Our hearts are shattered as we share the passing of my amazing, beautiful wife Shelby.
Shelby was more than a wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend. She was the heart of our family. She was the person who always put others before herself and made sure everyone felt cared for, included, and loved. While our hearts are broken, we take comfort in knowing she is now at peace in God’s arms. She leaves behind her husband Scott, and our beautiful daughter, who was everything to her.
Over the past year, Shelby fought an incredibly courageous battle against Stage 4 high-grade neuroendocrine carcinoma. She faced challenge after challenge with a strength that inspired everyone around her. Even during the hardest days, she never stopped thinking about her family and the people she loved. She fought harder than anyone could have asked her to fight, and we are so incredibly proud of her. She has gone through so much, being diagnosed with liver disease and receiving a transplant at such a young age, diagnosed with Ulcerative colitis, having an abruption and our daughter being in the NICU for months, and having to deal with such an aggressive form of cancer. But that didn’t stop you. You kept fighting. Through every setback, we held onto hope, leaned on our faith, and were lifted by the prayers and support of so many people.
On June 10, we rushed Shelby to the emergency room after noticing she was becoming confused, increasingly weak and struggling to stay hydrated and maintain adequate nutrition. She had been hospitalized previously for similar complications and continued doing everything she could to keep fighting. We had been preparing to leave for San Francisco to meet with a specialized oncologist and explore additional treatment options, but her condition worsened so quickly that we had to cancel the trip. Nothing could have prepared us for how rapidly everything changed.
What makes this loss even harder is that Shelby’s birthday was just days away. We had hoped to celebrate another birthday together. Instead, we are left grieving a life that ended far too soon. While we may never understand why her time with us was cut short, we trust that God has welcomed her home and no longer in pain.
Anyone who knew Shelby knew how special she was. She was my biggest advocate and always stood by my side no matter what. She was the planner behind our adventures, carefully organizing trips and creating memories that I will treasure forever. She loved her favorite girly shows, discovering new restaurants, and sharing great food with me. She had a way of making ordinary moments feel special.
Most importantly, Shelby was an incredible mother. The love she had for our daughter was endless. Every decision she made, every fight she endured, and every ounce of strength she found came from her desire to be there for her family. All she wanted was to live a long time to watch our precious daughter grow up
While we are devastated by this loss, we are determined to honor Shelby’s memory and the incredible impact she had on all of our lives. She will never be forgotten. Her love, laughter, strength, and compassion will continue to live on through our daughter and through everyone fortunate enough to have known her. We find comfort in believing that she is watching over us now and that one day we will be together again.
We are grateful for the overwhelming support, prayers, and kindness that have been shown to our family throughout Shelby’s battle. As we navigate this unimaginable loss, any support will help us cover funeral and memorial expenses, remaining medical costs, and provide stability for our daughter during this difficult transition.
We would also like to express our deepest gratitude to the incredible doctors, nurses, specialists, and staff at the University of Washington Medical Center and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. Thank you for the compassion, care, and dedication you showed Shelby throughout her journey. Thank you for always looking out for her, advocating for her, and treating her with dignity and kindness during some of the most difficult moments of our lives.
Your support meant more to our family than words can express, and we will never forget the care you provided or the comfort you brought to Shelby and our family.
Thank you for helping us honor Shelby’s life and legacy.
Forever loved. Forever missed. Forever remembered.
A personal message from Scott:
Shelby, thank you for every adventure, every laugh, and every memory we created together. Thank you for always believing in me, standing beside me, dealing with me and all my hobbies, and loving me through every chapter of our lives. You were my best friend, my partner, and the absolute love of my life.
Thank you for giving me the greatest gift I could have ever received, our beautiful daughter. I promise to tell her about her incredible mom, how brave you were, how you loved her, and how you have the biggest heart.
It kills me that I live in a world where you don’t exist. I sit here next to your phone and I won’t receive your calls or texts anymore. And how our house is so quiet now. Leaving a giant empty hole in my heart. It was incredibly hard to leave the room and say my goodbyes to you. I kept hugging you and going back to you so many times. I didn’t want to leave you there. I went with you even when the hospital moved you downstairs. Even my shirt smelled like you. I got home later that day and all I wanted to do was be with our daughter and family. My family was playing in the water because it was a hot day and they splashed water my way and I noticed your smell on me washed off. I just felt broken. Before you passed, you gave our daughter a final teddy bear. She showed it to me when I put her to bed that night and I just broke down. I look at our daughter and she is a constant reminder of you. She looks so much like you.
I feel like my heart broke into a million pieces. Nothing prepared me to watch you go through what you went through but I’m so blessed I was by your side till the very end.
Im so blessed you were able to see our daughter the day before and say goodbye, with the rest of our family. I know you weren’t able to talk, but I know you knew she was in the room. And I didn’t want to go on with life and not give our daughter the chance to say goodbye to her mom. Because I know you didn’t want our daughter to see you like that. But I hope you can forgive me because I wanted you to have that moment with her.
In your last moment, I played a repeat video of our daughter laughing and giggling for you. You looked so peaceful. I never once left your side. I love you so much and I promised you, Emma and I will never forget you ❤️ you’re forever in our hearts. Emma will know how incredible you are. We will come visit you all the time and have picnics with you.
