A Day In The Life Of...
9
This time we meet 49 year old Day Care Patient Jayne Daglish who has been attending St.
Clare’s Hospice Day Care for the last 18 months at our Friday sessions which are for ladies
only. Jayne is living with inoperable and incurable breast cancer.
9.30am
After a short walk from my home in Simonside I arrive at the
Hospice. Today I need to have a blood test so the Day Care Sister Jacki
arranges this. I’ve really been able to build my fitness up since attending the
Hospice and working with Michelle the physiotherapist. I normally see her
on a Tuesday.
10am
I’m done in time for tea and a bacon sandwich. Normally we just have
tea and toast so it’s a nice change! After this I’m off to the craft room which
is one of my favourite activities here. We work on all kinds of crafts during
the year which are themed for Valentine’s Day, Easter and we hold a fun day
event every year in August which we sell our crafts at to raise money for the
Hospice.
11am
The volunteers come round with a range of drinks, you can even have
alcohol if you’d like. I normally just have a soft drink.
12 noon
We move along to the dining room for our lunch and a gossip. There
is always a lot to talk about! I was referred to the service by my Macmillan
nurse and at first I wasn’t sure about coming here. I’m only 49 and I thought
everyone would be really old and poorly, once I’d been in a couple of times I
felt totally different. Coming here has really built my confidence; I became ill
5 years ago and had to leave my job at Sunderland Youth Offending Service.
After that I wasn’t really able to get out and meet people as much. Since
coming to the Hospice I have been able to build a great circle of friends,
we’ve even met up outside of the Day Care sessions. We really support
each other here, the focus isn’t on our illnesses- it’s on the fun we have
during the day. It’s nice to know though that I can talk about treatments I’ve
had and everyone here understands how I feel.
1pm
We’ve been doing a picture quiz this morning and now we’re getting the answers. Then it’s time for a game of bingo, we
always have a good laugh doing this. It’s one of the reasons I enjoy coming today – the banter amongst the ladies is so fun!
2pm
Its time for a tea or coffee and a snack. There’s usually sandwiches and cake on offer which are really tempting! Karen
the Complementary Therapist comes around and asks if anyone would like their nails painted or any treatments like a
massage. I haven’t done this before but I am going to try a Reiki treatment next time which is a touch therapy that aims to
balance the body’s energy. It’s a holistic therapy that aids relaxation.
3.20pm
Its time to go home. Although I walked here today and I’m trying to build my fitness I usually get a lift home in the
patient transport. It’s been a fun day catching up with everyone and I look forward to going back next week!
In each edition of the newsletter we will be looking at what happens in a typical day of a member of the St.
Clare’s team. This time we get an insight into a day in the life of a Day Care Patient.
The Day in the life of… a Day Care Patient
Patients attend Day Care to receive:
• Pain control
• Symptom control
• Social support
• Emotional support
• Psychological support
In addition to patients
receiving Day Care at St.
Clare’s, our Day Care service
responds to patients needs
via telephone. In an average
year over 1,800 phone calls
are received.
The youngest patient to
be cared for in Day Care
is 34 years old and the
oldest is 100 years old.
Up to 20 patients can
attend Day Care each
day Monday to Friday
In an average year
almost 100 patients
are cared for in our
Day Care.
DayCare has amen only
day on a Wednesday
and women only day
on a Friday.
About Day Care
Jayne Daglish
