Ms Karen Loh used to argue with her mother over every little thing.

But since her mum, Madam Cheng Yok Lan, 76, was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer in early 2006, she has gone along with all her wishes, including stopping treatment when the cancer came back a year later.

Madam Cheng had not taken to chemotherapy well, so when her oncologist told the family there was nothing much he could do anymore, Ms Loh, 37, and her sister Nyet Chieh, 38, turned to palliative home care so their mother could die at home.

"We didn't even know that there was such a service until the hospital referred us to HCA Hospice Care," said Ms Loh, a treasury analyst at a finance company.

They would not have been able to cope without the help of HCA, a charity which is the largest hospice home care provider in Singapore - they knew nothing about dressing the older woman's fungating chest wounds or attending to all her other needs.

"It's stressful at home, but at least we know what she wants," said Ms Loh, a mother of one.

Her parents separated when she was very young and her mother single-handedly raised her two daughters in Kedah, Malaysia, by working as a hairdresser.

For the past year, any free time the sisters have, including annual leave, has been spent caring for their mother, who is now living out her last days in Nyet Chieh's HDB home in Woodlands.

Family holidays have also had to take a back seat - something that didn't go down too well with Ms Loh's six-year-old daughter.

The sisters say that in the two years they have had to deal with their mother's cancer, the most difficult time has been now.

She is bedridden, often restless and unable to speak.

"The most challenging thing has been keeping her comfortable," said Ms Loh.

The sisters have no regrets about giving up the medical treatment.

"We wouldn't have done anything differently. We've never forced our mum into doing anything but let her make her own decisions," said Ms Loh.

She also managed to ask her mum for her forgiveness.

"I told her that I never said sorry for all the times I argued with her. But she said mothers and daughters don't need to seek forgiveness from one another," she said, her eyes welling up.

"The only thing we hope for now is that she will go in a peaceful way."

This article was first published in The Sunday Times on November 23, 2008.