Last updated: March 2024
Planning for the future when you have a life-limiting illness is a difficult endeavour but for Susanne Bell, it was a big source of anxiety and almost seemed impossible.
Susanne was referred to St Margaret’s Hospice’s Sunflower Centre in 2023 after being diagnosed with COPD. She had been shielding at home for nearly 2 years during the Covid pandemic and felt anxious about meeting new people and planning for the future.
Susanne knew she needed to get plans in place to help her as she became more unwell, but she was unsure about where to start and how to speak to her family about her wishes. That’s when the hospice stepped in to help.
“When I walked into the Sunflower Centre for the first time, I felt really anxious, I didn’t know what to expect,” Susanne said. “But I was thrilled when I was met with nothing but smiling faces and a warm welcome, it immediately made me feel at ease.
“There is a such great atmosphere in the Sunflower Centre, and this helped me to settle in right away. It’s a kind and cheerful place where you can talk to the wonderful staff and volunteers there about absolutely anything.
“The team helped me to make advance care plans for the future, which is something I had previously been anxious about. They took the time to sit with me and discuss planning for the future with me gradually and gently and it was a really empowering experience as I was in the driver’s seat and got to decide how I want things to be at the end of my life.
“The team also supported me to make a will which is something I hadn’t got around to doing as well as getting a Do Not Resuscitate order in place which made me feel much more prepared for the future.
“Talking about your wishes for the future is a difficult process, it’s a topic no one wants to discuss, but the hospice made the process easy and really empowered me to do it. They helped me to get the confidence to speak to my daughter about my condition which meant the world to me.”
Susanne also benefited from emotional support from staff, volunteers and even other patients in the Sunflower Centre and said coming to the Sunflower Centre gave her some dedicated relaxation time for herself which had a huge impact on her.
“When you come to the Sunflower Centre, you walk in with lots of bags which are filled with things like worries about your illness, hospital appointments, and treatment but the team helps you to put those bags down and just enjoy some time away from it for you,” Suzanne explained.
“It’s such a relief as those bags can be heavy. Everyone builds up their own collection of bags that they come in with and they can weigh you down. When you’re living with a terminal illness, you are so focused on your illness that you don’t really get to have ‘me time’, but the Sunflower Centre gives that to you. You are just yourself in there, not somebody’s Mum or somebody’s wife but just you.
“Being able to spend time in an environment where I could sit and have open, frank discussions about my illness with no judgement from others was great. We were all in similar situations and it was great for me to have that support. It makes you realise that there are people who are worse off than yourself who are still positive which is a really important takeaway to have.
“You can talk as much or as little as you like when you come to the Sunflower Centre, it’s entirely up to you. You can also join in with little crafts they have going on and overall, it’s just such a nice environment to be in. You can also have Complementary Therapy treatments with Laura who is absolutely lovely. I had reflexology on a weekly basis which was a new experience for me, but I loved it. It was a beautiful, relaxing experience which I cherished.”
Susanne has now been discharged from the Sunflower Centre and said she feels ‘positive’ about the future and spending time not only with her friends and family, but with herself too.
She said she’d encourage people across the community to support St Margaret’s so they can continue to help more people who are going through a similar situation to herself.
“The Sunflower Centre is an excellent service which gives its patients support in bucket loads” Susanne added. “It’s great way to have social contact, support your mental health and get the help you need as you go through your illness. The people who work and volunteer there willingly give their time to contribute to something bigger and to make someone’s day brighter and I think that’s amazing.
“Please donate to the hospice to make sure this service continues so other people can benefit. It really does make a massive difference."