Doctor Visit in Kiev

We have some really great colleagues, but one family in particular are very caring. He was ready to drive to Krivoy Rog to rescue me from the hospital on day one. I appreciated his heart very much, but decided it was better to just ride this wave out if I possibly could. They were a huge blessing to us. I stayed with them whenever I was in Kiev for doctor's appointments or travel. And Denise and I are both so grateful for their bed and breakfast!

After my hospital visit, I started cancelling (or postponing and then cancelling) all of my plans. I met with no one. I led no cell group. I did not preach (though I had several plans to do so).

On Sunday, August 23rd, I drove to Kiev for two reasons. One, I had a doctor appointment the next day - and maybe more to follow. And two, Denise was flying in on Friday afternoon from America. There was some debate at this time whether she should just stay in America in case I had to go back there for diagnosis and treatment, but I told her that if I decided to return to the US, I would need her help to travel. Boy, was that a true statement!

Disclaimer: I want you to know that I do not share any of this information about my experience with Ukrainian health care to criticize. Rather, it is to inform my American friends about how good we have it in America. The medical system in Ukraine is not the fault of the people we love! Even the private system could use some improvement.

As I told my step-mom, I saw a "specialist" in Kiev, but somehow she knew that I was seeing an oncologist. I had to be at the American Medical Center by 8 AM, where a nurse (and translator) and I were driven to the appointment with the doctor. Outside this doctor's office there is no nice waiting room and there are no chairs to sit on. People just stand and wait, even without an appointment it seemed, hoping to see the doctor that may or may not be in the office at the time. Because of all my pain, I had to squat down (not to the floor) and lean against the wall as we waited. Because we were coming from a private clinic, and because we had an appointment, I knew that we would have no issues seeing the doctor. He was recommended by my doctor in Kiev and I hoped for some good direction.

Ultimately, I needed a biopsy of a lymph node to find out what was going on in there. But I was thankful for the approach that he took. While my lymph nodes were swollen, we did not know if they were the primary cause (as in some kind of disease in the lymph nodes) or a secondary issue (as in some other kind of illness). So he thought it would be wise (and in hindsight it was very wise) to have a colonoscopy and Upper GI first. I had one of them in Ukraine back in 2014 when I learned that I had a bleeding ulcer, so I was prepared for what would come here. Familiar territory, I thought.

Denise returned Friday the 28th, and I was so glad to have her with me. It really took everything I had in me to drive to the Kiev airport and pick her up that day, but I did it!

Sleeping was becoming more and more difficult, because I could only sleep on my right side. There was too much swelling in my legs and stomach, and I was very uncomfortable nearly all the time. And we continued to be so thankful for our gracious hosts, who patiently cared for me before Denise arrived (and even afterwards!).

On Tuesday, September 1st I had my colonoscopy and Upper GI. This experience was far and away superior to the experience that I had just six years ago. And after I slept off some general anesthesia (boy, does that make the experience nice!), they shared the results with us. I had 3 very small polyps in the colon which were removed for biopsies, my diverticulitis pockets were very inflamed (and this was the cause of my issues, I was told), and I had candida (thrush) in my esophagus. The candida was actually probably caused by the asthma maintenance inhaler, but Denise started watching my sweets for me when we found that out!! They also took some biopsies from the esophagus, and we were told that in no longer than 10 working days we would have the biopsy results. My big concern about the candida treatment was that I could take some medications and eat carefully - but when will someone be able to tell me that this is gone?

My doctor at the clinic gave me a couple of prescriptions for these things, and we decided that we could return to Krivoy Rog to wait for results. And besides, with Denise home it will be easier for me there.  So we waited.