As we left home all together for the last time there was time to reflect on the wonderful life we had together. I won’t share our memories- we all have our own memories of what Andy meant to us, just to say they will always be very special and stay with me forever.

The service was beautiful. The Church was full.  It wasn’t a solemn occasion –  yes it was very sad, we were having to say goodbye to someone who meant so much to so many, but we celebrated  Andy’s life and what he meant to each and everyone of us. He would have hated being the centre of attention but I think he would have been proud of how we celebrated such a wonderful life. The people, the music from the band, readings, a fitting tribute, two wonderful solos, leadership from Emma and Jenny and our children who so bravely read and shared their memories made it the perfect celebration. I am and I know Andy would be very proud of them. Thank you to everyone who helped make it such a beautiful and  memorable day.

Today I went for my first run since the Royal Parks half. It was a hard run not so much because of a lack of recent running but because it was difficult to breathe when memories flooded my mind. There is even more reason to keep running now and I’m sure many will join with Lloyd when he commented on facebook – ‘every time I lace up my running shoes it will be for you’  So Angels put on your running shoes and get training ready for the 2010 race series!

The family will attend a private committal after the service. Please feel free to go to the hotel after the service and the family will join you.  Parking is restricted at the hotel but there two public car parks nearby. We as a family are requesting family flowers only, but if you wish to do so please donate to Andy’s charities via the Just Giving link on this site.

At Andy’s request no black to be worn. Light and bright colours please.

We look forward to seeing you all.

Sara x

Over the last few weeks as he became more poorly we were able to spend some very special time with some very special people. I thank you all for that time. I know it meant a lot to Andy to have that time with them.

As far as the funeral goes there is quite a lot to organise. Andy has been very specific in some of the things he does and doesn’t want to happen so details will follow as soon as we know.

Its just left for me to say that I’m sure he will be missed by everyone who knew him but it has been a privilege to share so many wonderful and special times with him. Rest in Peace my darling, you fought with such courage and dignity. xxxx

Andy Greig  05.03.1966 – 21.11.2009

The weather turned out OK in the end, in fact probably almost perfect running conditions. Everyone made it to the finish line and as you can see  there was a huge amount of success. The numbers speak for themselves (these are all I have so far). I am humbled by the dedication of the Angels:

Charlotte Harris – 1.32.47 – Personal Best
Andy Nex – 1.40.04 (2nd fastest run over distance)
Stuart Pendred – 1.51.04 - Personal Best
Rachel Goode – 1.58 - Personal Best
Lloyd Kinsley – 2.15 – first half-marathon
Becky Kinsley – 2.15 – first half-marathon
Gari Glaysher – 2.15 - Personal Best
Sara Greig – 2.19.01 - Personal Best
Linz Gillman -2.19.01 - Personal Best
John Laird – 2.30 – first half-marathon
Maria Kennedy – 2.48 (TBC) – first half-marathon

Also the new Angel’s wings we had made had their first outing and they appeared to work very well, as you can see from the pictures. I must make an enormous public thank you to Vivien Gebbie at Custom Foams Ltd. She arranged for them to be manufactured, free of charge. She went way above and beyond the call of duty and has helped raise the Angels’ visible presence massively. Thank you, again!

On Sunday we will have the largest team of Angels running for Andy’s Angels yet.

The race is the Royal Parks Half Marathon which kicks off at Kensington Gate at 0930. It takes in Hyde, St James and Green parks, as well as several other scenic parts of London. You may recall that Sara and Linz ran it last year. It was a beautiful day and everyone really enjoyed it.

This year we have 13 Angels taking part, which, to me, is really quite amazing. Please, show your appreciation for their efforts; sponsor them please? The link to the JustGiving page is over there, on the right. You know you want to. For a full list of those taking part, head on over to the Angels page.

If you are a loose end on Sunday, why not pop down and cheer the Angels on. The weather looks promising; what other excuse do you need to spend the day in the beautiful London parks? I am hoping we’ll have our new and improved Angels wings ready for the day so the Angels will be easy to spot before, during and after the race. We should also have some larger pairs that non-runners will wear to publicise out efforts. If all else fails, look for us at or near the Bone Cancer Research Trust’s stand in the event village.

Looking forward to seeing everyone there!

UPDATE: Bad uncle! I completely forgot that my nephew, Jamie, is also running the kids 3km race tomorrow. It starts at 0945 in Kensington Gardens, so once you’ve seen you adult start their race, please get ready to cheer Jamie on too! Sorry Jamie, my bad.

