My lovely nan was diagnosed with Non Hodkins Lymphoma in January/Febuary 2011 and endured chemotherapy to treat it, losing her hair and being so ill and frail as a result. The cancer returned and had spread in November and in February 2012 she was given "not many months" to live. My mum cared for her the whole time and i tried to care for my mum as much as I could while still attending University. Nan died in my mum's arms at the hospice on 14th December 2012 and we had her funeral on Christmas Eve.

The reasons why I am supporting Farleigh hospice include allowing my mum to stay there with my nan in her own room for the last weeks, and the emotional support my nan, mum and other family members recieved, as well as, of course, the medical care nan recieved. She liked to go there. She would go one day every week as a user of the day hospice. She was later using the in-patient unit for respite care as she could rest, relax, sleep etc there better than at home. I was nervous the first time I ever went to the hospice. Only because i had pictured hospices in general as horrible, scary places. But it wasn't like that at all. I could see why she liked it there and I began think of it as her holiday home that I wanted to come and stay at too. Well that's what i said in front of her when I visited. Of course, the reality of the situation was the furthest away from a happy holiday you could get.

Farleigh hospice rely solely on donations. So for all the incredibly brave and amazing staff to continue their good work caring for terminally ill individuals and their families as they did for my nan and mine, we need your donations. Any amount you can manage will be greatly appreciated.

I am going to be doing a scary thing; jumping out of an aircraft at 13,000 ft, plummeting towards the ground at speeds of over 120mph... But nowhere near as scary as having cancer.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Gemma x

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