The Biggest Thank You: Gratitude Beyond Words
Episode Summary
In this deeply moving episode of The Cancer Project podcast, host David Raubach sits down with Janet and Keith, the British grandparents of Leo, a boy who received proton therapy at the Oklahoma Proton Center as a one-year-old, ten years ago. Janet and Keith have returned to Oklahoma City from their home in Romsey on England’s south coast as part of a two-week family reunion trip, joining Leo, now 10, his sister Hattie, 13, and their parents Abby and James. The visit is the family’s way of delivering what Keith describes simply and powerfully as “the biggest thank you”; a phrase that gives this episode its title.
Leo’s cancer journey began at four months old when a diagnosis shattered the euphoria of a new grandchild’s arrival. The family moved quickly through the UK’s NHS system, referred immediately rather than placed on a waiting list, progressing through chemotherapy, radical surgery, and eventually a recommendation for proton radiation therapy that was not yet available in England at the time. The NHS funded the family’s travel to Oklahoma City, and Janet and Keith dropped everything, including full-time jobs, to be there. Keith recalls the pivotal moment when Abby hesitated, worn down by Leo’s suffering through chemo and surgery; it was Keith who told her plainly: “If it was you, there’s no question you’re on that plane tomorrow, because if you don’t do it there’s a possibility it could come back.”
Janet and Keith played a carefully calibrated supporting role throughout Leo’s treatment, never overstepping, but always present. While Abby and James took Leo to his proton and chemotherapy appointments, Janet cared for three-year-old Hattie, doing “fun, normal things” like letting Hattie try on shoes from her collection. Keith took meticulous notes at every medical consultation in Bristol so that when Abby and James came out overwhelmed, there was a written record to return to and a list of follow-up questions ready. Keith also reorganized the family’s transatlantic flights to eliminate a seven-hour layover in Detroit that would have been brutal with a baby and a toddler. These practical contributions, they explain, freed the parents to focus entirely on Leo.
The episode is rich with anecdotes from their time in Edmond, Oklahoma a decade ago. A stranger at the community pool, realizing the family was English and there for cancer treatment, returned within an hour with toys for Hattie from her own garage. A man undergoing proton therapy for prostate cancer, initially despondent, was paired informally with an upbeat 11-year-old girl from England with a brain tumor; she transformed his outlook so completely that his local motorcycle chapter organized a Harley-Davidson parade led by the county sheriff in her honor. These stories illustrate what Janet and Keith call the “large family” feeling of the Oklahoma community, and of the Proton Center itself, whose staff still remembered Leo on the day of this recording.
Ten years on, Leo is a thriving 10-year-old who plays cricket for Devon’s county junior team, performs in stage productions, memorably playing the pantomime dame “Widow Twanky” in a pink wig, and approaches every challenge with what Keith calls “vigor and enthusiasm.” Hattie wins vocal competitions at regional festivals. Janet and Keith close the episode by articulating the entire purpose of the trip: not to sightsee or even primarily to see Oklahoma City’s AAA baseball team, the Comets, but to return to the place that made all of this possible and say thank you in person. David Raubach reflects that the staff at the Proton Center left the visit visibly “rejuvenated”, a reminder that positive outcomes matter as much to caregivers as they do to families.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode
- Pediatric Proton Therapy: Leo was just one year old when he received proton radiation at Oklahoma Proton Center, demonstrating that the technology can safely target tumors in even the youngest patients.
- NHS International Referral: The UK’s National Health Service funded the family’s travel to Oklahoma because proton beam therapy was not yet available in England at the time, showing how specialized cancer care can cross national borders.
- The “Pea in Jelly” Explanation: A Bristol oncologist explained proton precision to the family using a vivid analogy, proton beams can hit a single pea inside a block of jelly, stopping precisely at the tumor rather than causing collateral damage on entry and exit as conventional radiation does.
- Caregiver Role Clarity: Janet and Keith describe a deliberate strategy of supporting without taking over, handling logistics, note-taking, and sibling care so that Abby and James could remain fully present as Leo’s parents.