Tomorrow, Sunday 4 October is the next race in the Andy’s Angels series. It’s the Cancer Research Autumn Series 10k at Campbell Park, Milton Keynes.

Runners are Sara Greig & Kenton White. It will also be the tryout for the new foam wings I’ve had made for the runners to wear and also a warmup for the next big race, which is a week tomorrow when we have around 15 Angels running the Royal Parks Half Marathon. More about that later in the week. That’s the wings in the image above. They’ll hopefully have the Angels’ logo printed on them by next week too. Anyone know a friendly screen printer that will do it free? Let me know if you do because so far I’ve lucked out.

Meantime, please donate to the cause to support Sara and Kenton, if you haven’t lately. The JustGiving widget on the right will take you where you need to go. Thanks.

Oh, and don’t forget to donate!! Thank you.

My friend Carol organised a Gala evening on Saturday in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support. I’m shocked but happy to report that she raised £14,000. In one evening. That’s not a typo.

Fantastic effort and once again, an inspiration to me.

The day before we left for holiday, I was informed that my local Primary Care Trust (who shall remain nameless for the time being) have refused to fund my Interferon treatment.

You can imagine how this feels.

The reason is that there is not enough general evidence to support the use of Interferon for the treatment of Osteosarcoma. There IS evidence of it’s effectiveness, but not enough to convince the powers that be that it’s worth it. Our response is: how is the body of evidence for its use ever going to grow if it’s not used to treat rarer cancers? Please also remember that this drug is cheap as chips, relatively speaking, so we’re not asking for hundreds of thousands of pounds to be spent.

I really don’t have a lot more to say about it at this point. We have lodged an appeal. We are waiting. Again. Meantime, I get no treatment and things get worse.

Watch this space.

Once again I find myself having to apologise for the lack of posts of late. There’s been a fair bit going on. So here’s what you want to know, I suspect:

The scan results were a mixed bag. The last chemo has stabilised some of the tumours but not others. The short story here is that I need yet more treatment.

I’ve decided to go for a course of Interferon (alpha, if I’m being really picky), which you can read about here and here if you like. This starts off as a low-dose weekly injection, for four weeks. The good news is that these can be given at home so I don’t have to do any traumatic hospital visits. After the four weeks, I’ll have a blood test, they’ll check for toxicity and then if all is well I’ll progress to a higher dose. And so on. There apparently need be no end to this treatment. If it’s working and I’m OK with it I can have it pretty much all the time. I’m not so keen on doing that though as some of the side-effects of long-term use aren’t very nice, so I’ll probably have breaks here and there. The not-so-good news is that it doesn’t work for everyone – some people respond, some don’t. And the way it works is also not fully understood. Still, it’s worth a try eh?

The bad news, at least for now is that the prescription process has presented me with the first real treatment hurdle. When we were at clinic discussing the treatment with Prof, he decided to check if it was in stock so we could take it home with us there and then. After a while of to-ing and fro-ing, it transpired that the Prof could not prescribe Interferon without getting an approval from management.

Read that sentence again if you will, and consider what that means. The Prof, a senior consultant in his Trust and world-renowned in his chosen field has to have his judgement questioned and rubber-stamped by a non-clinical manager. My first thought was that this is because the drug is very expensive. We looked it up when we got home. It’s not, relatively speaking, and about as far from expensive as you get in the drugs world.

He asked us to go and get a coffee whilst he got his “rottweiler pharmacist” on the case. So we did. About half an hour later the Prof reappeared. Things were even worse. He now had to write a letter of application to the management and attend a committee to have his request approved. To say we were gobsmacked is an understatement. That was almost two weeks ago.

Prof has got the Oxford end pretty much sorted, he tells me, but he also had to apply separately to Milton Keynes. That application is ongoing. I’m anxious though, because we go away on holiday on Saturday for two weeks and unless it’s sorted this week, treatment will be delayed even more. Not that I like having treatment, you understand, but now I’ve decided to do it I want to get on with it.

If absolutely necessary, we’ll pay for it ourselves, however I don’t know if dipping into the private system will the jeopardise any further treatment I might expect to get from the NHS. Why does this have to be so difficult?

So, fingers crossed this will all work out by Friday so I can properly enjoy the holiday. I really need to get on with this.

Oh, and by the way, the image above is just for your enjoyment and me to show off, no other reason. Stop by my Flickr page, why don’t you, and see the pictures I’ve taken recently. Enjoy.