Goodbye Jo – The world has lost one of its greatest gifts.
02/02/2022
It is with great sadness that these words are written.
Jo died at home early in the evening of 1 February 2022, with Simon beside her.
Last post from Jo
13/01/2022
What’s up? Well things have progressed and I fear this will be my last post. Since the brain radiation I’ve been really unwell and in the last few weeks increasingly unwell. I keep rallying but it only lasts a few hours and the nausea, diarrhoea and fatigue return. The cancer is everywhere now and we
Keep an eye out for thank you emails
17/12/2021
Hey folks. If you have recently donated (or even donated in the past but not received a thank you), please keep an eye eye on your email, and check your spam or junk email. Emails usually come from fundraiser.net.au with a subject link like “a personal message from Jo to you” . I’ve had to
Update December 2021
06/12/2021
Well, as you may know things have progressed with my cancer. Now there are more lesions in my lungs, brain and now my liver. This means past treatments, including the Keytruda, have stopped as they are no longer working. I have started to feel a bit unwell with things now, so it’s getting a bit
Thank-you notes
21/10/2021
Dear friends, I have finally finished my thank-you emails. They have taken me over a year to write. I have tried, where possible, to add a personal touch to each one, and it has been very emotional writing them. Apologies that it has taken so long, there have been more than 777! You should be
July update
30/07/2021
Well we’d always like an update to be positive, but that is something I can’t do today. I had a scan last Friday, and unfortunately it shows disease progression. There are two new metastases in my brain (fortunately not in very important bits!) and multiple small nodules in my lungs. One nodule in my lung
February update
26/02/2021
Philosophy You know its funny this preparing to die thing. It feels a lot like normal life. Each day is much like it was in the past. There are some very notable differences. I work less. I spend more time clearing up and clearing out my life – decluttering and simplifying things as much as
Update for December 2020
04/12/2020
Well its a long time between blog posts. Cancer update: The chemotherapy protocol I was on initially – eribulin + Keytruda (this is the really expensive immunotherapy one we/you are funding), did not work. I could feel my lymph nodes enlarging, and just prior to finishing prescribed course of treatment (8 x 3 week rounds
Three rounds of chemotherapy down… more to go.
08/09/2020
This week marked the end of my third round of chemotherapy, and also my third dose of Keytruda (“pembro “).
There isn’t a great deal to report medically. I am tracking ok. Few side effects, no nasty autoimmune effects from the Keytruda – taking the brakes off my immune system can lead to my immune system attacking just about anywhere.
August update on cancer Treatment
27/08/2020
The first time I had chemotherapy, I cried. I had to sign a consent form that I understood just what was going to happen to me. Of course, I couldn’t read it. Most of that day was a blur, and my eyes were tightly closed. But the finality of consenting to literally poison being pumped
I want to live long enough for Lachy and Ben to have meaningful memories of me.
Joanna Griffith