China trip Date : 16.08.06 - day 1
Day One :: Next
After our long flights we arrived at Shenyang Airport to be greeted by Jon, Sunny (his Assistant) and a nurse from the hospital all smiling and waving! They took our heavy luggage from us (we had a month’s worth of medication for Sacha in her trunk) and loaded it into their (air conditioned) bus. On the way to the hospital we were taken to lunch by Beike and the Head of Neurosurgery at 463 hospital (Mrs Lio). A welcome and unexpected surprise. This gave us an opportunity make informal introductions and for them to meet Sacha personally. We had a speciality of Chinese dumplings. We couldn’t have felt more welcome which was particularly nice because we were now in the hands of the professionals facilitating our stay in China .
The ride to the hospital was only about 15 mins. On arrival, we were taken up to the stem cell transplantation unit on the 10th floor. The hospital was very clean and modern and the staff made us feel very welcome. We were shown to our room which was very nice. It has 3 beds, one with a massage pad for Sacha., a TV, DVD, Ensuite bathroom and a lovely view over a large park and river.
Dr. Wang (who we were advised would be looking after Sacha throughout our stay) came to meet us and gave Sacha a short examination before taking her medical records to read overnight. Any reservations we had about communication soon disappeared. Dr. Wang’s English is good and Sunny or Jon are always around to translate if necessary.
After unpacking we took a look around the unit. There is also a common room with internet access, a physio room, a kitchen, a room to hang wet laundry and even a smoking room!
Jon and Sunny then took us out to show us the area. There are plenty of local amenities with several ATM’s close by and many shops. We went to a lovely restaurant for dinner then Sunny took us to Walmart to buy some essentials. Everything is very cheap here by UK standards and you can get almost all the things we can at home (except weetabix).
After returning to the hotel we were all very tired and fell asleep within no time!
So many people have offered time and energy to support Sacha we have made a 'big' thank you page. Do tell us if we have missed you off the list!