Until my family needed palliative care services, we didn't realise there was much more to it than the last few weeks of life.

Palliative helps people with life-limiting illnesses to live full and meaningful lives, often for many years before they die.

In March 2018 my mother was diagnosed with incurable ovarian cancer.

The oncology team at Orange Health Service used chemotherapy to buy her 15 months of quality life.

When the cancer outran the chemo, the palliative care team took over and made sure that, as much as possible, she could live the life she wanted for the last couple of months.

Seventy per cent of Australians want to die at home. Orange's extraordinary palliative care team meant that Mum was one of the 10 per cent who do.

We had all the medical support, home help, medication and equipment needed to keep Mum as comfortable as she would have been in hospital.

She was able to spend her last days at home with the people she loved and her dogs.

Being with her through the dying process was a profound experience, with moments of great beauty.

Orange Health Service's palliative care team provides support to nearly 100 people in the area and has cared for some of them for years.

Most palliative care happens well before people need a palliative care bed.

In Orange, we are incredibly fortunate to have both.