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Joshua Hetherington - living life to the max!

  • How time has been flying

      3 November 2015

    It's been some time since there has been an update, mostly as life has been moving so fast. Since Tania's visit, Pop-Pop (Bruce) has been, so too have Nana and Poppa (Doris and John), and by the end of the week, Na's, Bek and Lily well be knocking on Josh's door. So it's been a full house!

    Everyone has been both a great help and a welcome distraction from some of the harsh realities of treatment. http://www.team-josh.com/index.php/2015/09/28/september-28-2/

    But now for the good news, after graduating from the first round of radiation and chemo, the follow-up MRI looks as good as you could possibly hope. No regrowth and the spot they were uncertain of is resolving. The big ‘shark bite’ hole left by the surgeries is almost no more.

    Plus Team Josh has been plugging away on as many great experiences as they can fit in, and we thank you and others who have contributed with wonderful opportunities to get him there:

    *Driving a Lamborghini around a race track (and importantly, it was red!)

    *Followed by real-life go carting with friends

    *Hot Air Ballooning (donated by Fantasy Ballooning)

    *An internship at The Biscuit Factory

    *Flying with a friend over Denver (Thanks to the wonderful Thunda-Briggs family)

    *And now - he's world famous... Josh is on the news! See the article here - http://kdvr.com/2015/11/02/boys-dream-soars-after-cancer-diagnosis/

    And as you can imagine with all those visitors, some great family time.

    For photos and blow-by-blow updates, see:

    http://www.team-josh.com/index.php/2015/11/02/november-2/

    http://www.team-josh.com/index.php/2015/10/15/the-denver-biscuit-company/

    http://www.team-josh.com/index.php/2015/10/17/october-17-ballooning-over-chatfield/

    http://www.team-josh.com/index.php/2015/09/26/september-26/

    http://www.team-josh.com/index.php/2015/09/13/september-12/

    Josh has been coming to terms with his diagnosis and treatments. And his eyes are opening to possibilities and opportunities, I think this is why he has now grown his To Do list of activities!

    So if it's not too much trouble, keep those ideas flowing... either through here, or Facebook or email!

    Thanks to every one of you, again and again.

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  • 1 week of Radiation left!

      22 September 2015

    Woohoo... read all about here http://www.team-josh.com/index.php/2015/09/21/september-21/

    Josh has been a trooper and has got through 5 weeks of radiation with weekly Chemo sessions. Everyone is counting down to the last Radiation on Monday (28th).

    Its a little odd for all those involved, as outwardly the only 'illness' you see is a bit of hair loss. But combine the treatments with 15 year old hormones, a bit of brain surgery and you get a few fluctuations in mood, a lot of sleep and (oddly for a teenager) a loss of appetite.

    Josh has also had some highlights in the last month - ceremonial shaving of hair with a compatriot, driving a Lamborghini around the Pike's Peak track, family visits, family portraits taken, and thanks to you all, a lot of the planning for the remainder of his list is underway!

    Thanks again to you all for you ongoing kind donations, we have been absolutely floored with the response! We'll check-in again soon (with what we hope is positive news).

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  • September 3 - about half way through radiation

      4 September 2015
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    Joshua is really starting to feel the effects of his radiation and chemo treatments. He went to school Monday before his clinic visit/infusion/radiation, but has been feeling really knocked about since and hasn't been back. We are hoping he feels well enough to go tomorrow. He's well enough to do the work, but not quite feeling up to the attending thing. Plus he's feeling run down, beaten up and a bit worried about getting sick from other kids.

    We might be at the point of figuring out how to do this at home for the next month or two, I think.

    This head cold/sinus thing Joshua's had going on hasn't helped. Imagine how crappy you feel with a head cold or major allergies going on - I can't even imagine what he's feeling like when essentially he's being poisoned to kill the cancer in his brain.

    We had the preliminary shots come back from our family photos. We've not quite decided what to order yet - these are just screen grabs of the untouched images for some color :)

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  • Visitors helping out

      28 August 2015
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    Thank you all so much for your generosity!

    Joshua has completed his third surgery, and is now in his third week of radiation and chemo. He reacted to his first Cetuximab infusion(1x a week), but we now have that under control for infusions from now on.

    He's starting to get tired and sleeping more than he usually would.

    He's going to school in the mornings - we've amended his schedule to just four, hour long classes so he has half a chance to stay caught up knowing he's missing a day or two a week.

    Aunty Tania has arrived and is busy finding ways to complete the things on Joshua's bucket list. She's also giving me (Debbie) a bit of a break by taking Joshua over to treatment in the afternoon. Granddad will be here next, then Nana and Poppa, then Nas, Becky and Lily.

    Make a Wish has been around to do their interview and we are waiting on the committee review to see if they can help us with Joshua's wish to tour the South Island and have a family reunion. It will be awesome if they can make it happen - your generous donations will then be used to do all those fun things that can be done in the South Island!

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  • Napping is good!

      7 August 2015
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    Prep for school today - Orientation and photos tomorrow!

    I'm still nervous about Josh starting school, but he is looking forward to STEM and making new friends there. My hope is he gets a couple of weeks to get used to the new school before the lethargy from the radiation kicks in.

    Think he'd kill me if he knew I took this sneaky pic!

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  • What an inspiring first day

      4 August 2015

    4th of August, first day of this fab new venture to give Josh every experience he can dream off. You guys have shared and donated amazingly - thanks for your kindness and generosity!

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