Josh’s Story

FESCH.TV INFORMIERT:

As a personal assistant to Theo and Madeleine Dahl, son and daughter-in-law of children’s author Roald Dahl, Josh Brown spends most of his days at their Naples home, coordinating their schedules, handling correspondence, arranging travel, running their home and helping with lavish holiday decorations that take two weeks to install.

In the summer of 2021, he noticed he was very winded and thought he had pneumonia or even COVID-19. Eventually, doctors found out he was slowly bleeding out. Normal blood markers were 1,300; his were 2.2. “People were surprised that I was even coherent with those numbers,” he said.

After he was diagnosed with colon cancer, he also found himself fighting for his life for the second time after beating bone cancer as a child.

From the start, Lee Health Regional Cancer Center sent him up with a dietician to gain weight. People checked to see how he was doing emotionally and whether he needed financial support. A nurse was available if he had questions. An APP puts all his appointments, schedule medication and test results in one place.

“The support staff is key,” he said. “The level of care of the nurses at the infusion center is amazing. They get to know the patients and they are cheering them on.”

Every other week, he went to Lee Health Regional Cancer Center on Wednesday for eight hours of infusion and a visit with his oncologist. Then he was given a pump for more chemotherapy through Friday, when he returned to the center to have the pump removed. In all, he had six courses of chemotherapy.

In the last week of November, he started about five weeks of daily radiation, and is expecting surgery in early 2022.

Through it all, he kept working in Naples, spending a lot of time on the road to and from Lee Health Regional Cancer Center. Sometimes, travelling from Naples to the cancer center would take several hours.

“If it weren’t for Lee Health Regional Cancer Center, I might be driving to Moffit in Tampa,” he said. “On Fridays, during chemo, I would have a friend drive me because I was worn out. When you aren’t feeling well, the closer the better.”

The Dahls held a party at their home in December to raise money for the expansion of cancer services in Bonita Springs, which will mean that people like Josh who are south of Fort Myers will not have to drive so far for treatment.

“I’m very blessed to have people in my life who are supporting me and are also willing to support others in the community,” he said. “I’m finding out how many people care in my life.”

Thanks to generous donors, Lee Health Regional Cancer Center can ensure everyone receives the lifesaving cancer care they need, close to home. With the Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation challenge grant, your contribution will be doubled once the $1.5 million goal is reached – increasing the impact of each gift and helping patients twice as much!

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