'I would have given up without my hospice nurse'

"Don't mention hospice to me, I don't want to hear the word hospice."

When the subject of palliative care was first broached to Brenda Foster by a district nurse, her initial reaction was to recoil from the idea.

But when the 79-year-old, who has been diagnosed with ovarian cancer, met her nurse Craig Barton at the Wigan and Leigh Hospice, all that changed.

"He's wonderful," Mrs Foster said.

Mrs Foster, from Atherton, now credits Mr Barton with prolonging her life.

"I could quite easily have given up, but he won't let me," she said.

Mr Barton said it was an "honour" to be Mrs Foster's nurse and that his job was "rewarding", but at times, emotional.

Mr Barton has been helping Mrs Foster manage her symptoms at home for more than a year but now she is receiving some in-patient care at the hospice.

The 79-year-old said Mr Barton's support has "meant the world to me".

"Craig came and he changed my life around," she said.

While she knows she has not got much time, Mrs Foster said she was making the most of each day.

Mrs Foster, who has been married to her husband Eric for almost 55 years, said Mr Barton and his colleagues had not just helped her with pain control but also with having difficult conversations with loved ones.

"I've arranged everything with Eric what I want for the funeral and everything," she said.

She has decided she does not want "any of the kids having to go to the cemetery".

Instead she said she had told Mr Foster she wanted a bench "and you can come and sit on me".

Mr Barton was a prison officer for 10 years before retraining as a nurse.

He said: "It's an honour knowing that I have done everything and carried out her wishes like where she wants to be when she dies, supporting the family after."

He said it could be a difficult job and some days after he leaves the hospice "I just start crying".

"It can be tough, but it's rewarding," the 50-year-old added, saying it meant he had met patients like Mrs Foster who "I'll never forget".

Mrs Foster has said she no longer has any qualms about having to stay at the hospice.

"As long as I'm fit... I'll stay home but if it's going to become a burden for the family and if there was room I would come here and come here happily.

"It's like a new family; they're brilliant," she said.

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