Hi all,

My mother in law is battling an ovarian cancer. She is at stage 3 now and its not looking good… My wife and i have been trying to gather information about escozul and are planning to possibly making a trip to Cuba.

However, i just can’t get any concrete inormation even as to how to make an appointnent at the lab, where to go and such… Can anyone help please?

Also, it looks like there hasn’t been much of any recent news about it, even on here all it seems like its just people asking questions but there’s not much responce… Does this lab even exist anymore?

I also sent an email asking questions on the contact tab at http://www.escozul-cancer.com but got no responce…

Please help my wife is getting desparate!

Any info is much appreciated.

Hi,
Just came back from Cuba and got the medicine required for a friend of mine with a progressive stage lung cancer. I went to LABIOFAM, and believe me it does exist. I do agree with you that a lot of questions exist regarding this medicine, a lot of vague responses yes, I think mainly due to the fact that it is still in the experimental stages and until the lab has something concrete they cannot give out definite and conclusive information. We are all trying something new and in return we hope for a better quality of life. This was my first trip to the lab, so I really don’t have any results as to the outcome because it is very early. I hear that some people have results as early as 2 weeks other within 2-3 months. I think that depends on which stage the patient is. I hear that it reduces the tumor and gives a better quality of life. This is what everyone writes in the forum. Regarding a response that you waiting to the e-mail you have sent. You will never get one.
After reading many of the postings, I realized that I must go visit the Lab on a Monday or Tuesday. So, basically, you go early about 08:00am or earlier if you can, and stay in line. The lab opens at 09:00am. Your I.D or passport is requested and they sign you in. By the way, you are not allowed to bring into the lab your mobile phone, photo camera or video camera. You must leave it with the guard. You will be given an I.D. and you will be asked to follow the responsible person up-to the doctors’ offices area. You will be asked to scan your I.D. before your entrance and upon your exit. The doctors are all very nice and very cooperative. Remember that all medical documentation must be translated into Spanish. By medical documents I mean: A summary written by your doctor, 2 latest blood works, CT results, MRI results, all the medication that the patient is receiving, what is the latest treatment being done to the patient, etc etc. Any documentation will be helpful to the doctor who will meet you and I am sure that any doctor appointed to you will do an exemplary job. The doctor will look over all the documentation that you have brought with you, and give you the correct dosage along with a document that will state what this medicine is, just in case it is need at customs. If you don’t know Spanish, bring someone with you, as I only heard 1 doctor speaking English. I had an interpreter with me. Make sure that you bring with you a THERMO bag along with ice-packs! It is very important to keep them in a very cool place. From what I saw and I think it depends on the situation, they have the medication which requires correct storage (as I mentioned ice-packs) and the other that doesn’t require cooling. So, at least you will be prepared having the ice-packs with you. As I don’t know which country you will be flying-in from, just to inform you I flew in from Europe and had no problem with the export of this medicine. Believe me, they know - and it is not illegal. If I can be of any help, please feel free to contact me. Good Luck with your mother in law.

DADA,

Thanks for the update. I will post a link to this thread in the Escozul forum so others can read it.

DADA, Thank you very much for your reply. I can actually attest to everything you’re saying now as the wife and I got back from Havana yesterday! Everything you say about the lab and the process is right on the money, not much to add, the only thing i will add are some specifics that are relevant to a traveler from US.
Thanks again and i hope your friend gets better!

So….
There are several ways to travel from US, the most common being via Mexico, Bahamas and Canada. We chose to go through Bahamas as it was the closest place for us to fly to and we also wanted to catch some R&R time (though i think we may go through Canada next time just so cut down to only one connection rather then two).
Basically, we flew into Bahamas, stayed there couple of days then flew into the Havana.

For the reservations, we used cubatravelusa.com. they work directly with Havantur agency (one of the biggest Cuban travel agencies) and they booked everything for us, flights, hotel, they also arranged the airport to hotel transfers as well as the traveler visas. The process was direct and easy. The guys at cubatravelusa are very helpful and will answer all the questions you may have.

