Grace is 'one of the lucky ones'

Grace French is very grateful to St Cuthbert's Hospice

Grace French, from County Durham, had the misfortune to not only deal with breast cancer, but Lymphodema during her treatment.

But, thanks to the help from those at St Cuthbert's Hospice in Durham and a loving husband, she's now able to live a normal life once again.

Grace now volunteers for the hospice because she feels she wants to give something back.

The hospice relies on 160 volunteers to help keep it running.

Keeping calm

Grace reflects on the moment she found out she was diagnosed with breast cancer: "I was very calm, I just knew that the holy spirit was with me and just felt calm."

Her husband, Brian, had just landed in Canada to visit family when he had the phone call from Grace and was on the first plane back to Durham to be with her.

Brian explains: "I didn't want to add more pressure on her, so I just had to sit back and relax and say get on with it.

"She was diagnosed on the Thursday and operated on, the following Tuesday - so we've got a lot of praise for the National Health Service."

After a lumpectomy, which removed part of the breast with the tumour, Grace had six weeks of radiation therapy and was given Tamoxifen, an anti-oestrogen drug that is used widely to treat breast cancer.

Specialist massages

There are many things to buy in the small shop to help contribute to the running of the hospice.

During the period of treatment however, Grace started to experience painful swelling in her right arm.

She suspected that she had developed Lymphedema, a chronic swelling which can occur when the Lymphatic system is damaged during cancer treatment.

"She'd be complaining all night," said Brian, "it got to 5 o'clock in the morning and she said 'I can't take it anymore' and I took her back to Queen Elizabeth Hospital and she was kept in for a week getting 'de-clotted'."

Grace's oncologist then referred her to St Cuthbert's Hospice to help deal with the condition through a series of specialist massages which helped relieve the pains she was having.

Grace fell in love with this hospice after all the help she was given and all of the new friends she had met.

"You can feel the joy and the love as soon as you walk through the door," said Grace.

Becoming a volunteer

She's now determined to give something back to the hospice by becoming a volunteer and keeping in touch with all the friends she has made along the way.

"I just want to give something back, and I'll do anything they want me to do, I'll work in the cafe, I'm doing some administration, I like to help the patients in various ways, but anything I can do, I'll do and it's just a most wonderful place."

Grace is just one of 160 volunteers which are needed at the hospice to keep it running. To find out more about the hospice, becoming a volunteer or donating money for the hospice, visit their website here.