The little things that mean everything
Felicity and her mum, dad and brothers, Edward and Nathan, visit Naomi House for respite. We spoke to Felicity’s mum, Sarah, about their recent stay and what the hospice means to their family.
Sarah said:
We had a lovely stay at Naomi House. We were able to take some time with our two boys knowing Felicity was being well looked after. We even took the boys out for a day to Paultons Park, as we’re confident leaving Felicity with the care team. It’s very rare we can take the boys out on their own because there isn’t anyone to look after Felicity safely with all her complex medical needs.
We were also able to just spend some quality time with Felicity, letting the care team provide all of her care including feeding, hoisting and administering medications.
It’s very rare we can sit down and just be with Felicity.
We spent some time in the sensory room as Felicity loves the bubble wall, waterbed and different coloured lights. We were able to go swimming every day which we all really enjoyed. This also helped Felicity with physio on her feet, as she hasn’t long had surgery.
Our favourite moment was spending the time in the pool as a family of five. This was the first time Nathan had been swimming and the first time we could all go swimming together.
We will never forget that moment and the beautiful reactions on the children’s faces as they could all play together.
Felicity loves the pool. It’s the only place where she is actually free. Free from equipment, free from people moving her into slings, free to move as she wants in the water. It’s also amazing physiotherapy for her and she just relaxes.
Swimming as a family means everything to us. Sometimes people don’t realise it’s the little things that mean everything. Going swimming together wouldn’t be something we could normally do.
It’s lovely to just spend the time together. The kids’ favourite things are going swimming and playing in the garden. Edward loves the bike that’s low to the floor. During our most recent stay, there were other children he was able to make friends and play with. He loves just being a child and playing with the other children/siblings. The number of times I have lost him to the computer consoles is crazy!
It’s a safe space for him to de-stress and relax around people who understand him. He never wants to go home at the end of our stay.
We also loved all sitting together to have our meals. Life is always so busy, and someone is always doing some sort of care, so we’re never able to just sit down and eat a meal together.
Naomi House help us have a little bit of normality. Having time as a family of five without all the pressure of feeds and care giving. Coming to Naomi House is like a mini holiday, as finding somewhere to go with Felicity has become increasing difficult the older and bigger she gets. Edward in particular struggles with not being able to go away on holidays.
We would just like to say thank you to Naomi House. We are so very grateful for all the time we can have together as a family without any of the worry. All the staff are amazing, from the care team, play team and kitchen staff, to admin and cleaners. All are so kind and caring and would do anything to help. We are so very grateful to you all for supporting our family.
