Rabia Khonat

Mother of 5 Rabia Khonat, 56 from Blackburn received hospice care that daughter Hajra said took the worry away for her family:

“My Mum started feeling unwell in early January 2014. Doctors diagnosed her with cancer after she had suffered from breast cancer 12 years previously and had a mastectomy. She had a lump in her breast and had a second lump over her heart.

My brother’s wedding was in August and my Mum wanted to be well enough to attend that. She started taking medication for 3 or 4 months which improved her symptoms and meant she’d be ok at the wedding.

She was also having back pain and she wasn’t sure if that was related to her condition, but after the wedding she had a scan which revealed that the cancer had spread to her bones and that was what had been causing the pain.

In September she started receiving palliative care as we couldn’t manage her pain at home as a family. She needed 24 hour care so the hospice was suggested to us. It was ironic as my parents had done fundraising for the hospice. Around Christmas 2013 they both took part in a bucket collection, not thinking that my Mum would need hospice care so soon after. Neither of them had visited the hospice to look around so when the hospice was brought up in conversation, my Mum was naturally scared. At first she was worried about not coming out again. But once we went into the hospice we saw that she was better there than at home.

In the first couple of weeks she had help from the physio and we had support that we didn’t expect, not just from the nurses. The kitchen staff were so accommodating when our family brought food in and would heat it up for us as well as providing an extra food we needed. There was always someone around and nothing was too much trouble.

When my Mum needed pain medication there was someone there to help. We received care you wouldn’t get at home. We were able to stay over in the overnight guest room and there was always room for visitors to come.

Mum spent 7 weeks in the hospice and they were accommodating in every manner; wellbeing, happiness, and a caring environment for us to spend time together as a family. There was no way we could have managed at home with visitors coming and caring for Mum but the hospice took that worry away.

The hospice is a truly amazing place. It gave my Mum peace, and the value of life we have for our family. We couldn’t have had our Mum in a better place. It provided her with everything she needed.”

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