10 August 2022
Sunaina, from the West Midlands, was on service with Sciensus from March 2019 until undergoing a liver transplant in May 2020. Here Sunaina explains how Sciensus’ nurses provided emotional as well as medical support whilst administering antibiotics at home three times a day, every day, for 15 months.
Sunaina, a hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery patient, explains that whilst on service Sciensus nurses visited three times every day, in the morning, afternoon and evening.
“For 15 months, I saw them more than my family and friends,” Sunaina says. “They were absolutely incredible.”
One of the benefits of being on service with Sciensus was the support that nurses could offer as it became clear that Sunaina would have to undergo surgery. The original course of antibiotics was supposed to last between eight and 12 weeks, with the hospital unable to say whether the treatment would work, or how long it would be needed for.
Sunaina says: “Every time I had an appointment with bad news, the Sciensus nurses were so supportive. I could talk to them not just about the illness, but about anything.
“It was great to have them around. I had around 10 nurses, on rotation, and I built up a relationship with every one of them.”
Emotional as well as practical support
Sunaina praises the nurses’ flexibility and levels of communication, which allowed some aspects of life to stay relatively normal despite the illness.
“They were always really accommodating,” Sunaina says. “They’d move the visits around so that I’d be seen a little sooner or a little later, to give me as much freedom as I could possibly have.
“I can’t say enough good things about them; they’re amazing people.”
Sunaina’s mother, who lives locally, was also ill at the time, “so having the Sciensus nurses not just for medical support, but mentally and emotionally too, was exactly what I needed.
“I could contact them, and they’d often let me know when they were on their way, which was really helpful.
“If I needed to change the schedule, or if I needed medication, they’d converse with the hospital rather than me having to do it – whether it was picking up medicine, or speaking to a doctor about getting something prescribed. They were incredibly helpful.”
Sunaina also explains how, having been on service for so long and having treatment with such frequency, an ongoing relationship with some of the nurses has formed.
“It was my one-year liver transplant anniversary on the 26th of May this year,” Sunaina says, “and some of the Sciensus nurses came over to visit and congratulate me. That was really nice.”