Plainfield woman joins with Joliet Slammers for Strike Out Pancreatic Cancer night

For nearly 20 years, Audrey Montalto of Plainfield has raised money and awareness for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network through her community ambassador program Time for Hope.

Time for Hope will host its annual Strike Out Pancreatic Cancer night with the Joliet Slammers at Duly Health and Care Field in Joliet on Saturday, July 20. Montalto started the Slammers event in 2011.

The Strike Out Pancreatic Cancer night begins at 5:30 p.m. with a pancreatic cancer survivor throwing out the first pitch, Montalto said. The actual game starts at 6 p.m. Tickets are $15 each or $20 for tickets plus a T-shirt. The deadline for ordering tickets with a T-shirt is July 6, Montalto said.

Montalto started raising money in 2005 in honor of her parents Gene and Millie Majka of Orland Park. The couple did everything together – including battling cancer of the pancreas.

Both Gene and Millie Majka were diagnosed in 2004 and underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatments together, she said.

Both Gene and Millie Majka died 11 days after Time for Hope Benefit Concert, Montalto said. Gene Majka died Sept. 4, 2005. Millie Majka died on Sept. 6, 2008.

“Pancreatic cancer sneaks up on you,” Montalto said. “It’s not a cancer that presents well. People usually get diagnosed at stage 4. And then, not all of them [tumors] are operable, even. So from there it turns into a nightmare. The good news is that they are finding some more treatments for it.”

For instance, testing tumors for certain biomarkers can guide the best treatment options for each patient, she said.

The Joliet Slammers event is just one event Time for Hope holds to raise money and awareness for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.

[ Plainfield pancreatic cancer survivor to throw 1st pitch at Joliet Slammers game on Saturday ]

Montalto sells merchandise at PanCAN PurpleStride walk in Chicago. She and other Time for Hope volunteers participate with a float at the Joliet City Center Partnership’s Light Up The Holidays Festival & Parade in November. She also organizes a Time for Hope casual gala. All fundraisers benefit the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.

And all this work is on top of Montalto’s other activities.

“I work full-time, cut hair at night and manage my husband’s band,” Montalto said.

From healthy to hospitalized

Gene Majka had just returned from an Alaskan cruise with Millie Majka in August 2004 when he complained about an upset stomach. Montalto noticed his jaundiced eyes, so he went to an urgent care facility.

Tests suggested a gallstone had blocked the bile duct, Montalto said. But when doctors tried opening the blockage with a stent, they discovered a pancreatic tumor was crushing the duct, Montalto said. Gene Majka, who’d appeared health and had never been hospitalized, was now seriously ill, Montalto said.

“We went to Mayo because we heard they do miracles there,” Montalto said.

Gene Majka underwent the Whipple procedure – a pancreaticoduodenectomy. The Whipple procedure is a high-risk, complex surgery that removes the “head of the pancreas, the first part of the small intestine, the gallbladder and the bile duct,” according to Mayo Clinic.

Only 15% to 20% of pancreatic cancer patients are eligible for this surgery – and the 4 to 12-hour Whipple procedure might be the only chance for a cure, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

Gene Majka also underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatments, Montalto said.

On December 2004, Millie Majka underwent a CT scan to monitor a stable liver hemangioma she’d had for 20 years, Montalto said. Her parents’ insurance had changed, so Millie Majka’s doctors wanted a baseline CT scan, Montalto said.

The scan found a tumor on her pancreas,” Montalto said.

“We took her to Mayo also,” Montalto said. “But hers was wrapped around the hepatic artery that feeds the liver.”

In short, Millie Majka was ineligible for the Whipple procedure. But Millie’s early diagnosis worked in her favor, and she experienced “an 18-month hiatus” after completing chemotherapy and radiation, Montalto said.

“Her tumor markers weren’t going up; her tumor markers were stable,” Montalto said. “During that time, she was able to take care of my dad.”

In August 2004, Montalto put together her first fundraiser for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. Montalto held it at the former Pioneer Lanes in Plainfield. Her husband Mike Montalto’s band Friday at Five performed, and they sold close to 300 tickets at $5 each, more attendees than the bar could hold, Montalto said.

“They had to shut the bowling alley down and put the band on the lanes,” she said.

Even now, the five-year survival rate is for pancreatic cancer is just 13%, according to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. So Montalto intends to keep raising money and awareness.

“It honestly makes me feel good to do it,” Montalto said. “I want to do something to help make a difference in some other families lives so they don’t have to go through what our families went through.”

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Strike Out Pancreatic Cancer night

WHEN: July 20

WHERE: Duly Health and Care Field, 1 Mayor Art Schultz Drive, Joliet,

TICKETS: $15 each or $20 for tickets plus a T-shirt. Deadline for T-shirts is July 6. To purchase, email Audrey Montalto at timeforhope@sbcglobal.net or text her at 815-922-3068.

INFORMATION: Visit pancan.org.