If you do end up booking though cubatravelusa/havanatur you will get all the stuff you need from their counter in the airport you are flying from to Havana. They will give you the vouchers for the hotel, transfers, the visa and the tickets, but get there early.

Once in Havana, you will go through customs, we did not have any problems at all, they just stamp your traveler visa (not passport) and pretty much let you through.

In the airport most employees speak englsih so they can direct you whereever you have to go. We had Havanatur provide transfer to and from hotel so we just had to find their office in the airport (its to the left after you get out of customs area) otherwise there are plenty of Taxi outside. All taxis are marked with Cubataxi. I would not recommend taking the one that is not. Also most cab drivers don’t speak english.

In Havana we stayed at Melia Cohiba, a very nice 5 star modern hotel with all the amenities, restaurants, pool and all… It is right on the Ocean (no beach though) and is close to both center and the old city of Havana, and about 25 minutes driving from the LABIOFAM.

Once in the hotel put your passports in the safe and don’t carry it with you (except when going to LABIOFAM). Both wife and I are born and raised Russians and we speak mostly Russian with each other, so pretty much unless people saw our passports they didn’t even know we were from US. Cubans predisposition towards Russians are certainly much better then towards Americans but I really do think for most part Cuban people are not ill disposed towards the Americans and actually like them, though given the fact the hardships that the embargo has created on that country i could see how it could be a problem for some. I general though i found Cubans very pleasant and very hospitable people.

It is also VERY important to keep your mouth shut on anything political related. DO NOT talk about Raul or Fidel, DO NOT make any remarks towards capitalism/communism. Avoid talking about the blockade it is a very sour subject for most Cubans. Remember this is still a very much a communist country no matter what things can look like to you. Just be mindful about their culture and their views and you will be fine.

It would be very helpful to have a guide (travel agency can help with that). Taxis will get expensive, they charge in CUC (converted Pesos) and they’re one to one to a US$. Some cabies can also try to overcharge you. We had a guide and he was great, he took us everywhere, showed us everything (old city is AMAZING!) Helped with translations everywhere and most importantly in LABIOFAM. Doctor we saw (dr. Maria Bermudez Hernandez) does speak some english, but people at the gates do not so it can get kinda difficult.
Dr. Maria is very nice, she (or who ever else you see) will prescribe the proper dosage depending on the type of cancer and just like the DADA said you may end up with the type that need refrigeration. We did. So definitely bring the cooler.
And bring the gift for the doctor its the least you can do given the fact that they give you the service for free. She was very pleased when we gave her the gift (one ladies and one man perfume gift set).

The money. Biggest pain in the ass. You can’t use your credit card nor have access to your (US based) bank there so the amount of cash you bring is very important. Change to Euros before entering Cuba, if you do not you will get charged 20% (yes it is 20% now not 10%) when changing US$ to CUC.

Of course the most unnerving part of the whole trip was the travel back. Cuban customs - no problems what soever you just show them the official receipt you get form the dr. in LABIOFAM and they let you through i would strongly suggest however on not buying an insane amount of cuban cigars or really anything else for that matter that may create any issue with the Cuban customs and of-course the US customs. 
We did not want to put the medication in the checked in luggage due to the fact that its the glass bottles and also depending on the duration of the trip the ice may need to replenished in the cooler. So i was afraid that we will have issues since its liquid to have it as carry on, but all you have to do is to explain to security (worked for both at Havana airport and Nassau) that this is medication and show then the receipts (which also have a prescription in the back), they will scan it, check it physically and will let you through.
And Yes… the biggest worry of-course was going through US customs, remember, even though you went there to get the medicine for a dying loved one and not for a vacation what you did is still illegal and DHS can still prosecute you for this. So as i said don’t do anything that will draw an unnecessary attention to you like bring though anything other then Escozul, like cigars or Havana club rom or whatever. That being said, thankfully we had no issues at all at US customs, the officer just looked at our declaration (didn’t ask anything about the medicine - we did declare it), then scanned/stamped our passports and we were on our way.

Well this is about it. Good luck to you all and best wishes to you or you sick loved ones.

I will post up the progress with the treatment as we see any in the month or two.