Albie and Louis’ story: “Thank you Jessie May”

Albie and Louis are twin boys aged two. Their family are supported by Jessie May nurses.

Support at home

Their specialist nurses provide at home nursing and respite care for children and young people that have a terminal or life-limiting condition throughout the South West.

“Our Lifetime nurse could see that we were exhausted and struggling with caring for the boys. She referred us to Jessie May with a view to getting us some help,” said their mum, Alex.

Alex was nervous about welcoming new people into her home: “It’s very unnerving to go from living a ‘normal’ life, to suddenly having lots of professionals involved and people in your home environment. However, the team were so friendly and were amazing with the boys, I felt at ease very quickly.”

Helping with the day to day

The Jessie May team play with the boys, feed them, bath them and get them ready for bed: “These are some of the most stressful components of their routine.”

This support frees up Alex to spend some 1:1 time with her eldest son: “I can pick him up from school by myself and we will often do an activity together.”

“When you see people making your child feel special and loved, it’s different to other care providers. The team always seem excited to see the boys, which is so reassuring.”

Caring for children with complex needs like Albie and Louis can be challenging and stressful, so the support of nurses from Jessie May is so important to families like theirs: “Caring for any child is not all smiles and giggles, especially children with complex needs. The team take the tantrums, the flying food and medical needs all in their stride, nothing phases them!”

They just understand

When asked just what it means to the family, Alex shared: