West Wales Mason
29
On Monday 14th March 2011, the Provincial Grand Master for the Mark Province of Dyfed, R.W.Bro. D. Nigel Adams accompanied by the Deputy Provincial Grand Master, V.W.Bro. Ron Jones, together with the Provincial Grand Charity Steward, W.Bro. Bob Darkins; the Provincial Grand Director of Ceremonies, W.Bro. Jim Doyle; W.Bro. Dilwyn Littlejohns and W.Bro. Ernie Lawson (not a member of the Mark Degree) a member of the St. Teilo Craft Lodge, attended the breast care unit of Prince Philip Hospital in Llanelli, to donate a cheque for ÂŁ60,000.00 - on behalf of the Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons Benevolent Fund - to Mr. Simon Holt, Consultant Surgeon for Breast cancer, in respect of the purchase of a Flaxitron Specimen X Ray System. The Flaxitron Specimen X Ray System is an instrument, which allows the breast care unit to X ray specimens collected in theatres and from their prone needle biopsies, so that they can confirm that the correct part of the breast tissue has been sampled or removed. Increasingly, they are diagnosing breast cancer so early that it is not possible to be certain by feel, or by what they can see with the naked eye, that the correct piece of tissue has been removed. The best way of being certain is to use this portable X ray machine, which is specially designed to quickly produce detailed X rays of small specimens. The instrument can be placed in the room where the procedure is taking place, so that there is minimal delay (and so that the mammograms being taken on their main machine, can continue without interruption), The Prince Philip Hospital in Llanelli, has just opened a state of the art ' breast care unit', rated as one of the finest in the United kingdom. Resources were found to set up the unit and also to provide the skilled staff needed to work the said unit, but there was urgent need for an essential piece of equipment to be purchased, namely the Flaxitron Specimen X Ray System and the amount needed, ÂŁ 60,000.00, unfortunately, was not available to make the purchase. The original idea for fund raising was instigated by W.Bro. Ernie Lawson of the St. Teilo Craft Lodge. W.Bro. Dilwyn Littlejohn, W.Master of the Lliedi Mark Lodge, then brought it to the attention of the Provincial Grand Master of the Mark Province of Dyfed, R.W.Bro. D. Nigel Adams, who immediately promised his assistance in making an application to the Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons' Benevolent Fund, for funding, to which they were more than happy to help. This new unit, together with the new Flaxitron Specimen X Ray System, will be of great benefit to the three counties that constitute the Province of Dyfed, namely, Ceredigion, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire, together with areas outside the Province.