[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 31 (Friday, February 26, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E233]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       IN HONOR OF ELLEN STOVALL

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. LOIS CAPPS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, February 26, 2016

  Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Ellen 
Stovall, a true champion for cancer survivors.
  For decades, Ellen worked tirelessly to improve the lives of people 
with cancer. She knew the issue well, having been diagnosed with cancer 
three times. Ellen died on January 5 from cardiac complications related 
to her cancer treatments.
  On Wednesday, I joined her family, friends, and colleagues across the 
cancer advocacy community to mourn her loss, both in the professional 
sense and the personal. She was a woman who could really get things 
done; yet through all her hard work she never forgot the importance of 
relationships, comforting so many in some of our toughest hours.
  When I think about Ellen, and the great deal she accomplished over 
the course of her life, I know there is truly so much to celebrate. She 
was a force. She looked around, found what needed to be fixed, and 
poured herself into doing it.
  Ellen broke through the traditional silos in cancer--she has brought 
together the work of different disease types, patients and providers, 
researchers and drug developers, caregivers, and support workers. And 
she worked across the cancer spectrum, from basic research, clinical 
trials, treatment access, symptom management, and palliative care.
  And in doing so she brought attention to survivorship.
  ``Survivorship became what I did,'' she once said. ``I lived with the 
cancer, I lived through the cancer, and I lived beyond the cancer. 
Survivorship became a way that I lived my life after the cancer. I live 
with the fact that I had cancer, and that knowledge has been empowering 
for me.''
  And in being a survivor, and dedicating herself to cancer 
survivorship issues, Ellen was able to amplify the community's impact 
in Washington and in communities across the country.
  Her passion was contagious. She was smart and strategic, with 
excellent political acumen. But most important was Ellen's ability to 
connect with others, empathize with their situation, and put herself in 
their shoes. That ability informed her work--especially in support of 
cancer care planning.
  The same tenacity she brought to her battle with cancer, she brought 
to the halls of Congress. The same passion she had for life, she 
brought to those she comforted as they underwent diagnosis and 
treatment. And she did it all with great humility. There are few, if 
any of us, who can say we have improved the lives of so many.
  But Ellen's work--her calling--has been to change the system so that 
each of those individuals, and their families, might have a better 
experience.
  Ellen had said it herself. She had the kind of coordinated care and 
roadmap that helped make the cancer journey a little bit easier. But 
she recognized that for far too many individuals facing a cancer 
diagnosis, this coordinated care planning is lacking or non-existent. 
She also recognized that there are health care providers who want to do 
more to help patients navigate their cancer journey, but are currently 
unable to do so.
  So, like she had so many other times, Ellen rolled up her sleeves and 
got to work. And that is how our Planning Actively for Cancer 
Treatment--or PACT Act--was born. I am so honored to have worked with 
Ellen and NCCS as I authored this legislation with Congressman Boustany 
from Louisiana. Our bipartisan bill would provide a treatment roadmap 
for patients that would lay out a plan to address both the cancer and 
the side-effects of treatment. This active care planning empowers 
patients and families while helping them navigate from diagnosis 
through survivorship. It helps bring cancer care best practices to all 
in need.
  It is a testament to Ellen that she would dedicate her life to 
helping others get the care that they deserve, even when she was 
satisfied with her own. And it is something that I know so many in the 
cancer advocacy community will continue to champion on behalf of Ellen.
  So with that, I am hopeful. Ellen might be gone, but in each of us, 
we know that her spirit lives on. Her commitment to improving the 
cancer journey lives on and her passion for life lives on.
  I'd like to offer my condolences to her husband and son whose 
strength and support were always evident in Ellen's work. And I'd like 
to extend my sympathy to her friends and colleagues at NCCS and all the 
many organizations she partnered with.
  Ellen will truly be missed, but we are still here to carry the torch 
and improve cancer care for all who need it.

                          ____________________