Finding Courage
Janie Lausier ’19 follows her dream amid cancer treatment
It was the Monday after Thanksgiving in 2018 when Janie Lausier ’19 got a phone call that she says changed her life forever: a breast cancer diagnosis of invasive ductal carcinoma.
“I decided to have a double mastectomy with reconstruction,” she recalls. “It was ironic that at the time I was diagnosed, I was working on an advertising campaign for one of my business classes where the proceeds would go to a breast cancer foundation.”
Lausier was four classes away from completing a bachelor’s degree in Regis’ dental hygiene program after transferring when Mount Ida College closed in 2018. All of her classes were online, and she made a mental commitment to finish as much work as possible before her surgery that was scheduled for a week before Christmas. Her husband Mike, along with classmate Colleen Moroney ’19, helped keep her positive and on track; but that wasn’t always easy.
“Colleen and Mike were unbelievably supportive in my worst moments,” Lausier explains. “It was depressing spending Christmas with four surgical drains coming out of my body and not being able to move or visit family. I was couch-bound for three weeks following my surgery but between Mike and Colleen, I was never alone. They took turns washing my hair and helping with dinner.”
Reflecting back on her own health—and the fact that her reconstruction surgery was less than two months before she walked across the stage during Commencement—Lausier says that the quote she donned on her graduation cap says it best: “Let your faith be greater than your fear.”
“I was downright terrified when I was diagnosed with breast cancer and I worried that I would never earn my bachelor’s degree while dealing with my treatments. With the support of a professor, a friend, and an amazing husband, I realized that all things are possible with the right attitude.”
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