Hey everyone. Sorry for the delay, we lost internet access at the hospital for the last 18 hours.
the second scan went well, there was no need for further treatment. We have to come back in 6 months for another doppler although I think this to be just a formality.
Mrs Robob has been given the all clear with 100% successful operation. We are over the moon. We check out today, the whole bill is around 5000 euros (cheaper because of no stents). We also need to collect our prescriptions. I have been advised to get all medication from here as some of it is not available in other countries....top tip.
Koko, glad you are doing really well, congratulations. Sorry we never met (we have kept ourselves to ourselves really) but I'm sure we can share our experiences as we move forward. I am really pleased for you, and for everyone taking this opportunity to choose their future, and to take back their lives.
Robob.
CCSVI in Bulgaria
Hey Devine
I have emailed about the stents for you but haven't had a reply yet. When I do tho I will send you the info. The girl had to go through it all again so probably doesn't feel like communicationg. Of course the other reason could be the emails are taking ages to get through. I sent them for friends and fam on sat morn and most not getting them till last night. They got to Australia, Canada and Spain but not UK! My left shoulder has been hurting since yesterday. Not in agony just annoying like I have been sleeping funny. Funny thing is the discharge doc got me to answer a questionaire and one of the questions was did I have sore shoulders but at that time I didnt. I agree with Devine they have been in there poking around and have prob just bruised inside. At this stage I am not overly worried.
I have emailed about the stents for you but haven't had a reply yet. When I do tho I will send you the info. The girl had to go through it all again so probably doesn't feel like communicationg. Of course the other reason could be the emails are taking ages to get through. I sent them for friends and fam on sat morn and most not getting them till last night. They got to Australia, Canada and Spain but not UK! My left shoulder has been hurting since yesterday. Not in agony just annoying like I have been sleeping funny. Funny thing is the discharge doc got me to answer a questionaire and one of the questions was did I have sore shoulders but at that time I didnt. I agree with Devine they have been in there poking around and have prob just bruised inside. At this stage I am not overly worried.
Thank you Koko, your too kind! The shoulder pain wasn't so much in the first days if I can remember. I think it hurt more as the days went further and then 3 weeks later woke up and the pain was gone.. I'm sure there questionning us on those documents for some reason which I'm curious to know why. I hope your seeing some changes, sometimes it takes a couple of days for you to notice. I still have a couple of months to find out about the stents so no pressure to the person you wrote to...
Thank you very much and I hope to hear about your continuing progress.
Thank you very much and I hope to hear about your continuing progress.
Hey Devine my friend is now at Heathrow ready for her flight home tomorrow. Her second op was a full success and she says it all wasnt as bad as the first time around. When they re scanned her they noticed stenosis above the area of the stent so felt they had not performed it to their satisfaction. She is now great and has sent on the info which I'm sure will put your mind at rest.
Re: the question about stents. Mine is made of nickel, titanium and alloy (I made sure to ask). They are non-magnetic, so that they do not interfere with future MRI's. I cannot feel it in my vein. However, I still have a little bit of soreness on the left side of my neck. That, however, may be due to the ballooning on Monday versus the stent. Dr. Petrov assured me that the stent is safe and is an approved vascular stent. I have to be on blood thinners for six months to ensure blood clots do not occur. Another doctor I asked said that eventually the stent will become part of the venous wall tissue, but that this takes some time.
Cheers
Koko
Re: the question about stents. Mine is made of nickel, titanium and alloy (I made sure to ask). They are non-magnetic, so that they do not interfere with future MRI's. I cannot feel it in my vein. However, I still have a little bit of soreness on the left side of my neck. That, however, may be due to the ballooning on Monday versus the stent. Dr. Petrov assured me that the stent is safe and is an approved vascular stent. I have to be on blood thinners for six months to ensure blood clots do not occur. Another doctor I asked said that eventually the stent will become part of the venous wall tissue, but that this takes some time.
