My Month in Russia

Main Hospital across the courtyard from us Nurse Station My Room is the door just past the clock. I think they put me by the nurse's station because they thought I would be high maintenance because I am from California Seating Area Breakfast today Lunch-Meatloaf Carrots Bread Bean and Potato Soup and I don't really know what the other thing was. It was all good though So today was basically lather, rinse, repeat. I will have 4-6 days of this until I produce enough stem cells. Getting a shot at 3am not a highlight. The hospital staff really warms up to us with time. Very attentive and kind. It is nice because there are basically 4 different waves. People that are entering, people at my stage (stem cell generation), Chemo people and finally stem cell re-introduction and isolation. Very helpful to talk to other patients and compare notes. The interesting thing is how it is mostly the same treatment but everyone reacts so differently. Several ...

So a few disclaimers. If you are wondering how I picked you for the blog it was simple. Basically if I had texted you in the past couple years and I thought you might be interested I copied the link. I am not a big email fan. Text seemed easier. Plus, most people don't want to be nosy and in other people's business but they do want to know what is going on. This way you can choose to be a voyeur or not. All the information on this blog is my opinion. I am by no means a well versed or studied individual. So take everything with a grain of salt. I had my formal sit down consultation with my doctor today. His name is Denis Fedorenko. He is a hemotologist and actually board certified in the US. The hospital is a public university hospital here in Moscow. As I mentioned earlier I had a battery of tests done to make sure I am an eligible candidate. Today was a review of those tests. If you want the short version. I passed and will continue the treatment! If you want the dirty...

So it is Thursday morning and I am going to attempt the pictures. My niece Andy walked me through it and we'll see how I do. I hope it is efficient because I hate following this stuff. First Leg   Second Leg View from Hotel Window Hotel Lobby-Looks like just another Southwest overnight. Funny because growing up I had a Russian neighbor and I can see where she got her decorating from Front of Hospital Building...It is actually a huge complex. Very clean and nice Dinner the first night. Some kind of beef stew over cracked grain. Tasted good. And beet soup. Not a big beet fan but I downed it. Meals have more of a home cooked feel to them than the US hospitals Breakfast! Not really food pairing of my choice. Oatmeal was delicious...passed on the hotdog Told to collect stool sample. I was very concerned with how this would go... Then I realized it might be easier with the little spoon Dinner Group. All from the Netherlands except us. Actually ...

Here is what my treatment schedule looks like. This is kind of the low down

Spent my first night alone in the hospital. Lynnette is at the hotel. I slept fine. I guess all the hotel rooms for years makes it fairly easy. Hospital is nice. Reminds me of UCSF Parnassus or Mt. Zion. Mission Bay is brand new so that is not a fair comparison. Everyone has been very nice. The vibe reminds me of being in a hospital in somewhere more East Coast like Philadelphia. Very nice but on task. I think it would be similar to someone who doesn't speak English coming to the US and how Americans would treat them. This morning they took 12 vials of blood. Height, Weight (65 kg). Swabbed my mouth and nose. Did an ultrasound of my chest and legs. Then I went and did more scans of my mouth and chest. Then more ultrasounds of my chest area (i.e. lungs, heart, kidneys, abdominal area). I also did breathing analysis. I just finished with my favorite thing in the world, an MRI. I hate those machines. Luckily they seemed a little faster here. Best advice I ever got was from my cous...

Just an update. Here is the attempt!! We flew SFO to Frankfurt to Moscow. United (special shout out to Kim B. from United for giving us exceptional customer service!!!) gave us some sweet seats and that made those 11 hours go much more easily. Transferred to Lufthansa and got to Russia around 5pm Russia time. Short layover. An hour but it was delayed an hour too. A driver (Vadin) was waiting to take us to the hotel. Had wifi in his van. Hotel is about 40 miles from the airport. Very nice hotel. Called the Vega but it is a Best Western chain. Clean and big. Had chicken kiev. Everyone has been super helpful. Not a lot of English speakers though Where we are reminds me of Philadelphia. Industrial big city with similar topography. I report Tuesday 26th at noon local time. Scheduled to come home April 23rd DAY 2 MARCH 26 Same airport driver (Vadin) picked us up at the hotel and took us to the facility/hospital. About 15 minute drive. Have not quite figured out what this ...