To continue my treatment so near to home was a Godsend
“2018 was one of those really odd times,” recalls Dave, who is 78. “My wife had just been knocked down by a car and was recovering at home. I remember one morning taking a shower then drying myself off, and somehow managed to crack my clavicle.”
In agony, Dave went to the hospital and knew something “wasn’t quite right” after being told to come back in six weeks. When he returned and saw another consultant, he was referred for a scan.
“I was waiting for months, so I went to see someone privately in the interim. After a CT scan, an MRI scan and various blood tests, I was diagnosed with myeloma. From there I got transferred back to Colchester Hospital.”
It was, in fact, incurable multiple myeloma. He was around midway through his subsequent chemo treatment, in 2019, when he heard about the “chemobile”, as he calls it. “It’s only down the road, about a 20-minute walk from where I live in Halstead. The traffic to Colchester takes anywhere up to an hour each way, so for me to continue my treatment so near to home was a Godsend.”
After completing his course of chemotherapy on the mobile unit, he underwent a successful stem cell transplant at St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London. He now returns to the unit every three months for blood tests.
When the mobile unit first emerged on his radar, he admitted to feeling slightly nervous “because you don’t know what it’s going to be like. But once you’ve been inside, it’s just like a mini-hospital. The nurses as always are brilliant, just like at the hospital. But one of the beauties of it is that you get to know some of the people when you visit, and it’s a really lovely atmosphere. Straightaway I get a cup of tea and have a chat with Peter, the driver. All the kit is there and it’s just self-contained.”
It’s more relaxing than going to the hospital because you’re not sitting outside and waiting to be called before walking down a long corridor.
Dave also appreciates the fact that there is no hassle with parking, unlike at the hospital where “you have to drive around for a space as they’re always busy.”
He still gets to see a lot of the same patients from the mobile unit as they all live locally and, he says, because of its sociable environment, it’s like bumping into old friends: “You have a little chat with them to see how they’re getting on – it’s something you don’t do when you’re in the hospital as you don’t generally talk to other people.”
He continues: “My wife and I are big fans of the mobile unit. We donate when we can to support such a brilliant service. The bottom line is, it’s inevitable that my cancer will come back, so it’s in my interest at least to keep it going. Seriously, it’s just a wonderful thing.”
To continue my treatment so near to home was a Godsend
“2018 was one of those really odd times,” recalls Dave, who is 78. “My wife had just been knocked down by a car and was recovering at home. I remember one morning taking a shower then drying myself off, and somehow managed to crack my clavicle.”
In agony, Dave went to the hospital and knew something “wasn’t quite right” after being told to come back in six weeks. When he returned and saw another consultant, he was referred for a scan.
“I was waiting for months, so I went to see someone privately in the interim. After a CT scan, an MRI scan and various blood tests, I was diagnosed with myeloma. From there I got transferred back to Colchester Hospital.”
It was, in fact, incurable multiple myeloma. He was around midway through his subsequent chemo treatment, in 2019, when he heard about the “chemobile”, as he calls it. “It’s only down the road, about a 20-minute walk from where I live in Halstead. The traffic to Colchester takes anywhere up to an hour each way, so for me to continue my treatment so near to home was a Godsend.”
After completing his course of chemotherapy on the mobile unit, he underwent a successful stem cell transplant at St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London. He now returns to the unit every three months for blood tests.
When the mobile unit first emerged on his radar, he admitted to feeling slightly nervous “because you don’t know what it’s going to be like. But once you’ve been inside, it’s just like a mini-hospital. The nurses as always are brilliant, just like at the hospital. But one of the beauties of it is that you get to know some of the people when you visit, and it’s a really lovely atmosphere. Straightaway I get a cup of tea and have a chat with Peter, the driver. All the kit is there and it’s just self-contained.”
It’s more relaxing than going to the hospital because you’re not sitting outside and waiting to be called before walking down a long corridor.
Dave also appreciates the fact that there is no hassle with parking, unlike at the hospital where “you have to drive around for a space as they’re always busy.”
He still gets to see a lot of the same patients from the mobile unit as they all live locally and, he says, because of its sociable environment, it’s like bumping into old friends: “You have a little chat with them to see how they’re getting on – it’s something you don’t do when you’re in the hospital as you don’t generally talk to other people.”
He continues: “My wife and I are big fans of the mobile unit. We donate when we can to support such a brilliant service. The bottom line is, it’s inevitable that my cancer will come back, so it’s in my interest at least to keep it going. Seriously, it’s just a wonderful thing.”