- Note-Taking at Consultations: Having a secondary family member attend appointments purely to record information, rather than to participate emotionally, allowed the family to review exactly what doctors said and prepare follow-up questions, a practice the Proton Center actively encourages.
- Community Support Beyond the Clinic: Total strangers in the Edmond community provided toys, food, and kindness to the family unprompted, illustrating how a cancer center’s positive culture can radiate outward into the surrounding neighborhood.
- Patient Peer Connection: An informal bond between a discouraged prostate cancer patient and an optimistic young English girl receiving treatment at the same time completely changed his attitude, and led to a Harley-Davidson parade organized in her honor by a local motorcycle chapter.
- Concurrent Chemotherapy & Proton Therapy: Leo received both proton radiation at the Proton Center and chemotherapy infusions at the children’s hospital simultaneously, with the half-hour infusion protocol in Oklahoma far less grueling than what the family experienced in England.
- The Role of Hope: David Raubach wears a “hope” bracelet from a fundraising event as a daily reminder that providing hope, through smiling faces, songs in treatment rooms, or engaging lobby activities for pediatric patients, is a core clinical responsibility, not a luxury.
- Long-Term Outcomes as Staff Inspiration: The Proton Center team who remembered Leo as a baby were visibly moved and re-energized by seeing the thriving 10-year-old he had become, underscoring the importance of follow-up visits for caregiver wellbeing as much as for patients.
- Family Diagnosis Framework: Keith and Janet articulate what the Proton Center teaches: a cancer diagnosis does not happen to a patient alone. It happens to an entire family, and care systems must extend support to grandparents, siblings, and the broader circle around the patient.
Janet and Keith’s return to Oklahoma City ten years after their grandson Leo’s proton therapy is a testament to the lasting bonds forged inside a cancer center, and to the quiet, indispensable work of grandparents who organized flights, took notes at medical appointments, and kept a three-year-old entertained with shoes so that a young family could focus entirely on healing. Leo’s story, from a one-year-old in treatment to a county cricket player and pantomime star who approaches life with unstoppable enthusiasm, is the very outcome every team at every cancer center works toward. If you are a caregiver, a grandparent, or anyone walking alongside a family facing a cancer diagnosis, this episode is for you.
Full Transcript
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Transcript generated from the episode’s audio. Speaker names are identified from the context of the conversation rather than from recorded speaker data, and automatic transcription may misspell names and terminology. Please refer to the video for the authoritative version.
David Raubach: Hi, my name is David Raubach and I want to thank you for joining us on today’s episode of the Cancer Project podcast. We’re really fortunate today to wrap up our conversations with the family that came over from England to revisit Oklahoma Proton Center after their son and grandson and brother went through treatment 10 years ago for a pediatric cancer. So today we’re going to talk to a very important part of the family, the grandparents who are very supportive of little Leo as he went through treatment as a one-year-old. So, we are here with Janet and Keith. Thank you guys so much for joining us today.
Janet: Thank you for being here in Oklahoma.
Keith: Pleasure.
David Raubach: So, you guys got into town a couple days ago. And I think one thing you said is it was a little bit of a shock how hot it was when you got off the plane.
Janet: Yes.
David Raubach: How are you adjusting?
Janet: Well, actually Keith and I have been down in Naples for a month.
David Raubach: Okay.
Janet: So, we came over a month early and we played some golf down there. And then flew from Tampa up to Dallas and the timings worked perfectly. We got off the plane, 10 minutes later we met the family. And that was just incredible to all meet up again after 10 years. But you’re right, when you get off the plane, the humidity is just overwhelming. But it’s so nice that you wake up every morning and the sun’s out and makes you feel better.
David Raubach: And Oklahoma City has a AAA baseball team and I think you said that you went to a baseball game on Sunday or Monday.
