Maria’s Story

From the moment I arrived at the Cancer Support Centre I felt welcome. I talked to Elaine, one of the Oncology nurses, and realised that it was the first time since my diagnosis that I didn’t feel alone. I am generally a resilient, positive person, but cancer can be a very isolating illness and there were days when I didn’t feel strong. I arranged a series of counselling sessions with Helen, one of the Psychologists. Helen treated me as a person and not just as a patient, and helped me to put things in perspective and to realise that it was ok to have days when I felt down. She helped me to find a way to talk with my teenage son about what was happening with my illness and treatment.

I used many of the services at the Cancer Support Centre, all free of charge – yoga and tai chi classes, reflexology and nutrition, and massage therapies which I found really helpful, physically and emotionally. I have been living on illness benefit since I became sick and I simply wouldn’t have had access to any of these support services if I had had to pay for them myself.

I haven’t found cancer treatment difficult and fortunately have had no side effects; however I really don’t think I would be feeling as good as I am without the emotional support of Cancer Care West. I think everyone who experiences cancer needs some support and for me it was the safe haven of Cancer Care West’s Cancer Support Centre.