By Salem Chicago News Staff
Madison Moore was relaxing on her couch during spring break 2025 when chest pain sent her to the emergency room and upended her graduate education at Rush University.
The Speech Language Pathology student was diagnosed with Hepatocellular Adenoma, a rare form of liver disease. Her tumor measured 17 centimeters and had hemorrhaged, requiring emergency treatment at Rush University Medical Center.
“I was lying there in the ambulance thinking, ‘Am I dying?'” Moore said. “Based on my CT results, doctors said I needed to get to a level one trauma care center as soon as possible.”
Moore’s story, published Thursday by Rush University, highlights the school’s network of student support services. Faculty and staff in the Speech Language Pathology program allowed Moore to take one of her classes online from the hospital while she recovered.
“There were definitely a lot of moments where I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to continue school,” Moore said. “But we have incredible faculty and staff here at Rush. They were flexible and let me take one of my classes online from the hospital.”
The Office of Student Accessibility Services provided accommodations after Moore was discharged. She was given a clinical placement where she could sit throughout the day and was allowed to take rest breaks and complete exams online on difficult health days.
Moore’s hospitalization left her with long-term conditions. She was diagnosed with dysautonomia and syncope, causing frequent fainting episodes.
“The Office of Student Accessibility Services was paramount because they were able to give me different accommodations if I was having a bad health day,” Moore said.
Marie S. Ferro Lusk, director of the Office of Student Accessibility Services, said the office has seen demand for its services grow sharply. When the office opened in 2016, it handled 37 active cases. At the end of the most recent academic year, there were 417.
“Students should not feel ashamed to ask for support,” Ferro Lusk said. “We are training future clinicians and health advocates. If they cannot advocate for themselves, how will they advocate for their patients?”
Moore’s classmates rallied around her during her recovery. Students visited her in the hospital, brought gift baskets and organized a fundraiser through Rush University’s chapter of the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association to help pay her medical bills.
“Two students even came to my house once I got discharged from the hospital, and they brought me blankets and made an Amazon storefront for me,” Moore said. “It was above and beyond what I could have ever imagined.”
Rush University, located on Chicago’s West Side, enrolls students across four colleges in health sciences, medicine, nursing and health professions. The university’s integration with Rush University Medical Center provides students with direct access to clinical training environments.
Moore continues her studies in the program and expects to graduate. She credits the Rush community with sustaining her through the most difficult period of her life.
