From surviving to living.

The emotional challenges of Jack's journey were only half the picture. Crippling nerve pain from radiotherapy damage and the spread of cancer to his spine meant his quality of life was deteriorating further.

He reached a point where he couldn't pick up his children or mow the lawn – the everyday moments that help him stay grounded in the chaos of living with his condition.

“It’s these seemingly little things,” he reflects, “that you miss most when you don’t have them. The kids would say, ‘Daddy, put me on your shoulders’, and I’d have to turn them away. It was heartbreaking.”

At Mountbatten’s new outpatient clinic, consultant nurse Jackie Whiller overhauled Jack’s medication so he could play with the kids, “potter and tinker” around the house and take a memory-making trip of a lifetime.

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“My motto is: we live until we die,” Jackie explains. “When Jack came to clinic, he was in a lot of pain and on a complicated mix of medications, but he was so focused on doing everything he possibly could to stay alive for his family.”

Drawing on her own experience of chronic pain, Jackie also gave Jack a direct line to call the service if he needed it.

“We worked together to get his pain under control so he could be the best version of himself,” she says. “Sometimes it’s about one small change in medication – and knowing someone will be on the other end of the phone – that gives someone the confidence to go out and live again.”

This expert knowledge, combined with Jackie’s lived experience, has been transformative for Jack.

“When I first saw Jackie, I was frightened we’d run out of options,” Jack says. “GPs had added more and more drugs, and I was at the maximum dose of some of them. Jackie sat with me, went through everything, and said, “There is more we can do.’

“Just hearing that gave me hope. She helped me understand my pain and my medicines, and that meant I could dare to plan things again, instead of just surviving day to day.

“I actually gave her a hug after that first session – I just felt so much better.”

“Once Jack’s pain was better managed,” says Jackie, “he could look forward and actually live the time he has.”

On the next page, read how Jack and his family made a memory-making trip of a lifetime, thanks to Jane and Jackie's support.

Click here to turn the page and read more >

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