Why Little Haven Palliative Care must be saved

The grieving best friend of a Gympie woman who was able to die in her own home thanks to Little Haven has detailed her final difficult months and everything the organisation did to help them both.

Rowan Dyer looked after her lifelong friend, Yvonne Brown at their house in Glenwood. Thanks to Little Haven, Miss Brown had a beautiful end-of-life journey. Picture: Christine Schindler

In a leafy gumtree yard with a fire pit in sight of a dam, Glenwood woman Rowan Dyer recounts the last few months she had with her lifelong friend, Yvonne Brown, in their home three hours north of Brisbane.

“The end-of-life is meant to be a beautiful journey and that’s what I wanted for Vonny,” Ms Dyer said.

It was the 24/7 at-home services of Little Haven that made Vonny’s last few months on earth a gift and allowed her to remain in her Glenwood home, getting the care she needed.

It is stories like this one that show how important it is to Save Little Haven from the funding shortfall threatening to close its books.

The two friends, who would end up sharing their lives together, first met working in Melbourne almost 30 years ago – Miss Brown, a social worker and Ms Dyer, a foster carer.

Their friendship grew and when Ms Dyer, having recently split from her husband, learned Miss Brown was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and rheumatoid arthritis, she started checking in on her and her teenage daughter.

After being given two months to two years to live, Yvonne Brown was able to spend her last months at her beloved Glenwood home, thanks to the 24/7 palliative care services of Little Haven. Yvonne Brown pictured during a holiday in Bali. Picture: (supplied)

“She had to take days off and I worked at night,” Ms Dyer said.

“She would babysit my boys; I would get all the kids off to school, make sure she was okay for the day, go home and sleep, come back, pick them all up from school, cook dinner for everyone and go home.”

The arrangement worked so well, the two single mothers decided to move in together.

When the children grew up, Miss Brown decided she wanted to move to Queensland.

Moving to Glenwood

Rowan Dyer looked after her lifelong friend, Yvonne Brown at their house in Glenwood with the support of Little Haven. Picture: Christine Schindler

“We were Googling one night and I said, ‘What about north of Brisbane?’” Ms Dyer said.

They got in touch with a Gympie real estate agent and made the trip up.

“We saw a couple of places and she drove us to this one. It was all overgrown; you couldn’t see the dam and it was an absolute mishmash,” Ms Dyer said.

“I looked out the bay window and said, ‘Vonny, this looks nice, but it’s two bedrooms’, and she said, ‘It’s just as well the kids aren’t coming’.”

Whether her friend knew 20 years later this would be where she would spend her last few months, Ms Dyer didn’t say.

She could not have picked a more perfect place to spend it, giving her the opportunity to surround herself in nature, which she loved.

While both women had some health conditions, their choice of location far outweighed the 40km drive south to Gympie Hospital, or the 57km drive north to Maryborough Hospital.

The end-of-life journey

After being given two months to two years to live, Yvonne Brown was able to spend her last months at home in Glenwood, thanks to the 24/7 palliative care services of Little Haven. Picture: (supplied)

It was mid-2022 when Miss Brown’s condition deteriorated rapidly and she was given “two months to two years to live”, Ms Dyer said.

“She had breathing problems, she was a medical nightmare as far as her diagnosis was concerned.”

She was given a referral to palliative care and wanted it to be managed at home, Ms Dyer said.

The next few months Ms Dyer watched and cared for her lifelong friend, changing her nasal drips hourly for a time, buying equipment, watching some long and painful ambulance trips to emergency, monitoring breathing.

Through it all Miss Brown managed to stay at home, thanks to the support from Little Haven.

When things went awry and Ms Dyer didn’t know what to do, Little Haven was always a phone call away, she said.

After being given two months to two years, Yvonne Brown was able to spend her last months at her beloved Glenwood home, thanks to the 24/7 palliative care services of Little Haven. Picture: (supplied)

“We only had them for three months. At first it was once a week, then it got to twice a week, then it got to every day, twice a day at one stage,” she said.

“In the middle of the night, early morning, and when she was failing – fast in that last week – they were making sure she was pain-free and comfortable, and that’s what she wanted.

“One of the girls rang me that night and said, ‘How are you? How are things?’

“And I said, ‘okay, but it won't be long’.

“And she said, ‘I’m on my way’.”

Yvonne Brown died that night, February 14, 2023.

Little Haven is asking for continued government investment that matches the palliative care needs of the Gympie region.

The support from Little Haven for Ms Dyer did not end there and a social worker continued to check on her regularly.

In July 2023, the organisation held its annual “gratitude walk” which includes a Little Haven memorial service for the family and friends who have lost loved ones throughout the year.

“That was my closure, six months in, because Vonny never had a funeral,” Ms Dyer said.

“At the memorial service you can see how much you’ve grown and grasped and settled, and to a degree you’re still grieving – but there is a light.”

In the past 20 years, Little Haven has cared for 2652 palliative patients, provided bereavement support to 1365 clients, not to mention the 100s of chemotherapy and aged care patients not added in their numbers, Little Haven’s business manager Sue Manton said.

Last year it provided 28,000 occasions of service within Gympie and surrounds.

This is part of a Gympie Times campaign to Save Little Haven and ensure residents of the region can choose to die at home with continued access to the gold-standard of palliative care Little Haven offers.