The Big Board

In the Aftermath

Mike Janik lived life as intensely as he practiced law. He learned to ski by starting at the top of a 12,000 foot peak. Even after ALS disabled him, he traveled to Venice and Telluride for the film festivals he loved, and—to Jeff Rothstein’s amazement—inner-tubed in his favorite creek.

Janik died in 2002. He was 47. Now Meg Roggensack— Janik’s wife and a Packard Center board member for the past six years—is rebuilding her life. In a recent Washingtonian essay, Roggensack chronicled the ways ALS changed their

Mike Janik and his wife, Meg Roggensack, left harried D.C. careers for Eastern Shore tranquility.

lives and their place in the world.

“Life with ALS,” she wrote, “is a series of constant adjustments, corrections, concessions. Sometimes they’re easy, as when Mike switched to loose-fitting, short-cuffed socks. Sometimes they’re wrenching, as when he required a wheelchair.”

Janik and Roggensack, both from the Midwest, met as freshmen at Carleton College. They became fast friends, debate partners and, ultimately, spouses. They studied law in Washington, D.C., and joined private practices there. Janik was a partner at McKenna & Cuneo, specializing in government contracts. Roggensack practiced international trade law as counsel at Hogan & Hartson and, on a pro bono basis, was actively engaged in human rights issues.

Life for the couple was fast-paced but fulfilling. On weekends, with their Airedale, Woof, they escaped to the country.

Janik’s hand started to tingle in late 1997. Through a colleague, they found Rothstein, who heads the Packard Center. Of the initial clinic visit, Roggensack wrote, “It was clear that Dr. Rothstein was fiercely determined to find a cure. We wanted to know how Mike could live as fully as possible for as long as possible.” When she learned from Rothstein of plans for the Packard Center, Roggensack eagerly agreed to join the nascent effort. “Throughout my career, I’d resolved a variety of seemingly unwinnable cases. So it was extremely difficult to accept the truth of Mike’s diagnosis. The Packard Center is a beacon of hope, and I’m proud to be part of this path-breaking initiative.”

Click here to read more about Roggensack and her husband’s battle with ALS.