My day usually starts at around 7am with a shower, putting my face on and then coffee and breakfast with my husband Huw.

I generally walk to work because I am lucky enough to live in Aberystwyth.

The first thing I do when I start work at 8am is switch on my computer to check if any messages have been left overnight by those operating the emergency triage phone line or by our team’s support worker.

Then I will check the handover list from the A&E Department, to see if any of my patients have been admitted overnight and whether they were kept in or released home.

That can give me some priorities for my day.

No two days are the same. Even if I plan my day, it can often change completely, dependent on patients’ needs.

I will generally be seeing between three and five patients in a day, sometimes at the chemotherapy day unit and sometimes in Outpatients or in the Medical Day Unit at Bronglais Hospital.

The chemotherapy day unit is a nurse-led unit and I will work closely with the chemotherapy nurses. I then manage any patient concerns or questions, whether it be about the treatment, psychological impacts, or issues with finance or welfare. I review, examine, assess and treat.

Another important part of my job is writing supporting letters for patients, whether to help them get financial help, apply for Blue Badges, or to refer them to other specialist services such as occupational therapy or palliative care.

Every Friday, there is a multi-disciplinary team meeting involving cancer teams from all four general hospitals: Bronglais, Glangwili, Prince Philip and Withybush.

The meetings are currently being held virtually because of Covid-19 and if I am not in work that day I will log in from home.

These meetings will involve consultants, specialist nurses, radiologists, a histopathologist and members of the Cancer Services Team, and there are discussions about patients and their treatments.

Patients with suspected cancer will have seen their GP, had biopsies and if cancer is diagnosed then that will be when I have my first involvement with them.

When haematology patients have their first appointment with a consultant at Bronglais Hospital I meet them and am introduced as their key worker.

It is my job to co-ordinate the patient’s care and make sure they have access to all the information and advice so that they can make informed decisions.

From Day One I try to build a rapport. My job is to make them feel better.

It is a huge responsibility. They trust me; it is a huge honour.

It amazes me the strength people show in difficult situations and their strength gives me strength to help them.

The hardest part is giving the diagnosis, which is no different whether the patient is 18 or 80.

It is not something we like to do but the joy in the job comes from seeing people improve following treatment, especially when we can tell them they don’t require further treatment or they are in remission.

It is difficult if you have to tell patients that their treatment is now palliative, but we have a duty to prepare patients and I make sure they are referred to the palliative care teams in Ceredigion, Gwynedd and Powys.

I still keep in touch, as they are often patients I have known for many years.

I enjoy my work; nursing is my life. In April I will have been in this specialist nurse role for 18 years.

Every team I have worked with has been remarkable.

We all pull together with the same goal to do the best for our patients.

We are all excited about the plans for a new chemotherapy day unit because we offer a high standard of care and it will be nice to have a facility that reflects this.

The new unit will offer more privacy and will also reassure patients and the wider communities that these services are here to stay at Bronglais Hospital and that the hospital is one to be proud of.

At the end of my working day, I will go home and enjoy a meal cooked by my husband, who is my rock.

I relax with a crossword or a good drama on TV.

I am also an avid reader and on weekends Huw and I love to go for long walks in our beautiful countryside.

After a full week, sometimes all I need is to be at home.