Keith: We went on Sunday. We having driven up on the Saturday night. The first thing we did was to go to get some food in at the shops in the morning and then straight to a baseball. It’s the first It’s the only opportunity we’ve got during the two weeks we’re here. So, we thought we’d go and take in the Oklahoma Comets, as I believe they’re called.
David Raubach: Yeah. Okay. Yeah. So, Dodgers affiliates currently called the Comets.
Keith: Yeah, they did they just did just go through a name change.
David Raubach: And so, tell me where do you guys live in England?
Keith: So, we live on the south coast in a small town called Romsey.
David Raubach: Okay.
Keith: And so we’re actually about a 2 and a half hour drive away from Abby and the family.
David Raubach: Okay.
Keith: But, we still get down to see them or they come to see us. In fact, when we get back, we’ve got a week at home, just the two of us. And then Hattie and Leo come for their annual week to come and stay with us and we’ll have lots of fun things to do.
David Raubach: Yeah. And so as introductions, I know this is part three of the series, but for those that maybe didn’t catch the first two episodes, Hattie is 13. She’s the granddaughter. And then Leo is 10, grandson. And Leo was treated at the Oklahoma Proton Center about 10 years ago. Here in Oklahoma City. So, and tell me a little bit about, just jumping in on that, tell me a little bit about what that was like coming here to Oklahoma. I mean, that was a obviously a big adjustment for everybody, but you guys came over for a period of time to support the family.
Keith: Well, we obviously you have the euphoria of a new child, grandchild being born, and then you have at 4 months old the shock of an illness. The shock of that illness being confirmed as cancer. And as we all know that word just motivates a horror, a worry. But the treatment that Leo got was splendid in that his doctor referred him to the hospital. Didn’t refer him to the hospital. He sent him to the hospital. The hospitals in exit sent him to Bristol. Sent him to Bristol, didn’t refer him. So we didn’t have four or five weeks to wait and as James alluded when you were talking to him, within a very short period, he was on chemo. Being a such a small child, that didn’t get hold of it and he had to have the radical surgery.
Keith: And then when the radiotherapy was suggested there was no doubt that it had to be done because it was belt and braces. You had to do everything to make sure that if the treatment was going to succeed then that had to be done and we were given the option to come out here via the National Health Service and it was just wonderful. We just dropped everything. We had to be there to support the family basically and Oklahoma here we come.
David Raubach: Yeah.
Keith: And it was just wonderful. Today we we’ve been to the graduation service and there was a common thread there through all the people who had experienced their treatment and clearly they had all experienced that fear that worry that I’ve just mentioned with Leo. But the ProCure as it was and the proton as it now is has this ability to take that fear away and make the journey not a horrendous journey but a journey with understanding of the problem that you’ve got. The fact that there is hope the smiling faces the welcoming makes it a journey that is remembered almost with I won’t say happiness but not the fear that it was at the beginning.
David Raubach: I think hope is a great word to use. I’ve actually I have this bracelet here. I got this at a fundraising event and it’s got the word hope on the bracelet and I wear it as a reminder of what our mission needs to be at a cancer center. And we know that different patients are going to come in with a different diagnosis, different potential outcomes, different journeys that they are going to go through. But our responsibility is to provide hope, whatever that looks like for every patient that walks into the facility. And then you talked about we need to try to lighten the burden a little bit going through the process and what does that look like? Maybe for a pediatric patient it’s some games and events in the lobby. Maybe it’s a smiling face.
David Raubach: Maybe it’s listening to a fun song back in the treatment room. But that’s it’s just what we have to do as a family and as a team to get through that journey. What did you find yourself doing or maybe saying I need to not do this as your family and your grandkid and your daughter was going through this process? I know that there’s like I mean as a dad I just would think your natural propensity is to want to jump in and try to fix everything or try to help make decisions or what how did you kind of approach that whole process?
