About this episode

Matthew Zachary shares his journey from being a piano prodigy to a healthcare advocate after his brain cancer diagnosis.

What happens when a piano prodigy gets diagnosed with brain cancer at 21 - and never shuts up about it? Matthew Zachary, founder of Stupid Cancer and author of the new book "We the Patients" , joins Nurse Rosa to talk about his extraordinary journey from Staten Island music prodigy to one of America's most fearless healthcare advocates. We cover his diagnosis, 30 years of fighting for patients, and his bold new proposal: organizing America's sick and angry into a bipartisan voter bloc to take on the health insurance industry. Links & Resources 📖 We the Patients by Matthew Zachary — bookstores nationwide, bookshop.org, Books-A-Million 🗳️ Take the American Patient Healthcare Poll → https://www.wethepatients.org/ (free, 5 min, anonymous) 🎬 Suck It Up Buttercup documentary (featuring Matthew Zachary, Mark Cuban, Wendell Potter) 🔍 Find Matthew: Google "Matthew Zachary" — or LinkedIn 📱 Follow Nurse Rosa: @NurseRosaSpeaks on LinkedIn, Instagram & TikTok 🎙️ Subscribe to Nurse Rosa's Insights wherever you listen or watch on YouTube Timestamps 0:28 – "I was drafted into healthcare" — cancer diagnosis at 21 1:49 – Growing up a piano prodigy on Staten Island 2:19 – 10 years of…

People in this episode

Host: Rosa Hart

Guest: Matthew Zachary

Topics covered

• brain cancer
• healthcare advocacy
• patient rights
• health insurance
• personal journey

Keywords

• brain cancer
• Matthew Zachary
• healthcare advocacy
• We the Patients
• Stupid Cancer

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Stupid Cancer, American Patient Healthcare Poll, Suck It Up Buttercup

Books & works: We the Patients

Places: Staten Island

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