CACS - Kay Shea Memorial

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This page is dedicated to members of the CACS who have lost their fight with Carcinoid Cancer. We present this information first as a memorial to the departed member and second in the hope that the information here will be helpful to someone who is researching or fighting our disease. Click a link below to see the memorial bios.
Ted Crump
1939 - 2008

Bob DeGroot
1945 - 2007

Gloria Guadagno
1934 - 2007

Liz Hollenbach
1948 - 2007

Susan Spillman
1959 - 2006

Larry Chinnery
1938 - 2006

Mark Redfern
1956 - 2005

Jennifer Murphy
1960 - 2003

"Coach" Lombardi
1962 - 2003

"Bob" Niblock
1936 - 2003

"Bob" Kurtz
1939 - 2002

"Kay" Shea
1931 - 2002

"Mickey" Moomey
1925 - 2002

"Don" Jones
1953 - 2002

Survivors
Bios of living members

Kathleen H.Shea
December 2, 1931 - August 19, 2002
Kay was the daughter of the late Kathleen McDermott Shea and the late Edward A Shea of Belmont, MA. She was born in Cambridge, MA on 2 Dec l931.

She retired from the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations in l986, where she managed classified information for the Navy. She had over 35 years of government service. Her prior assignments included service at U.S.Embassies and military bases in Japan, Germany, Iceland, Australia, and Italy, as well as the Watertown Arsenal, Hanscomb AFB, and the Dept of Defense Public Affairs Office in Los Angeles.

She was single, and is survived by an uncle, James E. McDermott of Belmont, MA; and three aunts, Lorraine Sweeney Nicoli of Burlington; Elizabeth Sweeney Nicoli of Rockport, and Helen Shea Amrock of Belmont. She also leaves many cousins and friends.

Her cousin, the Rev Jeremiah Shea, officiated at her gravesite funeral services. She is buried with her parents in the Belmont, MA cemetery.

Kay Shea's Carcinoid Story
On Xmas Day 2001, I drove myself to Fairfax Hospital thinking I was having an appendicitis attack. After spending 7 hours in the Emergency Room and having a CT Scan, the surgeon on duty told me that I had an aggressive type of cancer that metastasized to the liver and that the likely site of the primary tumor was the ileocecal valve at the base of the cecum. The tumor measured approximately 4 cm. I asked the doctor the old soap opera questions "How long have I got doc"? He said "about a year". I then asked him "How will I die from this?" He said "You'll just get very tired "..HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR HIM!!!!!!

On 26 December I was operated on. I had a right hemicolectomy. They took out the tumor, and about 8 inches of the colon and resected, transected, and dissected things I had never heard of. They found multiple nodules in the liver, multiple studs in the' peritoneal lining as well as in the pelvis. In addition, the appendix had perforated. The pathology report also revealed that 17 out of 17 lymph nodes were positive for metastatic neuroendocrine tumor.

Prior to the operation I had spent the last two years visiting my internist because of mild to moderate pain in my right lower quadrant. In mid-2000 I had numerous tests and a CT Scan which revealed nothing wrong. The diagnosis was that it could be irritable bowel syndrome and I was given different kinds of pain medicine to alleviate that symptom. The internist said "Well, we've ruled out all the bad stuff".(The only carcinoid syndrome symptom was flushing and that happened just a couple of weeks before I went into the hospital)

I started Sandostatin in January 2002 and am now on LAR 50 about every 28 days. The latest CT Scan done on 20 April reveals that the largest tumor in the liver has grown from 3-l/2 cm to 4 cm. However, no new ones were noted and the others had remained stable. I have considerable upper and lower abdominal pain and am taking medicine to control it. I really miss playing golf but at least I'm able to get around and take my doggie to the park for walks.

I don't know what will happen down the road but I do know that being a member of the Carcinoid Group has been a God-send for me and I wish to express my sincere appreciation to all the members for their support. It has been invaluable.

In the months following the writing of the above bio, Kay's atypical Carcinoid tumors continued to grow unabated and by mid-July had gotten much worse. Her condition continued to deteriorate and on August 14 she was admitted to hospice where they attempted to make her last days as comfortable as possible. She lapsed into unconsciousness on Aug. 18 and passed away in the wee hours of the following morning. Although she was unmarried and had very few living family members, she had many friends. She will be missed by all of us.