For six years, Rosalind Vincent was a valued member of the Mercy Palliative Care team. Now, in a sad twist of fate, she finds herself on the receiving end of care.
After undergoing major surgery in January last year, 12 months’ later, Ros’ oncologist passed on the sad news that stage 1 cancer had advanced to stage 4 ampullary cancer and that she had only two months to live.
“I was told the cancer, which is a rare form of digestive cancer, was spreading from my abdomen to my lungs but because there is so much scar tissue, they can’t actually determine where else it might be,” she says.
But now that four months have passed, Ros has exceeded her initial diagnosis – in a sense, she has already beaten the odds.
Ros Vincent with four-year-old Oscar
Ros, who has two adult children and five grandchildren, left her role as a Mercy Palliative Care Community Development Officer soon after falling unwell. Despite the heartbreaking turn of events, Ros’ advocacy for Mercy Palliative Care has never waned.
“When I became sick, I felt so unwell I thought I was dying from COVID-19, but my journey now makes sense,” she says.
“I comprehend and have experienced a beautiful system which is full of compassionate and wonderfully skilled people and now I can become a beneficiary of Mercy Palliative Care.”
Ros supported many people during her time at Mercy Palliative Care, including unwell people in detention and families from Iran and Iraq. She helped people work through complex and often stressful situations, helping prepare families to enlist the support of Mercy Palliative Care and, likewise, preparing Mercy Health teams for new patients.
Ros grew up near Bengal in India, with a strong and compassionate role model in her immediate family.
“My grandmother had associations with Mother Teresa on the streets of Calcutta. She bravely tended men in leper colonies,” Ros recalls. “She organised vestments before funerals and, near the end of her life, she was presented with the Pope’s Gold Medal. She was a wonderful person and I hope I have inherited some of her kindness and empathy.”
Daughter-in-law Alison Vincent says Ros is the strong one in the family.
“She is still fun, she is the life of the party,” Alison says. “She is easy to be around and she is just so natural. Our children love her and somehow she is able to put life in perspective.”
Ros, daughter-in-law Alison and Oscar at the park.
Ros says at times she feels as though she understands palliative care so well, she could just about treat herself.
“Some of it is psychological but it is also learning how to medicate correctly and how to manage pain,” Ros says.
“For me, the anxiety occurs at night and at times I use Mercy Palliative Care’s 24-hour telephone service. It might just take a few minutes conversation and I am able to settle.
“I am very open with my children and even my grandchildren. There are myths about dying and I have given them instructions as to how I want leave this world.
“I encourage families and the patients themselves to try to build a positive and open rapport with the Mercy Palliative Carer staff. Also, it is vital that the families don’t delay in seeking palliative care support.”
Ros says she is also supported by her faith. “Some of my cousins say God will keep me alive, that He will perform a miracle; who knows, maybe, just maybe it might occur,” she says, with a smile.
Mercy Health sincerely thanks Ros and her family for their willingness to share this story, which coincides with the 40th anniversary of the establishment of Mercy Palliative Care in Australia.
Last reviewed July 19, 2022.