Jan's Story...
Jan was born in Augusta Georgia in 1973 as the youngest
member of a close and loving family that included her father
Frank, mother Kay, brother Chris, and sister Amy. Jan was
beautiful, intelligent and fun loving. With her infectious laugh,
warm smile, and unfailing enthusiasm for life, Jan had a gift for
connecting to both loved ones and those she had just met.
People were drawn to Jan's energy, and she effortlessly turned
strangers into trusted friends with her complete attentiveness,
compassion, and genuine interest in others.
In October 2003, we were all hit with surprising and
devastating news: Jan was told that a birth mark on the back
of her scalp had become malignant.
It was melanoma - and looking back we couldn't have known the tremendous impact this disease would have on our lives.
Jan had surgery to excise the tumor and check sentinel lymph nodes, which was followed by a year of Interferon. The side effects were fatigue, soreness and bruising. As she struggled through the Interferon treatments, we were optimistic. She finished those treatments and was closely monitored for the next year.
Since there were no changes in activity, the doctors removed the rest of the blue nevus, or “birth mark,” in December of 2005. Unfortunately, only a month after that surgery, a lymph node was confirmed to have melanoma. Jan went back into surgery to have several nodes removed. The good news was there was no activity in any of her organs, but the obvious bad news was that the melanoma was still lurking in her body. After consulting Dr. Lawson (her oncologist at the Emory Winship Cancer Center in Atlanta), he recommended that she begin a clinical trial immediately. Giving it no thought, Jan started on a GMCSF trial.
Jan’s thinking all along was that if it didn’t help her, it would still benefit others in the future. Again, we were enjoying the optimism of months with no activity, hoping that Jan would be okay. That December, though, as Jan was getting a routine CT scan, the Radiologist came in the room and asked if she had any symptoms.
Confused by the questions, she asked what was going on. The doctor informed her that she had several lesions on her liver, information that we did not want to accept. But the first words out of her mouth were “what next?” She had fought too hard, and in her mind this was only going to be a minor setback. Dr. Lawson wanted to start IL-2 right after Christmas.
On December 27th she went to Emory to begin her first cycle of IL-2. After setting an Emory record with 10 treatments, she came home to rest for two weeks before starting again. The tumor had not stopped growing, and she was experiencing severe abdominal pain. Dr. Lawson decided to take her off IL-2 for a chemo regimen that would not cure her but only prolong life.
That was the most devastating news we could have heard. Thankfully, the entire family was there. We all cried together and told stories. But Jan was still so strong. After that week in the hospital she came home only to return to the hospital when she began running a fever. So she spent four more days in the hospital. She was released on Wednesday with Emory calling on Thursday to say there was nothing more that could be done.Jan had trouble with those words, with an overwhelming and disappointed feeling that she was being asked to quit fighting. But SHE had not given up. Her spirit and determination, everything SHE was, had not - but her body unfortunately could not handle the struggle much longer.
On that Friday, she spoke to the wonderful people with Cancer Quest
about filming her comments concerning the need for melanoma awareness
and the importance of raising money for research. Jan passed away
just over a week later on Monday, February 12th 2007.
Throughout her battle with melanoma Jan's positive outlook and sense of
humor remained - even thrived - and though we still wish for more time
with her, we are comforted knowing how grateful Jan was for each day
she was given and by her example of taking nothing for granted.
We miss her so much but her legacy will live on as we continue to "fight the
beast" as passionately as she had so heroically done for over three years...
Jan was born in Augusta Georgia in 1973 as the youngest
member of a close and loving family that included her father
Frank, mother Kay, brother Chris, and sister Amy. Jan was
beautiful, intelligent and fun loving. With her infectious laugh,
warm smile, and unfailing enthusiasm for life, Jan had a gift for
connecting to both loved ones and those she had just met.
People were drawn to Jan's energy, and she effortlessly turned
strangers into trusted friends with her complete attentiveness,
compassion, and genuine interest in others.
In October 2003, we were all hit with surprising and
devastating news: Jan was told that a birth mark on the back
of her scalp had become malignant.
It was melanoma - and looking back we couldn't have known the tremendous impact this disease would have on our lives.
Jan had surgery to excise the tumor and check sentinel lymph nodes, which was followed by a year of Interferon. The side effects were fatigue, soreness and bruising. As she struggled through the Interferon treatments, we were optimistic. She finished those treatments and was closely monitored for the next year.
Since there were no changes in activity, the doctors removed the rest of the blue nevus, or “birth mark,” in December of 2005. Unfortunately, only a month after that surgery, a lymph node was confirmed to have melanoma. Jan went back into surgery to have several nodes removed. The good news was there was no activity in any of her organs, but the obvious bad news was that the melanoma was still lurking in her body. After consulting Dr. Lawson (her oncologist at the Emory Winship Cancer Center in Atlanta), he recommended that she begin a clinical trial immediately. Giving it no thought, Jan started on a GMCSF trial.
Jan’s thinking all along was that if it didn’t help her, it would still benefit others in the future. Again, we were enjoying the optimism of months with no activity, hoping that Jan would be okay. That December, though, as Jan was getting a routine CT scan, the Radiologist came in the room and asked if she had any symptoms.
Confused by the questions, she asked what was going on. The doctor informed her that she had several lesions on her liver, information that we did not want to accept. But the first words out of her mouth were “what next?” She had fought too hard, and in her mind this was only going to be a minor setback. Dr. Lawson wanted to start IL-2 right after Christmas.
On December 27th she went to Emory to begin her first cycle of IL-2. After setting an Emory record with 10 treatments, she came home to rest for two weeks before starting again. The tumor had not stopped growing, and she was experiencing severe abdominal pain. Dr. Lawson decided to take her off IL-2 for a chemo regimen that would not cure her but only prolong life.
That was the most devastating news we could have heard. Thankfully, the entire family was there. We all cried together and told stories. But Jan was still so strong. After that week in the hospital she came home only to return to the hospital when she began running a fever. So she spent four more days in the hospital. She was released on Wednesday with Emory calling on Thursday to say there was nothing more that could be done.Jan had trouble with those words, with an overwhelming and disappointed feeling that she was being asked to quit fighting. But SHE had not given up. Her spirit and determination, everything SHE was, had not - but her body unfortunately could not handle the struggle much longer.
On that Friday, she spoke to the wonderful people with Cancer Quest
about filming her comments concerning the need for melanoma awareness
and the importance of raising money for research. Jan passed away
just over a week later on Monday, February 12th 2007.
Throughout her battle with melanoma Jan's positive outlook and sense of
humor remained - even thrived - and though we still wish for more time
with her, we are comforted knowing how grateful Jan was for each day
she was given and by her example of taking nothing for granted.
We miss her so much but her legacy will live on as we continue to "fight the
beast" as passionately as she had so heroically done for over three years...