When they first told me about the mobile unit I thought, ‘oh, great, that’s a lot nearer.’
“I suppose it all started about three years ago when I found a lump in my breast while doing Pilates,” recalls Lynne, who is 65 and lives in Fairford, Gloucestershire. “I could feel a hardness while I was lying on the floor, so I made an appointment with my GP, who said it was nothing to worry about.”
This happened during COVID, when “everything was quite difficult, and they were just getting you in and out as quickly as possible. Then about six months later, I was in the shower, and I could actually feel that really, something wasn’t good.”
She saw another GP, who this time referred her to Cheltenham hospital for a mammogram, before undergoing a biopsy on the same day. “They realised that it was more likely to be cancer, so they sort of prepare you.”
When she returned for the results, it confirmed the news she’d been dreading. She was immediately given a treatment plan and started on a course of Paclitaxel. After suffering a minor reaction to the drug, her treatment was initially carried out under the hospital’s supervision before she was able to switch to the unit.
“When they first told me about the mobile unit I thought, ‘oh, great, that’s a lot nearer.’ And then I suppose I was slightly nervous in that I had had this reaction, but the steroids and histamine prevented any further issues.
The girls on there were brilliant, and it was lovely to meet local people who were in the same boat, albeit with different cancers.
Being the pandemic, you felt less alone. Because you were physically closer to people during lockdown, you could actually chat in a safe environment. That was the nicest thing for me. Whereas at the hospital, unless you shouted, you couldn’t really talk to people from a distance.”
Her journey time has also been halved. A 50-minute trip now takes no more than 25 minutes by car to the unit’s Cirencester site. Lynne’s husband has to make the journey with her as she’s unable to drive due to neuropathy, a side effect from the drug.
She says she’s benefitted from the time saved, as it means “more time to just get out in the fresh air.”
Lynne was unable to continue her job as a nurse due to the chemo’s side effects, so she now currently works part-time in a shop. “It’s all a bit of a shock. Dealing with the diagnosis and then having to give up work is such a change of life. But there wouldn’t be anything negative I could say about the unit, in all honesty.”
When they first told me about the mobile unit I thought, ‘oh, great, that’s a lot nearer.’
“I suppose it all started about three years ago when I found a lump in my breast while doing Pilates,” recalls Lynne, who is 65 and lives in Fairford, Gloucestershire. “I could feel a hardness while I was lying on the floor, so I made an appointment with my GP, who said it was nothing to worry about.”
This happened during COVID, when “everything was quite difficult, and they were just getting you in and out as quickly as possible. Then about six months later, I was in the shower, and I could actually feel that really, something wasn’t good.”
She saw another GP, who this time referred her to Cheltenham hospital for a mammogram, before undergoing a biopsy on the same day. “They realised that it was more likely to be cancer, so they sort of prepare you.”
When she returned for the results, it confirmed the news she’d been dreading. She was immediately given a treatment plan and started on a course of Paclitaxel. After suffering a minor reaction to the drug, her treatment was initially carried out under the hospital’s supervision before she was able to switch to the unit.
“When they first told me about the mobile unit I thought, ‘oh, great, that’s a lot nearer.’ And then I suppose I was slightly nervous in that I had had this reaction, but the steroids and histamine prevented any further issues.
The girls on there were brilliant, and it was lovely to meet local people who were in the same boat, albeit with different cancers.
Being the pandemic, you felt less alone. Because you were physically closer to people during lockdown, you could actually chat in a safe environment. That was the nicest thing for me. Whereas at the hospital, unless you shouted, you couldn’t really talk to people from a distance.”
Her journey time has also been halved. A 50-minute trip now takes no more than 25 minutes by car to the unit’s Cirencester site. Lynne’s husband has to make the journey with her as she’s unable to drive due to neuropathy, a side effect from the drug.
She says she’s benefitted from the time saved, as it means “more time to just get out in the fresh air.”
Lynne was unable to continue her job as a nurse due to the chemo’s side effects, so she now currently works part-time in a shop. “It’s all a bit of a shock. Dealing with the diagnosis and then having to give up work is such a change of life. But there wouldn’t be anything negative I could say about the unit, in all honesty.”
