Stay up to date with all Pancreatic Cancer Action Network news.
In Conversation: Tamisha Major, Affiliate Volunteer, Central Florida Affiliate
Tamisha Major, a volunteer with the Central Florida Affiliate, spoke with Community Engagement Senior Specialist Paula Mukherjee about her personal connection to PanCAN’s mission and dedication to service. This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Paula: What is your connection to PanCAN’s mission?
Tamisha: I lost my mom, Vernice, to pancreatic cancer in 2018. Many years prior to that, my maternal aunt was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She was diagnosed at an early stage of the disease and survived nearly 30 years. She passed away in May of this year.
After my aunt’s and mom’s experiences, I was motivated to learn about pancreatic cancer risk factors and prevention, especially for my family, and ready to jump in and raise awareness about pancreatic cancer in my community.
Paula: Because of your family history, were you familiar with pancreatic cancer before your mom’s diagnosis?
Tamisha: I was in high school when my aunt was diagnosed. I wrote a paper about my aunt and her motivational experience with pancreatic cancer, but I didn't research the disease at the time. I really delved in after my mom's diagnosis.
Paula: How did your mom get diagnosed?
Tamisha: She started experiencing gastrointestinal problems. Her primary care physician thought it had something to do with her gallbladder. My mom had diabetes and recently lost weight, but we didn’t think much of it because she had retired the year before and had been walking a lot and eating healthier since then.
My mom was living by herself in the Florida panhandle. She had a lot of family members in the area, but I was about six hours away in central Florida, and my brother, Ryan, was in Georgia.
She went in for gallbladder surgery and the surgeon found cancer. After confirmatory testing, my mom was given a stage IV pancreatic cancer diagnosis. We were in disbelief. I suggested that my mom get a second opinion and investigate treatment options.
I got her an appointment at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa and she and three other women – her best friend and two of my aunts – went to Tampa together. The plan was to drive from Tampa to Orlando on Friday because I was in my third trimester of pregnancy with my second son and due to give birth on Monday. She was going to be in the labor room with me.
On Friday, my last day of work before maternity leave, they went to the appointment. My mom was given liquids because she was dehydrated. When I got home, I called my aunt because I expected them to be in Orlando already.
She told me that they had to pull off the highway because my mom began experiencing excruciating pain in her leg and it was black and blue. They called an ambulance. She had a blood clot and was hospitalized for the weekend in the Tampa area.
I got to the hospital late Friday evening. When the receptionist saw me, days before giving birth, she told me that they don’t deliver babies in that hospital! I had to clarify that I was going to see my mom in the emergency room.
My older son, Trace, was very close to my mom. That night they were joking and laughing. My mom was very kind-hearted and soft-spoken, but she was also a jokester. I told them to stop making me laugh so much: “I’m going to give birth if you keep making me laugh!”
I got home from the hospital at 1AM and my water broke at 3AM. Isn’t that crazy?
Paula: Wow!
Tamisha: I gave birth to my younger son, Braxton, on Saturday morning, and we went home on Sunday. My mom was discharged on Monday.
She spent her last five weeks with my family and me at my house. She had several stints in the hospital during that time and near the end, we made the decision together to enter her into hospice care.
But during those five weeks, she had the opportunity to hold her new grandson. She had the opportunity to be with family. She couldn’t return to her home, but at least she was in my home. I thank God that I had those last five weeks with her.
There were so many people who came to see her, including my brother. The day that she passed, it was just the three of us. Ryan was having a hard time with the thought of not seeing her again. I suggested that he take a breather and go for a walk.
When he came back, my mom’s breaths were tapering off. He walked over and gave her a kiss on her forehead and told her he loved her. By the time he sat down, she had stopped breathing. Look at the beauty in that: she waited for him. When she left us, she had a smile on her face.
Paula: That must have been very difficult, but it’s a beautiful story as well.
Tamisha: I look back at that experience, and it was challenging and a heavy loss, but how everything unfolded was also a blessing. That really catapulted me into volunteering with PanCAN and doing more to increase awareness of pancreatic cancer in my community. I want to continue being of service through my volunteer activities and career. That is my personal mission.
Paula: What kind of work do you do?
I work for a small nonprofit called Center for Change based here in Central Florida as a program manager. We offer health education and social services to individuals and families who lack access due to economic, social and health disparities, particularly in the African American, Hispanic American, and Caribbean American communities.
Paula: Were you working in health education when your mom was diagnosed?
Tamisha: I’m a trained mental health counselor, but I was working in a different field at the time and this opportunity came out of nowhere. The executive director was a family friend and called me to say that she was told that I should become her mentee before she retires. She was really encouraging, so I took a leap of faith, and I have no regrets. This is where I belong.
