phone information for March and future surface hippies

February 14, 2004

Everyone - Mike sent you a post a couple days ago stating all of the

February Belgium hippies were doing well. I can attest to that and am

now walking with one crutch better than I have been walking in the past

year. Dr. De Smet performed his magic on all of us and I can say we are

all doing great.

I wanted to pass on a help for those of you deciding to travel outside

the US for surgery. Contact with loved ones at home is a problem so I

wanted to pass on a suggestion from a friend of mine who lives in

Belgium. This worked great for me. This friend recommended using a

10/16 number code where people from the States can call you and it's

cheaper for them than you using a phone card to call back to the States-

only 10cents/min, no minimum, it shows up on their regular phone bill.

Here is what I did:

1. Before leaving the States set up a phone tree for friends and

relatives. This is where your significant other will call one person

using the phone card at a pay phone to let them know the patient is ok

after surgery and that they can call to say hello at the hospital,

hotel, etc. Tell you friends/relatives to keep calling if they don't

reach you as it is cheaper than you having to use the phone card to

return a call. Make all calls incoming from the States..

2. Purchase a 5Euro card at one of the local shops after you

arrive in Belgium. This will be used by your significant other to

contact those in the States and start the phone tree

3. When you check into the hospital ask for a phone. This is nice

because the patient can receive calls at the bedside before and after

surgery. With a phone card the significant other is the only one who

can talk and it is at a pay phone out in the lobby, etc.

4. The following is the set of numbers I gave out for my

friends/relatives. If you use a different bed/breakfast then the last 7

digits will be different. If you do not go to Belgium you need to check

into the second set of numbers as 32 is Belgium and 9 is Gent.

5. Hospital - Az Jan Palfijn Hospital, Ghent, Belgium - phone and

this includes the special calling numbers which works out to

10cents/min, no set up fee and the charge shows up on your regular phone

bill - 1016868-011329-2247111. I check in the afternoon of Feb 3,

surgery is scheduled for Feb 4th and plans are for discharge to the

Holiday Inn on the 6th. My physician is Dr. Koen De Smet.

6. My husband stayed at the Artigand Bed and Breakfast while I was

in the hospital. He joined me at the Holiday in when I was discharged.

The phone number at the Artigand including the code with the special

dial number is - 1016868-011329-2334968

7. The phone number (with the special dialing code) for the

Holiday Inn is - 1016868-011329 - 2225885. We will be here from Feb 6th

- morning of Feb 12th.

I hope this is clear - it really worked for me. I did not take a laptop

and we were able to talk frequently with friends and relatives. They

did not hesitate to call frequently so it was very nice.

February 17, 2004

Sorry for the duplication if this is one but I did not think it posted.

Thanks

RBHR De Smet 2/4/04

phone information for March and future surface hippies

As someone who just came back from Belgium, contact with loved ones at

home is a problem so I wanted to pass on a suggestion from a friend of

mine who lives in Belgium. This worked great for me. This friend

recommended using a 10/16 number code where people from the States can

call you and it's cheaper for them than you using a phone card to call

back to the States- only 10cents/min, no minimum, it shows up on their

regular phone bill. Here is what I did:

1. Before leaving the States set up a phone tree for friends and

relatives.

2. Purchase a 5Euro card at one of the local shops after you arrive

in Belgium. This will be used by your significant other to contact

those in the States after your surgery and start the phone tree