In Memory of Justin

In Memory of

Our Hero

Justin Todd Janét

Born: February 8, 1972

Died: January 22, 1997

Justin was an extra ordinary child.
I know, most parent say that about
their children; but in this case it is
true. His father and I divorced when
Justin was barely one year old. So
he and his older brother went thru
live without a father figure. We
lived in Dallas, Texas and move
back to Kansas just as he was
going to kindergarten. Justin had
a normal childhood until
November 22, 1982.

He became very tired and had
bruises all over his body. I took
him to the doctor where he was diagnosed
with Leukemia (ALL) at the age
of 10 years old.

He went thru 3 years of chemo
and radiation treatments. One
month before his final dose, he was
exposed to chickenpox (which is a
killer for anyone on chemo) and had
to start all over with those same
horrible treatments.

After six years of those terrible
treatments he was finally on the
road to recovery. We (I say we as
being his brother, grandparents and I.
His father never came to see him)
were told that if the cancer stayed
in remission for five years, he would
be able to live a normal life. Of course,
Justin did not know what a normal
life was after being sick almost every
day for those six years.

He did manage to graduate from high
school and get a job. But he was
never the same little boy that I knew.
His anger was so strong! After he
graduated, he started drinking and
kept getting into a lot of trouble with
the law. I know you are saying "so what?"
a lot of kids do that. Well, we live in a
very small town and his "Dad"
( I remarried after 20 years) is the Chief
of Police, plus his brother and step-brother
are both police officers.

Justin only drank on the weekends.
He rarely took a drink during the week
and after maybe one or two beers, he
would just go off the deep end. One
time it was so bad that they had to
strap him down so they could take
him to the hospital. The doctor told us
that night to take him home and DRY
him out. There was nothing they could
do for him.

Well after a period of time it finally
happened, Justin snapped! He threatened
to kill himself. He never tried to hurt
anyone else, just himself. His brother
and Dad had to arrest him and put him
in "lock down". For those of you that do not
know what "lock down" is, it's when they
put you in an institution as a suicide watch.

He was there for a month and then
transferred to a minimum security house
for a year. While there, he found God
and completely changed his life around.
He got out, got a job, and was going on
with his life the best he could. Never took
another drink after that. Then he started
having these headaches. He thought it
might be because his teeth were bad
(from the chemo) and just went on with
his daily work. One day, out of the
blue, he decided to pick up and move.
We really didn't think too much about it
except for the fact that he normally
wouldn't do that. But we didn't say
a whole lot.

A month later, Justin called us and
asked us if we would come and
get him ~ he didn't feel good. We brought
him home in May of 1996. After a short
period of time, we noticed that he could
not move his left arm without lifting it
with his right hand. Needless to say,
we took him to the doctor. He went thru
two months of these horrible tests and
then it happened. They called us in and
told us that he had brain cancer (caused
from the radiation during his bout with
Leukemia). Justin just kept getting worse
and was in and out of the hospital. He
was there from Halloween thru
Thanksgiving Day.

The following Monday, they called
us in to tell his Dad and I that he had
six weeks to live. They wanted to put
him in a nursing home but I would not
allow that happen. We brought him home
to live with us. His sister-in-law and I took
care of him for the remaining days.

On January 22, 1997,
Justin went home to his God.

It took me this long to get the courage
to do this page. I hope that Justin's
story was not too long or too boring.
Justin loved star wars, motorcycles,
eagles, and life, so his pages will be
done with them in his memory. Someday
I am hoping to start a memorial in his
name! ~ The Justin Janet Foundation ~

So with all that said I hope that you
will enjoy your stay and have fun
looking around.

We are still working on this sight.
So please bare with us.