Ann (Forsman) Adams

Ann Chandler Forsman Adams was born on June 25, 1965, in Wilmington, Delaware.  She thought it was incredibly fortunate that she was born exactly six months after Christmas.  Ann passed away quite suddenly on February 12, 2018 at home in Havertown.  Beloved wife of Carl Randall Adams and mother to Henry William (20) and Robert Quincy (16).  Daughter of the late William C and the late Jane C. Forsman of Swarthmore.  Survived by her brother William C. Forsman, Jr (Bonnie) of Minneapolis, MN, sisters Elizabeth Nanis (Michael) of West Chester and Ellen Thomas (Edwin) of Moorestown, NJ, plus her beloved nieces and nephews Nicole, Katie, Colin, Sean, Kevin, Max, Chet and Jack. She is predeceased by her nephew Mikey.

Ann graduated in 1983 from Swarthmore High School and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from American University in Washington, D.C. in 1987.  She began her nursing career at The Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, DC.  She moved home to Philadelphia in 1991 to take a position in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where she lavished care on her tiny patients that had complex heart repairs and transplants.  Ann soon became a Nurse Preceptor training many Cardiac Nurses over her thirty-one year career, gaining qualification as a clinical nurse level IV and becoming an integral part of the leadership team at the Cardiac ICU.  In addition to supervising more than 40 people, Ann helped study, develop and implement many new protocols to reduce hospital acquired infections and was part of a team that published a paper regarding the results.  In 2014, she was awarded the Caroline Langstadter Award, the highest hospital honor for a clinical nurse at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.  Ann became a Cardiac Case Manager at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in 2017, a position she held at the time of her death.

In late January of 1995 while in a friend’s wedding, she met her future husband (the photographer) and had dinner with him on Ground Hogs Day, they were engaged by her birthday that same year and married the following year.  Both being significantly afflicted with “old house brain damage” they purchased and settled into a turn of the century home in Havertown, PA.  They welcomed Henry in 1997 and Quincy in 2001.  Ann considered herself blessed to live in Havertown and met many dear friends through her boys activities, especially loving soccer and baseball season.

Ann developed epilepsy a year after Henry’s birth and without complaint adjusted to life with as many as 50 seizures per month.  Multiple medications were employed without significant relief and to her delight she was chosen as the second patient in Philadelphia to receive a Responsive Neuro Stimulator, developed by the Neuropace  company of Mountain View, California.  Her team of Neurologists and Neurosurgeons at the Hospital of The University of Pennsylvania implanted the device over three brain surgeries in 2014.  After careful programing, her RNS had reduced her seizures by more than 60% giving her incredible confidence and in reality a new life.  Ann was asked and accepted an offer to become an RNS Ambassador for Neurpace and was available to speak to any patients who were contemplating the therapy.  She spoke at conferences and supported other epilepsy patients as it was very important to her that others understood that one can lead a full life while living with epilepsy and she marveled at how the neuro stimulator improved her quality of life these past several years.

Ann was a lifelong member of the Swarthmore Presbyterian Church, were she was confirmed, married and served as a Deacon, a Fall-fair booth chair known for her lemon aide.

Ann was loved, and she loved deeply.  Her first loves were Carl, Henry and Quincy. Spending time with her “men” and her furry sidekick Maggie was her favorite pastime.   She loved her family, friends and her doctors.  Reading, music, crafting, Christmas movies, snowmen, antiques, summers in Minnesota and the Poconos were incredibly special to Ann.  She leaves the world a better place than she found it and a giant hole in the hearts of those that loved her.

A memorial service celebrating Ann's life  will be held Saturday, February 24, 2018 at 11:00 A.M. at the Swarthmore Presbyterian Church, 727 Harvard Avenue, Swarthmore, PA 19081.  The family will receive friends & relatives in Fellowship Hall immediately, following the service.  Interment private.

 Memorial contributions in Ann's name may be made to The Cardiac Intensive Care Unit, of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.