Grangemouth patient: ‘I owe my life to my Kersiebank doctor’

And she is quick to point out that she could have been dead and gone already with no chance for life whatsoever if it had not been for her GP and the staff at Grangemouth’s Kersiebank Medical Practice.

“Without Dr Dhillon and Kersiebank Medical Practice I don’t know what would have happened,” said Evelyn (38).

Evelyn, who had already been living with a number of conditions including fibromyalgia, started feeling unwell in August last year, but she put it down to flu and, as she said, “just got on with things”.

However, by the end of the year things were getting worse and she and husband Chris (34) – an ex Royal Dragoon Guard – rushed from their Strowan Road home to nearby Kersiebank Medical Practice.

“I was being sick a lot and was stuggling to breathe,” said Evelyn. “I thought there’s something more to this.”

Chris said: “Dr Dhillon took the time to listen to us, but he knew straight away we had to go to Forth Valley Royal Hospital that night, telling us to pack a bag. After the doctors there took blood from Evelyn she was told she was going to want to have her family around her for the next couple of days.”

The results came back and the couple were told Evelyn had lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma – or “blood cancer” as straight talking ex-serviceman Chris calls it.

Now Evelyn is on a course of chemotherapy every three weeks and taking medication between times.

Chris said: “Everyone at Kersiebank and the NHS staff at the hospital have been fantastic. We thank the receptionist at Kersiebank who took our call and passed on the details to Dr Dhillon.

“Some people run the practice and the NHS down, but they’re doing their best with what they have got.”

Thanks to Chris’s time in the Dragoons – which included tours of Iraq – the couple has been able to get support from armed forces charity SSAFA to purchase a wheelchair to help with Evelyn’s mobility problems.

Evelyn said: “It’s not just about fighting cancer, it’s about enjoying life – you’re still alive. Even when you are terminal, do your best to be happy and laugh more because it could be your last day.”