Hearing bad news

On Friday 13th June 2008, just 4 days after my husband, went to his GP feeling excessively tired, we were called back to Colchester General Hospital to meet with Dr Campbell. He explained that my husband had a rare and aggressive cancer called Mantle Cell Lymphoma.
Our nurse, Karen, took us straight down to the ward for my husband to have a blood transfusion. Karen saw my face and asked if I’d like to go somewhere private. We went into a small cramped office and I sat on the only chair. I started sobbing – I was in shock and just let it all out. After talking to her for some time, we left the room and it was then that I realised the entire ward had heard me. What really upset me was that my husband had heard me – I needed to be strong for him and didn’t want him worried. If there had been somewhere for relatives to have some privacy away from the ward, my outburst would have stayed between Karen and myself. Instead it was shared with patients and staff.