Helpful tips for visiting Apollo Hospital

Where do I start? Neysa and I went out shopping yesterday and we had a driver who's car kept dying. He would just laugh as Neysa gave him a hard time about his car working. We asked to go to the market but then we realized we didn't have much time to make it there and back. So we got dropped of at some "Americanized" stores like ESPRIT and LEVIS and a ton of shoe stores. We didn't find much because we were expecting prices to be a little less, but our mission was to find dad some slippers. We went to a shoe store and found the perfect ones and they guy charged my credit card and THEN put the shoes in my bag. I pulled them out and looked at the size and it said "10". We asked for 8.5. He said "oh that's the right size, it's only size of bottom". Neysa put them on and they looked big, but we proceeded out of the store. The man said we could bring them back if they don't fit. So, they didn't fit. Neysa is bringing them back this morning. On the way back traffic was stuck and so our driver got out and cussed the person out who was stopping traffic and then got back in the car. These people drive 6 wide on a 3 lane highway! It's insane how they zig zag through traffic. They also use their horns to talk to each other. Which reminds me...
We got moved to a nicer room and I will say after taking a shower this morning I am convinced that it is nicer. The old shower used to pierce my skin. However, we got moved from the side where there's a beautiful park to the side of a busy street. Now we don't hear beeping in the hallway, we hear horns and exhaust pipes and teeter teeter's through horns.

So, if anyone plans on visiting Apollo Hospital in New Dehli then we should probably give you some tips. 1. When you order food they always bring what you ordered and another tray with stuff you didn't order. They say it's "complimentary". So I finally figured it out and I'm not wasting as much food. I ordered fruit and coffee today and they brought this and another tray which they always bring in the morning with 2 boiled eggs, 3 pieces of white toast jam, butter and tea. My belly is full. They do the same thing to dad sometimes. I haven't quite figured that out yet. 2. If you are a donor and you have to go get testing done you will need to get the order from the doctors and then go downstairs to gate 4 (outside of the main entrance of the hospital, near the coffee shop) and pay for your test. Then you go and get the test done. You are also responsible for picking up your own test results. 3. If it doesn't change you will know which people do what by what they wear. Housekeeping wears (men) orange and (ladies) purple, Maintenance wears grey or dark brown, Nurses wear pink, Cafeteria workers wear white with a green hair cap, doctors wear slacks and shirts and sometimes scrubs. There's a lady who does guest relations and her office is in the presidential suite on the ground floor next to the hospital entrance. Her name is Aarti. She is the one with Wouter in the WorldMed Assist (http://www.worldmedassist.com/) video on Youtube. She has helped Neysa get anything she needs from a place to stay to a driver. Rides back and forth from her hotel to the hospital are complimentary when Aarti calls a driver for her. She is staying at a place called "Swiss Palm". 4. Don't assume your driver knows where he is going- you need an address to give him (and sometimes that's not even good enough). 5. Always wear mosquito repellant. 6. Lastly, get a Skype account to communicate with people back home. It's very inexpensive to call from computer to LAN line and free to video call. We've enjoyed being able to have conversations with family at home.

We've arrived!

It's 7:45 here in New Dehli, we arrived at the hospital late last night and Neysa left to her hotel and we went to bed around 1am. Dad slept really well until staff came in to take his vitals around 6am. We have a view out of our room of a beautiful park. Some men were out there running around before 6am.

Can I say, THANK YOU SO MUCH TO EVERYONE WHO DONATED MILES! You paid for both my dad and my trip with donated miles. We flew with Continental in a 777 through "Careforce" and it was amazing. The plane was huge and very accommodating. We had personal TV's with games, music, sitcoms, and movies. Our chairs were comfy and the meal made me want a bigger stomach. Dad did okay. I could tell he was uncomfortable at times, and he was headed to the bathroom about every 2-3 hours.

Upon arrival we were met with a wheelchair. They wheeled us through baggage and customs within minutes and right to an ambulance. Neysa went with the luggage in a separate car. They hooked dad up to monitor his heart and oxygen intake and everything was normal. Then we went to the emergency room and were flooded with questions about his past history and medications. They will continue what the doctor gave him on Sunday because they want to make sure he's moving fluids through his body and make sure he doesn't start having the ammonia affect his brain again. The doctor in the emergency room last night is on Dr.Gupta's team. He said they will probably drain dad today and then Dr. Gupta will come in to see him. Dr. Gupta has another liver transplant today. I asked if there was a possibility that we get in earlier than April 1st and they said it will take about a week to do all the testing, have him see a dentist (?) and have him stable. They want to start the testing after the jet lag is over with.

I don't feel much jet lag but I did feel like I was floating last night before I got some sleep. I'm wide awake this morning and only slept about 2 solid hours. I'm sure it will hit me later.

Oh yeh, did I mention there was a TON of traffic last night at 10pm? People were honking at the ambulance. We had no right of way. The pollution is overwhelming and there's a constant stink in the air. Dad and I were trying to come up with a good way to describe it, but I'll just say, a small mix of sulfur or some type of chemical and a small part sewer. We can smell it everywhere, even in our hospital room. I wish I brought a few bottles of Between the Sheets but I only brought one. I'm sure we'll get used to it. Upon entering the hospital I remembered JoAnn from World Med Assist telling me that India seems to be time warped about 30 years. That's right. There appeared to be a shortage of stethoscopes and blood pressure machines in the ER. The lady brought a scale to weigh dad when we got to our room and (mom) it looks like the scale we had in the bathroom when I was little! Remember the green one?

Anyways, I'm going to venture out into the hospital today and look around. I would like to find the "nice" part of the hospital that was in the youtube video. Don't get me wrong, it's not horrible, just really not what I expected.