MINEHEAD woman Paula Jacobs waited 17 years to find that the "something not quite right" was an incurable illness - and then for nurse Paddy Scott to 'light up her life'.

Paddy is a community palliative care nurse from St Margaret's Somerset Hospice and he helped Paula through all her worries, as well as giving practical help and advice.

"He was so comforting and gave as much support to my husband as he did to me. Paddy ensured I received everything that I was entitled to," said Paula.

On Sunday December 16, people in West Somerset will be given an opportunity to Light Up a Life at one of the hospice's special Christmas services.

For the sixth year, a Christmas tree will be lit at the hospice in Taunton and at St John's Church, Yeovil, with lights dedicated to loved ones, friends and colleagues.

The lit trees represent beacons for everything the hospice represents - caring for patients and their families and improving their quality of life.

People can also add names to a book of remembrance - the names are put into the book by an expert with such care that it takes 15 minutes to write each one.

Meticulous care is one of the things that impressed Paula about St Margaret's. She was diagnosed with a very rare blood disorder, mantle cell lymphona, and she had become so thin she found it painful to sit down.

"But then Paddy arranged for me to have a wheelchair and a special cushion," she said.

Even though she had a breast cancer operation in the 1980s, she did not know what was wrong with her until 1998 when a blood test was arranged by Dr Christopher Salway of Irnham Lodge Surgery in Minehead.

Paula was diagnosed by a specialist in London: "My first reaction was one of relief - waiting 17 years to find out what was wrong. My second reaction was, this is the end. I was told that it was not curable, but could be controlled.

"Dr Salway told me that the only community palliative care nurses in Somerset were employed by St Margaret's. This came as a surprise to me, but I was not shocked at all by mention of the word 'hospice'.

"Within a week, my doctor had arranged for Paddy, the hospice nurse based in Minehead, to visit me at home. Paddy was lovely - so easy to talk to and so knowledgeable about his work. All the fears and concerns I had about my illness, Paddy was able to help me."

In due course, Paula visited the hospice which gave her "a bright, cheerful reception" and, later, she became a physiotherapy outpatient on a breathlessness programme.

"After that, for the first time in 18 months I was able to sit and walk around the house. What a relief to be able to control my pain and sit in comfort - something I shall never take for granted," said Paula.

She added: "I cannot speak highly enough of the hospice, for the care and treatment they gave me and the support they have given my husband.

"When the time comes for him to have a period of respite, I shall not be frightened to be cared for in the hospice - but I'm hoping that time will not come for a long while yet."

The Minehead Light Up a Life Service will be at 6.30pm on December 16 at St Andrew's Church. Other services include the one at the hospice itself at 6.30pm on Monday, December 3.