Sharon Malenfant

Sharon Malenfant, shown here in a 2015 photo featured on the cover of her book, “Other Dreams, Other Times,” was the vice president of community relations at Memorial Hospital in North Conway for many years. She died of lymphoma in 2018. (COURTESY PHOTO)

CONWAY — Sharon Malenfant of Tamworth, NH, was just 65 years old when she developed puzzling symptoms that her doctors were challenged to diagnose initially.

First, she went to a ear, nose and throat doctor as her symptoms involved her sinuses. Then troubling issues with her eyes brought her to an opthamologist. While she was hopeful the problem was a chronic sinus infection or nerve disorder, a visit to an oncologist lead to the real diagnosis - lymphoma. Sharon fought hard to beat the cancer, undergoing treatments including chemotherapy and immunotherapy. But she also ensured that her friends and family understood her preferences for end-of-life care by completing advance care planning years earlier. By selecting a team of family and friends to make decisions for her, she was able to safeguard that her wishes were respected, and her caregivers felt they made the right decisions for her.

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