Hospice Care

When I was warded at SGH initially, Dr Wong mentioned that she would be arranging for doctors and nurses to check on me at home, and that I wouldn't have to pay for their services. She didn't elaborate further.

At that time, I was having problems breathing, coughing, couldn't sleep well, couldn't talk, exhausted, and I didn't pay much attention to what Dr Wong was saying. Also, at that time, I wasn't aware yet that I was at stage 4 and terminal and had only 3 - 5 months left if I didn't go on chemo.

After I was discharged, Nurse Trudi and her colleagues from HCA Hospice Care visited me at my mum's place. I wasn't exactly looking forward to the meeting because of the condition I was in then. My legs were like jelly, my back felt like breaking into two, I wasn't eating and sleeping well, was totally exhausted. I'd no idea what hospice care was about. I had asked around and nobody knew either. I had heard of hospice care for the aged sick, but deliver the care to the patient's home..., what is that? I'd thought it was some aftercare service though I didn't know why I should be receiving it.

I had a lot of questions for Nurse Trudi. She explained what their services were about. I could call them for medication and in an emergency, I could call them first instead of rushing all the way to the hospital. They had branches located in different parts of Singapore for convenience. They had been around for more than 10 years. Yet, I wasn't aware of its existence. Not so strange, when I come to think of it.

After all, when are we ever aware of stuff that we don't need and when everything is going fine for us. Only when in need, do we start looking around and realised that there were indeed a lot of stuff that we had missed out on before.

They were subsidised by the government and also funded by charity. Hey, that's one up for the government.

Elaine, a medical social aid with HCA, explained how I could get financial aid. She said I could apply for a withdrawal on my Dependant's Protection Scheme (DPS) and also activate my Home Protection Scheme (HPS - my husband and I had 100% insurance coverage). And, if necessry, I could even make a full withdrawal of my CPF to cover my medical expenses. I could? Yes, she said, because you are stage 4 and terminal.

Okay, that was the first time I learnt that I was under that category, maybe, because I wasn't mentally alert so the impact hadn't sunk in. Or, maybe because of the struggle for the past few months, I was prepared for anything, and nothing fazes me anymore. All I know was that, at that time, dying wasn't an option for me, no, not yet. Although, I realised later that some around me were worried that they were going to lose me.

Maybe, my onco had also half expected me not to pull through, that's why she called in the hospice care. Well, this half-century old lady still got a lot of fight left in her and is not ready to throw in the towel yet.

Now I know what hospice care is about and I am very thankful to Dr Wong for calling them in for me.