Friday, November 5, 2010

Pictures of Tokuda Hosptial

It's been a long day and we're now enjoying some quiet time.  We found an english channel on the tv and are enjoying watching a british documentary about the Alberta Oil Sands.  It is really interesting to hear foreign perspective on something happening so close to home. 

Mom got discharged from the hospital around one.  They have provided her with english translations of her medical records.  This was interested as we got to read a bit more detail about what happened in the last few days.  We were also able to get all the perscription drugs and suppliments needed for post-treatment. 

Mom's been feeling good all day but no major improvements.  She's really tired tonight and is heading to bed early. 

This is our last night in the hospital.  Tomorrow we go over to our hotel for the last few nights here.  Here are some pictures of where we've been the last few days.  Sorry for there being so many pictures.  I didn' tknow what people would or wouldn't want to see.

Maggie outside the main doors of Tokuda Hospital.
Mom going into the hospital.  She asked me to point out the signage in this picture - no smoking, no dogs, no guns, no cameras.
This is the main lobby of the hospital.
This is the Geya Tours office, right in the main lobby of the hospital.  This is the company that arranges the medical tourism and translation services.
There is also a bank in the main lobby which has been great to switch our euros to Bulgarian Lev.  The Lev is about 0.80 Canadian Dollars.
We've been stayin on the 5th floor in the "Pension"  This wing of the hospital is generally a hotel for patients and their companions while staying at the hospital. 
This is mom and I's bedroom.  I've been having fun playing with the hospital bed settings but after four nights here I am really looking forward to sleeping in a real bed again.

As you can see there is a little kitchen area (fridge, stove top, sink) in our room.  Sadly there are no dishes to allow us to use them.

Here is the rest of the room.  The TV is smaller than my laptop screen and has two english channels.
We have a nice bathroom in our unit however most units in the "pension" have their bathrooms outside of the unit.  It includes a bidet and heated toilet seat.

The hospital is owned by a Japanese company.  You find all kinds of Japanese thing in the hospital including these artistic tiles in the bathrooms, and occasional signage.
Here is mom in her hospital room.  She had to stay on in the cardio unit the day/night she had her procedure.  The room was small but private.  She had a bathroom right in her room, something the shared rooms didn't have.

The rest of mom's room.  This is my chair that I spent a lot of time in. 

View out of mom's window.  You might be able to see the ferris wheel in the distance as we are right beside the former Sofia Land - Western Europe's largest amusement park until it shut down in 2006.  Everything is still there and looks like it would have been lots of fun.

This was the call box in mom's hospital room.  We wanted to know what the purple ? button was for.  We decided it was the "we're confused" button.

Most signage in the hospital for things we needed was in both Bulgarian and English.  Of course the English signs were interesting, such as this sign for the Citchen.  I'm guessing they meant Kitchen.

The dinning room and cafe are on the 9th floor.

This is the lunch area.  It is open from 11 until 4 pm.  There are hot meals on the left, salad bar on the right and beverages at the far end.  The food is pretty impressive for hospital food.  There has been several dishes we can't identify but then I think I've had that same experience in Canadian hospital cafeterias.

There is lots of seating in the dining hall and then a little cafe at the far end where you can get drinks, candy, chocolate bars and wonderful baking!  Seriously, the bread here is worth writing home about and the cream puffs are to die for!

There is a shop on the 9th floor for things you might have forgotten - pjs, underwear, soap and some snack food.
And here we are!  Just incase you wanted to see us :)
 I went out for a walk this afternoon as found some pretty impressive Bulgarian buildings and churches, however those pictures are going to have to wait until tomorrow.  I think this is enough pictures for one day.  We might go for a taxi drive tomorrow but most areas are pretty unfriendly to wheelchairs.  We'll have to see.

1 comment:

Kathleen said...

You gals are looking great - and so glad you decided to ignore the 'no camera rule' :) ... also looks like Tokuda and I have the same TV set-up ;)... continuing to keep you both in my prayers.