We do a lot of presentations about prostate cancer, colon cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. When I’m out with my team giving health presentations, I share a bit about my own story, pancreatic cancer, and the importance of knowing your family history. My vision is to bring pancreatic cancer on as another core topic for community events.
Paula: When did you first connect with PanCAN?
Tamisha: After my mom passed in 2018, I began going to PanCAN PurpleStride Central Florida with my husband, our sons, and friends. I spoke with staff partner Addie Flanagan about two years ago about volunteering with PanCAN. I’ve been an event day volunteer at PurpleStride. Recently, I’ve been working with PurpleStride Chair Holly Barton to maintain communications with survivors after event day.
I spoke on behalf of PanCAN at a GI conference a few months back. I gave a brief presentation on PanCAN. That was fun! I really enjoyed it. My second community event will be in July.
Paula: What’s your favorite part of PurpleStride?
Tamisha: Volunteering in the survivor tent! Something as simple as decorating the tent brings me so much joy. It gives me goosebumps when I think about having conversations with survivors and their family members and friends and experiencing the smiles and energy they bring to the event. It’s a blessing to be a part of that and it’s my favorite PurpleStride memory.
My family participates in PurpleStride as well – they enjoy it! The past couple of years, I’ve been going early to volunteer, and my husband will bring the boys, and they do the walk together.
Paula: I love that you support PanCAN as a family!
Tamisha: I will share this because it came as a surprise. My son, who just finished fourth grade, had to write a paper about someone who inspires him. I asked him who he wanted to choose and threw out some names. He said that he chose me. When I asked why, he said it was because I do community service, and we volunteer as a family.
That means a lot to me because I am always thinking about how to make an impact on my community and didn't realize how I was making an impact in my own home. For my 10-year-old son to recognize and acknowledge that the way that he did was super special.
I don’t want to take more credit than I’m due; we’re not volunteering every single weekend. But what we do still made an impact on him. My busy schedule is dedicated not to only to my family but also to the organizations that I support, like the Center for Change and PanCAN.
Paula: What other causes do you support?
Tamisha: I am a member of the international organization Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, that is dedicated to service. I’m also the board chair of a local nonprofit, Passionate Heart Ministries, that strives to provide a place of inclusion for Black Americans and Caribbean immigrants within the greater Orlando area.
Everything that I do, I try to do with purpose.
Paula: Thank you for everything you do for PanCAN!
Please feel free to contact Tamisha Major (tmajor.112011@gmail.com) or Paula Mukherjee (pmukherjee@pancan.org) with any questions.
Paula: What is your connection to PanCAN’s mission?
Tamisha: I lost my mom, Vernice, to pancreatic cancer in 2018. Many years prior to that, my maternal aunt was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She was diagnosed at an early stage of the disease and survived nearly 30 years. She passed away in May of this year.
After my aunt’s and mom’s experiences, I was motivated to learn about pancreatic cancer risk factors and prevention, especially for my family, and ready to jump in and raise awareness about pancreatic cancer in my community.
Paula: Because of your family history, were you familiar with pancreatic cancer before your mom’s diagnosis?
Tamisha: I was in high school when my aunt was diagnosed. I wrote a paper about my aunt and her motivational experience with pancreatic cancer, but I didn't research the disease at the time. I really delved in after my mom's diagnosis.
Paula: How did your mom get diagnosed?
Tamisha: She started experiencing gastrointestinal problems. Her primary care physician thought it had something to do with her gallbladder. My mom had diabetes and recently lost weight, but we didn’t think much of it because she had retired the year before and had been walking a lot and eating healthier since then.
My mom was living by herself in the Florida panhandle. She had a lot of family members in the area, but I was about six hours away in central Florida, and my brother, Ryan, was in Georgia.
She went in for gallbladder surgery and the surgeon found cancer. After confirmatory testing, my mom was given a stage IV pancreatic cancer diagnosis. We were in disbelief. I suggested that my mom get a second opinion and investigate treatment options.
I got her an appointment at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa and she and three other women – her best friend and two of my aunts – went to Tampa together. The plan was to drive from Tampa to Orlando on Friday because I was in my third trimester of pregnancy with my second son and due to give birth on Monday. She was going to be in the labor room with me.
On Friday, my last day of work before maternity leave, they went to the appointment. My mom was given liquids because she was dehydrated. When I got home, I called my aunt because I expected them to be in Orlando already.
She told me that they had to pull off the highway because my mom began experiencing excruciating pain in her leg and it was black and blue. They called an ambulance. She had a blood clot and was hospitalized for the weekend in the Tampa area.
I got to the hospital late Friday evening. When the receptionist saw me, days before giving birth, she told me that they don’t deliver babies in that hospital! I had to clarify that I was going to see my mom in the emergency room.
