Dr. Kelly Shanahan retiring after 22 years in South Lake Tahoe

"It was a sign that I need to retire," said Dr. Kelly Shanahan.

Shanahan sat down with me recently, to reflect on her 22 years in South Lake Tahoe, and the almost 10,000 babies she's delivered in her career.

The sign?

Without putting her office up for sale she received a phone call from a local realtor, asking if she'd like to sell the building that houses her Emerald Bay Center for Women's Health.

The potential buyer came to look at the property, and shortly after, a vacationing doctor called to see if she'd like to sell her practice.

At the time, Shanahan had been contemplating retiring in the next three years.

"It's time to do something else while I'm still feeling good," she said. She took the original buyer's offer and the building is now in escrow.

Dr. Shanahan, a breast cancer survivor, has metastatic breast cancer. In 2008, the OBGYN was first diagnosed with breast cancer during a routine mammogram. She underwent a bilateral mastectomy, months of chemotherapy and reconstruction, thinking she was cancer free. And she was, until 2013 when she learned she had the fatal cancer.

"There is too much left to do," Shanahan said of her plans to beat the odds of a cancer that claims the lives of 40,000 people a year in the United States. The average person lives 33 months after diagnosis and only 22 percent live five years after diagnosis.

Her daughter Hunter graduates from South Tahoe High on June 10, and before then Kelly, husband Jeff and Hunter will travel to London for a pre-graduation adventure.

"The timing of the selling of this building worked out very, very well," said Shanahan.

She is enjoying, or should I say crying, through a lot of "last times" with Hunter's high school experience. Hunter is one of the cast of South Tahoe High's Rumors which closes the curtains on Sunday. So that is a "last play" which followed the "last musical," referring to Hunter performing in this winter's Cinderella.

"I'm not allowed to cry until closing night of Rumors, but I know I can't wait until then," she said.

Hunter will graduate on June 10, then she'll be off to one of the numerous colleges she was accepted to including USC and Chapman College. Kelly said she will now have the flexibility to visit Hunter more often, no matter where she ends up.

She also recently celebrated a first by dancing in the Tahoe Arts Project's "Dancing with the Tahoe Stars."

In 2001, Shanahan's husband Jeff built the building located at 1154 #A Emerald Bay Road. Escrow is set to close April 26 but she won't say who the buyer is, yet. In the meantime, Shanahan is busy cleaning out years of records, and family treasures.

"We just boxed up things at home and stored them upstairs at the office over the last 16 years," Kelly said of their family belongings. She plans on having a big yard sale at the office the first weekend of April.

The last day for patients at her office will be Wednesday, March 30. Shanahan is sending her records to Barton Health, who will store them. Doctors are required to store all birth records until two years after the child turns 18.

Dr. Shanahan estimates she's helped almost 10,000 boys and girls into the world during her career. Starting off during her residency at Temple University, Kelly estimates she delivered 2,500 babies. Then, while in practice in Pennsylvania, another two thousand. And since moving to South Lake Tahoe, another "three or four thousand."

"I'm so glad I don't have to pay child support on each one of them!" the New York native joked.

"What I'll miss most about closing my practice are my relationships with the patients," Kelly said as she tried to hold back tears. "My patients are now my friends, I've seen many of them for the whole 22 years."

Shanahan will be giving up her medical license when she sells her practice. "Now I'll be going to the doctor like real people," Kelly said.

Reflecting back on her arrival in South Lake Tahoe, Kelly said she moved to town in April, 1994 to seek a more "laid back life."

She met husband Jeff Turney on July 4 of that year after roller blading to the Beacon for Rum Runners with a friend. She sat down at a table Jeff was at, and should we say, the rest is history? They were married in January and recently celebrated 21 years together.

"Friends told me it's never last," Kelly says with a smile.

What does Kelly plan to do after Hunter goes off to college?

She will also be dedicating a lot of time to metastatic cancer advocacy and education. "It brings me great joy to advocate," Kelly said. "We're MetaVivors, we're not survivors, we're surviving."

"I can also tell you this is my last winter in Lake Tahoe," she said. "I want to be on the beach, most likely in Mexico, when winter comes. I envision us celebrating Spring Break a year from now on the beach."