posted
This was forwarded to me in June from Houston, TX.
If you need the support group's contact info, I have it.
QUOTE:
"FYI - There was a Russian woman, with Chronic Lyme (her 3.5yr old girl has Lyme also) who attended the Houston Lyme Support group meeting this past Sat. She told her story of going back home to Russia and receiving good Lyme care for both of them.
She said in Russia they acknowledge Chronic Lyme, you can walk into any clinic (no appointment) and receive Lyme treatment, no hassle, no cover up, no talking in low voices, etc. She was there for 6mos, on Sat she was showing us her bag of meds and supplements. Her and her daughter are much better now, enjoying life.
When she got to Russia, the doctors ask if she was from a remote village, she said "No, been living in Houston, TX where the Big Medical Center is" Isn't that a joke!
She asked if she needed to stay in Moscow, the docs said "No, go see you Mother (smaller town) the docs will know how to treat you" And to her surprise, the docs in her hometown, knew all about Chronic Lyme, how to treat it and how it affects a person.
She said "In Russia they want to get you well so they can treat the next person, they don't won't you coming back alot" The meds she got from the local pharmacy cost between 3-5 dollars. Her doc was 7mins away, her daughter's doc was 5mins away from her Mother's home.
For a US citizen to see a Russian doc cost around 15-20 dollars, a round trip to Moscow is around 700.00. You don't have to stay long, just a couple of days, she had her script and brought a suitcase full of meds, she had no trouble at the airport.
She will be attending the Houston meeting next month also."
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96222 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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seekhelp
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 15067
posted
Wow, maybe those are the docs to see! Amazing. A friend of mine who lives near Houston recommended the Houston Medical Center and thought they are very advanced and would be a place to help me with Lyme.
Posts: 7545 | From The 5th Dimension - The Twilight Zone | Registered: Mar 2008
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posted
People say the same things about Boston and other Mass. hospitals. Quite the joke.
Posts: 571 | From Massachusetts | Registered: Oct 2008
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Lymeorsomething
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 16359
posted
Wasn't this anecdote posted previously? I remember seeing the same story.
I'd feel a lot more comfortable if I know exactly what was in her suitcase full of meds.
You can't listen to one vague story and jump on a plane to Siberia.
Plus if the Russian care is so good, why does she end up back in Houston?
-------------------- "Whatever can go wrong will go wrong." Posts: 2062 | From CT | Registered: Jul 2008
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bettyg
Unregistered
posted
yes, i remember reading this 6-9 months ago...
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Abxnomore
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 18936
posted
Please don't turn this post into another negative, snide commented rant.
Maybe the woman lives in the U.S. and went home for treatment. I doubt the Houston Support Group would host someone that didn't seem credible.
If you want info go to the source, the Houston Support Group, and see what you can find out if you want to know.
I remember the first post on the Evita clinic in Arizona and how ugly that post became when a woman posted about her experiences there.
Now SpringShowers is there, was practically afraid to admit that she was, but seems to be getting excellent care and some pretty cutting edge treatment.
Not everything is a scam. Unless you know it is for sure, I think it is better to get the facts first.
I think there has been too much negativity on this board of late. It doesn't feel good and it's not helpful to anyone.
Posts: 5191 | From Lyme Zone | Registered: Jan 2009
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posted
I wonder if this is uniformly the case in Russia. A Russian posted on several lyme forums a couple of years ago, as he was unable to get help for chronic lyme, for himself and his family. He ended up selling a house to pay for a trip to the U.S. The Cleveland Clinic took his money, gave him no help. So, he went back to Russia.
Before anyone decided to go there, it would be good to check into the situation further.
Posts: 8430 | From Not available | Registered: Oct 2000
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MariaA
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 9128
posted
Coltman and I are trying to figure out getting meds from there- it looks like he's found bicillin (like the Spanish bicillin that Rianna was posting about) from a pharmacy that'll ship here: http://www.pharmacy1010.com/product_buy.asp?id=57
-------------------- Symptom Free!!! Thank you all!!!!
posted
I'm pretty sure the patient lives in Houston. I know the support group leader. This is not a scam .. sheesh.
