‘We Expected Miss Trunchbull; We Got Tina!’ How ellenor Gave Darcie Care – and Companionship
When eight-year-old Darcie started experiencing pains in her left leg, her mum Natasha was quick to get her to the doctor.
But after several misdiagnoses – ‘growing pains’, for example – the real cause of the issue emerged. It was Ewing sarcoma – a rare, aggressive form of bone cancer.
“It turned our family upside down,” says Natasha. “No one knew what to expect, or how to react – no one, on either side of the family, had ever been in this kind of situation. It was new to all of us; it broke us.
“When you hear ‘cancer’, you fear the worst.”
One day, Darcie’s life was a normal one – going to school, playing with her four siblings, winding her mum up. The next? She’d begun an intense round of chemotherapy – and required almost round-the-clock care.
From Darent Valley Hospital, Darcie was referred to Marsden – then to University College London Hospital, a leading expert in the treatment of Ewing sarcoma.
It was the best place Darcie could receive care. But of course, for the Kings – who live in Gravesend – the London-based hospital presented its own set of logistical challenges. Natasha doesn’t drive, and caring for her four other children is a full-time job.
At this point, ellenor – a hospice charity that provides care for patients with life-limiting illnesses, and their families, throughout the Kent and Bexley communities – stepped in. The remit? To provide vital treatments to Darcie, from her own home.
Yet to those that haven’t been touched directly by its care, that word – ’hospice’ – tends to conjure up the wrong connotations. So when Natasha heard that ellenor would be entering the picture, she was sceptical – until she met Tina, that is.
Tina Dodd, Children’s Palliative Care Nurse Specialist at ellenor, was assigned as Darcie’s nurse. And she was quick to reassure Natasha as to what hospice care is really all about.
“To be honest, I didn’t know what to expect,” recalls Natasha. “But then Tina walked in and, being Tina, just made things ten times easier. She was so calming, and just explainedeverything. She’s brilliant with the kids, too – all five of them. She doesn’t treat them any differently to Darcie, or pay Darcie more attention. She’s just good all round!
“Tina explained to us that the word ‘hospice’ didn’t mean Darcie was going to go into the hospice. Just that she’d receive care, at home, from ellenor’s nurses.”
Every week, Tina visits the King home to take Darcie’s blood tests and change her dressings. Then, she cleans and changes Darcie’s Hickman line – a tube that enables Darcie to receive antibiotics painlessly and easily.
The visits, in and of themselves, are short. The treatments are simple. But every week, they save the King family immense costs – in both time and money. Because of ellenor, the Kings don’t have to spend hours travelling to and from hospital to receive similar treatment – all while racking up costs in petrol and time off work.
Because of ellenor, Darcie can receive the medical interventions she needs to fight her battle with cancer from her own home. She can have her bloods checked while chatting to her sister, or have her dressings changed sitting opposite her mum. All from her own front room – not the waiting room of a hospital.
“Darcy hated going to hospital. So for Tina to come out and do her bloods, Darcie’s not having to go anywhere she doesn’t want to. Once Darcie’s bloods are done, Tina rings me to let us know if we need to do anything. She lets me know first – rather than panicking me by calling me into the hospital!
“Without Tina and ellenor, we’d be quite lost. And in places no one would want to be in.”
But for Darcie and Natasha, Tina’s visits are about so much more than the care, or the convenience. They’re about the compassion, the camaraderie – and the companionship.
“Tina’s like family. I’m not a people person myself – I get anxious and nervous meeting new people. But Tina’s made it so easy – we just clicked.
“As for Darcie, she gets so much joy from Tina; she buzzes around her, bounces off her. Well, Darcie likes all her ellenor nurses, to be fair – she’s a people person! But she’s grown particularly close with Tina. And she gets that extra bit excited when she knows Tina is coming. You expect Ms Trunchbull [from Matilda] to come in. And we got Tina!”
Tina and Darcie enjoy a close connection. But for mum Natasha, Tina’s experience, expertise, and empathy offer another layer of benefits.
“Every time Tina’s round, she’s not just treating Darcie – she’s sharing information. Giving us her knowledge about which symptoms to look out for, and about the course of Darcie’s treatment – things that aren’t always explained to you in a hospital. Tina’s even taught me how to administer injections, so I can help care for Darcie when Tina’s not here.”
And, though Tina’s care centres mainly on the clinical, it doesn’t do so exclusively. ellenor’s care is holistic – meaning it treats the individual, rather than their illness alone. For the Kings, this has included financial support, as well as the offer of free counselling via ellenor.
As part of this wider, more inclusive approach to care, Tina has visited Darcie’s school – working with the staff there to educate teachers and pupils about the girl’s condition. Tina has also written a letter to the local council to explain the King situation – aiming to secure the seven-person family a place that offers more room than their current two-bedroom flat.
It means the world.
“ellenor are amazing – just amazing. If it wasn’t for them, we would be struggling – and so many other families would be, too. Having to make their own way to hospital, finding their own way of buying the stuff they need. Darcie’s needed a whole new wardrobe, for example, and ellenor’s been able to suggest clothes for her.
“If they weren’t there, how would I know what to buy her?”
Tina’s role involves, primarily, caring for Darcie. But it goes beyond that – in so many ways. It’s about caring for the family, too – and helping relieve the incredible burdens the situation places on them.
“The minute you hear the word ‘cancer’, as a mum, so many things go through your head. You get explained things by doctors and oncology professionals, but not in a way that you understand – until you get a nurse from ellenor. They come in and explain stuff so well that it feels half as bad as it ever was. They take such a weight off your shoulders – just by explaining.”
The best part? With ellenor in support, Darcie can get up to her usual tricks – singing, dancing, and telling jokes. And, of course, regain her right to something every eight-year-old deserves – the right to be a regular child.
Darcie is now cancer free and doing well, back to being herself with her family around her.
