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A Call for Allies In Man’s Cancer Battle
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Rich Janis, of Boardman, was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, and a benefit to off set his medical costs is set for Sunday at The Embassy on Youngstown-Poland Road. He served in the Army from 1968 to 1975 and spent 13 months overseas in Vietnam.
BOARDMAN
Rich Janis of Boardman had just been laid off when he began to have severe back pain.
“I got a cortisone shot for the pain, but then it came back, only worse,” Janis said.
He was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a cancer of the plasma cells that collect in bone marrow, in early 2011 and was treated at the Blood and Cancer Center in Canfield.
“I had never heard anything about it. No one in my family has ever had it,” he said.
After treatment, about 80 percent of his cancer is gone, and a bone-marrow transplant this year was expected to get rid of about half of the remaining cancer.
When he went in for the transplant April 15 at University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center in Cleveland, he completed it in one day, instead of the usual three days.
“They were calling me a rock star for getting through all that the way I did,” he said.
But then came bad news: the bone -marrow transplant was rejected.
“It was almost like hearing he has cancer all over again,” said Debi Janis, Rich’s wife of nearly 34 years.
Right now, Rich’s cancer cells haven’t spread, but he cannot be cured. As he says, he can only manage it through treatment and medication.
“The cancer eats the bone. If you shined a flashlight into my skull, you’d see all these tiny bits of light coming through pinpoint-sized holes in my skull,” Rich said.
Through it all, Rich and Debi have relied on support from their two children, three grandchildren and friends. Debi’s co-workers at Youngstown Pipe and Supply have played a large role.
“They’ve given me time to be with him. They do everything, they’ve gotten us turnpike passes so we don’t have to pay tolls. We’re not one to ask for things,” Debi said.
Her co-workers have organized benefit pasta dinner, with auctions and a DJ, from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday at The Embassy, 5030 Youngstown-Poland Road, said Kathi Ebie, who has worked for Youngstown Pipe and Supply for eight years.
Tickets are $15, and all of the proceeds will benefit the Rich Janis Family Fund.
Ebie described the company as very philanthropic.
“I have always participated in fundraisers, but these people make you want to be better than you ever thought you could be. So when you have somebody like Debi and Rich who are going through all this, it makes you want to do it,” Ebie said.
“We’re all family here, and that’s the thing that makes us do what we do,” she added.
Debi said the benefit will help. One of Rich’s prescriptions costs $7,000 per month. The couple have a $10,000 insurance deductible for each of them, and a $50 co-pay for doctor visits. Rich has medical appointments about twice a week.
“It adds up quickly,” Debi said. “This is not a curable disease, but it’s manageable.”