Maybe the support group leader or someone in the group posted this in June. I didn't see it and the reason I posted it is that I JUST NOW opened the email with the story!!!
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96222 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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posted
Well in Russia medicine is far from stellar if you use "public option ".
But it has many advantages if you can pay out of the pocket - you can get any drug you want without begging for prescriptions, there are many drugs available which are plain are not available in US, and most of the drugs are much much cheaper than in US.
Then if you live in major population center (does not apply if you live in the country) you can get access to almost any treatment you want.- Heck you can even get stem cells. That said you do not need to do some footwork and research on your own, and you will need to pay out of the pocket (if you use "free healthcare" it is even more pathetic than us one)
It seems like it is similar situation in India and Mexico.Lax government oversight is a great thing - medical service are much cheaper and many more alternatives available.Given that general population income is very low it still considered "expensive" , but is an order of magnitude cheaper than US.
Posts: 856 | From MA | Registered: Jul 2009
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Lymeorsomething
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 16359
posted
No one is calling it a scam per se but it's one isolated story. Give me several examples of happy Russian patients and I'd be more inclined to buy into this.
My comment was guarded but far from snide. A lot of the supposed negativity results from people offering up different opinions. If having a different opinion is offensive to people, then maybe they should join a cult in which everyone has the same opinion and does not challenge unique personal views.
-------------------- "Whatever can go wrong will go wrong." Posts: 2062 | From CT | Registered: Jul 2008
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quote: She said in Russia they acknowledge Chronic Lyme, you can walk into any clinic (no appointment) and receive Lyme treatment,
I call that BS. "Any clinic"? - many Drs are as ignorant as US ones. Standard treatment is 1 month of tetracyclines. I havent found much at all about chronic lyme in Russian , so I assume it is even more obscure problem . Granted you can find a doc which will write you almost any prescription you want given you pay
quote: For a US citizen to see a Russian doc cost around 15-20 dollars, a round trip to Moscow is around 700.00. You don't have to stay long, just a couple of days, she had her script and brought a suitcase full of meds, she had no trouble at the airport.
Thats sounds about right. You can get script fairly easy and abx you can get without script as well
Yeah and if you are American I wouldnt advise you travel to Russia , if you are unfamiliar with Russian realities and do not speak language you have a high chance of getting in trouble . Mexico seems better and closer option
Posts: 856 | From MA | Registered: Jul 2009
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posted
OMG, my brother lives in Russia. A small town called Kaluga, 2 hrs from Moscow. He works with the orphan children, teaches English, and host of other things. Basically, he is a missionary and speaks the Russian language profusely.
He is home right now, will be going back in a week or so. Guess I should have him do some checking for me. I was going over for a visit 2 yrs ago, then I got too sick. Free place to stay!
I just wanted to see Moscow, and then spend the rest of the time visiting the orphanages and spending time with the kids.
Posts: 847 | From upstateNY | Registered: Dec 2007
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WildCondor
Unregistered
posted
Imma move to Russia, get an Ushanka and live in the mountains.
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Marz
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 3446
posted
This post reminds me of a show on PBS recently about a brain surgeon from Great Britain who went to the Ukraine to do surgery gratis on patients who had brain tumours. The hospital was primitive and it was amazing what he could do there.
There was a beautiful young woman who had a glioma and through an interpreter, she asked if it could have been caused by lyme disease. She was from Moscow.
I was so shocked that she, or someone in Russia had made the connection so I was thinking they're better informed there than here.
Posts: 1297 | From USA | Registered: Dec 2002
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posted
Lymetoo....Thank you for delivering the message! My brother is going to check into it when he gets back to Russia.
