Joe's Story

As told by his wife Justine

My husband Joe was diagnosed with untreatable cancer at the age of 58. He took the news well at first but once symptoms started to set in with his mobility and speech; that was when he realised he was going to die.

On Joe’s first visit to Overgate he spent just under two weeks there as they helped with his pain management, and the nurses and doctors were just fantastic with him. During his time at the Hospice Joe kept the staff on their toes. He didn’t want to stay in bed all day and would wander off to do his own thing. We still laugh about the time he ended up in a bush in the garden and had to be rescued by the nurses! Things like this made us laugh and made a very difficult time just that bit easier to deal with.

Joe came back home just in time for Christmas but he had decided at that point that he wanted to go to back the Hospice to die when the time came. Before the New Year Joe returned to the Hospice after contracting a bad chest infection and becoming very uncomfortable at home. He spent the final thirteen days of his life at the Hospice, somewhere he felt settled and wanted to be.

Having Joe cared for at the hospice took a huge amount of pressure off me. I knew he was being well looked after and that meant that I could spend quality time with him. On 10^th January Joe died with great dignity at Overgate. He received the care that he needed and died the way that he wanted to die. The care that I received following Joe’s death was also incredible and the counselling sessions really helped because it really is so hard.

I personally cannot thank Overgate enough which is why as a family, we will always do everything we can to support the amazing work they do.