CCSVI in Bulgaria

[ales]

Thanks for the replies. Getting so short I'm a little anxious. It's almost surreal. In a week I'll be in Bulgaria and beginning the process. Wow. Just 8 months ago I was watching Zamboni on TV and now Game On... Cannot wait. I will keep everyone updated.

[slody]

Hi,
I'm in Bulgaria next week and getting a bit flustered, I thought in my confirmation e-mail that I was told what time to arrive and to be fasting but I can't find it? Did I just dream it?
Thanks,
Slody.

[ales]

They said to arrive at Tokuda the day before and you would be instructed then as to the procedure but I don't remember reading anything about fasting. My wife and I arrive next Monday and the procedure is scheduled for Wednesday, so we are coming 1 day early in case thee are any issues with the volcano in Iceland.

[devine]

Hi,
I'm in Bulgaria next week and getting a bit flustered, I thought in my confirmation e-mail that I was told what time to arrive and to be fasting but I can't find it? Did I just dream it?
Thanks,
Slody.

HI Slody,

They don't give you a time as to when your not allowed to eat or what time your appointments at they only tell you in general you will be seen the next day of arrival before say 11h30. Nobody told me that I wasn't able to eat. However the day they pick you up and meet with geya tours you will be given some papers to read. It's during that time they give you your papers to confirm your appointment time. However I didn't read all my paper work and my appointment was like at 9h30 am and it was now around 2h00 pm and hadn't eaten so I had a piece of my spouses chocolate not knowing and when I told the nurses it didn't seem that big of a problem as they did operate on me. So don't stress to much before going just ask questions once you arrive and if you need to fast you will have time to do that before the operation. It's a long process from getting your ultrasound done until actually getting the operation done. I was seen at 9h30 am for ultrasound and only went into the operating room after 3h00 pm.

[RobSandra]

We also leave soon.....are international flights not allowing small ziploc bag in your carry on containing smaller size liquid containers (shampoo/toothpaste, etc) like they do in N.America?

[Kathyj08]

We are in Bulgaria now and will be leaving tomorrow. The ziploc bags for us with the small containers worked just fine. We had no problems. We flew in from the states.
About the fasting, thats not until before your procedure. The way they explained it to me was no food before procedure, so I did not eat after my last meal the night before.
My appt. time was for 10:30 and I believe my surgery time was around 2:30 or 3:00.
I didn't get Dr. Petrov but was very confident with the one that I had. He seemed very thorough.
Dr. Petrov did make his rounds though and came in to see if I had any questions.
I do believe they have been working on their English because most of them that come in your room speak atleast a little. (Oh, and they don't come in your room at night at all) but come quickly if you call them.
Good luck everybody!
Let me know if I can answer any questions.
Kathy

[costumenastional]

I d suggest for everyone to ask for before and after images to be contained in their cds.
Flow before (there is a possibility for the blood flow to be very apparent in the vertebral plexus if jugs are mangled) and AFTER, just to make sure that blood goes primarily through the jugs after they have been opened (in supine position).
Things like that are what you are left with when back at home and it would be great if answers are more than the questions.

The team that compiles the cds (at least in my case) focuses more in ballooning or stenting than blood flow. And flow is what matters most.

[LivabirdsHubbie]

Hi All, just need some guidance from people that have been..
We now have our dates confirmed and we arrive in Sofia on the 6th of October and leave on the 14th of October.
So tentatively we are booked to stay in the hospital hotel for 5 nights, although it is more than i though 50 euros per night
We are then staying in the Greenville for 3 nights at 85 euros per night.

Does anyone else have any suggestions?

[devine]

Hi All, just need some guidance from people that have been..
We now have our dates confirmed and we arrive in Sofia on the 6th of October and leave on the 14th of October.
So tentatively we are booked to stay in the hospital hotel for 5 nights, although it is more than i though 50 euros per night
We are then staying in the Greenville for 3 nights at 85 euros per night.

Does anyone else have any suggestions?

I did the hosptial hotel and was very happy to leave there as I was with my spouse and we were stuck in two seperate rooms.. You will appreciate Greenville as this is where I will be staying 2nd time around come October. The only thing I can suggest is not stay as long. Cut your trip short. I don`t think you need to be there longer than those 5 days which is plenty. As per other hotels I`m not aware of the prices and you would then be paying probably for taxi fare to go back to hospital if needed. and you would have to becareful of those taxi drivers fees.. Good luck with your search and operation.

[LivabirdsHubbie]

Thanks Devine,
We figured if we were going to Bulgaria, we would spend a few extra days.
As our flight is already booked, think we will stay the 7 days.

Hope there is something to do over these days

[slody]

Hi all,
Thanks very much for replying.

[Koko]

Hi Guys.

We were there 24 June for our app 25th June. We were given an appointment by email at 1100am 25th June. When we arrived Lisa from Geya Tours gave us a new app time for the 25th June and told me not to eat anything when I woke up in the morning in case they have any operation slots - and they did!

So we arrived Thursday 24th June(slept at hospital hotel) had op Friday 25th June (so I was in hosp ward while hubby slept hosp hotel. )
Got okay to get discharged Monday 28th June and checked into Greenville Mon Tues Wed night home Thursday.

It is a bit daunting going all that way for an op and Im always one of those people who tends to err on the side of caution. Better to be there an extra day than not have enough days. I have heard of people having problems with blood pressure etc so I figured for me anyway to go for a few days extra. It worked out though that I had no problems but I would always say be prepared and expect the unexpected.

The Greenville hotel is lovely but there is not really a lot to do round about. On the wed we went to a fairly new mall recommended by the receptionist at the Greenville and she phoned a taxi for us etc. The girl I got friendly with thought she would get discharged on the monday but it transpired she had to go in again for another op as they werent happy with their work so she had to change her flight to the Wed.

Hope this helps people trying to work out their timeframes. You can only do whats good for you though. I felt on the Monday that I was fine and if I had a flight that day I would have been fine to go on it. It just meant though that me and hubby had a few extra days to chill.
Good luck to you all!!


Koko

[livabird]

Thanks Koko for sharing that with us.

Looks like we will have a similar timeframe, arrive Thursday, op Friday, staying until the following Thursday.
So how are you doing now?

Was the shopping mall nice? how are the priced in Bulgaria.
One thing we found in Katowice was the big shopping mall was amazing although prices were reflected accordingly.

We hope to just chill out after the op and maybe see what Sofia has to offer.

All the best

[Anya]

Hello,

My husband and I flew to Sofia today, July 14th. They met us at the airport and transported us to the hospital hotel. Rooms are located on the fifth floor. Are very specious and clean. Room has a sink and a mirror. The washroom is just outside our room and is just for our use. It looks nice and clean. They even provided towels. Toilet paper was there as well :):):)
We had a chance to relax from the long flight from Canada and decided to keep you posted on how things are going. Tomorrow, we`re told to be downstairs near the Gaya tours office at 9.oo am. My husband was told not to eat anything tomorrow.
By the way, hospital has unsecure internet access, so it was very easy to connect.
I will do an update tomorrow. God willing, my husband will feel better after the procedure.

Anya

[ales]

Thanks for the update Anya. My wife and I will be flying into Sofia from Toronto on Monday so hopefully your husband is seeing some pretty amazing results. Thanks for the info.