On Monday 21st May, thanks partly to your very kind donations, Rachel and Lonnie were able to fly out to Jacksonville in Florida to be with Josh and the rest of his family to begin his essential cancer treatment.
From Jacksonville Rachel has written:
Wednesday 23rd May
An early start for us with an appointment at the Proton Centre at 08:00, we were greeted with coffee upon arrival though which made it much better!
We met with lots of staff at the hospital including nurses, doctors, volunteers, social workers and child life specialists (play therapists in English!). Everyone was very friendly and helpful.
Joshua underwent the simulation needed for proton therapy, which involves CT scans, and lots of special beanbags being made to help him lie very still! Josh soon understood that his main job during the treatment is to "freeze like a statue!", the only problem is Josh preferred to wriggle, talk and have a look around him! These scans are now being analysed by lots of people including doctors, radiologists and proton experts to determine a detailed treatment plan for Josh. This should take a couple of weeks to get everything ready.
We joined many other patients, carers, staff and volunteers for lunch at the hospital. Once a week everyone comes together to enjoy lunch together, share stories and make friends. The hospital provide a lot of activities like this, such as weekly meals out, support groups, yoga sessions, art classes, music sessions, weekly outings etc. We are all looking forward to attending much more of these!
Lonnie drove for the first time in America today, and he came back alive so it couldn't have gone to badly! He complained that he is only used to driving on the wrong side of the road when he has blue lights and sirens!
We were given a guided tour of the facility and learnt a lot about the science behind proton therapy. You can view the tour and find out more by looking here: http://www.floridaproton.org/about-ufpti/photo-gallery.html
We met with lots of staff at the hospital including nurses, doctors, volunteers, social workers and child life specialists (play therapists in English!). Everyone was very friendly and helpful.
Joshua underwent the simulation needed for proton therapy, which involves CT scans, and lots of special beanbags being made to help him lie very still! Josh soon understood that his main job during the treatment is to "freeze like a statue!", the only problem is Josh preferred to wriggle, talk and have a look around him! These scans are now being analysed by lots of people including doctors, radiologists and proton experts to determine a detailed treatment plan for Josh. This should take a couple of weeks to get everything ready.
We joined many other patients, carers, staff and volunteers for lunch at the hospital. Once a week everyone comes together to enjoy lunch together, share stories and make friends. The hospital provide a lot of activities like this, such as weekly meals out, support groups, yoga sessions, art classes, music sessions, weekly outings etc. We are all looking forward to attending much more of these!
Lonnie drove for the first time in America today, and he came back alive so it couldn't have gone to badly! He complained that he is only used to driving on the wrong side of the road when he has blue lights and sirens!
We were given a guided tour of the facility and learnt a lot about the science behind proton therapy. You can view the tour and find out more by looking here: http://www.floridaproton.org/about-ufpti/photo-gallery.html
Josh at the hospital on Wednesday
Thursday 24th May
Unfortunately Josh wasn't able to enjoy the sunshine today as he is still suffering the after effects of the sedation he was given for his CT simulation yesterday. He has been very aggressive, tired and suffering from hallucinations. We have been told that these should wear off soon though.
Back in Taunton it's been a week of
Olympic Torches
Suzy's Birthday - including a meal at an Indian Restaurant
and a Week 2 weigh in of...
14 stones 8 pounds
a loss this week of 6 pounds, and a total loss ofter 2 weeks of 10 pounds!
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