Day 3 and 4: Testing 1…2…3 Testing 1…2…3

After checking into the hospital things got rolling right away.  One important thing you need to know is just because I am here in Russia does not mean that I will be going through this treatment.  Treatment  is the hope and goal but nothing is guaranteed.  Dr. Federenko is very thorough and that is a good thing.  Prior to acceptance each patient is put through a series of medical tests that cover everything from head to toe!

As soon as I got settled in my room a nurse came to take an ACG test.  That is the same as what we in the United States refer to as and EEG except it is a little different here.  I was expecting to have little stickers placed on my chest, my sides, my arms and my legs.  Here the machine uses little metal suction cups.  They do however still use that cold awful goop used to get a good conduction.  This test was painless and very quick.  I did have little suction cup marks on me for the rest of the day though.

The next day things really ramped into high gear.  I was told not to eat or drink anything in the morning as testing would start early.  After I got up and ready,  I was taken over to give blood for many tests that would be run.  I was not excited about this, as I am usually one who has a difficult time finding a good vein.  I had anticipated this and drank a lot of water the prior day in hopes of having a good result for the blood tests.  The nurse entered and placed the tourniquet on my arm and I looked away.  Much to my surprise, she got the vein on the first try and took her samples.  It was all done very quickly.  I like this nurse!

After blood tests, I was whisked away for a series of ultrasound tests.  They did ultrasounds of the chest (heart), abdomen, pelvis, and legs (veins).  You would have thought this could have all been done in one shot and finished.  Unfortunately that was not the case as each of these tests was in a different location run by different technicians.  Thankfully I had someone from the medical staff with me at all of these tests or I would have got lost for sure.  This facility is huge and consists of a many buildings all of which are  connected by an underground labyrinth of tunnels.  I would never have found my way back!

In addition to the ultrasounds on day two I also had a chest x-ray, sinus x-ray as well as and MRI of the brain, cervical spine and thoracic spine.  It was amazing how many tests they did in one day.  It would have taken months to get all of these tests done back home!  Not to mention the fact that you would probably have to fight tooth and nail with your doctor to get them approved.  And even at that point it would cost thousands upon thousands of dollars.  Here is was $1500.00.  Even if one was not approved for treatment, the tests make the trip worthwhile.  But we are not done.

After day three, Anastasia told me that I could leave the hospital for the night and stay with my sister but would have to be back y 11:00 in the morning to finish up my testing.  Some of my new found friends and I had been talking about doing a jailbreak to get dinner and skip the hospital food for the day as we heard they were serving tongue for dinner.  I jumped at the opportunity to get out and have a nice dinner and stay with my sister.  Sadly we miscalculated the meals, and tongue was served for lunch that day not dinner, and yes I did eat it.  Tastes like beef.

After a lovely dinner at a local restaurant walking distance from the hospital that served food from Uzbekistan.  The food was great.  The company was fantastic and we had a really nice evening getting to know our new friends.  But jet lag set in and I was fading fast.  by 8:00 I was ready to take a nap right in the restaurant booth.  We made our way back to the hotel and I was out within 5 minutes.  Sadly that resulted in me being wide awake up at 2 a.m.   But that actually turned out to be a good thing because I was able to see that Anastasia had sent me a text informing me I needed to be back by 9 in the morning rather than  11 and that I should not eat breakfast either.

I got back the hospital a little early the next morning and they were ready for me at 9:00 sharp.  On this last day of testing, I had a breathing test and an eye exam.  The breathing test was pretty simple.  Just breathe into the tube.  The eye exam was pretty easy as well.  Just look at the blinding light and they look into the eye.  Interesting thing, after we finished, she hand wrote her results right there to give to the nurse to take with us.  That would never happen back home!

After a patient finishes all the testing, its time to meet with Dr. Federenko to go over the results and discuss whether you are a good candidate for HSCT.  The decision is based on your test results and disease morphology.  First of all, I passed all of the tests, so I was healthy enough to endure this procedure.  The question now was whether or not HSCT would be beneficial for me.  I was a little concerned as I have had MS for probably 22 years.  Although I wasn’t diagnosed until 2001, I did have symptoms back in 1993.

The Doctor did talk about the fact that I had had this MonSter for a long time, but some new information in the tests combined with my long disease history actually made me a good candidate.  The MRI here showed I had 12-15 lesions on my brain.  What I didn’t know was that it also showed I had two lesions on my thoracic spine.  This likely explains why I have had problems with left leg weakness and foot drop.  But those two things are what make me a good candidate.  So it was agreed this is a good treatment for me and the Doctor thinks it will absolutely be successful to stop the disease progression.  I’m so happy I could cry!

So tomorrow we start treatment!  The first four days will consist of IV steroids and twice nightly injections of medication to stimulate my stem cells to leave the bone marrow, pass  through my bones and into my bloodstream so they can be collected prior to chemotherapy.  I’m a little nervous but also hugely excited and ready to LET IT GO!