My older son, Trace, was very close to my mom. That night they were joking and laughing. My mom was very kind-hearted and soft-spoken, but she was also a jokester. I told them to stop making me laugh so much: “I’m going to give birth if you keep making me laugh!”
I got home from the hospital at 1AM and my water broke at 3AM. Isn’t that crazy?
Paula: Wow!
Tamisha: I gave birth to my younger son, Braxton, on Saturday morning, and we went home on Sunday. My mom was discharged on Monday.
She spent her last five weeks with my family and me at my house. She had several stints in the hospital during that time and near the end, we made the decision together to enter her into hospice care.
But during those five weeks, she had the opportunity to hold her new grandson. She had the opportunity to be with family. She couldn’t return to her home, but at least she was in my home. I thank God that I had those last five weeks with her.
There were so many people who came to see her, including my brother. The day that she passed, it was just the three of us. Ryan was having a hard time with the thought of not seeing her again. I suggested that he take a breather and go for a walk.
When he came back, my mom’s breaths were tapering off. He walked over and gave her a kiss on her forehead and told her he loved her. By the time he sat down, she had stopped breathing. Look at the beauty in that: she waited for him. When she left us, she had a smile on her face.
Paula: That must have been very difficult, but it’s a beautiful story as well.
Tamisha: I look back at that experience, and it was challenging and a heavy loss, but how everything unfolded was also a blessing. That really catapulted me into volunteering with PanCAN and doing more to increase awareness of pancreatic cancer in my community. I want to continue being of service through my volunteer activities and career. That is my personal mission.
Paula: What kind of work do you do?
I work for a small nonprofit called Center for Change based here in Central Florida as a program manager. We offer health education and social services to individuals and families who lack access due to economic, social and health disparities, particularly in the African American, Hispanic American, and Caribbean American communities.
Paula: Were you working in health education when your mom was diagnosed?
Tamisha: I’m a trained mental health counselor, but I was working in a different field at the time and this opportunity came out of nowhere. The executive director was a family friend and called me to say that she was told that I should become her mentee before she retires. She was really encouraging, so I took a leap of faith, and I have no regrets. This is where I belong.
We do a lot of presentations about prostate cancer, colon cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. When I’m out with my team giving health presentations, I share a bit about my own story, pancreatic cancer, and the importance of knowing your family history. My vision is to bring pancreatic cancer on as another core topic for community events.
Paula: When did you first connect with PanCAN?
Tamisha: After my mom passed in 2018, I began going to PanCAN PurpleStride Central Florida with my husband, our sons, and friends. I spoke with staff partner Addie Flanagan about two years ago about volunteering with PanCAN. I’ve been an event day volunteer at PurpleStride. Recently, I’ve been working with PurpleStride Chair Holly Barton to maintain communications with survivors after event day.
I spoke on behalf of PanCAN at a GI conference a few months back. I gave a brief presentation on PanCAN. That was fun! I really enjoyed it. My second community event will be in July.
Paula: What’s your favorite part of PurpleStride?
Tamisha: Volunteering in the survivor tent! Something as simple as decorating the tent brings me so much joy. It gives me goosebumps when I think about having conversations with survivors and their family members and friends and experiencing the smiles and energy they bring to the event. It’s a blessing to be a part of that and it’s my favorite PurpleStride memory.
My family participates in PurpleStride as well – they enjoy it! The past couple of years, I’ve been going early to volunteer, and my husband will bring the boys, and they do the walk together.
Paula: I love that you support PanCAN as a family!
Tamisha: I will share this because it came as a surprise. My son, who just finished fourth grade, had to write a paper about someone who inspires him. I asked him who he wanted to choose and threw out some names. He said that he chose me. When I asked why, he said it was because I do community service, and we volunteer as a family.
That means a lot to me because I am always thinking about how to make an impact on my community and didn't realize how I was making an impact in my own home. For my 10-year-old son to recognize and acknowledge that the way that he did was super special.
I don’t want to take more credit than I’m due; we’re not volunteering every single weekend. But what we do still made an impact on him. My busy schedule is dedicated not to only to my family but also to the organizations that I support, like the Center for Change and PanCAN.
Paula: What other causes do you support?
Tamisha: I am a member of the international organization Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, that is dedicated to service. I’m also the board chair of a local nonprofit, Passionate Heart Ministries, that strives to provide a place of inclusion for Black Americans and Caribbean immigrants within the greater Orlando area.
Everything that I do, I try to do with purpose.
Paula: Thank you for everything you do for PanCAN!
Please feel free to contact Tamisha Major (tmajor.112011@gmail.com) or Paula Mukherjee (pmukherjee@pancan.org) with any questions.