Janet: 100% You want to fix everything. And I think all you can do is just be there for them. In which whatever way they need you. Previously Abby had talked about she has to take Leo with James to the hospital. So someone needed to be there to look after Leo’s sister Hattie. And of course you know we love spending time with them. So it’s just a real privilege to be looking after either of them. So and you never give up hope. It’s a very very scary process and journey of course but you never give up hope and you as Abby mentioned earlier you trust in the doctors you trust in the process. You cross everything and here we are 10 years later. Yeah. With all our prayers answered really.
David Raubach: What so when you talked about taking care of Hattie, so at the time she was three.
Janet: Yes.
David Raubach: Were you almost stepping in a little bit as a it’s a I don’t know if this is the right way to put it, but a substitute mom to a certain extent or how did you think about
Janet: No, not a substitute mom. She didn’t need that because Abby was always present. But just doing fun things with her. I love shoes and so does Hattie. And so she’d be in my shoe box and under my bed trying on all sorts of different shoes and just doing normal things but fun things. Trying to entertain her really. But she was entertaining us as much as you know.
David Raubach: You said that you’re NanJan.
Janet: Yes.
David Raubach: You had a role as NanJan.
Janet: Yeah.
David Raubach: And having met Abby too and talked to her, you’re right. She is a super mom. To be able to handle everything that was going on with Leo and continue to be full-time mom to her three-year-old. It’s yeah, she she’s certainly an inspiration from that standpoint.
Keith: I think you can’t take o you want to do as much as you can. You can’t take over. It’s the parents who have got the immediate problem, but you have the ability just to step back and think that perhaps needs to be done or that perhaps needs to be organized. And when we were going to the initial hospital appointments in Bristol, we made sure that we went along and therefore there was the emotion and the worry that the parents have got when talking to the doctor. We were sitting in the background perhaps taking notes of what was said. Yeah. So when they came out, what did he say about so and so? He said this and we had a list of questions to ask the doctor.
Keith: So you didn’t and you made the maximum of each appointment so you know exactly where you were and as I say if you’ve got the information it reduces the worry so without involving us you know I mean we live two 2 and a half hours away mom is much closer so that was an immediate support that they were giving on a daily basis where necessary but when it came to administrative things or coming out here then we tended to try and organize where we could and just take that little bit of pressure off, you know, just coming along and being able to change his nappy and change his bag and do that, that’s enough for Abby on that day. What time we had to be at an airport or what time we had to mix another plane, that was our responsibility.
Keith: There was so much in the way of logistics and planning and that’s something where you could jump in and help.
David Raubach: And I actually really like the note-taking at the consult appointment story or narrative because that’s actually something that we encourage patients when they come in is that it’s often really helpful to have somebody besides the patient.
Keith: Yes.
David Raubach: Taking the notes so the patient can really focus on that or in this case Abby talking with the doctor about Leo and then know that there’s somebody else that’s writing stuff down because you just get inundated with information. It’s overwhelming. There’s so much information to take in. There’s so many questions that you want answered. Some can be answered, some can’t.
Keith: So yes, just having us in the background writing it all down. Because then you know a couple of days later you think well what was it that doctor said and you can look back and so I think you would make a report and send it to the other family members so that they were kept up to date as well as we were going along.
David Raubach: So and that takes such a huge burden off of the family as well because there’s so many people that want updates. How’s everything going? And just knowing that communication’s occurring that yeah that that’s great and that’s something that we talk a lot about at the Proton Center is we spend so much time focused on the patient or if it’s a pediatric patient the parents but then there’s this extension and how do we support the caretakers and how do we support the kind of broader community that comes in around the patient because a diagnosis it’s not a it’s not necessarily a patient that gets diagnosed.
Keith: It is, but it’s also a family.
David Raubach: Yes. That gets diagnosed. What was it like for you guys coming back to the center for the first time?
Keith: And overwhelming. It’s can feel your heart beating when you walk through the door. Abby mentioned earlier. Just even the smell of the place brings back memories. But of everything, I think the people the staff there are just so kind. And make you feel so at home as they did 10 years ago. And that certainly eases the journey knowing that you’re being looked after. And the friends that we met in Edmond. They people were just really really super kind. They’d make us food. They made us chocolate cakes and they were just lovely people. And all of that helps.
