Day 1and 2: Welcome to Moscow!

Welcome to Moscow!  We have arrived!  Actually, we got here on Monday the 28th of September.  Our flight, or should I say flights were great.  We left LAX in the early morning hours and flew to Houston, where we caught a direct flight into Moscow on Singapore Airlines.  Both flights were very nice but I must say, I really love the attention you get on Singapore Air.  The food, snacks and beverages  seem never ending on that airline.

We arrived in Moscow at around 1:30 in the afternoon and made our way to immigration.  By the time we found the proper area, there was a very large crowd in front of us.  In fact, we were the last people in that line.  Thankfully a woman who worked at the airport saw us and asked if we were with the big group.  When we said, “No”, she pulled us out of line and led us around the corner to another area with no line.  We were indeed fortunate.  If we had stayed in the first line, we would have been for an hour at least.

After immigration we passed through customs without even stopping,  and met my driver Alexey, who was waiting for us.  Alexey was great.   On our way  to the hotel he asked if we would like to see some of the sights in Moscow and of course we said yes.  He drove us past Red Square where we saw the Kremlin and St. Basils Cathedral.  All I can say is the entire complex is enormous!

After our quick sightseeing tour of the city we arrived at our hotel and got settled in for the night.  I had to be at the hospital the next afternoon,  so there wasn’t much time to see the city.  We did manage to  explore the area and shops near our hotel.  Most importantly we had to find a trolly stop nearby that would take my sister to the hospital each day to visit me.  As it turns out the stop is very near the hotel and as long as she gets on the return trolly before dark there should be no problem.

On Tuesday, we arrived at the hospital.  This place looks like a fortress.  It is surrounded by a wrought iron fencing and you enter through a gate which is manned by uniformed guards.   As we were dropped off outside the gate, I proceeded inside the little building to check in.  I didn’t have much luck at first since I speak no Russian and the lady behind the desk spoke no english.  Finally I handed over my passport.  After  the she typed something into the computer she had a conversation with the girl next to her who replied, “Anastasia” to which I replied, “Yes!  Anastasia!”  Within a few minutes my doctors assistant,  Anastasia came to get me.  I recognized her immediately.  She greeted me with a big hug and escorted  me into the hospital complex.

We were taken up to the second floor where my room is located.  This is the room I will have during the testing process and possibly even through chemotherapy.  At the point when I receive my stem cells back, I will be moved up to the third floor where the isolation rooms are located.  My current room is small but has everything I need.  I have a bed, a table, closet, microwave, refrigerator and water kettle.  Oh yes I also have my own bathroom!

There will be a few days of medical tests prior to being officially accepted into this program.  This process will start tomorrow.  For now, I have settled in and am getting ready to start the testing process!  I’ll let you know how it goes…….