Well hello 2.30am, I was awake for a couple of reasons, it was 9am in adelaide, I had already had 5 & half hrs sleep and after my stimulation shot I got stuck in to writing yesterday’s post. I talked to my kiddies and at dinner I got sent through some wonderful wonderful pictures and videos of them having a wonderful time with their cousins. Thanks for letting us share their weekend from over here xx

These stimulation shots are fine to physically have and I can tell you they are working, the chest pain or banding I was feeling is a result of this as the red cells in the bone marrow come out of your flat and large bones. So my sternum, ribs and pelvis and femur and humorous. I did a quick google in the early hrs to put my mind at ease as it was a tad scary being chest area, before I saw the lovely Dr F who remembers I had the pain and is the first thing he asked about. The pain is tolerable and treated with paracetamol at this stage,  however if it gets worse then there are stronger drugs he can give me. He checks my blood pressure and assures me it is not my heart and the shots are working. It will be interesting to see how bad the bone pain gets as I had only had 2 nights of the 5 so far and I can definitely feel it. Dr F is so wonderful, he informs me he has asked the nurses to make sure I have my steriods by 10am so I am free to do more sight seeing by 11 and to go and enjoy moscow!

We booked a driver that other HSCT’ers before me had recommended, Vladimir, his english was excellent and he knowledge was very insightful. I didn’t get too many pics on my phone so will add the rest to the fb album when I make it. Wow Moscow has some very very beautiful buildings and soo many of them, today we got out of the car a couple of times but it was a bit rainy and we only had a few hrs with Vladimir so we were happy to do a lot of drive bys and take it all in. We went to the soviet history park today and saw the all Russian Exibition centre its a large area with free entry to the park but to enter the museums etc there is a cost.

We went past the Bolshoi Ballet Hall, this is something I would have loved to have gone to see whilst here and on the first day I looked at getting tickets but every show was sold out when I could have gone.

Then we went to Victory Park but it was raining so didnt get out and we went to the Moscow State University – OMG it was huge and so impressive, SRS Assessing officers would have an interest in this as I know I did. It over looks the Moscow area, with a observation deck area across the road.

We saw so many interesting buildings and all so large and impressive everywhere you look but I’m terrible at remembering them all THANKS MS and I wont keep typing them all out to bore you, but here are a few pics anyways.

When our tour was finished we headed to the market near our hotel (it is located in the old castle I posted on the first day) and managed to have a look around and get some souvenirs, but I will have to send Joe back to finish it off as I the bome pain was coming back and we were starving. Joe went to the mens and I was just buying one more thing then was going to meet him when I ran into James and Sonia, a couple who are here from the yorke peninsula and James is a fellow HSCTer tomorrow too. Poor Joe I think I nearly gave him a heart attack as he looked down all the other isles instead of the one I was in of course. It was sooo good to have an aussie convo tho and to meet them.

When we headed back to the hotel and went for dinner we ran into Hanne’s parents and Kristoff who are other HSCTers from Norway and then leaving we were talking with Sonia and James again and another couple from melboune, Roseanna is about to be admitted too. It was really lovely to have that conmection and I can tell there will be special friendships made.

Tonight was my last night getting to be out and about as tomorrow my little friends will be put in and I will the need to stay at the hospital. We had dinner at the restaurant and had the most amazing Chicken Kiev I wish I took a photo it was on all these baked pretzel type things with little baskets and looked like a boat. It is only $12aud too. So thats it, from now on it will be hospital food or what ever Joe brings in hehe.

By the end of the day when I got back to hospital the first thing I did was ask for my butt jab! Put my Pj’s on and it was time to sleep!