I’ve recently stayed at the Hospice for the second time and they helped me with pain control which was really good. I spent two weeks in there the first time and a week in there the second time. It was a brilliant experience for me being there. And the main thing is they help me to be free of pain. 

They’re supporting me at home at the moment with my nurse Debbie and SinglePoint, and I have counselling with Linda and chaplain Vickie.

Only six people were allowed to be present, so we went from 100 people down to six, but hopefully when Covid is over we can have a big party and celebrate.

It’s still a shock to the system, the diagnosis, to be fair. Because of the lockdown I had to go to the doctors on my own and do all my chemo treatment on my own. And I guess that's scary going into hospital to have this treatment that everybody fears; it is quite a scary treatment and I've had to do all of that on my own. Been hard, but it's made me stronger. It's made me realise that I can actually do a lot more than I thought I could on my own. Definitely, people really learn things about themselves in the worst places; I would say not a great place for me to learn that I can do things on my own, but hey ho I’ve done it.

I've got terminal bowel cancer. It’s spread to my liver and lymph glands, and it had spread to my left lung but with the previous treatment, apparently it had gone from my left lung. Unfortunately, that treatment stopped working so the next scan showed that it spread again, so I'm now receiving a different treatment which I can't tell you what it is, but it's some magical stuff that they're putting inside me which I believe is going to zap it all out again. Hopefully. As far as it can anyway.

I was completely in shock, couldn't take it on for a while. I'd been having private investigations because the waiting list for a colonoscopy was a very long waiting list, so I decided to go private because I was experiencing extreme pain and I just needed to know what it was. When the scan results came back the consultant delivered the news and he said that he was shocked himself at what he found in someone of such a young age, it is very unusual. I was 39, I’ve only just turned 40.

Yeah, I was very shocked and I guess I still am, I still don't know that I've come to terms with it to be honest. That’s kind of where the counselling from St Helena comes in. My counsellor Lynda rings me weekly and has a good old chat with me, she's great. And Vickie the chaplain, oh she's fantastic, she will pray with me, pray over the phone. Both are still in touch with me, which is wonderful. Really good services, very friendly, really in tune with how you might be feeling. Really positive experience. They're all lovely.

I've got my Hospice nurse at home Debbie. She’s lovely! I think she's great. She's the one that really was the driver behind me going into the Hospice. She was the one that really encouraged me and tried to reassure me that it's not, you know, it's not a place that you're going to go into and never come out of. So yes, she's great.

Before, when they said about going into the Hospice I was very reluctant because my thoughts were, I would go in and never come out again. That was my view of the Hospice, that it's basically for people to go to die. And I understand that is part of it, they do have people there who are in their last days and need extra support and care that only the Hospice can provide. I understand that happens there, but also they do so much more than that.

So for me going in there was quite scary. I was absolutely apprehensive about going in but when I was in there, the atmosphere is a very different atmosphere to what you'd expect. The staff are amazing and they are what makes the Hospice what it is. They’re friendly, they are reassuring, they’re busy but that's understandable, and nothing’s too much for them. It’s just a pleasant experience completely different to what I thought I would experience.

Photos: Georgina (left) and Naomi in the Yorkshire Dales with their dog Ronnie. The photos were taken in between Naomi's stays at The Hospice and during her treatment, yet she was able to walk 4-6 miles a day.

This story may not be published elsewhere without express permission from St Helena Hospice.