I know the road ahead will be difficult. I know all my focus is on our daughter and I know you would want me to be the best dad and continue on. I promise you I’ll never fail at that and I’ll always take care of her.
I am at peace knowing that you are with God, free from pain and suffering, and watching over us. Until we meet again, I will carry you with me every day.
I love you, Shelby. Always and forever.
_________
My wife, Shelby, is the strongest person I know. At just 32 years old, she has been diagnosed with Neuroendocrine Carcinoma Stage 4 high grade cancer very recently and unexpectedly - A rare and aggressive cancer that has spread to her liver. She spent almost a month in the hospital here in Seattle, Washington back in March - April of 2025 after complaining of stomach and liver pain. She underwent 1 round of chemo, but went back to the hospital as she got very sick. Shelby is a mom to our beautiful almost 3 year old daughter, our miracle baby.
During the summer of 2013, Shelby received a life saving liver transplant. At just 21 years old and going into her senior year in college, she received a second chance at life. She was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease called PSC during her sophomore year of college (Jan of 2012), which came out of nowhere. Shelby played soccer her whole life and was a healthy / active child growing up. Nobody in her family had any health issues. She is the first in her family to go to a university, so she wasn’t going to let a liver transplant stop her. Shelby stayed in school while she was very sick and returned to school in September of 2013, right after her transplant. She graduated with her Bachelor’s degree in March of 2015, a huge accomplishment.
During her last months of college, Shelby was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis (UC), which was pretty difficult on her as she lost a lot of weight, was very fatigued, and had intense stomach pain. She got a good job after college and powered through, but most days were spent running to the restroom, especially on any outings we had which became very difficult, needing to be always close to a bathroom at any given moment. In 2019, her doctors were finally able to get the UC under control, after many failed attempts of different medications for years. Those 4 years were hard on us, especially because we were told Shelby may not be able to carry a child, and her dream was to always be a mom.
Shelby and I met back in 2012 in college and I asked her to be my girlfriend, for the third time, after she had her liver transplant. She finally said yes and we’ve been together ever since. I asked her to marry me during a vacation to southern California in 2018 to which she said yes. We got married in beautiful Santa Barbara in the summer of 2019.
Shelby always wanted to be a mom, especially to a baby girl. There were years we thought we wouldn’t be able to have our own child, but a few years after we got married we got the green light that it was safe for Shelby to have a child, meaning her UC was under control and her liver was functioning great. Shelby got pregnant in early 2022 and we were thrilled to welcome a baby girl in September of that year… but again God had other plans.
After all the things Shelby had gone through, in July of 2022, at 29 weeks pregnant, she had a placenta abruption to which she was rushed to the ER. We thought she would have the baby that day, but thankfully the doctors were able to stop the bleeding and keep Shelby and baby safe for weeks longer. She stayed in the hospital for a month as it wasn’t safe for her to leave.
At exactly 32 weeks, it was no longer safe for the baby to stay in Shelby’s belly (Shelby started bleeding again) so she was rushed to have an emergency c-section. Our beautiful daughter was born at the very end of July at 32 weeks old and was just 3 pounds. She stayed in the NICU and we brought her home finally in September of 2022. Everything was starting to look up and we were over the moon to be a family of 3, well 5, as we have 2 fun labrador retrievers, Charlie and Chance.
The news of the cancer has been very devastating to our family. Most days I feel numb, but I'm doing everything I can to stay strong for our family. While Shelby was in the hospital fighting the chemo and infections we thought at one point she wouldn’t make it. I pray to God every night and am thankful God is here watching over her. I can’t imagine my life without her and she is fighting every day to beat this. She is too young and our daughter deserves to grow up with her mom. Anyone who knows her, will tell you she is the nicest, most genuine human being. She puts others before herself, is hard working, and is just a good and loving person. She has a great sense of humor and will make anyone laugh. Her smile lights up the room.
Your support will make a difference in our lives during this difficult time. Shelby is off work for the next several months to fight this. We’ve been very fortunate to have an amazing Cancer Facility here in Seattle. We will also be going to Houston, Texas in early June to one of the best cancer centers for this type of cancer for a second opinion. Any donation, no matter the size, will help with flights to and from Texas, medical bills, and daily expenses such as mortgage, etc.
UPDATE 6/23/2025: Wow, thank you from the bottom of our hearts to everyone who has donated. Your kindness and generosity means the world to us during this difficult time. We did go to have a 2nd opinion at MD Anderson two weeks ago and it did not go very well. We were basically told Shelby would not qualify for a clinical trial due to her transplant. We were also told to find a Dr that has worked with liver transplant patients and people with this type of cancer. After tons of calling and research, we think we found the Dr Shelby needs at Dana Farber Cancer Center in Boston. We are planning to fly out there for another opinion in September.
The good news is that Shelby has finished 4 cycles (out of 6) of chemo and a recent CT scan showed her tumors have shrunk by about 50%. We are still praying and staying hopeful that Shelby continues to do well.
Please keep us in our thoughts and prayers.
With love and many thanks,
Scott
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