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Trinity Hospice 2015-10-21 Person 5 5 0

My mum-in-law, Ceri Summers, had metastatic breast cancer. She passed away at home with us, in the early hours of 19th October 2015. My husband was her full-time carer and I took time off work to be with her through her final days. When discussing her end of life care, Ceri had really wanted to die at home - but she was a very private person and didn't want us to have to do any 'personal care' for her, so she elected to die in the Hospice. Unfortunately, there were no beds available when the time came and anyway, Ceri was comfortable at home - so we were offered the option of keeping her with us and having the Hospice at Home team to support us through the night and the District Nurses on hand through the day. Ceri's daughter, Lesley, came to stay for the last four days of her life and together John, Lesley and I kept vigil - we felt very privileged to be there to love her out of the world. The experience was made as good as it could possibly be, both for us and for Ceri, because of the help and support we received. Night time is always the most worrying in these situations, and it was wonderful to have a phone call each evening from the Hospice at Home team, to check on Ceri and to make sure we were ok - it was also very reassuring to know that we could ring at any time of the night to get assistance should we need it - which we did a couple of times. The staff who came were kind and gentle and listened carefully to everything we had to say - we felt supported and knew that our concerns were being taken seriously and acted upon - so that we could rest assured that Ceri suffered as little as possible and was having the best possible care. It is such an amazing service - I'm sure more people would feel able to help their loved ones to get their wish of dying at home, if they were aware of the fantastic support that is given by the Hospice at Home team. They were there to guide us through a very difficult time, and when Ceri finally passed away peacefully, we didn't panic, as we knew that we only had to ring them and they would come - which they did straight away - they took care of everything and made sure that we knew what to do with regards to the next steps. The liaison and holistic care that we received between the Hospice at Home team, the Hospice, the District Nurses and Ceri's GP meant that Ceri had the best possible death and means that we are now able to lay her to rest in the knowledge that we did everything we could for her.