Help Melissa raise money

Hello my name is Melissa Belsito and my story began back in early August of 2010.  This was a year I will never forget.  My mother Joanne turned 60 in August of 2013.  During her birthday party she was complaining of lower back pain and as the day went on the pain progressed.  She called the doctor and was scheduled for an x-ray.  The x-ray lead to an MRI and as she left the MRI with the report in her hand our lives changed in a matter of minutes.  The report stated that there was a "suspicion" of adenocarcinoma and pancreatic cancer.  The next day she received a phone call from the PCP office stating that they made her an appointment on Monday morning at the UMASS oncology department.  The first appointment that day was with surgeon. Dr. LaFemina who informed us that mom had stage-4 pancreatic cancer and it metastasized to the lining of the stomach.  The tumor's location was in the center of the pancreas and inoperable. My mom's journey ended 11 months later on my 40th birthday, July 16 2014. She was a fighter and never gave up!  She left behind her husband, two children and 6 beautiful grandchildren that loved her dearly.  

A few years prior to the passing of my mom I lost my grandmother to the same disease. This past year, I lost a very good friend and cousin to pancreatic cancer. He was 46 years old. I am an active member of the Pancreatic Cancer Alliance( PCA). We raise money to fund research and trials with hopes to be able to advance early detection methods and life expectancy. Pancreatic cancer is the third leading cause of cancer death. I have had genetic testing and I am a high risk pancreatic cancer patient. I undergo yearly testing and screening for pancreatic cancer through blood tests, cat scans and endoscopic ultrasounds. I am fortunate to be part of this alliance as well as a patient at UMASS.
I am sharing my personal story with hopes that you will be able to support my participation in this years road race. I have joined the national pancreatic foundation team with captain Diane Tonelli. Diane is also a high risk patient and member of the UMASS PCA. Today we continue to celebrate their lives by giving back and volunteering to raise funds for pancreatic, pancreas research.