Proton Centre in Orsay-23 March 2010

We spent the afternoon at the South University in Orsay where the proton centre is located. When you look at the buildings, they look like old buildings, but when you step inside it is so colourful and you immediately feel welcome. The staff were friendly and very helpful, almost everybody can speak English so we are definitely going to be able to communicate more effectively.

Today Lize had her masks made for the proton treatment and then had her first simulation. I was fortunate to be able to see how they make the masks, it was really an experience to see this. The masks are very different to the masks that they use for radiation. The material gets heated in a oven and then put over her face, they only clip out a small portion around her nose. They then pull the material and shape it around her neck face and head, after this they use ice packs to cool the material down. In 40 minutes they made 2 masks for 2 different head positions. After this we were taken through for her proton simulation , once again I was allowed to quickly go in to see the equipment and then I had to leave her behind. She survived and she was just happy that she did not have to have needles stuck into her arms or hands. She has not said much more about the treatment(she will take her time to reflect and then tell me how she really feels).I must say the equipment looked quite different to the picture I had in my mind. I will post some pictures so that you can see what it looks like. I did try to get Lize in the picture, but she did not feel like posing for a photo.

Everything went very smooth today and we officially start on the 29th March and then it will be every day until the 5th May 2010.

The last 2 weeks have been quiet as Lize has slept most of the time, we went to the Orsay Mall last week to buy some groceries and it was such a treat to get out and just have a bit of fun. We bought the biggest fried chicken and had an absolute feast. We have not been sightseeing yet but plan to shortly. Lize-Mari is stronger and feeling much better, we have bought her some sunglasses so that she does not feel self conscious when we go out(her right eye still has complete double vision and has moved in towards her nose, it does not move outwards at all). I am sure that this will sort itself out in time, if not we will have surgery done on her eye when we are back in SA.

Thank you for all the e-mails, I really enjoy reading them as it keeps me up to date on what is happening back home and it also makes me feel more in contact with everybody.

Take care

Love, Linda