David Raubach: Yeah.
Keith: And we were around Abby and James took Leo to the hospital I think on the first time and we took Happy Hattie to the pool to assist her learning to swim. And there was a lady there and I don’t know why but she realized we’re English. It must be the way we talk. I don’t know but she said why are you here? And we told her and she just said, “Oh my goodness, you know, you’re now, Hattie hasn’t got any toys. I’ve got a grandchild. I I’ve got she visits me. I’ve got toys in the garage. Where do you live?” And within an hour, Hattie had toys and things to play with. And it was just that’s an example of what we got. And wherever we went, if we told the story, you know, it was just welcoming. It’s like a large family. It’s fantastic.
Keith: And it was really we got back Leo as her royal highness says, “You are not just a recovered person, but you’re a stronger person.” And Leo’s just got stronger and stronger as he’s gone through life. And everything that he approaches, he approaches with vigor and enthusiasm and you’ve heard he plays cricket.
David Raubach: Yeah.
Keith: Well, he doesn’t just play cricket. He’s we have like Devon is a county.
David Raubach: Okay.
Keith: And he’s in their junior team, you know. He so that’s better than usual for his age. He at school he’s on the stage and he’s singing and it’s whatever he does it’s with enthusiasm and you can’t knock the kid back.
David Raubach: Yeah. He smiles.
Keith: We may be biased but you know he’s like we’re not biased. He is just such a gorgeous little boy.
David Raubach: I’ve spent a day with Leo and I would attest to everything that you are saying just from that day having visited with him. What’s another memory that you guys have from your time in Oklahoma from 10 years ago?
Keith: Well, not such a good memory was having to say goodbye because we were here for the first month. And I just wish we could have stayed longer, but at the time we were both still working full-time, so we had to get back. But I remember being at the airport and we were all in tears and that was tough day.
Janet: Yeah, I think we wanted to be, you know, part of the journey for the whole journey over here.
Keith: What else do we remember? Gosh, I remember Leo at the hospital just smiling so much.
Janet: Yeah, he was all hooked up to wires and goodness knows what else, but he just kept smiling.
Keith: Yeah. And everybody loved him as we all do.
David Raubach: I looked at his intake picture from the Proton Center from 10 years ago this morning and he had a big smile on the picture that they took that was part of his medical record. So yeah.
Keith: Yeah. When you you’ve heard oh Nikki White she she’s came out today to see him. The girls from the back rooms as it were they came out as well and they all remember him. It’s just amazing, you know, that obviously he made an impression, you know, and he made an impression again today, I think, as well.
David Raubach: And as you said, for the older members wondering what’s life is like after their treatment finishes, you see Leo and he’s 10 years on. It does inspire.
Keith: It’s inspiration. And we saw that when we were over last time because they had some more children from England at the same time and they seem to buddy up with older people.
David Raubach: Yeah.
Keith: And the older people would come in. There was one lovely man and he said, “Oh, prostate cancer and the world’s on my shoulder and why me, etc., etc.” And he was buddied up with a young lady from England about 11 with a brain tumor. She was optimistic. I’m having treatment. I’m going to do this. I’m going to do that. I’m doing the other. And it lifted her completely. It lifted him rather completely. He changed his attitude. And they formed a great relationship. And I’ve told the story before, but their one interest was motorcycles.
David Raubach: Okay.
Keith: And he was part of the local is it chapter you call it of the not Hell’s Angels or something. And on one occasion he arranged for them all to come up and see her outside and they put her on a motorbike and took her down to the Harley-Davidson place.
David Raubach: Wow.
Keith: And with the sheriff as well leading the convoy.
David Raubach: That’s amazing.
Keith: But that was a relationship that grew out of adversity.
David Raubach: Yeah.
Keith: But it just benefited them both.
David Raubach: Yeah. And there was that solidarity and knowing that they’re both it’s different what they’re going through, but they’re also going through it together.
