Thurs 13 August - First trip to the eye clinic at the Universitätspital

Treatment all done and dusted by 10am today. The earliest so far. The anaesthetists have been fantastic with Toby. Friendly, caring, and chatty too. Part of the routine before he gets put to sleep, is to choose a 'bead' which represents his daily CT scan and daily proton therapy. They then get threaded onto a thread which can be hung on his cot, and we can see it get longer as the treatment progresses. He loves choosing them now and today was very chatty about the colour of the wrapping around his wiggglies. He's getting more predictable when he comes round after the anaesthetic, normally demanding food before his eyes are fully open! After breakfast in bed, he's ready to go - no hanging around for the little fella.

We had an appointment with the opthalmic team today, for them to check the cornea of Toby's eye, so decided to head in the direction of Zurich Universitätspital, and call in at a small town called Brugg, en route. Plan was to see if I could get a dongle for internet access, more cheaply than that offered at the flat. Short answer was no, but a bit more language practise added to the pile!

On to Zurich, still with the safety of sat nav. We've visited the Kinderspital, where they do the oncology checks, but this appointment was at the main university hospital. Made our way to the main entrance, to then have to retrace our steps back to Nord 2 building, before it got more interesting. I had to fill out a form as this was the first visit. I'd hoped our registration at the Kinderspital (1/4 mile up the road) would have covered this, but apparently not. The systems or processes are different, so the issue of insurance came up. I explained the NHS arrangement with PSI and Kinderspital, but unfortunately the receptionist didn't seem to think this mattered! 20 minutes of discussion, all in german, with Toby thoroughly bored, tugging at my sleeve, moaning, wanting attention and needing the toilet...

Eventually they sent us through to see the doctor. He wasn't familiar with the financial side of things, but seemed he was able to organise for someone to phone the PSI and Kinderspital(obvious, but the receptionist wouldn't/couldn't do this...Computer says 'no'!!!). Unsurprisingly they confirmed everything was in order and we were rolling. A quick check of Toby's cornea, showed it to be ok still, but a prescription for some drops to help throughout the treatment, where a dry eye is likely.

Interstingly, the building was huge, spacious, with very few people around, hence a sense of calm and control in the hospital. The equipment in the consulting room all looked quite old/manual, but immacualte in terms of how it had obviously been cared for and used.

Back to the flat for a late lunch, and a sit down, then out on the bike for a quick bike ride. Called in at the pharmacy to collect the prescriptions, and then caught some fresh air down by the river. The highlight for Tobes though? Crossing the railway line. Well, a train might have been near after all!!

Got back to the flat to find we were locked out. The key just kept spinning in the lock! This was the door at the front of the complex, so luckily after buzzing another flat owner, they let us in. Slightly embarrassing, but slightly more worrying for when we go out tomorrow!