem, and reassured me that I was deserving of it, at a time when that was what I most needed to hear in the world.  

I've since read several books about how to move on from a history of child abuse as an adult, and am feeling so much healthier and happier because of it, as the stress I was going through as a result of this had been almost debilitating, and had exacerbated my condition, but I  had kept it to myself out of a shame which I now know I should never have felt in the first place.

Writing this is very hard and I am in tears as I do so, but I really think that Louise should be given credit for the change she made to my life in the space of 15 minutes just by being her caring and compassionate self. I am very grateful to her.