Mick and Lorna’s Story

“It was such a relief to have someone come to our home and provide such wonderful care.” 

After being diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in 2022, Mick Taylor had chemotherapy for a number of months, as this made little impact, he was moved onto a newly developed treatment which had none of the side effects of chemotherapy.  Sadly, after a relatively short time, this treatment then started to attack Mick’s healthy lung, Mick made the hard decision to stop treatment knowing he would be able to start receiving palliative care at home when the time came.  His wife Lorna talks about the relief she felt when Rennie Grove Peace came to their home to care for Mick and the constant reassurance the nursing team gave her, Mick and her three daughters in the last weeks of his life. 

Lorna says, “Mick was a fun, friendly, genuine and generous family man. He was a people-person who could connect with every person he met.  He had a wonderful sense of humour which meant that everyone who met him remembered him.  He was a wonderful dad to our three daughters.   

“Mick was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in September 2022, which we were told was treatable but not curable.  Shortly after, in November he had chemotherapy for over six months, which made him very sick.  We then found out the chemo hadn’t made him any better, so he started a different medication, but this started affecting Mick’s healthy lung.  In the end, Mick made the very hard decision to stop treatment. The chemo had made him so ill and we had seen such little difference in the cancer’s progression.  

“Mick hated hospitals. Also, in his head a hospice was for old people who were dying, both things he didn’t consider himself to be.  He decided that if he needed care, he wanted to be cared for at home. 

“We found out about Rennie Grove Peace though some of our friends at the golf club. We decided to contact them directly and a lovely nurse came out to see us in July 2023.  She listened to Mick and what he wanted, as well as assessing his physical needs.  Shortly after, we went on a trip to the Lake District and Mick managed to do some of the shorter walks, he was tired, but well enough to enjoy the holiday.” 

At the end of August 2023, Mick wasn’t doing very well.  He started to use an oxygen machine that he had been given a while before but had never chosen to use.  We called our GP but couldn’t get an appointment.  But I knew something was very wrong, so I phoned Rennie Grove Peace and a nurse from the Hospice at Home team came out to see us at home the very next morning.  The nursing team that visited organised a hospital bed, pain relief medication, and they started visiting twice a day.  It was such a relief to have someone come to our home and provide such wonderful care. 

“The nurses were just so brilliant, Mick was a really proud man, and didn’t want to rely on others for his care, but the nurses talked everything through with him in such a reassuring way and treated him with such dignity.  He wasn’t a number; he was a person.    

“And they weren’t just there for Mick – they were a fantastic support to the girls and I, holding our hands and guiding us through arguably the most difficult week of our lives and making it just that little bit more bearable. 

“Having the nurses and healthcare assistants there meant my daughters were shielded from the physical side of care.  They could do all the nice things with Mick and just be there as company and support.  His sisters and friends came to visit him at home, and I think it made everyone feel more comfortable that he was at home and not in a hospital, which can be quite daunting.   

“I knew I could call the Rennie Grove Peace team at any time of day or night. The Rennie Grove Peace Hospice at Home Team came twice a day, then up to three times a day in Mick’s last few days.   I knew that he was comfortable and having the treatment he needed. I knew I could call the Rennie Grove Peace team at any time of day or night if I had a problem.  At one point Mick tried to get to bathroom and he collapsed so I called the nursing team for help. Knowing that we could call was huge.  Knowing that Mick wanted to stay at home, the last thing he wanted was for us to call emergency services. 

When Mick died, I didn’t want to leave him.  Mick’s hospital bed was in our bedroom and when he died, I stayed and talked to him and the nurses stayed with me. I sat on the bed with the dog.  The nurses helped me do all the practical things you need to do when someone dies. I’ve never seen someone die, and the team talked me through what would happen next.  

Right from our very first dealing with Rennie Grove Peace a month before he passed away, right up to that final week – when they were instrumental in organising a much-needed home visit from our GP, medication and equipment – to the few hours after he passed away, the team always turned up with a kind and reassuring smile.  They treated Mick with such care and compassion, dignity, and respect and for that we will always be grateful.

“We have raised over £11,000 in total.  To say thank you to Rennie Grove Peace, we collected money through JustGiving at Mick’s funeral and held a golf day in Mick’s memory in July. We hope this money will help more people get the care they need”