Jani's Journey
Donation protected
We have an opportunity to band together to support Jani in the biggest fight of her life! Dr. Jani Rollins is a beloved mother, wife, and a pillar of our Ashland, Oregon, community. As a lot of us know, Jani is a fighter and advocate to her core for causes she passionately believes in. She will stand by and fight for her family, patients, and friends. Having her own family medicine practice over the past 25 years, she has seen thousands of patients as well as delivered over 3,000 babies in Southern Oregon. Personally, I have never been out with Jani when a patient doesn’t approach “Dr. Rollins,” give her a hug and give an update on health and family. Afterwards, she beams at me, “I love what I do; it keeps me going.”
In addition to her work, Jani is devoted to her children: Bryce who is studying business at Montana State, and Mia who is carving her path towards becoming a veterinarian. Jani also loves anything involving the outdoors, including gardening, cycling, hiking, swimming, traveling, and as you may know, is an accomplished dancer who we cheered on at the Rogue Valley’s Dancing with the Stars. But most tragically, as many of you already know, Jani was struck with a rare and devastating disease, avascular necrosis, after taking Prednisone nearly three years ago which has afflicted every joint in her body and left her in constant pain and unable to walk.
She has experienced such an intense loss of independence that she is unable to recognize the life that she once loved. Since the onset, Jani’s fighting spirit and perseverance has endured despite crushing results and continued disappointments following a myriad of treatments. Jani has sought treatment with the nation’s best orthopedic specialists who are most familiar with AVN, and was not considered a candidate for joint replacement due to the severity of her disease. Last year, Jani underwent 4 rounds of stem cell treatment by an orthopedic group from Colorado which involved 16 bone marrow biopsies. Her MRI results after months of hope were crushing: not only were her bones not healing but she has sustained collapse of her left knee and shoulder joints.
Thankfully, the tide is turning. This June, Jani located an orthopedic center in Florida specializing in regenerative bone growth and joint restoration--the Paley Institute. Although Dr. Feldman and his team have never seen another case as serious as Jani’s, they agreed to perform joint replacements on her collapsed joints and joint restoration of her elbows, ankles, hips and “good knee.” This state-of-the-art treatment involves removal of dead bone and insertion of what Jani calls her “special sauce,” grafting material made from her own bone marrow combined with a recombinant protein with the goal of promoting bone growth within her joints. Just last week, Jani underwent treatment to her ankles, one hip and right knee, and has undergone CT scanning to create her custom left knee replacement. She is also receiving specialized physical therapy involving an “anti-gravity machine” that allows adjustable weight bearing in order to allow new cells to grow.
In order to undergo all the treatments necessary, Jani has left her beloved family, home and practice to spend at least the next two months in Florida. Her dear friend Mike is currently with her, and she will need to have additional caregivers to be with her in order to help with shopping, transportation to and from medical appointments and physical therapy as well as being there for her after her additional surgeries.
We are appealing to you, her friends, patients, the Ashland community, and anyone else who believes in the magic of miracles to help support Jani by offsetting the amount of continued out-of-pocket expenses. She has spent a tremendous amount of personal funds on her stem cell surgeries which insurance did not cover, in additional to the expense of purchasing a wheelchair van and modifications to her home. She is currently not eligible for disability and is not receiving income while away from her practice. In addition, other financial obstacles weighing on Jani are the costs to stay in Florida (she is currently staying in a hotel), airfare for caregivers, and the needed medical equipment to be able to transfer between sites.
You can read about Jani’s on-going journey on her blog at Caring Bridge: https://www.caringbridge.org/public/janirollins
Thank you in advance for your generosity in helping Jani return to the life she loves, her family, and her patients! Life is a precious gift and those that have been struck with a health issue that threatens it know just how very precious it is. Again, thank you for the chance to make a difference in Jani’s life!
In addition to her work, Jani is devoted to her children: Bryce who is studying business at Montana State, and Mia who is carving her path towards becoming a veterinarian. Jani also loves anything involving the outdoors, including gardening, cycling, hiking, swimming, traveling, and as you may know, is an accomplished dancer who we cheered on at the Rogue Valley’s Dancing with the Stars. But most tragically, as many of you already know, Jani was struck with a rare and devastating disease, avascular necrosis, after taking Prednisone nearly three years ago which has afflicted every joint in her body and left her in constant pain and unable to walk.
She has experienced such an intense loss of independence that she is unable to recognize the life that she once loved. Since the onset, Jani’s fighting spirit and perseverance has endured despite crushing results and continued disappointments following a myriad of treatments. Jani has sought treatment with the nation’s best orthopedic specialists who are most familiar with AVN, and was not considered a candidate for joint replacement due to the severity of her disease. Last year, Jani underwent 4 rounds of stem cell treatment by an orthopedic group from Colorado which involved 16 bone marrow biopsies. Her MRI results after months of hope were crushing: not only were her bones not healing but she has sustained collapse of her left knee and shoulder joints.
Thankfully, the tide is turning. This June, Jani located an orthopedic center in Florida specializing in regenerative bone growth and joint restoration--the Paley Institute. Although Dr. Feldman and his team have never seen another case as serious as Jani’s, they agreed to perform joint replacements on her collapsed joints and joint restoration of her elbows, ankles, hips and “good knee.” This state-of-the-art treatment involves removal of dead bone and insertion of what Jani calls her “special sauce,” grafting material made from her own bone marrow combined with a recombinant protein with the goal of promoting bone growth within her joints. Just last week, Jani underwent treatment to her ankles, one hip and right knee, and has undergone CT scanning to create her custom left knee replacement. She is also receiving specialized physical therapy involving an “anti-gravity machine” that allows adjustable weight bearing in order to allow new cells to grow.
In order to undergo all the treatments necessary, Jani has left her beloved family, home and practice to spend at least the next two months in Florida. Her dear friend Mike is currently with her, and she will need to have additional caregivers to be with her in order to help with shopping, transportation to and from medical appointments and physical therapy as well as being there for her after her additional surgeries.
We are appealing to you, her friends, patients, the Ashland community, and anyone else who believes in the magic of miracles to help support Jani by offsetting the amount of continued out-of-pocket expenses. She has spent a tremendous amount of personal funds on her stem cell surgeries which insurance did not cover, in additional to the expense of purchasing a wheelchair van and modifications to her home. She is currently not eligible for disability and is not receiving income while away from her practice. In addition, other financial obstacles weighing on Jani are the costs to stay in Florida (she is currently staying in a hotel), airfare for caregivers, and the needed medical equipment to be able to transfer between sites.
You can read about Jani’s on-going journey on her blog at Caring Bridge: https://www.caringbridge.org/public/janirollins
Thank you in advance for your generosity in helping Jani return to the life she loves, her family, and her patients! Life is a precious gift and those that have been struck with a health issue that threatens it know just how very precious it is. Again, thank you for the chance to make a difference in Jani’s life!
Organiser and beneficiary
Kerri Franklin
Organiser
Ashland, OR
Jani Rollins
Beneficiary