Cheers
Koko
Koko,
Wow... I am now excited and alot more confident. Maybe if I would have know a bit before the operation I would have opted for it... but can never live with any regrets. I tried and that already says alot. Thank you and your friend for being generous in giving any details about the stents it's greatly appreciate and will have to think of more questions to present to the dr's once I'm there. This helps me alot.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you,
Donna
Wow... I am now excited and alot more confident. Maybe if I would have know a bit before the operation I would have opted for it... but can never live with any regrets. I tried and that already says alot. Thank you and your friend for being generous in giving any details about the stents it's greatly appreciate and will have to think of more questions to present to the dr's once I'm there. This helps me alot.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you,
Donna
post treatment meds
Thanks RoBo for posting all the info about your wife's procedure. Sounds like things ran efficiently and with a positive outcome. How nice for both of you. I'm interested in the post op meds for patients having just ballooning done. Could you please list the drugs given? Did they also tell you if any foods or supplements might reduce their efficacy (things like garlic, ginger, etc)?
Thanks, Kar
Thanks, Kar
Hi, animal and kar.
The shop is very basic, only stuff like toothpaste, razors, pajamas, towels etc. You may wish to venture out for souvenirs, there is not much around the hospital though. The restaurant was pretty good, there is a cafe bit at one end, the other being for more substantial meals. Also, at the back of the cafe on the 9th floor is the outdoor seating area where smoking is permitted.
Worthy of note, as you exit the front of the hospital, turn immediately left and follow your nose to the main road. There is a petrol garage there selling sweets, soft drinks, pastries, greetings cards and other stuff not available in the hospital. This was the best coffee I could find in the area (slim pickings). I'm not sure what is available in the Greenville hotel as we stayed at the Hilton (who are charging me 20 pounds for 24 hours internet access!!!!!).
The medication prescribed for ballooning (not stents) is as follows:
Pradaxa (manufactured by Boehringer Ingelheim) 110mg - twice per day for 1 month. This is to prevent clotting
Detraleks (manufactured by Les Laboratores Servier) 500mg - twice per day for 3 months. This is to help strengthen the veins.
Vigantol Oil (manufactured by Merck Serono)- 4 drops once a day until bottle depleted. This is a vitamin D suppliment
Milgamma N capsules (manufactured by Worwag Pharma) - 1, 3 times per day for just over 2 months. Multi-vitamins.
Aspirin - 100mg - 1 per day for 40 days.
There is nothing in the documentation provided to suggest certain foods will reduce the effectiveness of the medication.
The total cost for the medication was 490 Bulgarian Lev. This comprises all medication needed post procedure. You can pick up your prescription at the hospital pharmacy once its given to you. Reading earlier posts, it is advisable to get everything here as some countries do not have some of the meds required.
You also pay for your treatment at the hospital, this was easily done by credit card and came to 9600 Bulgarian Lev (about 4000 Pounds).
When you check out, you get all supporting documentation containing the above information. You also get an explanation about CCSVI and the exact procedure taken to resolve your particular case. Lastly, you get a CD with a video of the procedure undertaken against you (we've not dared watch it yet!).
Mrs Robob has been very tired post op, I would advise leaving it a little while before flying back to your respective countries. We checked in on Monday, procedure done Monday afternoon, checked out Wednesday afternoon and fly home tomorrow (saturday). I think this was the best way (certainly for us!).
I'll keep looking in on this newsgroup and am happy to answer any and all questions.
Robob.
The shop is very basic, only stuff like toothpaste, razors, pajamas, towels etc. You may wish to venture out for souvenirs, there is not much around the hospital though. The restaurant was pretty good, there is a cafe bit at one end, the other being for more substantial meals. Also, at the back of the cafe on the 9th floor is the outdoor seating area where smoking is permitted.
Worthy of note, as you exit the front of the hospital, turn immediately left and follow your nose to the main road. There is a petrol garage there selling sweets, soft drinks, pastries, greetings cards and other stuff not available in the hospital. This was the best coffee I could find in the area (slim pickings). I'm not sure what is available in the Greenville hotel as we stayed at the Hilton (who are charging me 20 pounds for 24 hours internet access!!!!!).
The medication prescribed for ballooning (not stents) is as follows:
Pradaxa (manufactured by Boehringer Ingelheim) 110mg - twice per day for 1 month. This is to prevent clotting
Detraleks (manufactured by Les Laboratores Servier) 500mg - twice per day for 3 months. This is to help strengthen the veins.
