We left JHB on Wednesday 10th February at 19:15 and arrived in Dubai at 05:15(03:15 our time). The flight out of Dubai was delayed and we only left for Paris at about 09:00. The second half of the trip felt like it was taking forever as we were in the air for 15 hours. We finally arrived in Paris on Thursday. We waited patiently for our suitcases and guess what? All of them arrived except for mine! I had promises from Emirates that I would have it that evening. We then contacted the owner of the apartment in Paris to arrange to collect the keys, but we could not reach the owner and we managed to contact the agency and they promised to make a plan for us.
We then decided to take the train into Paris. This was the first time that Lize-Mari has been on a train. But we managed to get ourselves lost and walked around the subways for over 1.5 hours. At least we know now how the system works!! We eventually got off at Auber station as this was the closest to Rue de Caumartin which is the street where we will be staying. Whilst walking to the apartment, the snow started falling. It was such an experience to feel these little small flakes fall on your face and to suddently realise that we really are in Paris!
After walking the streets for an hour or so, we eventually found our apartment. We settled in and then went shopping for a few essentials at Monoprix (just like Pick 'n Pay). Very upset to have not received my suitcase as promised and went to bed praying that Friday would be better.
Friday morning came and at 8am as it was still dark outside. We have a lovely view from the apartment. We left for the subway to go to the Hospital to Meet Pr. Bernard George who is the skull base specialist. We first met with the anaesthetists, then booked Lize-Mari's bed in the hospital for the 16th February and finally met with the main man. Our first impression of Pr. George was very good - he has alot of experience and we felt very comfortable with him. He walked us through the process of the surgery, what can be expected and what the risks are. From his discussions and the way he explained everything to us, we know that the decision we made to bring Lize-Mari to Paris was the correct one. There will be a total of 5 Specialists in the surgery. Lize-Mari is not going to the children's hospital as first expected but will be operated on at the Hospital Labriosiere. She will be the first child(teenager) that will be treated at this hospital as it is traditionally only for adults. The reasons for this is that all the technology and specialisation for this type of tumour is here at this hospital and Lize-Mari's tumour is normally only found in adults.
The staff and everybody at the Hospital were really friendly and helpful. We spent about 4.5 hours at the hospital to get everything ready for her admittance next week Tuesday. She will have blood tests done so that they can order blood (I offered to donate blood, but in Paris they do not allow family members to donate blood for each other) and she will also have a CT scan and an MRI scan. She is scheduled to have the surgery next Wednesday 17th February.
We went back to our apartment happy that everything had been finalised and on our walk back I looked up to the sky and said a quick Thank You to God for bringing us here and for looking after us so far. It was a feeling of relief after we had met the specialists.
I eventually received my suitcase at 10pm on Friday evening. I have never been so happy to see my clothes and personal belongings as I did at that moment. Needless to say I slept like a baby.
This morning we woke up at 09:00 and it was still dark. The snow flakes were softly falling on the roof tops - what a beautiful sight! We slept in and decided in the afternoon to go for a quick walk on the streets. The people in Paris seem to always be in a rush -they don't make way for you and push and shove all the time. I have never seen anything like it. I must say the older people definitely have more respect for each other. We have met some friendly faces and today we were buying subs to eat and the girl behind the counter asked us if we were from SA as she recognised our accents. She had studied at Wits for 4 years, so not all the faces are unfriendly.
We can't really go out to sight see at this stage as Lize-Mari can't get sick before her surgery.
We already miss everybody at home!
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