Riley Mulligan

Dec. 12, 2024
A photo of Riley Mulligan.
Riley Mulligan

Supporting patients with cancer, while battling cancer

As a palliative care nurse navigator with UCHealth Cancer Center – Harmony Campus, Riley Mulligan gives care and guidance to patients facing especially intense cancer battles.

During the past year, she continued to support these patients while undergoing her own chemotherapy and radiation treatments for breast cancer. As of October, she is cancer-free.

“Living it is showing me this stuff really works,” Mulligan said, adding that she’s able to share her firsthand experience when she talks with patients about their options.

Mulligan coordinates palliative care, resources, advocacy and education primarily for patients with stage IV cancer, as well as their loved ones.

She helps patients find ways to “still participate in what makes them joyful now that their body isn’t what it was,” she said. “It’s navigating the disease with their life, rather than letting the disease take over.”

That can involve situations such as managing a patient’s symptom burdens or determining risks and benefits of cross-country trips to visit their families. Some patients see Mulligan for years as they navigate their cancer journey. She didn’t initially share her own diagnosis with them, but they would pick up on signs such as hair loss from the chemotherapy and express their support.

“They would call me and check on me,” she said. “One of them brought me flowers. Our patients are pretty special.”

A photo of Danielle Adair and Riley Mulligan
Hematology Infusion Nurse Danielle Adair (left) with Riley Mulligan (right). Photo by Sonya Doctorian, UCHealth.

Colleagues at the cancer center helped Mulligan work her treatments into her schedule. Some days, they could see she wasn’t feeling well.

“The team would look at me, and they’d be like, ‘Riley, take a nap. Riley, go home, we’ve got it.’ They were incredibly supportive,’” she said.

Leslie Ross, manager of supportive care oncology with the cancer center, said Mulligan “has true sympathy for our patients” and an amazing ability to bond with patients as well as colleagues – building a bridge between palliative care and oncology.

“A connector is a good way to put it,” Ross said. “And a good friend and personality in the cancer center. She is humorous, and that is something that is nice to have in this world where we are all faced with very difficult scenarios every day.”

Before entering health care, Mulligan worked as an information technology architect for 10 years.

“I wanted to do something to make a difference in people’s lives. I went back to nursing school,” she said.

Graduating in her mid-30s, she joined UCHealth Poudre Valley Hospital as a float pool nurse. She later served as an educator before moving to the palliative care team.

“Being able to work with patients and families again has been amazing and fulfilling,” she said, “and sometimes, really emotionally difficult.”

Learn more about Mulligan and her cancer journey in UCHealth Today.

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About the author

Robert Allen loves meeting new people and learning their stories, and he's continually inspired by the patients, staff and providers he meets at UCHealth.

A journalist for 12 years, he joined UCHealth after reporting and editing at the Detroit Free Press. He is the author of Fading Ads of Detroit, a book exploring connections between classic Detroit brands found on ghost signs and in the personal histories of Detroit residents. He previously reported for the Fort Collins Coloradoan, Summit Daily News and Montrose Daily Press.

His outdoor adventures include scrambling summits, hunting powder stashes via snowboard and rafting whitewater. He earned his bachelor's degree in journalism from Oklahoma State University and MBA from Colorado State University. He lives in Windsor with his wife, Rachel, and their obstinate pug, Darla.