Keith: Together. Yeah. Yeah. And we saw that so often, didn’t we? It wasn’t just youth and older people. It was the, you know, the rapport between people who were suffering and suffering together.
Janet: Well, we’re both going to get it through.
David Raubach: Yeah.
Janet: Hopefully, we’ll get through.
David Raubach: So proton therapy, you guys are part of this process with Leo over in England. He does chemotherapy. He does surgery. He’s still going through chemotherapy. And then at some point there’s a moment where a doctor says, “We’ve exhausted all of our options here in England. We have to send you overseas.” What were you guys thinking at that point? How did you process that information?
Janet: Do you want to do that?
Keith: But I remember that well because I was sitting next to Abby.
David Raubach: Yeah.
Keith: And I think she thought about it because she didn’t want him to suffer anymore. He you know the chemo was enough. The radical surgery was drastic and she didn’t want him to suffer anymore. And me as Abby’s father, I said, “Look, if it was you, there’s no question you’re on that plane tomorrow because if you don’t do it, there’s an opport there’s a possibility it could come back.” But if you go, you’ve done everything.
David Raubach: Mhm.
Keith: So, it has to happen. So, a shock, a worry, but do it.
David Raubach: Mhm. I mean, it’s daunting to think you’ve got to, you know, fly across the world and have this treatment and you don’t know quite what to expect or how it’s going to go, but it was absolutely the right thing.
Keith: 100%.
David Raubach: Did you find yourself because you talked about there was a little bit of this kind of practical aspect that you were approaching the whole process with, you know, when do we have to be where, what are all of the logistics? So, I’m assuming there was part of when the doctor said, “Well, you have to go get this treatment in America.” Were you thinking, “Well, what is proton therapy? What
Keith: Yes.
David Raubach: Why do we not have it here? Why is it so much better or why is it right for LEO versus I mean talk a little bit about kind of just that discovery process of what why I think we what isn’t why are we leaving the country to get it?”
Keith: Well, I think you, as Abby alluded to, you trust in the doctors. You trust in what they’re telling you. And if this treatment’s available and it’s, you know, going to be belt and braces for Leo, then absolutely 100% the doctors at Bristol explained in detail the difference between the machinery that they had in England at the time with a big beam going in and doing damage on the way in and doing what it should do and then damage on the way out, okay? And the precise effect of the proton being able to hit a pea in a block of jelly.
David Raubach: Yeah. You know, and that’s, you know, simple explanation, but you So, say that again. How did he explain it?
Keith: He explained it that you could, you know, you had this what we’d got would do damage all the way through, but the proton beam would you could hit a pea in a block of jelly.
David Raubach: Okay.
Keith: And it would stop and do only minimal damage around the area that was affected. And that was a simple explanation but it was like okay well that’s what was that’s what’s going to happen really. So yes they were very u informative and that took away the worry really and then it was Nikki again was the liaison officer so the flights were you know okay and the house was done you think well that’s all being done so we can take note of that.
David Raubach: I think you all reorganized the flights.
Keith: Yes, we looked at the flights and there was too much of a long stop over in I think it was Detroit we had to fly to because obviously we couldn’t from the UK you can’t fly direct to Oklahoma. And we were thinking well with a baby and a three-year-old we don’t want to be sat about an airport for seven hours. So we had a little rearrangement of the flights.
David Raubach: So that’s what we were talking about sort of being you know sorting out admin and Abby and James not having to worry about that aspect. And so when he was here, he actually had some appointments at the children’s hospital and at the proton center. So he was going through chemotherapy at the children’s hospital. Is that correct? At the same time he was getting proton therapy.
Keith: Yes.
David Raubach: Yeah.
Keith: So one or other of us would bring him to the proton center. But we would all go down to the hospital because the as Abby said he had two of the drugs in the chemo that he was allowed. And that was done by a halfhour infusion much simple than it was in England where you’d be there for most of the day. So again with valet parking which was new to us at hospitals.
David Raubach: Yeah.
