When White Plains Hospital nurse Maria Munnelly needed specialized care last year, she knew she was in the right place for treatment.
From Nurse to Patient
Maria Munnelly, 32, has worked as a nurse at White Plains Hospital since 2021.
“It’s like a second home to me,” the Port Chester resident says.
But in late 2025, the tables turned, and she was admitted to the Hospital herself for an urgent problem with her liver. While scary, Maria says the experience gave her a whole new appreciation of the care that she and her colleagues give their patients every day.
Troubling Test Result
Maria’s health journey began in 2024, when bloodwork ordered by a rhuematologist she sees for an autoimmune disorder indicated abnormalities in her liver function. After a follow-up test yielded the same result, her physician recommended she see a hepatologist, or liver specialist. Maria saw Dr. Julie Sung, a hepatologist at White Plains Hospital, in July 2025, for further evaluation.
Placed in Expert Hands
As part of a thorough work-up, Dr. Sung ordered labs and a liver ultrasound. The lab results confirmed that Maria had Primary Biliary Cholangitis (PBC), an autoimmune disease that damages the liver’s small bile ducts. Maria had no particular reason to think something serious would be amiss: “I felt fine and had no symptoms,” she says. The ultrasound's findings were alarming—she had an ominous-looking lesion on her liver measuring over four inches in length. Dr. Sung immediately arranged for Maria to have two expedited MRIs for a clearer view of the mass. She also referred Maria to Dr. Sasan Roayaie, Chief of the Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Program at White Plains Hospital. The two have regular conversations, since Maria provides his patients with post-surgical care.
“I always tell patients that Dr. Roayaie is the best of the best, and they’re in great hands,” Maria says.
Now it was her turn to put her faith in him: “My nursing brain was trusting him as a provider, but at the same time I was worried it could be cancerous,” she recalls.
Dr. Roayaie and Dr. Sung presented Maria’s case to White Plains Hospital’s Tumor Board. “It’s a group of all the doctors that could potentially be involved in caring for a patient, such as our radiologists, gastroenterologists, hepatologists, oncologists, and radiation oncologists,” he explains. The Board’s consensus was that the tumor was either cancerous or at risk of becoming so, and needed to be removed.
A Major, Successful Surgery
On October 20, 2025, using an ultrasound and the existing imaging for guidance, Dr. Roayaie performed the operation. The tumor turned out to be an adenoma, a mass of cells created when one liver cell replicated itself repeatedly, which carries a significant risk of spontaneous rupture with life-threatening bleeding and potential progression to cancer. In all, to complete the excision, Dr. Roayaie removed a little more than 70% of Maria’s liver. (Fortunately, in the case of a normal liver, as much as 80% can be removed and the remainder of the organ will rapidly grow back.)
“The adenoma was in the middle of her liver. As a result, we had to approach the procedure as a cancer operation, removing not only the tumor but also some surrounding healthy tissue.”
Recovering, Rebuilding, and Refocusing
Maria spent four days recovering at White Plains Hospital. “My pain was controlled perfectly,” she recalls. At home, she recuperated by taking short walks and allowing herself some downtime. “I knew I needed to give my body time to heal,” she reflects. Although she and her husband still hope to start a family in the near future, “I’m putting my health first,” she explains. And, as she always knew they would, her colleagues at White Plains Hospital did the same for her.