Helping patients on path to recovery
REPORTER DAVID MEDCALF JOINED MINISTER FOR HEALTH SIMON HARRIS AS HE DROPPED INTO THE PURPLE HOUSE IN BRAY TO MEET RECOVERING CANCER PATIENTS AND HAVE A WORD WITH VERONICA O’LEARY, WHO FOUNDED THE CENTRE IN 1990.
THE Purple House does not actually present a purple façade to passers- by on the Parnell Road in down town Bray. The walls of the office- and- apartment complex are generally white, so please don’t expect to find the place by its colour. Nevertheless, the Purple House has become a landmark in cancer support, not only in Bray but all across Leinster. Certainly Health Minister Simon Harris had no problem finding his way to the door when he paid a recent visit to the centre.
He called in to meet some of the clients who have been following the Purple path, which has been open to those recovering from cancer since 1990. Nuala Murphy’s ‘sit fit’ class was suspended for the morning in deference to the Greystones TD and Minister, with participants moving straight to the tea and scones. They benefit from a programme that also includes relaxation sessions, pottery classes, card making workshops, yoga and leather craft – to name but some. The schedule allows time and space to counselling and complimentary therapies while the men’s group is proving popular too.
The Purple House is such a hive of activity, complete with drop-in centre and phone help line, that founder and director of services Veronica O’Leary hankers after more space. She was to the fore in welcoming the Minister to the premises before ushering him into the presence of the ‘sit-fit’ ladies. All aged 50-plus and female, they were keen to meet the male public represent- ative who seemed so young having just turn 30.
The room, with light bursting in through the glass door leading out into the yard (complete of course with its purple bird house) was packed for the occasion. It is not every day that these cancer patients, ex-patients and their families have the opportunity to talk to a member of Cabinet.
Simon Harris has graduated from being a Fine Gael backroom boy to become a smooth talking national politician. But on this occasion, the man in the long blue Ministerial coat had come to listen, and he was delighted to do so after attending a heavy hitting cancer conference. As a result of his exposure to the experts on the topic of psycho-oncology, he clearly felt it refreshing to sit down with non-experts who have real life experience.
The ladies in the ‘ sit fit’ group are among 150,000 survivors of cancer reckoned to be living in the Republic. With 40,000 new cases being diagnosed and treatments improving, that number is all set to grow and grow. Now the attention of HSE strategists and the Minister is turning increasingly to looking after those survivors – hence the growing importance of psycho-oncology. With its message of care for the person to complement treatment of the disease, this is something that the Purple House has been doing for a quarter century, without the fancy title.
‘ The support you get here is amazing. I am coming here for 20 years – the cancer keeps coming back too,’ said one of the group.
‘I had three friends who had cancer,’ mused another woman. ‘One died but two are still very hale and hearty and enjoying life.’ She recalled when the Purple House was not so much a house as one room in a building at Carlton Terrace.
‘I came here one and a half years ago, like a little dog howling for help,’ a third member of the
group recalled. ‘ They opened the door to me – everyone is welcoming. Being here in the Purple House is so wonderful. I am in the right place.’
And so the testimonials continued, with speaker after speaker singing the praises of the staff and the volunteers. ‘I could not fault the service at the Purple House,’ declared one. ‘We make great friends here.’ As friends, they were all set to head off for lunch together once the chin-wagging with Minister Harris had concluded.
He was not totally surprised by the very positive vibes coming at him from all corners of the room. He told how he recently met cancer patients in St James’ Hospital where he found everyone on the ward to be ‘upbeat’. The message he has picked up during his term in office is that, for a growing proportion of those who contract the Big C, it is not a death sentence.
Nevertheless, as Veronica O’Leary put it: ‘ Three to five years later, people are still coping with the anguish and the mental scars.’ She is a strong advocate of allowing patients receive as much care as possible in their own homes rather than in intimidating and expensive hospital beds. That is why the Purple House has recruited a team of volunteer drivers who ferry people to medical appointments at hospital oncology units and clinics.
The Minister predicted that, with more survivors seeking assistance, centres such as the one in Bray will be faced with fresh challenges. But he also made it clear that Government will have to play its part in supporting their initiatives – and that will inevitably entail some expense.
‘Hopefully, we are moving on towards regarding cancer in a very different way to the way we did in the past,’ he said, impressed by the Purple House approach as he contemplated that imminent launch of a new national cancer strategy. ‘Centres like this bring State strategies alive. Cancer care has improved but this is the next piece of the jigsaw.’
In the meantime, the Purple House must put a great deal of energy into fundraisers like the recent wacky sumo suit fun run and the line dance marathon.
‘I am getting a little bit burnt out,’ confesses Veronica – mostly her surname is not mentioned, as Veronica has become synonymous with Purple House. ‘But it is so rewarding to see a packed centre every day of the week. It is a much needed service.’
The 62-year-old grandmother is a native of Bray, whose father had a small business in the town. She first contracted cancer at the age of 21 and the problem returned with a vengeance some years later. In her mid-thirties, the doctors treating her gave her three months to live but she came through the mental distress occasioned by their prognosis and the physical trauma of major surgery.
However, the illness led to the loss of her job in the library at UCD and she eventually emerged from the crisis very aware that medicine and surgery are not the full answer to dealing with the disease and its aftermath. She found she was not alone in that view, discovering seven like-minded individuals who were ready to ex- plore the notion of practical, everyday cancer support for patients and families. People arrived in Bray from as far away as Lucan and Arklow when they held a meeting – so they had clearly struck a chord.
The growing movement was formalised in 1990 with the formation of Bray Cancer Support. The organisation began life in the cramped surroundings of a single rented room at 5 Carlton Terrace. ‘We did a multitude from there,’ recalls Veronica proudly. Four years on, they moved to premises upstairs in Main Street before transferring to the current address in 2013.
The current HQ has a proper reception area with offices and multi-purpose rooms, along with rooms suitable for counselling and therapy services coordinated by Emer Ivory.
They adopted the Purple House name in recognition of the fact that the service now extends far beyond the confines of Bray.
Veronica and her colleagues have assisted in the establishment of similar centres in Arklow, Enniscorthy and elsewhere.
Meanwhile, Parnell Road serves a clientele that is spread all around North Wicklow and South Dublin.
The founder reckons that three-quarters of those who are on the books now come from outside Bray.
Purple, by the way, was selected because it is the colour of courage and of cancer survival.
‘We always used purple and it is a very spiritual colour.’ It is also a colour that has been adopted whole-heartedly by everyone at Purple House.
Purple décor, purple mugs, a newsletter which drips purple and purple garments specially knitted with purple yarn.
‘ Thousands of people have come through over the years – we get referrals from the hospitals,’ says Veronica, who adds that finance has been slow to follow.
In 1998, the health service had its arm twisted into parting with a few euro after President McAleese attended a Bray Cancer Support ceremony.
To this day, official grants provide around one-fifth of the finance, with donations and fundraisers making up the rest, to the tune of at least €200,000 each year.
The costs are kept down by the fact that so many volunteers – at least 60 of them - are happy to lend a hand for free.
The Purple House is a happy house: ‘You can hear the laughter, despite the seriousness of what we do – the centre is a great place to be.’
PURPLE IS A VERY SPIRITUAL COLOUR. IT WAS SELECTED BY THE PURPLE HOUSE BECAUSE IT IS THE COLOUR OF COURAGE – AND OF CANCER SURVIVAL