Keith: It was something that we could overcome quite quickly and then get on with our day which was
David Raubach: Yeah.
Keith: And again I mean all the staff at the children’s hospital were just super kind, really helpful. There’s a big notice there in the waiting room says your time’s as precious as our so if we’re keeping you waiting do tell us. Not that they ever did keep us waiting. It was just superb service.
David Raubach: Well, it is a big adjustment because for Leo, you guys really were immersing yourself and getting involved with two whole new sets of doctors, the radiation oncologists at the proton center and then the medical oncologist at the hospital. And so I can just imagine that was a big adjustment and overwhelming having that all happen at once.
Keith: It was enough to contend with. Yeah. Right. If I can put it like that. But because the hospital dealt with it so efficiently because the proton center dealt with it so efficiently, it just flowed. Yeah. And it did make it you know not an awful experience. Because the end result was hopefully as it has turned out now.
David Raubach: Yeah. Thankfully.
Keith: A great success.
David Raubach: Now, have either of you guys had experience with cancer with other family members or was this the first time with a family member that
Janet: First time for me?
Keith: Yeah, my father died well, he had prostate cancer. But he died of something else after a prostate operation which didn’t go too successfully, but let’s put it like that.
Janet: But no, we haven’t touched wood.
David Raubach: Yes. Yeah. No, for sure. Yeah. And it’s interesting because we talk about the fact that cancer is something that does tend to impact everybody at some point whether it’s with a family member or god forbid with that person themselves. It’s very rare that it’s pediatric cancers. What was the message or the conversations like with your daughter after the diagnosis as a dad?
Janet: Ah, how what did you tell your daughter or what?
Keith: I think it was clearly well shock. We all had we suffered the shock. We were all clearly sympathetic of their plight at the time. But a reassurance that whatever it took to support them that support would be forthcoming and immediate.
David Raubach: Mhm.
Keith: And again we’ve said we hopefully we didn’t intrude but they knew we were there. You know there was a shoulder to lean on and there we go. And that’s all that parents can do.
David Raubach: I think I’m sure if you know if I fell off my bike, they’d be there, you know, for me, you know.
Keith: Well, they are. They do.
David Raubach: Yeah. Yeah.
Keith: And it’s a two-way thing. And it’s just the love of a family.
David Raubach: Yeah. I have three daughters myself, and I just can’t imagine what it would be like as a dad to see your daughter and of course your grandson as well. There there’s both components because you love your grandson and you love your daughter and you want to just do anything and everything that you can to take away the physical pain and the emotional pain.
Keith: But I think I’d also say that you know the huge feeling that you have for your daughter was lightened by the fact that she has such a supportive husband.
David Raubach: Yeah.
Keith: Mm, and both working in the NHS as well as they do as an occupational therapist and a physio therapist. They had a had an awareness and a support team also there as well. But yeah, I mean James was an absolute rock for Abby and continues to be so.
David Raubach: You guys have an amazing family and that it that really is what it takes to get through something like this. So I really appreciate you guys time. I do you know we asked your grandkids. Well, actually I have I do have one more question. So what are you what’s a highlight from the past year of your time with Leo and with Hattie?
Janet: Oh that’s easy. Seeing them both on the stage they Hattie has the most superb voice. As does Leo. Leo is a fantastic actor. And when they are on the stage they give it just 100% and couldn’t be more proud.
David Raubach: Yeah.
Janet: I mean both of them been in roles with a sort of an amateur dramatic society not just for children but like you know adults and they need well they did sound the sound of music and Hattie was the middle von Trapp. They did nativity.
David Raubach: Okay.
Janet: And they both sang their hearts out on that and that gives a you know lump in the face.
David Raubach: Yeah.
Janet: Abby’s got a great voice as well.
David Raubach: Yeah.
Janet: And so but seeing them on the stage and Leo was in his school production of a pantomime.
David Raubach: Which pantomime was it?
Keith: Yeah. Well, he was Oh, yeah. He had to play a character called Widow Twankey.
