There was a score to be settled, a show to be seen, The destination was London, and LOROS made it happen!

A brief back story

My name is Peter Huckle, and I am currently a patient here at LOROS Hospice. Way back at the end of 2014 I went down to London with my best friend Vikki to see The Lion King on stage, we had been waiting for months to go but when we went the magic just wasn't there for me. I was feeling unwell, very unwell in fact. And because of this I didn't really engage with the show and didn't get the chance to enjoy it. I was home that evening and straight to bed, I couldn't get up the next day I was really suffering. Vikki gave me her unprofessional diagnosis of "Man Flu", and I just needed to get over it, but this advice wasn't really helpful, so I sought a more reliable diagnosis. As it turned out I had T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia, which if left untreated would see me dead within 2 weeks. Needless to say, I didn't ask Vikki for her medical opinions again!

I would then go on to spend the next four and a half years having countless procedures and treatments, including a bone marrow transplant which ultimately failed, causing multiple organ failure, most recently my lungs. I've no immune system and only 20% lung capacity. My breathing issues now limit what I can do outside of the home.

Having been a chef for my entire career starting in the RAF and then travelling around the world, cooking has always been my passion. However, due to my health and the physically demanding nature of the kitchens. I would not go back into work again in that capacity, so I formulated a plan to go to university and get my degree and become a lecturer in my field. Unfortunately, my health has deteriorated to the point where this has been taken off the table too. I can't lie, that was a big blow to me. I needed to put something back onto the horizon to look forward to.

I came into LOROS Hospice as an inpatient with very poor health on the 13th July although I had been attending their day therapy services for about a year by that point. I was hoping to come in with some sort of infection or a virus, you know, something reversible but that hasn't been the case.

Despite all of this in the back of my mind I knew I still had a score to settle in London, I swore that I would one day go back to London and re-watch The Lion King and enjoy the full magical experience. I thought this could be the exact sort of thing to satisfy my need to have something positive on the horizon to look forward to.

I had been given a grant from the John Heggs/Bates fund for £200 to have a day trip out somewhere nice, and I thought that going to see The Lion King could be a perfect use of that grant. When the thought popped into my head I was sat with my Physiotherapist Kerry, who had been supporting me for a few weeks by this point, and I think she was inspired by my tale and my goal she made it her personal mission to get the team at LOROS to make this happen for me. I was overwhelmed by how fast she worked and how much effort everyone at LOROS put in to see the dream come true! It wasn't going to be an easy task, transporting vast amounts of oxygen to London and having contingencies for our contingency plans but with all of LOROS's expertise, we were off the following Saturday!

Vikki came up from Portsmouth to meet us and relive that day from four and a half years ago, and it was every bit as magical as I had dreamed it would be even though I am actually in a worse physical state than I was back then! The seats we had were the best in the house, the show itself was fantastic. Every bit about my special day was perfect. But once the show finished, we couldn't hang about in London as we were on an "oxygen Time Limit" so we said our goodbyes to Vikki and headed back to the hospice. I was exhausted by the time we got back but it was well worth it. LOROS did something for me that day that I will forever be grateful for. And I would really just like to mention the extra efforts of The Dr's, Nurses, and in particular Kerry my Physio and Mike who was our expert driver for making all of this happen for me.

I will continue under the care of LOROS and its services, whether at the hospice or at home, where I find their day therapy invaluable and the counselling services a massive help. For someone in my situation, I couldn't think of a better place to be. If I get any better, then amazing but if not then I'm in just the right place here at LOROS.

Thank
you to everyone here.

Peter
Huckle