‘How hospice care changed my life’
Never in her wildest dreams did she ever think she would go from someone who felt useless to now start planning a life again, the same person who could hardly eat anything to now enjoying three meals a day.
Ingrid Berning (70) from Alberton is a shining example of how dramatically Hospice care can improve the quality of a cancer patient’s life.
“I absolutely resisted such care. To be honest, I was terrified of Hospice. I honestly believed that you go to Hospice to die,” Ingrid explained from her bed in the Stepping Stone Hospice’s in-patient unit in Alberton.
Ingrid was first diagnosed with aggressive cancer in September last year. After undergoing treatment, which included 55 radiation sessions, she was sent home. She stayed in a granny flat on her son’s property in Alberton.
“I became very ill at home and couldn’t take care of myself anymore. Sr Christa du Toit from Stepping Stone Hospice started visiting me, but I refused to co-operate with her,” she smilingly admitted.
“I’m just so grateful that she persevered with me.”
Du Toit said that she refused to give up on Ingrid.
“She desperately needed Hospice care and I eventually persuaded her to be admitted as an in-patient.”
Ingrid now only has the highest praise for Stepping Stone Hospice and its staff.
“They treat me with so much respect and I can feel the love with which they execute their duties. There is nothing false about them. I don’t just eat proper meals now, but they also even got me walking around a bit.”
And the best news of all, Ingrid was well enough to be discharged on August 24, a day after this interview. She went to a frail-care facility.
“To be honest, I almost feel like I would rather stay here,” she said with a twinkle in her eye. “These people are nursing angels and I can just count my lucky stars that I eventually came into their care.”