Posts: 847 | From upstateNY | Registered: Dec 2007
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Lymeorsomething
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 16359
posted
Lymetoo, believe me...I'm just shooting the message not the messenger
-------------------- "Whatever can go wrong will go wrong." Posts: 2062 | From CT | Registered: Jul 2008
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-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96222 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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richedie
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 14689
posted
Thanks Lymetoo,
I know people who have had similar experiences in Germany. I'll have to see if I can track down a story.
-------------------- Mepron/Zith/Ceftin Doxy/Biaxin/Flagyl pulse. Artemisinin with Doxy/Biaxin. Period of Levaquin and Ceftin. Then Levaquin, Bactrim and Biaxin. Bactrim/Augmentin/Rifampin. Mepron/Biaxin/Artemisinin/Cat's Claw Rifampin/Bactrim/Alinia Plaquenil/Biaxin Posts: 1949 | From Pennsylvania | Registered: Feb 2008
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WildCondor
Unregistered
posted
I'm serious, I really do want to move there someday. The Motherland...the Ushanka, all of it.
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MariaA
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 9128
posted
I agree with Coltman- I'm also Russian and I"ve looked in the press a little bit= sometimes, information about borreliosis turns up in the English-language section of the Russian press, but it's not very good information either, just like in the American press. I'm pretty sure they don't have it all figured out, ti's just easier to get long-term antibiotics there if you can pay.
I also agree that it's VERY easy to get into trouble if you travel there as an American and don't know the language. However, I think we should figure out ordering meds from pharmacies there, like the pharmacy1010 link I gave. I'm talking to a few people right now about getting their Russian generic Rocephin and bicillin tested - it looks like it's possible to do that here (the tests are expensive, so you wouldn't test every dose you ordered, but I think there's a way to 'check out' the mail-order pharmacies in general)
-------------------- Symptom Free!!! Thank you all!!!!
If you clock on the names in the pubmed abstract you get all the other papers pubmed has by the author
Posts: 366 | From Europe | Registered: Nov 2008
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posted
Recently there was a patient who traveled from Russia to see the LLMD that my wife is seeing. Makes me wonder whether there was something lacking in her Lyme treatment at home?
Posts: 655 | From USA | Registered: Sep 2007
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Abxnomore
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 18936
posted
I am not writing to discredit the person who told her story at the Houston Lyme Support Meeting, as I know nothing about it and still think that if anyone is interested they should go to the source not speculate on that particular person's story.
About the articles on PubMed you will find all kinds of abstracts from all over the world about lyme and co-infections and ,in fact, Eastern Europe has a huge problem with Lyme disease, as does Germany, Japan, Australia, etc., but just as you can find many abstracts by American researchers, I'm not sure any of it translates into practical treatment, cures or easily available treatment.
I think the situation, from what I know, is someone what similar to what we face here in the states. We might be in slightly better shape because of ILADS and better organized because of sites such as lymenet and other groups.
Posts: 5191 | From Lyme Zone | Registered: Jan 2009
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posted
Here in Scandinavia, we can only get the very short 200mg doxy treatment, and then we are considered cured, or treated enough. to get treatment, we have to go to Germany to some clinics that follow ILADS protocols and are ILADS members, or to 1 clinic that does the german protocol in connection with the Augsburg clinic. But we know that in eastern europe it is possible to get (long enough) treatment for chronic borreliosis. And the report about the woman who went to russia is plausible, and that medicines are cheap and possible to get.
There are active lyme forums in Europe too, and ILADS member doctors. Some american patients go to Germany for treatment.(with antibiotics)
Posts: 366 | From Europe | Registered: Nov 2008
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Abxnomore
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
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posted
n.northernlights Thanks for sharing this useful information with us.
Posts: 5191 | From Lyme Zone | Registered: Jan 2009
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Amazing. A friend of mine who lives near Houston recommended the Houston Medical Center and thought they are very advanced and would be a place to help me with Lyme.
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