There is no symptom that automatically means you have to go into hospital. However, you may choose to go into hospital for

tests or to have some form of treatment that cannot be done at home. The need for hospitalisation is one of the costs you should

take into account when deciding what tests and treatment to have.

The decision as to whether to stay at home or go into hospital in the final stages should largely be yours. However, a decision to stay at home is practical only if you can rely on a lot of support and cooperation from family and friends. I suggest that, if you do want to be at home, you make some preparations towards this while you are still relatively well. Talk with your family and friends about what you want and find out how much help and support they are prepared and able to give you. Get to know a doctor who will make home visits. Find out whether there is a special palliative care/terminal care/hospice team in your town and ask to be referred to them when the time seems right for that. Keep in mind that, at least throughout Australia, there is a government-subsidised home-nursing service. It is easy and inexpensive to arrange for nurses to visit your home for a particular purpose such as to do dressings, supervise pressure care, help you with bowel or bladder problems or just for a friendly check on how you are managing. Special aids that you might need such as wheelchairs, bedpans, commodes, special bedding, oxygen masks, etc, are often available on loan or hire from public hospitals or through the home-nursing services, so the fact that you can’t afford to buy such things shouldn’t mean that you have to go into hospital.

You may also be able to get financial assistance from your local cancer society, for example, to cover the cost of a nurse or companion to stay with you at times when friends and family cannot manage this.

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