Questions on Traveling Abroad Treatment

Quite frankly before I left to visit Seoul I had a lot of apprehensions traveling to what I originally thought would be a strange land to visit.  I did the journey on my own and was concerned with language barriers, living conditions, food, getting around, signage, shopping, and leisure activities. Apprehension of the trip was as it turned out to be of no concern.

From the moment I landed until I left I was in awe of the sophistication and eclectic cosmopolitan feeling of Seoul.   You won’t see homeless and litter in the streets or graffiti on the walls.   I walked the streets at night with the same comfort of walking from place to place like in Las Vegas.  Even with the exotic Korean culture and cuisine you will find Starbucks and McDonalds about any where in Seoul. There is also great selection of golf courses if you are a player.   

As far as hospitality we have a lot to learn from the Koreans.   I could not get over the politeness, respect and acknowledgment when requesting any product or service needs.   Korean life is unique and bustles with energy.   Language was not a problem since all Koreans are taught English in school and most establishments are well signed in English.  I did not have a problem communicating.

Yes 2 months is an extended time to stay anywhere and the way I look at it you might as well make the most of it and do something interesting.   The proton procedure is noninvasive and has so little side effects. Those being the case why not do something interesting.   The proton centers in the US are all great facilities and each has its own attributes.   But unless you are local you will need to find something to do in your spare time even with all of the social activities that they may plan.   For me I spent 10 weeks in Loma Linda but even with the social meetings I found myself doing a lot of daytime tours and hanging out at the exercise center to kill time.   I think traveling to Korea would be a dramatic and memorable journey that will be a high point in your life.  An old Korean proverb goes ‘even if you have to crawl on your knees, get yourself to Seoul!’ With so much going on, never has this been more sound advice.

• Ok as far as cost:   If you have not read my difficult story receiving proton coverage here is the link.   I found that my out of pocket expenses for transportation and living expenses may range up to 10K for the 2 months in US centers.   It does add up quickly.   The package for the NCC includes your airfare, transportation and housing at the Vabien Suite Hotel, this is a very comfortable place to live with daily room service complete with a full daily breakfast buffet.   Stores, transportation, restaurants are within immediate access to your apartment.  
• I can not speak for the other 5 proton centers in the US about costs but my experience shows that  the NCC is very reasonable at 1/3  U.S. charges for a course of proton therapy for prostate cancer.

Here is link to the complete brochure for the NCC  proton guide.  It should answer many questions about the facility.    The NCC opened in late 2007 and was built by the IBA (same operation that built the University of Florida Proton Center).   Dr Cho is an excellent director and you can read more about his background in the brochure.  Here is also a link to the NCC http://www.ncc.re.kr/english/index.jsp  you will also find many more documents available online at this site.