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Nurse Lynne is one of the nursing angels at centre of BBC documentary which highlights amazing work of hospital unit

BY MARIA CROCE DEALING with her own family heartbreak led Lynne Stirling into a career in nursing and helps her empathise with the difficulties her patients face.

As a clinical nurse specialist at the Beatson Cancer Centre in Glasgow, it’s Lynne’s job to help and support breast cancer patients through their difficult journeys.

She’s one of the nursing angels featured in three-part BBC1 Scotland documentary The Cancer Hospital, starting tonight. It follows some of the medical staff and patients at the centre.

Lynne, who lives near Glasgow, is seen in the programme holding the hand of patient Betty Boyd who had recently been diagnosed with breast cancer.

She asked her about her fears and then gently explained what her treatment would involve.

It’s a tough job but Lynne says she loves it as she’s able to help so many people. However, she admits it can be devastating when former patients return because their cancer is back.

In the first episode, the focus is on breast cancer and six women, whose illness is at different stages, share their stories. Following episodes focus on lung then prostate cancer.

Lynne, 42, is married to Scott McDonald, 45, who works in medical physics and the couple have two daughters, Sophia, 11 and Elyssa, three.

The loss of her grandad and dad had a huge impact on her and her decision to help others through her work. She’s also had to deal with her youngest daughter suffering a stroke shortly after her traumatic birth which has left her with a weakness on her right side.

“When I was very young, my grandfather was diagnosed with prostate cancer and he died when I was 13,” she explained.

Lynne always wanted to be a nurse, but visiting her grandad Alfred Scambler in hospital before he died at 76 made her think she wanted to work with cancer patients.

Then when she was only 20, her dad Craig Stirling died following a heart attack at 45.

She believes the losses have helped her in her job. “You can empathise with people both going through a traumatic experience like being diagnosed with breast cancer but also when people are dying and at the end stages of life.

“You can’t not take your work home with you. But you have to learn to push it aside.”

But she says it’s difficult not to be affected when she loses a patient. “You do feel down, there’s no two ways about it.”

And she hugs her own daughters that little bit tighter and feels thankful for her own family.

“We do have a cry and get upset for our patients and their families and then you’ve got to pick yourself up. If you didn’t have that human part of you, I don’t think you could do this. But you have to be very careful not to burn yourself out and have a good work-life balance.

“Recently I lost one of my young girls and she was only 36 and had three children. I was quite close to her and her family and I don’t tend to go to funerals, but I did go to her funeral.

“You do hug your kids afterwards and you just thank God for what you’ve got. My younger girl as a baby had a stroke not long after she was born and had a lot to contend with. She’s doing better.

“We didn’t know if she was going to walk or not. But she’s doing great now at nursery.”

Lynne revealed she didn’t really know where to turn for support after her daughter faced difficulties as there wasn’t the equivalent of someone doing her job to help with advice.

It’s made her even more acutely aware of the benefits of her job in helping patients. And it also makes her appreciate her own life more. Y makes you appreciate thing can be worse and I have seen t are worse.”

Although her daughter wi live with difficulties – Lyn grateful she has her.

The other side of her jo positive when she sees pat through to the end of their t And medical advances mak possible for many.

“It’s lovely to see them all ba and getting on with their lives