Dying Matters Week: Rob McCann shares his experience of writing his Advance Care Plan

"The day I discovered I had pancreatic cancer was the day I was told I had between 3 weeks and 3 months left to live. Eighteen months later and I’m still going strong! I consider myself to be a very lucky person."

"I go to the Hospice Hub drop-in every week where Laura, one of the Hospice Community Nurses, makes things happen. Laura ensures I have no pain whatsoever, and she keeps my oncologist and my GP informed so that everything is joined up.  

Laura suggested I should think about my Advance Care Plan. She said it would help me formulate what I would want to happen if I had a heart attack or broke a leg, for example. This made sense because I recently spent seven hours in A&E waiting to be seen, and I would think twice about going through that again!  So, my partner Sue and I filled in the form together. 

One of the questions was, “Where do you want to die?” That was easy to answer, because I know I want to end my days in the hospice.   

I have a little labradoodle called Freddy and we go everywhere together. I couldn’t bear the thought of being parted from Freddy towards the end. When I asked Laura what the score was with dogs at the hospice, she said without hesitation that they were welcome. That’s what swung it for me! 

When I was a kiddie, nobody talked about death. My sister and I were living with my grandparents when my grandfather died. All the blinds were shut, and we were sent to a back room when the hearse arrived. We weren’t allowed to know anything about it. 

Now there is much more awareness and discussion about death and illness, and that’s a good thing."