Shelby Adams - Cancer advocate and friend

Shelby Adams, Nevada's CD2 Lead Volunteer, and a woman who always smiled and touched the lives of all she knew, lost her battle to metastatic breast cancer on January 3, 2017.

Many of you had the joyful opportunity to know and work with Shelby Adams in some direct or indirect way.  As our CD#2 lead, Shelby would joinNevada's staff and some of you as we visited with legislators in Washington and across Nevada. Shelby always left an impression with the member and staff. Shelby never left  a meeting without challenging  -- in Shelby’s special way – to get  a response one way or the other sooner rather than later.

Some of you will recall the sharing of her story at the 2015 Lobby Day. Yes it was technical in many ways as she listed her many chemo cocktails that were tried and failed or succeeded by name, dosage, and result but that was how Shelby fought back. She knew her enemy and she wanted to know every aspect of everything that she was doing or that providers should be doing .

Shelby was proud of many things that she did for ACS CAN and the cancer community. She considered us to be her extended family, and we considered her ours!  Shelby could always be counted on to talk about the need for cancer research funding and palliative care regardless of how she was feeling, and she always did so with a big smile and hearty laugh.

The last thing that Shelby did for ACS CAN was to submit a letter to the editor asking for cancer research funding that was published in the Reno Gazette Journal.  Her final ACS CAN work made a difference as did her life and friendship.