We interviewed Louise about her new role as Support Manager and why she wanted to join Team Bones!
Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your previous experience?
I sometimes have to pinch myself that I have ended up in a career centered around something that totally changed mine and my family’s lives 5 years ago. A career in cancer started in a hospital waiting room for me and seems to have carried me, with lots of grit and determination, to Team Bones!
I trained at the University of Sheffield to become an adult nurse, knowing very quickly oncology was the right area for me. The ability to connect on a deeper level really resonated with me and I often felt at home on the ward as conversations about treatment, family emotions and future plans filled the room.
I decided to learn from the best and set my sights on the Royal Marsden in London. I wanted to work with patients and families who had been stripped away from their lives as they knew it, turning to the nursing and medical teams to guide them through. I wanted to offer what was once offered to me with my own father and I wanted to do palliative and end of life nursing well. After some time, I realised how essential it was for me to also see the active treatment side of oncology nursing so transferred to the Medical Day Unit where I was given amazing opportunities to deliver life-saving drugs to wonderful patients. A very fast paced environment, the Medical Day Unit taught me a lot of what I really wanted as a nurse. I knew I wanted to be by patients’ and families' sides at all times but how could I do this in such busy, time-pressured environments?
Why did you decide to join Team Bones?
Team Bones felt like an opening in the clouds for me. When I decided I would move home to the North of England from London, I longed to find something purposeful and right for me. I came across the role of Support Manager and felt someone had listened to all I had been feeling and written a vacancy advertisement just for me. I instantly applied, feeling so motivated to learn about primary bone cancer and the Bone Cancer Research Trust. What an amazing charity tucked away in Leeds where I had hoped to move back to. It all felt really... right!
The idea of supporting patients, families, healthcare professionals and other charitable organisations felt instinctively good. I remember having a fizz in my stomach when I first read of the Bone Cancer Research Trust and to be honest, it is yet to leave me since starting!
What do you hope to offer patients and their loved ones as Support Manager?
Whilst I wish I could wave a magic wand, finding answers and solutions for everything, I hope my personal and professional backgrounds intertwined will go some way in supporting and perhaps, brightening the path of cancer through the realm of support. I feel proud every day of working at the Bone Cancer Research Trust and count my chickens I decided to make that application to go into nursing all those years ago.
Do you need support or information? If so, you can contact Louise by clicking below.
