Northampton woman ‘can’t praise hospice enough’ after support offered during final weeks with husband
A Northampton woman says she “can’t praise a hospice enough” after the support they offered to her and her family during their final weeks with her late husband.
This comes after Northamptonshire’s sister hospices Cynthia Spencer and Cransley united to encourage people to leave a gift in their will to support and secure their futures.
The two palliative care providers supported national initiative This Is Hospice Care, coordinated by Hospice UK. The national campaign ran until Saturday October 4.
The aim was to raise awareness of the vital role hospices play in communities, and Patti Gardiner is just one example of someone who benefitted massively from the support offered.
Patti’s husband Alastair Craig spent three weeks in Cynthia Spencer Hospice during his battle with pancreatic cancer, which spread to his lungs.
He suffered with extreme breathlessness when he arrived at the hospice after calling an ambulance on New Year’s Eve 2023.
“The first thing we experienced was the feeling of being safe, which was huge for Alastair,” said Patti.
“He was put on oxygen straight away and he had the most wonderful, kind, caring people looking after him, plus experts working out how to deal with the breathlessness.
“The treatment he had made such a significant difference to his breathing and the fact he had somebody there should there be a problem was an enormous relief for him.”
Patti and Alastair were both retired GPs, but Patti admits that even with her medical knowledge there is not a lot that can be done for breathlessness.
She continued: “The change in balance was incredibly helpful as once we got to the hospice, I could be his wife, not his carer.
“The staff were very respectful. They didn’t take over, they just offered to help and it was so much easier than doing it all on my own.
“I was finding it all very difficult. The family therapist there was invaluable with helping us with our grandsons too.
“The eldest was seven at the time and very emotional and intuitive, so we chose to have grandad teddy bears for each boy. They also gave us memory boxes with activities to help them express how they felt.”
Patti praised the flexibility of the hospice, as the family could go and visit whenever they wanted. This meant the eldest of the four grandsons could visit after school and spend quality time with grandad.
“The boys had a skateboard and a scooter and we’d go into the beautiful grounds around the hospice,” said Patti.
“We saw the first snowdrops coming up in the garden that winter, with Alastair in the wheelchair. When the wheelchair got a bit muddy, they just took it off to clean it.
“I can’t praise them enough in how they facilitated us making the most of the time we had left with him.”
Patti is thankful that Cynthia Spencer Hospice had a bed available when the ambulance came, especially due to the “priceless” reassurance and security the team offered.
“When Alistair went in there, the honest truth is that all of us thought he was going to die in the hospice,” said Patti. “But he was a man of great determination and wanted to be in his own home again.”
Alastair stayed at the hospice for three weeks before the occupational therapy team helped the family move him home, as well as providing them with the equipment they needed.
Patti continued: “We couldn’t have managed without them. The end of life is such a difficult time. There’s a combination of physical symptoms and distress and fear about what death is going to be like.
“We wouldn’t have got through that time without all the support and help we had from Cynthia Spencer Hospice. From the consultants to the tea lady, they were invaluable.
“Palliative care in the community is so important, and we need to ensure more people can access the expertise that was given to us. I would wish for absolutely everybody to have that relief and support.”