“Survivor Extraordinaire”

It has taken me some time to come to terms with Janet’s passing and I want to do more than memorialize her. Her legacy will live on through our work, especially our support groups, and I want to dedicate our efforts to her memory.

She gave so much of herself to SHAREing & CAREing. Every corner of our organization is infused with her spirit and we feel her absence every day. She came to SHAREing & CAREing as a patient recently diagnosed with breast cancer when we were just beginning to come together as a support group. One year after her initial diagnosis she became an employee. But Janet was more than just an employee. She was the voice of SHAREing & CAREing. She had deep compassion, empathy and endless patience. We gave her the fabulous title, “survivor extraordinaire” because she was a real people person who was able to provide calm for the newly diagnosed. When she embraced you, you felt very safe.

Her knowledge about cancer treatment and innovation was unmatched and she would spend hours on the phone with insurance companies. She had a 98% success rate when it came to winning patients’ disputes.

She would say, “Once you walk through our doors, your problems become our problems and your focus is to get through treatment. That is your only concern. We walk the walk with you.” More than twenty years later this is still SHAREing & CAREing’s ethos and we have Janet to thank for that. She is deeply missed and will never be forgotten.

—Anna Kril

“I am a lung cancer survivor and through SHAREing & CAREing was glad to meet Janet Sullivan with her sweetness and kindness helping me go through the painful journey of chemotherapy and radiation. The intensive treatment was successful but also very expensive. I used to talk to Janet and always with her sense of humor she used to give me a lot of hope and motivation to keep going every day for chemo and radiation. One day the hospital sent a statement for thousands of dollars that I owed them and that my insurance didn’t cover. Janet told me that I do not worry and she said “I will call and talk to them and make sure they will never bother you again.” Months passed Janet submitted to the Hospital all documents related to my financial situation and one day I received a letter from Hospital that they waived the around $10,000 that I owed. I’m so grateful for SHAREing & CAREing and my prayers to Janet, Dan and their daughter. I will always remember her smile, sense of humor and her outgoing cool style.”

—Anthony, survivor