Giving back to Macmillan and the doctors who have helped my family, is something I'm really looking forward to this Friday at our fundraising Afternoon Tea. It's being held at the a clinic, thanks to our family friend, in the hope that I can thank the local doctors who have taken care of my family, and raise funds for Macmillan at the same time.
I remember taking my dad in an ambulance to our local hospital a year ago, and finding the whole experience bewildering and frightening, as we were passed from ambulance staff, to hospital staff, to a waiting room where we didn't know what was going on. We waited for hours, as new people arrived in the waiting room and were seen by doctors before my dad was. Feeling invisible and forgotten added to the stress of worrying about my dad's health.
Dreading hospitals ever since, I expected the UCH Macmillan Cancer Centre to be equally bewildering and scarey, but nothing could be further from the truth. Stepping into the foyer is like entering an oasis of calm. The reception desk has hanging above it a giant colourful mobile - a positive symbol of hope, and is surrounded by what seems like 4 internal courtyards, with cafes and information desks. Waiting to be seen by a doctor is as civilized a process as I can imagine: as you wait in the comfort of one of the cafe areas, patient names appear on screens in the foyer, alerting them of when they can move up to individual waiting rooms, and you're kept informed of any delays. When you finally see a doctor, all of the options are explained in detail, in spotless, spacious private rooms filled with reassuringly modern looking equipment.
Without Macmillan, and the doctors at their Centre, my family's experience of coping with cancer could have been more frightening, drawn out, and more like that of my grandfather, who died of mouth cancer years ago. Our fundraising Afternoon Tea is in memory of my grandfather, and out of gratitude to Macmillan and their doctors, all of whom I hope to honour.
