4 minute read
LEAVING A LASTING LEGACY
Oswestry-based Hope House Children’s Hospices are a lifeline to families in Shropshire, Cheshire, Mid and North Wales whose child is diagnosed with a life-threatening condition.
Their specialist nursing care and support is provided free of charge whenever and wherever it is needed - but this work is only made possible by the charity’s incredible supporters and their generous donations, including Gifts in Wills.
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Director of Fundraising Simi Epstein explained, “Gifts in Wills are crucial to Hope House and Tŷ Gobaith because they help us to plan for the future and provide vital care for seriously ill local children for many years to come. We are so grateful to everyone who leaves us a gift because we would be lost without them.
“Having a Will in place is important too because it gives you peace of mind knowing that your wishes are clear. If you would like to leave a gift to charity in your Will, you can leave a specific item or a cash gift, but you can also leave a share of your estate, such as 1% so that those closest to you still inherit 99%.”
Every gift left in a Will makes a huge difference. Together they fund almost half of all the care that Hope House Children’s Hospices provide to children and families, from respite stays, crisis care and symptom management, to end of life care and bereavement counselling.
Ben and Georgie’s daughter Freya (pictured) has needed Hope House since she was a baby. They say that for them, and many other families, the hospice is quite simply a lifeline.
The couple met Sian, Hope House’s neonatal link nurse, after Freya was diagnosed with Hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy and Cerebral Palsy. Sian works closely with local neonatal and midwifery units supporting families whose babies are diagnosed with life-threatening conditions before or after birth.
Georgie said, “Sian was one of the first people we met who really understood our situation and took the time to learn about us. She told us about everything that Hope House could help with such as respite care and symptom management for Freya, sibling support for Freya’s older sister Ella, and counselling too.
“On our first visit we had a lovely five days being able to relax and enjoy being together as a family. That was the first time we really bonded with Freya and felt like parents instead of carers. It was also the first time we saw her smile.
“The nursing at Hope House is so different to a hospital because every child has their own nurse and they really get to know your child. Very quickly they become like our extended family.
“Now Hope House is our first port of call when we are worried about something. It is so reassuring to have that support at the end of the phone whenever we need advice.
“Freya isn’t expected to live a full life and we just don’t know how long we have got with her. It does make us value every day more and want to get the best out of every moment. But there is no way we could do that without the help of the Hope House team, they really are amazing.”
You can read more about Freya and the other brave children who have been helped by Hope House at hopehouse.org.uk/family-stories.
Dr Paul Middleton
ShropShire BaSed
Stairlift Company
INSTALLATION
Cholelithiasis: chol(bile) + lith(stone) +
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Why does medicine have so many difficult words in it? I hear you ask. In times gone by there was so little Doctors could effectively do to treat illness that they needed to sound learned – most were Greek and Latin scholars as part of their training. Much of their language still persists today but thankfully, there is more effective treatment for gallstones.
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Do you have gallstones? About 1 in 10 of you reading this should answer “yes” but almost all of you don’t know the stones are there! Thankfully most of these stones will not cause trouble either. But for some of us they will: gallstones form mostly in the gall bladder which connects to your gut. If they try and move, you get biliary colic which is a spasmodic, painful experience. If they get stuck en-route you may go yellow or jaundiced. Sometimes they cause gall bladder inflammation and then more pain and a temperature can occur.
Diet can alleviate the symptoms of gallstones and the “Eatwell Guide” gives some more guidance
When I was a medical student many of the ways we were told to remember things would now be seen as inappropriate: so, here goes! We were told the 6 Fs of gallstones: they occurred in the fair, fertile, female of 40-50yrs old who was overweight! Like most of these memory guides it is not always true - slim patients and men do get gallstones.
40 years ago, the mainstay of treatment was removal of the gallbladder by surgery that involved a large cut and an hour operation. Most of us as junior doctors spent an hour pulling on a retractor to hold the liver out of the way – it made your arms ache and the consultant usually shouted at you at least once as you “sagged” a little! Thankfully it is now done with key-hole surgery and leaves a minimal scar.
Diet can alleviate the symptoms of gallstones and the “Eatwell Guide” gives some more guidance and nhs. uk will tell you more about cholelithiasis – don’t I sound clever!
