A WOMAN has told how she would not have survived to see her grandson without the help and support of staff at the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice.

Cancer survivor Frances McGreevy says the hospice - which has launched an appeal to raise money for a new purpose-built facility - gave her a space where she could cry and express her worst fears without having to be strong for other people.

The 42-year-old, of Darnley, near Glasgow, has now been given the all clear, but claims she would not have made it without the support she received from nurses and staff.

She said: "It's important to remember how to live and that’s what the hospice gave me. They have kept me going.

"I have been strong for my family, but the hospice was the only place I could be myself. I can walk in and be anything and it's okay. I can be fine. I can greet. I can feel crap and just be myself - not have to be strong. Even if it is just for an hour, it will get you through the week and I know that the support is here when I need it.

"I have an 18-month-old grandson who I would never had seen if the hospice had not helped me survive mentally.

"It’s been a long hard road. Without the hospice – I wouldn’t be here."

The hospice, which cares for more than 1,200 patients every year, has launched its Brick by Brick appeal to raise £15 million to build a new facility in Bellahouston Park.

Ms McGreevy first realised she was seriously ill six years ago when one morning she stepped out of the shower and could barely move due to excruciating abdominal pain.

She managed to get to a phone and call her GP surgery who promptly called an ambulance.

She was later referred to Gartnavel hospital where she was told they would have to remove a tumour the size of a rugby ball from her pelvis.

Following the surgery she was given the all-clear, but in 2011 she was re-hospitalised after losing a lot of blood and a CT scan showed another tumour above the original and she agreed to a full hysterectomy.

She said: "Although I recovered quickly from the hysterectomy, hormonally I felt like a basket case and visited my GP and in passing asked if my hormonal imbalance would cause a whitening of my stools. My GP obviously pushed for a scan and seven tumours on my liver were confirmed just before Christmas."

Referred to the Beatson in January 2012, Ms McGreevy was told she had a year to live and that she required three months of chemotherapy - a treatment which she had been desperate to avoid.

That is when she met her radiographer, who explained there was an alternative to treat liver tumours with Radiofrequency Ablation (RFA), a minimally invasive treatment for cancer.

Ms McGreevy recalled: “I felt like it I had won a watch as I had managed to dodge the chemo. The RFA got shot of three tumours... and my only alternative was then to use chemo to get shot of the other four. For me the next seven months of my life were the worst. The chemo has been the worst part of it.

"The chemo removed three of the tumours and left me with one tumour that was then removed."

Her GP referred her to the Laurieston nurses at the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice where she received counselling and various different therapies.

She added: "I would never have survived without the nospice."

Anyone looking to donate to the appeal should visit www.ppwh.org.uk/support-us/donate-money or text PPWH15 and the amount to 70070 to make a donation of up to £10 e.g. PPWH15 £10.