As a Gold Coast local, being able to receive my cancer treatments at HOCA Southport has made life easier and reduced the travel time I would previously have to endure (more so following my treatment to return home to the Gold Coast).

After years of travelling to Brisbane, HOCA Southport opened up convenient access to myself and many other cancer patients within the Gold Coast, Hinterland and Northern NSW regions.

I was diagnosed with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia in December 2006 and began travelling to HOCA at the Mater Hospital, South Brisbane for my treatments every three weeks.

Removing that travel time and only being ten minutes away from home has truly made my healing process less stressful. Before HOCA Southport opened my treatments were an all day affair and my husband would have to take the day off to drive me to Brisbane.

My treatment would last from three to six hours and then with the additional time to travel home, I would be extremely exhausted by the time the day was over. It would often take me another day or two to recover after my treatments and be well enough to return to work.

Even now that I am in remission I still require monthly treatments and I am truly grateful that I am fortunate to have a facility in such close vicinity to my home. It was the small things at HOCA that made the difference and improved my overall treatment experience.

HOCA creates an environment that is very positive and the nurses are a special kind of people – it makes the treatment journey that much more tolerable when you have a smiling face to greet you when you arrive. These are the people who are helping you through some of the most daunting times and their positive attitude really does make all the difference to your treatment experience.