Getting Miss A home to recover after cancer operations

When Miss A found a lump in her breast in March 2010 her GP told her it was nothing to worry about. But when she had it checked out seven months later, after finding a lump in her other breast, she was told that the first lump was cancerous. Miss A, who lives with her partner in Brentford, said: "The diagnosis came the day after I got back from a two week trip to Kenya. My holiday was soon forgotten. For a while I felt completely numb, I didn't do anything, then I became scared. It really is one of the worst things somebody can tell you. But it was probably worse for my partner – to see somebody you love diagnosed with something like this," she said.

Despite the shock, Miss A says she felt very reassured by her consultant, who told her that the form of cancer she was suffering from had one of the best cure rates. Four months on, Miss A, who doesn't look or sound anywhere near her 73 years, is now cancer-free and nearing the end of her treatment, which involved two operations to remove the malignant lump and her lymph nodes, followed by a course of radiotherapy.

After her second operation, Miss A spent two nights in hospital before returning home where she continued to receive postoperative care from MediHome. A nurse would visit her on a daily basis to change her dressings, check on her condition and empty her drain, used to collect fluid from her wounds.

Miss A said: "They get you out of hospital as quickly as possible because of increased risk of infection. I know I might sound over enthusiastic but MediHome were brilliant. It's much better being treated at home. I think the sooner you can get out of hospital the better. If I had any worries the MediHome nurses were very reassuring”

She added: "The thing that amazes me about all my treatment is that I thank God for the NHS. It gets a lot of criticism but I couldn't fault it. As soon as I was diagnosed I was given a Macmillan nurse, which was brilliant, and my treatment in hospital and then at home was just wonderful."

In February 2011, Miss A was approaching the end of her radiotherapy. She said: "I've had it five times a week for three weeks and now I've only got two more sessions so I am feeling very perky and looking forward to the future. The prognosis is good."