3. Days 1 and 2.
Day 1.
We met with Nancy, her sister and brother-in law in the hotel lobby and got 2 cabs to Pirogov. Armed guards parade outside and we were met by Anastasia and allowed through. We met up with Andrea ad Matt, paid our pre-testing fees and was shown to our rooms. Our homes for the next 5 weeks. Compact, but good for purpose! The first day was pretty chilled, only ECG. I put a lovely photo in a frame up that the kids bought me, "We love you Dad" at the top and "Be strong! See you soon" at the bottom plus good wishes cards from friends and family. These will give me strength if I ever feel lacking. I don't intend for that to happen though, positive mental attitude is the key here. Wi-fi is excellent here, food a little less so!! Nurses etc are kind and a smile breaks the language barrier every time! As Ive already said, Anastasia was made for this job. She is so kind and caring, just lovely. She has a strength beyond her years, its hard to believe she is only 23.
Day 2.
Didn't have much sleep, about 3 hours in total. But sleep is for wimps!! Plenty of time for that!
So the second day began at 7am with swabs being taken and then the whole day was just a barrage of tests. 10 tubes of blood, ultrasound scan on legs, ultrasound on heart, lung capacity and flow test, and mri on brain and spine. Mri machine is a bit dated so if you're claustrophobic like me, let them know and they kindly knock you out!! Perfect!! Watched 12 years a Slave on Mac then sleep about 11.30. Thats another thing, TV is purely Russian obviously, I mean no Sky or Cable, so make sure you load up your PCs or Kindle or both, you won't be sorry you did.