Lin Sinclair, Christie art room volunteer
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| Lin Sinclair |
A few years ago my mother came to The
Christie to be treated for cancer for about six weeks. She had intensive
radiotherapy virtually every day which made her very red and sore.
She told me the nurses used to put
cream on her to ease the pain and rawness, and how gentle they were with her.
The doctors were also marvellous with her and very sympathetic.
Mum had always said she was a coward,
but she was the opposite, she was very courageous, she accepted what she had to
go through, and got on with it. She was amazing.
I visited mum every day at The Christie,
on my way home from work, which was 40 miles away. It was a really stressful
time, but I knew she was in the safest place she could possibly be. I had total
faith in The Christie.
As soon as I walked through the
hospital entrance I felt calm and peaceful. This feeling has never changed, and
carried on when I became a volunteer a few years later.
I think this feeling started from the
initial consultation with the doctor. She said to mum “I think we can help you,
and get rid of the cancer,” and I believed her.
Eventually mum's skin completely healed
and the doctor told her she was cured. They
actually used that word, the cancer had gone and they didn’t think it would
come back. I couldn’t believe it. But they were right, it didn’t come back.
Before I retired, I had The Christie in
the back of my mind, as a place I’d like to work as a volunteer.
I began by doing surveys about the
patient experience at The Christie. This could be on the wards themselves or in
different parts of the hospital.
I found it fascinating because patients
wanted to talk. One teenage boy said to me that the nurses on his ward were more
of a family to him than his own family. Even now, I cannot think about that
without being extremely moved.
It’s like that through the whole hospital,
everyone says the same thing. They all praise the amazing, dedicated, kind
staff.
Eventually, I was told there was a
vacancy in the art room for a volunteer. It appealed to me because my
background is in art and design.
All Christie patients are able to go to
the art room, regardless of whether they have any experience in painting or
art. They are welcomed with open arms. You don’t need an appointment, you just
turn up.
I did not know what to expect, but was
stunned when I walked through the door at the high standard of the work.
The
patients have an inspirational teacher, Pat, who is rated very highly by
everyone in the art room. Her humour and encouragement soon puts everyone at
ease, and they start painting and
experimenting from the very first session.
Many of the paintings are exhibited on
the walls of the hospital and some are for sale too at regular exhibitions. The
sale of paintings helps to raise money for The Christie charity which funds the
art room and many of the other extra services that the NHS can’t pay for at The
Christie.
The art room exists for a very good
reason. It’s to take the patient’s mind off their cancer for a few hours. This
sounds simplistic but this is a highly complex situation that has a massive
psychological effect.
People come to the art room at
different stages of their cancer. Some have just been diagnosed, others are
having treatment or have had treatment.
They are dealing with the diagnosis,
the treatment, plus the effect it is having on their body and their mind. For
many it can be overwhelming.
But when they have a paintbrush in
their hand and a blank canvas in front of them, they are concentrating on the
painting and not the cancer. They are creating something. It seems to change
their mental state. They have a new goal and a new focus.
In some cases they are doing something
they never thought they were capable of. The whole atmosphere of the room has a
calming effect on their minds.
The men and women in the room are able
to talk about their cancer to other people who are going through the same
thing and share their feelings. They all know how they are feeling, because
they have cancer too.
I had no conception of the devastating
and complex effect cancer can have on the mental state of someone, regardless
of the physical effects of the treatment.
Some people say it completely shatters
their confidence. One person said to me that in the very first week of being in
the art room her confidence came back. It had changed her life. It’s difficult
to understand that, until someone tells you face to face.
There is an intimate, family atmosphere
in the art room and friendships are formed and a lot of mutual support is
given. There is a lot of humour and affection.
This is not professional art therapy, as
the teacher Pat is clear to point out, it’s the actual act of painting that has
a therapeutic effect.
My mum was a painter, but she did not
go to the art room at The Christie, which I am sure she would have enjoyed.
This is no ordinary art class, it is
extraordinary. It is full of humanity, warmth and hope.
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