Help Marie raise money

Hi My Name is Marie Taurasi, I am 54 years old and I was diagnosed with Stage 3 Colorectal Cancer when I was 43 years old.

I am fundraising for CCRAN (Colorectal Cancer Resource & Action Network) because I am so very gratefully for them especially for Filomena Servidio-Italiano !! I cannot express how much Filomena did for me.  She educated me, put me with the BEST surgeon ( Dr. Shady Ashamalla) and (the team at the Odette Centre) and she also helped me get through my journey.  She was always there if I needed her.   That is why I do the BumRun every year !!! To give back, to help others, so that they can get the same treatment that I did, because this organization (CCRAN), especially Filomena is amazing !!

And here is my story..... 

It all started back in November 2014.  I was having very few symptoms, but I decided have myself checked out anyway.  I underwent a colonoscopy and that is when my world came crashing down.  I was told that I had stage 3 colorectal cancer.   My life and world as I had known it were shattered.  This could not be happening to me…..”Cancer”??

Thankfully a friend introduced me to Filomena Servidio-Italiano from CCRAN (Colorectal Cancer Resource & Action Network).  I immediately called her and from the moment we spoke I knew I was in the best hands possible.  Filomena referred me to Dr. Shady Ashamalla and the team of oncologists at the Odette Cancer Centre. Once I met Dr. Ashamalla, just talking to him, I knew everything was going to be okay. He is a kind of doctor that goes beyond the boundaries for his patients…changing people’s outcomes….he truly is an amazing doctor !!

This is where CCRAN comes in.   This is an organization that is here for people like you and I, who desperately require support, guidance and above all education so that we can get through the ups and downs that we go through when battling this horrible disease.   CCRAN furnish patients and caregivers with valuable monthly support groups wherein we are able to tell our stories and receive the best up to date information about the management of the disease and the most current medicines and therapies designed to help us.

I am so fortunate that I started my journey with CCRAN and Dr. Shady Ashamalla, because without them I would not be “cancer-free"