Six years ago I first met mouth cancer survivors Carol Dunstone and Ann Bennett, an encounter which left me profoundly impressed by their cheerfulness and bravery.
There are no easy cancers to deal with, but during that interview – to publicise the friends’ book which told their stories – I recall feeling a wave of sympathy as I listened to their personal ordeals.
Ann, a complementary therapist from Dallington, had been diagnosed after finding an ulcer in her mouth and went on to have a section of her tongue and the floor of her mouth removed and rebuilt.
Meanwhile Carol, an artist from Boughton, had a third of her tongue removed and part of the back of her mouth.
I heard stories of how they learned to speak again and managed day-to-day tasks, such as eating.
But their own experiences left the energetic duo with a strong desire to help other cancer sufferers.
Following on from Carol setting up the Facefax support group in 2001, she teamed up with Ann three years ago this month to open the Dunstone Bennett Complementary Therapy Centre, offering therapies such as reiki and massage to adults with all types of cancer, and their families.
The charity, run in association with Facefax, is now based in Billing Road, Northampton, and its trustees recently announced that the centre’s volunteer therapists will soon be going into the Disney children’s ward at Northampton General Hospital (NGH), to offer complementary therapies to young outpatients with cancer... and to their parents.
The aim of the Dunstone Bennett therapists is to help cancer patients and their families cope with the physical and emotional stress that can come hand in hand with a diagnosis.
Ann explained: “We both wanted something that would help patients cope. The concept is that rather than assuming ‘you have cancer, you are going to die’, that you have a more positive mind-set and a positive mind-set can play a big part; to have that attitude of fighting this rather than giving up.
“Someone said to me ‘I have cancer, that is it now’ and I said to them, ‘well I had cancer eight years ago.’”
Carol, Ann and the centre’s team are currently planning for launch event later this month, at Northampton’s Maharaja restaurant, to mark their latest Disney ward project.
Ann said: “It all came about when Disney ward phoned me and said they wanted to invite Carol and I to one of their fund-raisers. We couldn’t because we were going to another fund-raiser, but then I thought ‘is there something better we can do?’ So I said, if you like we could offer therapies on Disney ward. The parents and patients are going through such a lot at that time, the complementary therapies could really help.”
She continued: “We don’t promise a cure but we can support people. If your body relaxes then a natural healing will start to happen and the effects have been brilliant.
“We are all volunteers and doing this for no other reason other than to help.”
Carol, who also had treatment for kidney cancer earlier this year, said: “The feedback has been very positive. When I was given my first diagnosis I felt so alone. I couldn’t keep going back to the family because they found it hard too.”
Jane Tebbutt, children’s Macmillan outreach nurse at NGH, said: “Cancer is a very emotive thing anyway and when you have a child involved it becomes almost more emotive. Parents are on call 24 hours a day; they don’t have any time for themselves or time to relax. Because the treatments for childhood cancers will lower the immune system, children can be well one minute and ill the next.
“These treatments allow them some time to relax, some time for themselves; some parents almost need permission to do that as they get so involved in their children’s treatment and keeping family commitments.
“This will also benefit the children immensely as they are hoping to work with some of the children as well, depending on getting permission from consultants and patients.”
When Navin Bhatt was diagnosed with tongue cancer four years ago, the effects on his life were dramatic. After an operation to remove the tumour, he could not speak for a year and then had to learn how to talk all over again. He was also left coping with pains in his neck and shoulders.
But through the maxillofacial unit at Northampton General Hospital, Navin and his wife, Vina, who live in Northampton, were put in touch with the Dunstone Bennett Complementary Therapy Centre.
Both Vina and Navin received therapies including massage and reiki.
Navin said: “When you have something like tongue cancer, your life changes and everything stops.”
Vina said: “The emotional trauma it puts on the family is unbelievable. It transforms your life all of a sudden. That is where the Dunstone Bennett suite really comes into its own.
“One of the things that not many people know about is the personal touch the suite provides, it is like an extended family.”
Navin said: “You are with people who empathise with what you are going through and that was a tremendous thing for both of us, being with people who have been through similar things.”
Vina added: “We are really grateful to all the staff there, The people there are providing treatment as a voluntary service.”
Another of the centre’s clients is 18-year-old Adam Pearce, from Duston, who had reiki therapy after losing his father to leukaemia.
He said: “I was struggling and my mum was as well. Reiki is quite weird. They put their hands over your eyes and stomach and I could feel this warmth going through me. It was a weird experience but made me much more relaxed.
“When you go for a massage it give you half an hour to take your mind off things. My dad passed away from leukaemia, he had it since I was one and passed away in January two years ago. I had my GCSEs in the June/July, just after. To be honest I just shut off, I got through my GCSEs and that is when it hit me and I felt bad. It was like I did not know what to do, I needed somewhere to go.”
For details, visit www.facefax.co.uk
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