The Final result

Finally, after ten weeks, the "sponsored" part of my weight-loss is over...and so too is Josh's treatment in America.

As usual, first the important stuff:

Josh's final treatment session

with Dr Danny at Josh's "graduation" party

entertaining everyone with a song at the party (with a proud dad looking on!)

Josh's moulded bean-bag that helped him keep still for his treatment sessions

Josh, Rachel and Lonnie have sent the following message to you all...

"We returned from America just over a week ago, and have (slowly!) adjusted to being back in England!
Josh had an appointment at "The Christie" cancer hospital last week which went well, they are going to do Josh's next MRI scan in the middle of August so we should have results by early September. So now it's just a waiting game!
As a family we are completely overwhelmed and amazed at the generosity of everyone who has donated and not only helped Tiff lose the weight but helped us to support Josh through his treatment.
Your donations have meant that we were able to spend the whole time in Jacksonville with Josh whilst still being able to pay our bills in England. For that we can't thank you all enough!
Thank you for standing with us (and Tiff!) on this part of our cancer journey, we are very grateful.
If anyone wants to follow us on the rest of our journey as a family fighting this disease then please either check our blog: http://ourfamilyvcancer.blogspot.com or speak to Tiff & Suzy who will be able to update you over time!
Thank you again! And a big well done to Tiff!! Now we are back in the country we are excited to come and visit the skinnier Tiff!
Lots of love from
Lonnie, Rachel & Josh
xxx


So...what is my final weight?

Here are the weekly photo updates of how it went - starting at 15 stones 4 pounds...

and the final weigh in of...

13 stones 2 pounds - a total loss of 2 stones 2 pounds (30 pounds)

And do I look any different?

So finally, thank you so much to everyone who has sponsored me, followed these blog updates or e-mailed and facebooked me over these last few months. If you now owe me some sponsor money (or would still like to donate something) then either click on the "donate through paypal" button on the right hand side at the top of the blog, or just give me the money when I next see you.

I've promised Suzy that I'm still going to continue my food and exercise regime of the last 10 weeks, so there may yet be even less of me to see!!!

2 weeks to go

This weeks update about Josh is a bit more encouraging. Rachel wrote..

We then met with Amy to see how Josh is getting on. She was pleased that Josh's weight had remained stable all week, although we were all hoping for a weight gain we were pleased he hadn't lost any! 
Dr Danny joined us half way through, which didn't go down very well with Josh! He told Dr Danny he was completely fine so could go now! He eventually agreed to co-operate and let Dr Danny have a look at his back, which is still red but isn't too painful at the moment. 
Dr Danny was pleased with Josh and said that he would catch up with us next week during Josh's final week of treatment!

Rachel's dad (my brother), mum and brother travelled over to Florida to spend the week with Rachel, Lonnie and Josh - and no I'm not jealous in the slightest!

Rachel, Derek, Ruth and "Big" Josh

Meanwhile, back in "sunny" Taunton...

Suzy went with her sister to see a concert at the NEC in Birmingham. Can you guess who the band was? Here's a clue...

Yes, for those with long memories, it was...Roxette

I was left being a stay-at-home dad, so...invited 4 of Harry's friends in to the garden to play (which included watering the tomatoes in the greenhouse, washing the patio, cleaning the windows, washing the car, hoovering the house...!)

Finally, this mornings weigh-in...

13 stones 6 pounds

So, with two weeks to go, so far I've lost 1 stone 12 pounds.

Back after a short break...

Only 8 days late...but here at last is a new update.

Over in Jacksonville, Josh is still struggling with no appetite, weight loss, headaches and vision problems - so please keep praying for him.

Josh with his therapists

So, why all the delays in the blog update?

It's been a week of getting dressed up

to take weddings

doing the ironing

realising that your daughter is a celebrity look-a-like

and a latest update of

13 stones 8 pounds

With three weeks to go I've now lost 1 stone 10 pounds - so 4 pounds to reach the 2 stone target

Another week...another weigh-in

For me it's six weeks gone, five weeks to go - as usual I'll save this weeks weigh in results until the end of this post.

For Josh in Jacksonville there's still a long time to go too - and I know it's been a much harder week for him than it has been for me. Rachel wrote...

After his treatment today we joined Josh for a meeting with Dr Danny. We discussed that Josh was still becoming unwell from treatment over night, Dr Danny said if this continued they would look at giving him sickness medication before each treatment to see if that helped.
He also looked at Josh's back as this is becoming very sore and red from the treatment.
Dr Danny wasn't as pleased with Josh's progress today as he has a high temperature, both he and Amy (Josh's nurse) think that he may have an infection somewhere in his shunt line. They are going to keep an eye on it, and if it gets any higher he will be admitted to Wolfson children's hospital.

Josh being prepared for his treatment on Wednesday

So, to my results this week...

13 stones, 12 pounds

Another 2 pounds lost this week, making 1 stone 6 pounds altogether.

On behalf of Josh, Rachel and Lonnie, thank you once again to everyone who has sponsored me...and if you're reading this and haven't sponsored me yet then either click on the donate button to pay through paypal, or just pass the money to me when you see me.

