'Bella's Bunch' To Walk for Kids with Cancer

Cancer can affect people of any age at any time. Sometimes, it even affects the very young.

Such is the case of Bella Rocco, a 10-year-old Parsippany resident,   student and two-time cancer survivor.

Bella has battled a rare pediatric cancer called GIST, a disease that causes gastrointestinal stromal tumors to grow in the stomach.

Her first bout with the disease was at age seven.

“She had some internal bleeding and [the doctors] couldn’t find out why," said Bella's mother, Pat Rocco. "It took months by the time we got to the bottom of it. With an endoscopy, they found that there was actually a tumor in her stomach.

“You go ...from the doctor saying, ‘Good news, we found the cause of the bleeding,' to the next words: ‘She has a tumor.’"

Surgery was performed to remove the growth.

Two years later, another tumor appeared, and Bella endured another operation.

"She's one tough cookie," said her mom.

In the year since, Bella has had a clean bill of health, although she must have an MRI every three months to ensure that another recurrence has not appeared. 

“That’s the thing that keeps you up at night; [GIST] has an 80 percent chance of happening again,” Rocco said. “We’ve been very lucky that they haven’t had to do chemotherapy or radiation, but if they keep coming back, there may come a day where she needs that type of treatment.”

Rather than dwell on what might be, Bella and her family focus on helping fight pediatric cancer. They do this by supporting the organization that helped them through trying times: the Valerie Fund.

The Valerie Fund was established in 1976 by Ed and Sue Goldstein in memory of their daughter Valerie after her battle with cancer. According to the fund’s website, the organization provides “support for the comprehensive health care of children with cancer and blood disorders.”

Rocco said the Valerie Fund's help was invaluable to Bella—and to all the Roccos.

“Their number one goal is to treat children and really try and provide entire support system for family—the parents, the siblings of a sick child," she said. "A support system is there to support the entire family.

“One day your life is normal, next day it’s like you were run over by a truck,” Rocco continued. “[The Valerie Fund] can make the difference between you getting through this with your sanity or not.”

On June 9, the Roccos and several other families from New Jersey will take part in the Valerie Fund’s annual 5K Run/Walk fundraiser at Verona Park in Verona. The walk, co-sponsored by JAG Physical Therapy, provides families an opportunity to show support for loved ones and fight against childhood cancer in a fun-filled setting.

“Even with everything our family’s been through, we have to consider ourselves to be very fortunate," said Bella's mom. "There are so many families out there who have had it 10 times worse than us...
“It really makes you count your blessings, and it really makes you want to help other families.”

This will be the fourth year of involvement for the Roccos and their team, “Bella’s Bunch.” And this bunch has made its mark.

“I said to Bella, ‘Wow, one year you won the Team Spirit Award and the next, you won [for] Best Banner. What do you want to do next?’” Rocco said. “She said, ‘Next year, I’d like to get the most people walking.’”

The youngster met her goal with the help of her super-recruiter parents. Last year, Bella's Bunch had more than 100 members, the highest count for any team at the event.

“We were pretty much overwhelmed last year that we had 100 people join us in doing this,” Rocco recalled. “I had people show up last year that I had never met before, and they were friends of friends.”

It looks like they’re sticking around, too; the idea of participating in the event as a part of Bella’s Bunch has become a popular one amongst last year’s participants.

“This year, before I even got to send the email out, people were asking me ‘Are we doing Bella’s Bunch again?’” Rocco said.

When Ralph Rocco, Bella's father and a member of Parsippany's Sons of Italy chapter, brought up the Valerie Fund at the social and service organization's March 29 meeting, the Sons' response to Bella's story was immediate.

"How much should we give?" asked President Joe Jannarone.

"Two hundred dollars," suggested member Michael dePierro, who also sits on the .

The other members agreed, and many offered individual donations and indicated that they would like to walk as well.

“It’s overwhelming how much support we’ve gotten, and more importantly, we have brought attention to the Valerie Fund and what they do for these kids,” said Pat Rocco.

The Roccos see the 5K as their opportunity to support families very much like them. But it's also become a fun tradition for the family and for the members of Bella's Bunch that Bella's mom said she hopes to continue for years to come.

“It’s really good to do for other people," she said. "You get to do something nice.”

To support the Roccos in the Valerie Fund's 5K Walk, head to the Bella's Bunch page, where you can sign up to make a donation or to join the team.