David was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in August 2020. Following a referral to the Hospice, he received care at home from the Hospice at Home team and had two stays in the Inpatient Unit to control his symptoms and manage his pain. Six months after diagnosis, David sadly passed away with his wife Corinne by his side.
Corinne shares their story:
"We were pen friends. We both belonged to a single person's group and he wrote to me. Back then there weren't any photographs or anything, he just picked me out, so he must have liked what I wrote. We were so happy.
"We very quickly became soulmates and put our two families together."
"He started to have pains in his side. Eventually he went and had scans and it showed that he sadly had pancreatic cancer and it had spread. We were absolutely devastated. I cried a lot. I don't think David knew how to cry. He just said 'well, that's it.'
"We started getting support from the Hospice at Home team. I felt a sense of calm when they came, they'd always say 'you go up the road and get a walk and some fresh air and we'll wait until you're back'. It was good for me to get a break.
"The Hospice was really beautiful; we could see out into the garden outside. It wasn't at all dark and narrow corridors; it seemed a very professional but also a very family friendly place.
"I stayed with him for his second visit to the Inpatient Unit. He was in a room on his own then, so it was a very private way of being together in his last final hours. When he died we were holding hands. It couldn't have been better.
"David was 72 when he died and we'd been married for 30 years. I still cry; I have a good cry in the morning when I wake up because it's another day without him. But I feel he's somewhere here and I just have to carry on.
"Both David and I felt very held by the Hospice. Even after David died, I still feel that they're holding me."
