Our Mission

My name is Joe Tobolski, and I am the president of Team MB – Hunt for the Cure. In 2016, my wife, Maribeth Tobolski, was diagnosed with Stage IV ovarian adenocarcinoma. Twenty-nine short months later, at the age of 55, we lost Maribeth to ovarian cancer. Shortly after losing her, Team MB was formed to honor her memory and to continue her mission to eradicate ovarian cancer. I hope that you will consider helping us support ovarian cancer patients locally (in South Jersey) and join us in our fight to beat this awful disease!

When Maribeth was diagnosed, it was a complete shock. She took care of herself. She ate well, went to the doctor regularly, and up until her diagnosis she rode her recumbent bike for 10-15 miles each night. Not only did Maribeth take care of herself, she took care of everyone else too. After sustaining a traumatic brain injury at age 19 and learning how to perform everyday tasks like walking and talking again, Maribeth decided to become a nurse. Over the course of 15 years, she rose through the ranks of nursing while raising our four children. First, she completed her associate degree, and then she achieved her bachelor’s degree, her school nurse certification, and eventually her master’s degree. Being a nurse practitioner was not only Maribeth’s profession, it was her vocation because above all else she was an advocate. She advocated for her patients, her nursing students, her friends, her family – even complete strangers. Despite all of this, Maribeth still missed her own symptoms of ovarian cancer, and she is not alone.

An estimated one in 78 women will develop ovarian cancer during their lifetime. Age is not an indicator; children as young as one year old have been diagnosed with ovarian cancer. There is no gold standard test to screen for ovarian cancer, and its vague symptoms often go unnoticed. Thus, most patients are diagnosed in the later stages of the disease and have very low five-year survival rates. Furthermore, ovarian cancer has a propensity to become resistant to treatment. For these reasons, awareness and research are imperative to long-term survival.

We hope that you will join us in our Hunt for the Cure!

 Sincerely,

 Joe Tobolski