Over the next year, she underwent six rounds of chemotherapy and a 10-and-a-half hour surgery to remove her uterus and 12 tumors and nodules from her abdomen.
“I was in a state of shock,” Sepulveda said. “I didn’t believe it. I asked if I could see the report, and I just started reading it for myself.”
A nurse, foster mom and the primary provider for a family of eight, Shelly Sepulveda has devoted her life to taking care of others. So when she was diagnosed with Stage 3 ovarian cancer close to a year ago, she wasn’t sure where to turn.
All the while, the Medway resident kept working as a clinical documentation manager at Steward Health Care to provide for her wife and six children.
L to R: Shelly Sepulveda, with Noah, 11, and wife Tami, Shaelin, 16, Samuel, 19, Tyler, 15, Kam, 15, and Abby, 16. In foreground is their 29 year old adopted pet Moluccan cockatoo, Luca. Barry Chin/Globe Staff
A nurse for more than 20 years, she enjoyed her job, but after 11 months of cancer treatment her body could no longer keep up, she said.
“It’s very frustrating for me, because I’ve always been a hard worker,” she said.
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She resigned late last month, ahead of what she said was an “imminent” layoff from Steward Health, which filed for bankruptcy in May and in August notified the state that nearly 1,250 workers would lose their jobs.
For Sepulveda, 46, the hardest part of her diagnosis is having to slow down and ask for help from friends and family. She has also struggled with losing her hair.
“I had really long, beautiful hair, and so I felt like, at that time, I lost my personal identity,” she said.
15fostermom – Shelly Sepulveda at St. Elizabeth’s medical center on the Dana Farber oncology floor. (Shelly Sepulveda) Shelly Sepulveda
Sepulveda knew that by leaving her job, her family would face financial difficulty, but she felt she had no other choice.
“That’s who I was,” she said. “I surrounded my life with work and my family. I feel like that kind of all was taken away from me this last year.”
The family currently has no source of income and faces mounting medical bills for Sepulveda’s cancer treatment. The family’s insurance copay is $5,000 a month, in addition to bills for her medications.
In December, friends started a GoFundMe campaign to help Sepulveda and her family with medical expenses. The fund has received more than 100 donations and raised more than $10,000.
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15fostermom – Shelly Sepulveda at St. Elizabeth’s medical center on the Dana Farber oncology floor. (Shelly Sepulveda) Shelly Sepulveda
“It’s very hard to accept,” Sepulveda said about the outpouring of support. “I’m humbled by it all, but I have lots of friends and family that have given me that support, and that’s really what’s gotten me through these hard times.”
Boston 25 reported on Sepulveda and her battle with cancer last week.
Sepulveda and her wife of 22 years, Tami, fostered more than 20 infants over the course of about five years. The couple met working as neonatal nurses in 1999.
“After we moved in together, Tami said she wanted to start doing foster care and adoption,” Sepulveda recalled. “I was like ‘OK.’”
The couple has adopted five children and has one biological child.
The couple’s youngest child, 11-year-old Noah, was born at just 1 pound 10 ounces and needed feeding tubes as an infant. All of the couple’s children have special needs and require medication for their disabilities.
“We literally brought our work home with us,” Sepulveda said. “I would never have told you I was gonna have six kids, but they come into your home and you just see them thrive and excel. They made me a better person.”
Shortly after adopting their youngest child, Tami retired to care for the children, making Sepulveda the family’s sole financial provider. Tami has since had three back surgeries and suffers from partial paralysis in her left leg, making her unable to go back to work.
Sepulveda said that she didn’t have time to process her diagnosis before chemotherapy, which led to hair loss and exhaustion. “I went through all the stages of anger, denial, grief,” she said.
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While her fight is ongoing, Sepulveda said she has come to accept her diagnosis.
15fostermom – Shelly Sepulveda is pictured with her father-in-law at his house in AZ. (Shelly Sepulveda) Shelly Sepulveda
“Find something that will make you smile every single day, and that’s what will get you through your day,” she said.
Stage 3 ovarian cancer indicates that cancerous cells have spread beyond the pelvis to the peritoneum. According to the Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance, the average five-year survival rate of Stage 3 ovarian cancer is 41 percent.
Sepulveda is currently receiving oral chemotherapy, which she said causes side effects such as nausea and fatigue. But the side effects are not as severe as IV chemotherapy, she said.
Born and raised in Borger, Texas, Sepulveda said watching people be medically evacuated by helicopter from her high school football field inspired her to go into medicine.
“When I would see that helicopter come down, I would watch the ambulance and all the medical personnel,” she said. “I was 15, and I loved it.”
In 2020, Sepulveda received a doctorate in nursing. She hopes to go back to work as soon as her health will allow.
“I always wanted to work at the top of my license and just put everything I got into my career and in my family as well,” she said.
While Sepulveda’s last year has been frustrating and challenged her in new ways, she remains optimistic.
“It is a marathon. There’s no getting around it. Just find that sunshine in your life, you know, find what keeps you going,” Sepulveda said. “Mine is definitely my family, my kids.”
Sarah Mesdjian can be reached at sarah.mesdjian@globe.com. Follow her on X @sarahs_journal.
Mass. nurse and mother of six fights ovarian cancer
