Our Sunshine

Janelle’s Story

Janelle was born, September 8, 1996, as a happy, smiling baby who continued to smile throughout her life, even during the most difficult times. She received her first award in preschool for caring for others. Janelle loved people and made friends wherever she went. We could put her in a sandbox and she would play with whoever was in there with her. She enjoyed gymnastics and cheerleading as a child and cheered for Danvers football from fourth grade through senior year in high school. She had a naturally loud voice and enjoyed using it at all the games and competitions. She was a natural leader who made special bonds with her fellow cheerleaders and many others.

Janelle had many friends but her best friend is her younger sister, Holly. She loved her from the moment she was born. The sisterly bond was so strong that they were always there for each other. Janelle gave Holly advice and Janelle’s friends became Holly’s friends too.

We are a close-knit family who enjoyed many fun times together. We were fortunate to have a family house at Lake Ossipee in New Hampshire where we spent time boating and swimming during the summer and skiing with friends in the winter. Skiing was a sport that we loved and enjoyed together. We have many sweet memories of our vacations.

Janelle attended UMass Amherst and studied Business & Marketing at the Isenberg School of Management. She loved UMass and said going there was one of the best decisions she ever made. She was very involved on campus and became a board member of the Protect Our Breasts organization and Co-President of the UMass Ski & Board Club. She studied abroad in Amsterdam during the fall semester of her junior year. She traveled to 9 countries and 13 cities. We were lucky to visit her and traveled to four counties while celebrating 25 years of marriage. Holly visited her as well and they celebrated Holly’s birthday in Paris and Amsterdam before coming home for Christmas.

At the beginning of the next semester at UMass, Janelle fell on black ice while waiting for the bus and landed on her backpack. She was in pain from the fall but it didn’t become intolerable until a few weeks later. She started her doctor visits at the UMass Health Center. The pain increased. She continued to see doctors and had a few emergency room visits. X-Rays and CT scans weren’t showing anything that would explain her pain.

After fighting to get an MRI, the orthopedic surgeon who viewed her MRI sent it to Massachusetts General Hospital to be reviewed. They requested that Janelle come in for further testing. After more tests and scans, Janelle was diagnosed with a rare bone cancer – Ewing’s Sarcoma.

As soon as she was diagnosed, she started chemotherapy. Janelle initially responded well to the treatments. She skipped a treatment in August to have her stem cells extracted in preparation for a bone marrow transplant at a later time. Shortly after this, the cancer started attacking her body with a vengeance. She needed back surgery to remove tumors from her spinal cord. She rebounded from this after brutal rounds of radiation. Then once again needed another back surgery to remove more tumors. The cancer was resisting the treatment. Her chemotherapy drugs were switched but the Ewing’s was too aggressive. Janelle came home with hospice the week before Thanksgiving. She passed two days after Thanksgiving 2018.

We were and still are devastated with this unimaginable loss. Janelle fought courageously with a smile on her face and with the utmost optimism. We had many opportunities during her illness to express our deep love and admiration for each other. Janelle was thoughtful and expressed her wishes, one of which was to offer scholarships to deserving high school seniors. We miss her immensely, but this charity in her name is one of the best ways for us to honor her while helping others. Janelle has inspired us to make a difference. Her legacy of optimism will live on through the Janelle Lavender Tobin Charity.