Gillian Matthews calling time on chemotherapy treatment

A breast cancer patient at The Royal Oldham Hospital has called time on her chemotherapy treatment by ringing a special bell installed at the hospital’s Victoria Breast Care Unit.

The bell, which has been placed in the waiting area of the unit, is one that only chemotherapy patients can ring when they are celebrating the end of their treatment plan.

Gillian Matthews from Middleton was the first person to ring the bell as she celebrated the culmination of five months of chemotherapy.

Diagnosed with breast cancer in June 2017, Gillian has undergone a lumpectomy, 12 courses of chemotherapy and has recently started radiotherapy. 

She said: “When I was first diagnosed with breast cancer it completely floored me.  I have had an aggressive form of cancer but thankfully the early detection of it has saved my life.

“I was terrified of having chemotherapy as I had heard so many stories of people being ill with the side effects from it. 

"The wonderful Macmillan nurses at the Victoria Breast Care Unit, whom I call Gill’s angels have got me through the treatment.  They have saved my life and brought me through the toughest time of my life.

“Ringing the bell was a very poignant moment for me.  It felt emotional to ring it as it was me saying to the cancer ‘I have beaten you’ and it symbolised the start of my new life after cancer.”

Lindsey Dawson, Macmillan lead chemotherapy nurse for The Royal Oldham Hospital, said: “Completing a course of chemotherapy is a momentous occasion for any patient as at the start of their chemo journey they are understandably frightened and can’t envisage the end of their treatment. The bell, therefore, gives the patients something to aim for as it signifies the end of their current journey and fills them with a sense of hope and strength for the future.

“We were so proud when Gillian rang the bell and all the staff cheered. 

"Other patients are now looking forward to ringing it in the future when they have finished their chemotherapy treatment.”

The bell was donated by Elizabeth Burns, who had also received treatment at the Victoria Unit for breast cancer. 

The brass bell was originally used to ‘call time’ at a local pub where Elizabeth’s grandmother was the landlady.

When patients ring the bell, they also recite the poem:

Ring this bell
Three times well
It’s toll to clearly say
My treatment’s done
This course is run,
And I’m on my way