David Raubach: Okay.
Keith: And Widow Twankey is a lady who runs a laundry. And Leo came on stage with a pink wig on.
David Raubach: Oh my goodness.
Keith: A colored blouse with because he was a lady. I think it was somebody’s bra with some socks in it like this and some trousers. And he just wowed the audience and that was magic.
David Raubach: Yeah.
Keith: For me, for Leo,
David Raubach: But as a mime, right? You said it was a pantomime, too.
Keith: Oh, we call it a pantomime, but it’s just a story. It’s not a mime. He sings he does.
David Raubach: Okay.
Keith: Haty was
David Raubach: I have not I’ve neither pantomimed nor mimed. So, I’m not so sure that Americans do pantomimes.
Keith: It’s a bit British and the humor can be a little bit funny.
David Raubach: Okay, good.
Keith: Or odd. I think perhaps you find it.
David Raubach: But I hope that there’s a YouTube video of this.
Keith: Yeah. Well, there may be.
David Raubach: Yeah. Perfect.
Keith: Actually, I may show you a picture.
David Raubach: Perfect.
Keith: But yeah, they’re great. Both kids and wonderful voices.
David Raubach: Yeah.
Janet: Hattie wins cups at she goes to festivals, competitions, and she sings and she’s so brave standing up doing a solo.
Keith: They both do.
Janet: And as I say, you know, it just you’re super proud. Couldn’t be more proud.
David Raubach: That’s amazing. Yeah, I can tell that you guys are super proud of your grandkids. So then my last question because we did ask the grandkids and James and Abby, what are you most looking forward to over the next two weeks in Oklahoma City and I will allow you to say Waterburger or Raising Canes as Leo said.
Janet: So, well, I I’m with Abby that I’m not looking forward to going on roller coasters.
David Raubach: Okay.
Janet: But it’s a bit cliched but I just love spending time with our wonderful family. So just being here with them is enough.
Keith: I just love driving the biggest cars you’ve got.
David Raubach: Yeah.
Keith: And doing you is
David Raubach: Yeah. We have a lot of very big vehicles here.
Keith: So they’re lovely.
David Raubach: Yeah. Yeah.
Keith: Being a motorhead a bit, you know.
David Raubach: Yeah.
Keith: No, but spending time again, you know, and reliving the house is quite similar. The one we’re renting now for the couple of weeks is very similar to what the last one was. So it brings back memories, you know, and we work as a team and preparing our next photo book. So
David Raubach: Oh, yes.
Keith: From 10 years ago, we have a photo book of all the things that we did. So we’re taking lots of snaps and
David Raubach: Oh, that’s beautiful. Yeah.
Keith: And even maybe at some of the same places that you were at to
David Raubach: Yeah.
Keith: We’re reliving some of the photographs, aren’t we? We had our grants had Leo on the table at Waterburger 10 years ago. So this time he was just on his lap.
David Raubach: Okay.
Keith: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I don’t think they would care if you got, you know, and we got him today on the leather seat in your reception. Okay. Yeah. Cuz he was little then. But so yeah, we’re reliving.
David Raubach: Yeah. In a happier
Keith: Yeah. Yeah.
David Raubach: More joyous way. Well, that’s beautiful. And I want to thank you guys and the rest of the family for taking the time to talk to us.
Keith: Well, can I just say the last thing and that is that the purpose of this, you know, trip really is things are bigger in America and we want to give you the biggest thank you.
David Raubach: Yes. Well, thank you so much for saying that. I you guys are an inspiration to us and I I’m so grateful for the time being able to talk with you guys because we walk in to that cancer center every day and we know that there’s some you know sometimes the daily grind can be hard and the treatments can be hard and seeing what people are going through can be hard and just getting to visit and see such a positive outcome for you guys and seeing the family together. I promise that the staff today was rejuvenated because you guys came into the facility and it’s going to just be a little bit different tomorrow having had Leo and the rest of the family there. So, thank you guys for coming.
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