As part of this week’s national Hospice Care Week (October 9 to 15), Cornwall Hospice Care today launches a campaign called #ChallengingPerceptions aimed at busting the myths about adult hospice care.

At the centre of the project is Caroline Brown, from Par. Caroline had breast cancer five years ago, she’s a survivor and she isn’t dying, but she does need to visit Mount Edgcumbe Hospice once a week.

After having a lump removed and her breast reconstructed, Caroline developed a condition called Lymphoedema. It’s a swelling in the body’s tissues associated with her cancer.  

A Train Guard, Caroline has a very physical job and some of the work can aggravate her symptoms, so she visits Clinical Nurse Specialist Helen Treleaven for treatment.

‘It’s a lifeline for me,’ says Caroline, ‘it keeps me going in every way and I can carry on working, which is important to me. 

‘My perception of the hospice before coming here was probably similar to everyone else in that I thought you just come here and don’t leave again.

‘I didn’t realise just what was here because as well as the Lymphoedema support, I also had physiotherapy here after my operation. Now I just come in, I see Helen for half an hour and I go again. It’s absolutely brilliant and much needed.

‘I get mixed reactions when I tell people I come to the hospice. To others it’s a place where people die. For me it’s a happy place and the support here gives me a quality of life.

‘People also need to understand that when they give money it’s not for one thing, it’s for all the services the charity provides to both in and out patients.’

#ChallengingPerceptions begins in the same week that Cornwall Hospice Care is opening the charity’s first two Neighbourhood Hubs in Wadebridge and Penzance in a determined effort to reach out and support people with terminal illnesses nearer to their homes.

The charity will address a myth a day for seven days. Follow #ChallengingPerceptions at www.cornwallhospicecare.co.uk or visit Facebook and Twitter pages @cornwallhospice and Cornwall Hospice Care