Chocolate Cake

First, the news from Florida,

"Josh had his fifth treatment today which went well. There was a slight delay waiting for the gantry so we were able to enjoy extra time for coffee as well as extra time to talk to other families. We met a lovely family from Reading who were able to share our frustration about the lack of English food available! The current list of foods we are missing from England stand at: Yorkshire puddings, Roast dinners, Sausage Rolls, Cadbury chocolate, Tea, Smarties and fish & chips! You may be able to guess which of the three of us misses which items!

Josh has been getting very good at his "freezing like a statue" for his treatment, which has not only halved his treatment time, as they don't have to keep stopping to tell him to lie still, but has also meant the hospital rewarded him with another toy.

Josh always feels very tired after having his treatment though

.

In the evening we joined a number of other couples who are patients / carers at the proton centre for dinner at Biscottis. We were told it serves the best desert in Jacksonville, we weren't disappointed!! We both had the largest slices of cake ever and they were both delicious! We did spare a thought for Rev Tiff (Rachel's uncle) who is currently doing a sponsored weight loss to support us financially with the trip, but decided that we should eat it on his behalf!!

The Cake!!!

My weekly Saturday morning weigh in (having not eaten any cake, never mind the one Lonnie and Rachel had!! Oh, and I'm missing chocolate, fish and chips, Yorkshire puddings, sausage rolls, smarties etc too - but I'm somewhere where they are available and therefore tempting!) has resulted in...

14 stones exactly

so another weekly loss of 2 pounds, and a total of 1 stone 4 pounds

(leaving ten pounds to go to reach my 2 stone target, and about 6 weeks to go before my time limit is up)

Fun Days in Taunton...Treatment Days in Jacksonville

As usual I'll start with the important news from Jacksonville before telling you about my latest weigh-in.

Rachel wrote...

"Wednesday's are always one of the best days of the week as the hospital runs "lunch bunch" upstairs, where all of the patients, families, staff and volunteers gather together for a free lunch! We enjoyed this and made some new friends!

We met with Dr Danny who is the professor overseeing Josh's case and he went through the scans with us and the treatment plan. It appears that the tumour is much larger and more aggressive than it was originally thought, meaning that he will need just over 6 weeks of treatment.

Afterwards Josh had his second treatment, which was a bit shorter than the first one (about an hour). The first treatment made Josh quite unwell over night, we are told this is a normal reaction to the radiation and we are hoping it won't happen again tonight."

Josh pretending to be a statue as he's positioned for his treatment

On the "amazing flying bed" - final x-rays to ensure proton laser is in exactly the right place

Treatment about to start - strapped in to keep completely still for an hour

Please keep praying for Josh, Rachel and Lonnie as the treatment continues.

Back in Taunton Wellsprings Chapel ran a community Jubilee Fun Day last Sunday. It was excellent - hundreds of people came to the open-air service and all the games, puppet shows, choirs, African drummers, craft activities, face painting etc afterwards, and I got to do 2 things I've never done before...

carve a pig (for the hog roast)

carry the olympic torch

Oh, actually there were three new experiences - I managed to resist eating any of the crackling from the pig (and the brilliant Chinese Chicken curry, rice and prawn crackers that one of our members made - she owns a Chinese take-away in town...the traditional blackened burgers and sausages were slightly less hard to resist!!!)

Which means that at my weigh-in today the result was...

14 stones 2 pounds

A loss of 2 pounds this week, and a total loss so far of 1 stone 2 pounds

Big Macs, Jubilee Cakes...and my week 3 weigh in

First, the news from Jacksonville from Rachel (posted last Sunday)...

"We attended church today which was fantastic, made even better when we were greeted by people from Watford & Manchester! Felt just like home! We were joined for lunch by a family, who were originally from Manchester (Cheadle of all places!) and are now living on the same block as us!

The big news of the weekend is the tropical storms & hurricane threats! The storm is heading straight for Jacksonville from the Atlantic ocean and should hit at some point over night. Already we have seen the weather change as the rain has started and the winds have picked up.

 hurricane clouds over Jacksonville

We have been shopping and followed all precautions so are prepared for the storm. Just as a warning to you, we have been told the power is likely to go out for a number of days so we won't be able to update the blog, so don't panic if we go silent!!"

Since then we've heard nothing - but don't worry we've since been sent some photos, including...

Mrs Brown returning to her roots

An authentic American Big Mac (with drink and fries much larger than here!)

Back in Taunton it's been a week of school Jubilee parties,

making Jubilee cakes,

and preparing for our big Jubilee Fun Day on Sunday. And a week 3 weigh in for me...

14 stones 4 pounds

So, in a week when others have eaten genuine American Big Macs and home-made Jubilee cakes, I've followed the easy program devised by my officially qualified Nutritional Advisor (Suzy Tiffany Dip N.Adv) and lost another 4 pounds, making a total of a stone in 3 weeks.

Half way there with about 8 weeks to go!!!