Diary 1
Feb. 15

I arrived in Kiev from Moscow with Aeroflot flight as scheduled. This seemed to a lucky situation according to the Ukraine expert I got to know at the Moscow airport. He told me that the flight between Kiev and Moscow is often late. Anyway the Moscow airport was kind of spooky....

At the Kiev airport I was able to get through the imigration office without much problem. The man in charge of me took little time to inquire me compared with others maybe because I told him "Please, English only" in the very begining. He seemed a bit annoyed. The only question asked was "Where are you staying?" This question really embarassed me because I forgot to ask the Drs in Ukraine the name and the address of the hotel I was staying over the weekend. And the worst comes to worse, I even forgot the name of the hospital!! My answer was "Uh........ ho hospital........" However, suprisingly the man let me go!

Anyway, after I picked up my baggage, it was already past 10:00 PM. I went to the information box and three tall gentleman were waiting for me. They took me to the hotel with their car and we had friendly talk on the way. They told me that I can meet with a patient on Feb. 17 . In spite of the short trip of about 15 minutes to the hotel from the airport, I was happy to be able to identify two big yellow Ms, the Mc Donalds! Hotel was located along the very main street of center Kiev. The room charge was ( from now on $ means USD) in advance. The hotel didnot accept American express travler check. The room was nice and clean. The temperature was OK with airconditioning, the bath was big and clean. When I turned the TV on, I saw Micheal J Fox interview, a BBC program.

Diary 3
Feb. 17

Today, I was able to meet an actual patient, an American! He was now living in an apartment close to downtown, bit away from the hospital. He was very kind, inteligent, seemed happy and told me how he felt about the procedure and life in Kiev. Many of his words were encouraging from his heart, and I was very very happy to find that he had almost the same opinion towards the risks of the internal device as me. Though the talk was not too long, I was able to find several very important points that I have not made much of till I met him. Anyway, I cannot thank him enough!

In this county, so far, if I say "orange juice, please", they give me 100% artificial orange colored soda with sugar. I have tried several times but same thing comes. So at my request, the translator took me to a supermarket where I was finally able to purchase real 100% orage juice, grapefruit juice,and apple juice. It is really good to have something you like a lot.

Diary 4
Feb 18

At 9:00 AM, I moved out of the hotel to move into the hospital. I was brought to a room where I will stay for a while postoperatively. The room was nice( see the picture )with two beds, a table, a closet, a TV, a telephone and a refrigerator.Right outside the room there was the toilet and the shower room. The toilet and the shower were probably to share with the next door neighboor. Internet seems free via ethernet cable, but I did not bring it with me........I have to get it somewhere.

In the morning, I had examinations. Blood samples, urine samples, ECG, and physical examination. After that, I had the explanation about the procedure and signed a document stating that I agree to do the operation.

Here in this hospital there is a person who cooks meal for you at your request. I told her that I like to have toast with butter, egg, and milk for breakfast and that I generally like fruits a lot.

The Drs prepared many things for me. Many bottles or packs of juice (100% fruit) or water, Jasmin tea and green tea leaves, planters peanuts for snack, electric pot, tissues, a soap, and so on. They also bought a connector for the telephone I brought so that I can use touch tone for telephone banking and calling cards. And of course I made a call to my country right away from the room. They also told me that they will get me an ethernet cable to connect to the internet. I forgot, importantly, they got me a big safe with inner safe in the room to keep valuables in so that I can leave the room with ease.