Health: There was nowhere to go after being told that mum was dying

"I can't even remember who told me . . . dad was sitting on a window sill. Mum had 12 weeks left to live.

"And we were left there in the corridor, crying."

Later she stood by her mum's hospital bed in a busy ward with the devastating news hanging over them like a toxic black cloud.

There was nowhere to go for privacy. The then-teenage Eileen was overwhelmed with grief as her dying mum uttered heart-breaking apologies for having got sick while other patients and their visitors tried not to look.

Years later those painful memories came flooding back when mum-of-one Eileen discovered that she, too, faced a battle with cancer.

As she lay in hospital after radical treatment for cervical cancer, once more she became acutely aware that there was simply nowhere to go to escape the busy ward and spend time in the comforting arms of her family.

Soon, however, thanks to Eileen and two other women affected by the trauma of gynaecological forms of cancer, that will change.

Money raised by Eileen, ovarian cancer patient Ishbel Annand and close friends and relatives of Sheila Radin – a bright, sprightly great-grandmother who lost her life to cancer – means two new dedicated "quiet rooms" will soon provide places of sanctuary alongside the maelstrom of the gynaecology ward at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.

For fundraisers Eileen, Ishbel and Sheila's son Derek, it's their way of saying thank you to the hospital's dedicated staff – and giving families of future patients a place to go to gather their thoughts, away from the day-to-day life of the hospital ward.

Eileen, 40, from Penicuik, says having somewhere to go just to digest the traumatic news of mum Sally McBeth's illness – and, later, her own cancer struggle – would have helped ease her pain.

"It's a blur now, but I can only assume it was dad that told me and we stood in the corridor crying.

"Then I had to go back to mum's bedside, we were crying and everyone in the ward was upset too.

"Mum was saying 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry', and I wanted to cuddle her but there was nowhere for us to go."

In a tragic twist, Eileen's dad's heart could not take the strain of what was happening.

He had already suffered heart trouble, and the trauma of knowing he was losing his wife sparked a massive, ultimately fatal heart attack.

Years later when Eileen was left reeling from news that a routine smear test had uncovered cancer cells and a grape-sized tumour, she again found herself in a hospital wishing there was somewhere to go to spend precious moments with husband Alastair, a firefighter, and daughter Sally, six.

"I just wanted to have a cuddle from my husband," recalls Eileen. "I was in the new ERI, the hospital was fine, the nurses and doctors were amazing, but I'd had a hysterectomy.

"It would have been good to have somewhere to go, away from the ward, so I could be with my husband in private."

After her treatment, Eileen, who works as a legal document officer for Lothian and Borders Police, was keen to do something to show her gratitude to the hospital staff.

When Graeme Walker, gynaecology consultant in the Simpson Centre for Reproductive Health, told her how he wanted to establish comfortable "quiet rooms" for patients and their families, it struck an instant chord.

She held a fundraising disco, and collected 1,500 to put towards the two rooms.

This sum has been added to cash donated by cancer survivor Ishbel, and 700 donated by family and friends of Sheila, aged 76 when she passed away last April from cancer.

"My mum was given amazing treatment," says her son, Derek.

"Dr Walker was great with her and we couldn't fault her treatment. But when I wanted to talk to him, it tended to be in the hallway in the middle of visiting hours or in the ward, which didn't feel very private."

Sadly Sheila, from Duddingston, lost her cancer battle last April. But her family were determined to give something back to the ward where she was treated.

"Dr Walker showed me the room he wanted to turn into a nice, comfortable, homely place for relatives," says Derek. "It felt like the kind of thing my mum would have wanted."

Work is under way to furnish the rooms, alongside the gynaecology ward in the ERI. They will have a relaxed decor and boast comfortable sofas for patients and families.

They will also be used by clinical staff for pre-assessment appointments, and for staff to have informal meetings with patients.

Dr Walker says the rooms will be a vital addition to the wards.

"It is an absolutely essential part of patient care that we can take patients and their families to somewhere quiet and comfortable in order to explain operative findings or investigations and answer their questions without being interrupted or overheard.

"I am delighted that thanks to Eileen, Ishbel and Sheila such a place will now exist."

'I wanted to do something to say thanks'

ISHBEL Annand understands the emotional turmoil of learning your health is suddenly in jeopardy.

She thought she was on the road to recovery after having an emergency hysterectomy to remove a huge cyst – the size of a football – only to find out later that it was cancerous.

"You cry at lot when you get news like that," says Ishbel, 50, of Priestfield. "Of course what went through my mind was that I might not live to see my son Richard, who was 14 at the time, grow up.

"You just go numb. I spent the worst week of my life waiting to see the consultant, with all sorts of things going through my head."

Dr Graeme Walker, gynaecology consultant in the Simpson Centre for Reproductive Health, performed emergency surgery – a full hysterectomy which, thankfully, dealt not only with the cyst, but the cancer too.

"Everyone at hospital and my GP surgery was fantastic," recalls Ishbel. "You hear so much bad news about the NHS, but they were all brilliant.

"I wanted to do something to thank them."

She had some inheritance money left by her late father and was delighted when Dr Walker suggested it might go towards creating new quiet rooms for patients, their relatives and staff.

It was the perfect way for Ishbel to say thanks.