Gillian came to us in November 2024 after one of our team attended her Lung Cancer support group and introduced the Rehab and Wellbeing services to her. She started in our Movement Monday group where she found not only physical support but a great social group and any initial worries about coming to a hospice were quickly dispelled.
She shares: "It was at a Lung Cancer Support group I go to every six to eight weeks and someone from the Hospice came in and chatted about all the different Rehab and Wellbeing services they had, and this is the one that I picked out of all of them. I thought 'Why not. Let's sign up and see how it benefits me.'"
At first, Gillian was nervous about coming to a hospice with the traditional connotations of end of life care, but her fears were quickly put to bed:
"I think it was the word 'hospice'. The fact that it was being held at the Hospice, and everybody knows what that stands for. But it's nothing like that at all. You're treated as an individual and they cater for your needs, not for your condition. They see you as a person, and you can see the progression. They tell you each week what your progression is, and how well you're doing."
Gillian first took part in the Movement Monday classes and quickly felt the benefit:
"Movement Monday is gentle exercises to get you back into some kind of fitness, keep you moving around. I was hoping they would help with my movement, being able to get my strength back, help with breathing exercises during exercise, how to relax, when to relax, how much to push myself.
"It's helped me learn how to move with the condition that I have or what parts of me I can use and how to stretch, how to relax after exercise, what limits I've got, and just being able to find my level of fitness."
She would encourage anyone who is thinking about seeking support but is unsure to just give it a go!
"It was a little bit scary, not knowing what I was coming into, what they were going to do with me, but that was completely quashed when I came in. It was totally different, it's very friendly.
"You meet lots of the people, and we've all got different reasons that we're here. It's just getting to talk to each other; it's more of a social group and we talk about all sorts of things with other people. It’s been great.
"So have a look, talk to them first if you're worried - but definitely go for it."