TAMPA, Fla. -- "I still remember the day vividly when I found out,"?USF student?Monique Konstantinovic says about the day she?found out her mother, Diane, was sick.
Seven years ago, after being misdiagnosed, Diane started aggressive treatment for ovarian cancer. Diane's grandmother had battled it decades earlier, and Diane's mother would find out she had the disease three years after Diane did.
"It's what they say is a chronic cancer that will not go away," Diane says.
The diagnosis changed daughter Monique's life. She?transformed from a high school student?scared of the sight of blood to a college student who hopes to attend?medical school at USF. And Monique?wanted to combine her love for running with her overwhelming love for family.
"Why did this happen?" Monique asks. "And what can I do to change it for the future?"
What she did to change it took a year and a half of?hard work, but it was all worth it for her mom and for the fight against ovarian cancer.
"I really wanted to put it out there to prepare women and to make a difference," she says.
Earlier this month,?Monique made that difference. On March 18,?the Race 4 Her Life brought out hundreds of runners and shut down streets across USF's campus. Even while going to school and to track meets, Monique managed to organize every last detail of the 5K.?The proceeds?benefit the Celma Mastry Ovarian Cancer Foundation.
"I couldn't believe I made that happen. I couldn't believe it," Monique says.
She did it all in honor of Diane, who works three jobs. She serves as?a deputy at the Pinellas County Jail and?teaches karate. It's a physical lifestyle that Diane won't give up, even during chemotherapy.
"I'm just determined to get better," Diane says.?"I have to be there for my kids."
Monique has chosen to?focus on?the Race 4 Her Life for her?honors thesis. She's documented the year and a half of work and emotions that went into it.
"It just totally changed my life," she says.
Monique graduates in May, but will keep doing this for her mom, just as her mom continues her fight for them.
"The hardest part was to know that I may leave my children behind and they won't have a mother. And I'm determined not to be that way," Diane says.
The family also hopes the Race 4 Her Life raises awareness about ovarian cancer, since it's often known as a silent killer.
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