Lets hear it for the Children’s Hospices
Carolyn Voisey
Mum to one incredible little dude, I work full time in higher education and have my own small business as a jewellery designer/creator. I love noth...
It’s impossible to explain just how important our hospice has been to my family in one blog post, but I intend to give it a good go! These places survive on fundraising income.
We didn’t know anything about our local children’s hospice until the Dude was a few months old and we were referred to them for palliative care. As a parent there are few words more devastating to hear than that your child needs that type of care and support; some of the carers we met when the Dude was 6 months old are still there and remember how haunted and pale we looked.
As we were taken round, I held onto my baby as if our lives depended on it.
I was amazed at how *happy* the place was.
The walls were bright and covered with children’s artwork. The garden was filled with laughter as children played on the accessible equipment, parents looking relaxed, chatting with the staff over a coffee. There was music everywhere.
By the end of the visit the Dude was surrounded by ladies cooing over what a gorgeous boy he was, and I even managed to let go of him long enough to have a coffee while he was the centre of attention (he got used to this early!)
Over a decade on, and it’s a second home.
The hospice has been there for the good and the bad, providing much-needed respite breaks for us so we can rest and enjoy being a family while our son’s medical needs are taken care of.
They have also stepped in to support us when he was critically ill in hospital, and during his long recovery. When I needed emergency surgery, they were there so we didn’t have to worry about how we would manage with one carer out of action for weeks.
Our family support worker from the hospice comes with us to various meetings to put ours (and the Dude’s) points across and to provide support in what can be very difficult discussions. The hospice is one of our favourite places on Earth.
More importantly, it’s one of our son’s. We need funding for hospice care to not just continue but to be increased to help these amazing places continue to support children like my son, and families like mine long into the future. Because a future where they don’t exist is a bleak one indeed.
