she wanted to go home

Bartlett spent two years as Denise’s full-time caregiver and learned how to carry her into bed and lift her up, how to help her shower and, in the final weeks of her life, how to relieve pain and keep her comfortable.

Nurses and doctors visited Denise throughout the week to check her blood pressure, oxygen levels and administer medications.

A physiotherapist prescribed daily exercises to help Denise regain her strength after intensive cancer treatment. She went from being bedridden to being in a wheelchair and then even walking dogs.

These improvements meant that after four months the couple were able to ditch hospital beds and return to their regular bed.

Bartlett called a team of medical experts whenever he needed advice.

“They helped us live as normally as possible under extraordinary circumstances,” he says.

The Bartletts watched their beloved Tigers play at the MCG, attended two grand finals and flew to the Gold Coast for their final holiday together. Denise’s friends often visited her for a cup of tea, and she loved visiting her children and grandchildren.

“We were able to achieve what most people thought was impossible,” says Bartlett. “The Cabrini team that led this program was outstanding.”

Friend and fellow Tigers champion Bill Barrott introduced Bartlett to Denise in the mid-60s.

Bartlett describes Denise as the love of his life. “She was funny and had a great sense of humor. She loved people, fun, children and animals. She was a wonderful person.”

And he has no doubts that he will give up his job as a football commentator to take full care of Denise after her diagnosis.

“When you love someone that much, you do what you have to do,” he says, his voice shaking. “Denise needed all the support I could give her, so it was never a burden for me.”

Cabrini sees up to 100 patients per day through its Hospital at Home program and makes more than 20,000 home visits annually.

Cabrini neurologist Dr. Ronnie Freilich said patients in the program had fewer readmissions because their problems were detected earlier.

He said families participating in the home-based neuro-oncology program want their loved ones to lead as normal a life as possible.

Although life expectancy for people diagnosed with a brain tumor is improving, the statistics are still grim. Patients with the most aggressive and malignant brain tumors have an average survival rate of 14.6 months, and the five-year survival rate is about 10 percent.

“These services do more than just help the patient,” he said. “Even though the patient has a tumor, the whole family lives with it.”

Ben Harris, director of policy and research at Private Healthcare Australia, said Australian public hospitals, particularly in Victoria, were better than their private counterparts when it came to providing care at home.

This was because current private hospital funding models encourage hospital stays rather than home stays, he said.

“We have a culture in Australia where patients need to come for treatment, not care (go) to patients,” he said. “We need to do better.”

James Pollard, president of the Hospital Society of Australia, said the home care model was critical to the sustainability of the public and private hospital sector.

“Home care is something you can scale without spending five years and a billion dollars building a new hospital,” he said. “You can grow over time as demand grows—it’s a very scalable model.”

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