Share Your Story: Melissa Mullamphy

Melissa Mullamphy does not want others to learn the hard way as she and her family did during her mom’s 8-month battle with ovarian cancer. Melissa is passionate about patient advocacy and helping others find their voice in a complex and increasingly dangerous healthcare system. Melissa has had many jobs in her life, from corporate America to psychiatric emergency rooms but nothing could prepare her for watching her mother suffer from medical mistakes, miscommunication, and errors.

01:45: Can you take us back to the beginning with your mother?
03:14: I noticed her stomach was distended like she was five months pregnant
05:40: You want to race and get in the front of the line.
07:21: She was a big stroke risk.
08:28: It came back with adenocarcinoma.
10:54: So we put more poison in an already sick woman.
12:50: Because my mom won't be alive in October.
14:45: All these buzzers are going off.
16:43: I'm the doctor, she's a patient, and I call the shots.
19:11: We were going for a cure.
21:24: She was poisoned, and her body
23:29: We're like, what in God's name is going on?
25:09: When you're ready, you know you just call.
27:57: Things have changed since Covid, which that's another story.
30:00: I thought, oh my God, what did I do?
31:49: I gave hospice feedback afterward.
34:47: I wrote a letter to the CEO of the hospital
36:56: I said no, she doesn't want a stomach tube.
38:53: Did you find any support as a caregiver?
40:25: If you could hold onto one memory forever about you and your mom, what would it be and why?
41:12: If you could only do one thing to improve health care in the US, what would it be and why?
42:30: Thriver Rapid Fire
43:16: what's one resource that you would recommend for cancer patients and caregivers?

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