Recovering Well and Moving On

This is one of the few moments that I have allowed myself to come home and spend some time away from the hospital. I have literally only come home to shower and rush back to the hospital to sleep there every night. I must say my body is getting used to it by now.

It has been a tough time. Lize-Mari's surgery was very long and we have had a few complications. She has double vision, but the Doctors hope that it will improve in about 6 weeks. She has had cerebral fluid leaking out her nose and thus had to go back into surgery last Sunday, this is to prevent infection going to the brain area. She still has the drainage pipe in her spine. She has suffered with severe headaches and pains and she has had to lie still on her back for the last week. I must admit we were very worried about her.

Yesterday her nose was dry the whole day and last night for the first time she had a good night's rest. When we woke up this morning I could see the change in her. She has also started eating now, little bits here and there. She is starting to act normal and told me that she is bored today- a very good sign! The Professor said that if all goes well, she can possibly get out of Hospital on Monday. They will still keep the drainage pipe in until they are satisfied that there are no more leakages.

Anton and I had to meet with Pr. Habrand on Wednesday to discuss her proton therapy. She was scheduled for assessments, however this has now been postponed. The Institute is called " The Gustave Roussy Institute" and is a cancerollogy institute, situated in Villeuf which is South of Paris. I wish you could see this place, it is massive with 10 stories and 2 lower basement levels. The equipment is state of the art and you can see that they don't play around. It was however very sad to see so many children there with no hair and obviously coming out of treatment, but the smile and courage on their faces was something that made me stand back in awe of them. This again makes me realise how fortunate we are that we are able to correct Lize-Mari's tumour before it gets to an advanced stage. I know we still have many challenges going forward but we are ready to face them.

Next week we get to rest and on the 9th March we are meeting with Pr. Habrand again in Villejeuf. Lize-Mari will then be scheduled for further surgery at the Necker Enfantes hospital where they will implant markers in her head which are required to perform the proton therapy. I still need to get more information on this.

Yesterday whilst my Mom was sitting with Lize-Mari, Anton and I went to Orsay to see where we will be staying. It takes 1 hour with the RER Metro to get there. It is very quiet and here you see more open spaces and houses. It is very different from the city of Paris. We are very happy with the accommodation -it is safe and clean and only 10 minutes walk away from where Lize-Mari will have the treatment. Should Lize-Mari leave the Hospital on Monday we will leave for Orsay-Ville on Wednesday and start the next leg of our journey.

Lize-Mari has been frantic every time i wanted to leave the hospital but the last few days I have managed to slip out and let my mom stay with her. The nurses and Doctors have been fantastic and very helpful. Many times we have misunderstood each other and then use actions to explain our different needs. I will miss many of the friendly nurses and Doctors at the hospital as they have shown me a different side to the people in Paris. With every shift change they come and say hi to Lize-Mari and fuss over her(they are not used to having children here in the hospital).

Thank you to everyone back home for all the e-mails and messages. It has really warmed our hearts this side, especially when I felt far away from home.