Shelly McMasters’ fight underlines need for cancer cure

On the wall in Shelly McMasters’ Colfax home hangs a sign; Never, Never, Never Give Up. McMasters, 54, is emerging from her third bout with cancer in 13 years, a struggle she said was made easier with the help of proceeds from Relay for Life and a supportive church group.

In 1996, she was diagnosed with uteran cancer and in 1997 she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

Then, in late 2008, she was diagnosed with breast cancer, a diagnosis which later ended in a mastectomy in 2009. That same year, she was diagnosed with heart disease after she developed a life-threatening blood clot. A medical helicopter rushed her from Colfax to Spokane. She was given a pace-maker. The helicopter ride cost $12,000, a bill which the American Cancer Society, along with two other charities, later paid.

Today, McMasters has lobular cancer in her spine. Her sister, Kerry Barlow, calls her every evening each week to encourage her.

The support of her family and church, United Methodist Church, has made all the horrors more bearable.

“I lost my fear to cancer years ago. I’ve had an inner peace with it. I don’t fear dying,” she said. “I have survived through this much.”

When she received the news of her cancer in 2008, she said the people in her church gathered around her.

“Every day I would get cards in the mail. I got phone-calls. People would bring by dinner,” she said. “They are the most supportive group I’ve ever met.”