Vigantol Oil (manufactured by Merck Serono)- 4 drops once a day until bottle depleted. This is a vitamin D suppliment
Milgamma N capsules (manufactured by Worwag Pharma) - 1, 3 times per day for just over 2 months. Multi-vitamins.
Aspirin - 100mg - 1 per day for 40 days.
There is nothing in the documentation provided to suggest certain foods will reduce the effectiveness of the medication.
The total cost for the medication was 490 Bulgarian Lev. This comprises all medication needed post procedure. You can pick up your prescription at the hospital pharmacy once its given to you. Reading earlier posts, it is advisable to get everything here as some countries do not have some of the meds required.
You also pay for your treatment at the hospital, this was easily done by credit card and came to 9600 Bulgarian Lev (about 4000 Pounds).
When you check out, you get all supporting documentation containing the above information. You also get an explanation about CCSVI and the exact procedure taken to resolve your particular case. Lastly, you get a CD with a video of the procedure undertaken against you (we've not dared watch it yet!).
Mrs Robob has been very tired post op, I would advise leaving it a little while before flying back to your respective countries. We checked in on Monday, procedure done Monday afternoon, checked out Wednesday afternoon and fly home tomorrow (saturday). I think this was the best way (certainly for us!).
I'll keep looking in on this newsgroup and am happy to answer any and all questions.
Robob.
Thanks Robob - re meds
Hi Robob (sorry for misspelling your name last time) Thanks so much - that was a very clear list of post op meds for those having the ballooning treatment. Now it would be great to hear from someone who has a stent. Please tell us what your follow-up meds look like. A friend leaving for Euromedic in Poland this week tells me that she will require heparin injections for 6 days post stent. I haven't heard about that on this site.
The same friend told me that her naturepath said that vitamin E, CoQ10, green tea and ginko would not be good supplements to take along with blood thinners. Perhaps that's something we should be running by our health care providers prior to going.
The same friend told me that her naturepath said that vitamin E, CoQ10, green tea and ginko would not be good supplements to take along with blood thinners. Perhaps that's something we should be running by our health care providers prior to going.
Hey Kar I am just back having had my procedure a week ago and though I didnt have stents myself a girl I got friendly with there said this about her stent:
Re: the question about stents. Mine is made of nickel, titanium and alloy (I made sure to ask). They are non-magnetic, so that they do not interfere with future MRI's. I cannot feel it in my vein. However, I still have a little bit of soreness on the left side of my neck. That, however, may be due to the ballooning on Monday versus the stent. Dr. Petrov assured me that the stent is safe and is an approved vascular stent. I have to be on blood thinners for six months to ensure blood clots do not occur. Another doctor I asked said that eventually the stent will become part of the venous wall tissue, but that this takes some time.
I hope this helps you.
Koko
PS you can look forward to lovely warm feet and hands for starters!!
Re: the question about stents. Mine is made of nickel, titanium and alloy (I made sure to ask). They are non-magnetic, so that they do not interfere with future MRI's. I cannot feel it in my vein. However, I still have a little bit of soreness on the left side of my neck. That, however, may be due to the ballooning on Monday versus the stent. Dr. Petrov assured me that the stent is safe and is an approved vascular stent. I have to be on blood thinners for six months to ensure blood clots do not occur. Another doctor I asked said that eventually the stent will become part of the venous wall tissue, but that this takes some time.
I hope this helps you.
Koko
PS you can look forward to lovely warm feet and hands for starters!!
Hi Algis
Im sure the people making the stents will have deliberately used as you say "non-magnetic materials alloy" with the knowledge that the users have medical conditions and may have to get MRIs. My friend got this information from one of the vascular surgeons at Tokuda hospital and we can only trust, in his professional job role, that he got the information from a reliable source.
Koko
Im sure the people making the stents will have deliberately used as you say "non-magnetic materials alloy" with the knowledge that the users have medical conditions and may have to get MRIs. My friend got this information from one of the vascular surgeons at Tokuda hospital and we can only trust, in his professional job role, that he got the information from a reliable source.
Koko
Last edited by Koko on Sat Jul 03, 2010 11:11 am, edited 1 time in total.