My Breakthrough
My Story by Jenny Skellett
Jenny worked as a Response Desk Manager, for almost 15 years, in the Dept. of Medical Physics & Clinical Engineering at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff before deciding to take early retirement last year. The hospital forms part of Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust and is one of Breakthrough’s Service Pledge sites. In March 2006, breast cancer was discovered in her breast following a routine mammogram, carried out by the Mobile Breast Screening Unit. Jenny has always been "breast aware" but when the cancer was discovered she had felt no lump, so was extremely grateful that the disease was picked up in its early stages through routine screening. Prior to her diagnosis, Jenny had learnt about breast cancer and breast care services when her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer on New Year's Eve in 2003 and at 81 had to undergo a double mastectomy and partial lymph node clearance.
Following her diagnosis, Jenny underwent a lumpectomy and Sentinel Node Biopsy, which was carried out just ten days before her son's wedding. The biopsy results revealed that, thankfully, the cancer had not spread to her lymph nodes but unfortunately she needed further surgery to remove her breast. It was a very difficult time for Jenny, the stress of undergoing two operations in four weeks, and waiting for the results, made her very anxious. She said that she was very grateful to have had the love, help and support of her husband, family and close friends, who kept her spirits up. When the results came through however, she was greeted with good news – the cancer hadn’t spread. So, following on from her mastectomy, Jill was told that she didn't need to go through chemotherapy, which was probably due to the fact that the cancer was detected so early.
Around the same time, as part of the Trust's Service Pledge, the breast care nurses at the University Hospital of Wales were handing out questionnaires to patients, requesting feedback about their experiences of the service. A questionnaire found its way into Jenny’s hands and she immediately took the opportunity to record her experience. A week or so later, Jenny was contacted by Nurse Consultant and Pledge Lead, Nikki West, asking if she would meet a representative from Breakthrough Breast Cancer at the hospital, to discuss her views. Following these discussions, Jenny was contacted by Breakthrough's Campaigns Officer, Madeleine Davies, asking if she was interested in becoming a Patient Representative.
Jenny was delighted to be offered the role because she felt very strongly about the importance of patient-related feedback in healthcare. Jenny had also found the strength to come to terms with her breast cancer quickly and felt confident that she could offer support to other women who had been through a similar experience to herself. She was keen to take up her new role but, just four weeks after her surgery, her mother was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer, so Jenny was unable to devote as much time to the role as she would have liked. However, she wasn’t discouraged and was later able to become involved in various Pledge related meetings, sharing her experiences and helping to analyse the results of the valuable patient questionnaires.
She soon realised that many of the women she had spoken with had expressed similar concerns to herself. A major concern was the need for a dedicated breast unit/ward with several four-bedded bays and single rooms, instead of one very large, and quite noisy, ward. It was felt that facilities (e.g. waiting rooms/ward facilities/privacy etc.) did not match up to the excellent clinical expertise and seemed rather out of date in comparison. Jenny heard about the high standards of care provided by the consultants, doctors, nurses and associated staff during their treatment - a sentiment she also shares.
So, in her new role as Patient Representative, Jenny was keen to embrace these issues and, along with senior members of the Breast Care team, set about writing and finalising the Service Pledge which was officially launched on January 25th, this year. She hopes that in the next few years, Cardiff and Vale's breast care services will be delivered in a single site breast unit, making life much easier for both patients and staff.
