Trip to Khon Kaen General Hospital

[Dr Mick 111]

Well i knew living here i would maybe have to go to hospital one day

 

Well it was sooner than expected

 

As when i was living in England my blood pressure was higher than normal ,so i was on medication.

 

So when my medication ran out I went to buy some more

 

But the answer was at every chemist was mia mi ,not have.

 

So after 2 weeks not taking any medication,my Lady says she will take me to

hospital to see doctor for check up,

 

So yesterday up at 6:30 am ,breakfast ,then tuk tuk was at hospital for 07:30 am

 

My Tilak looked after me so well,was my guide as we went through all the procedures

also my translator

 

Would have found it so hard being here alone ,think i must have been the only

falang at the hospital,

This reminds me i must study more thia ,as very little English is spoken in Khon Kaen

 

Well after all the forms were sorted and 2 hours later was weighed

77 Kilos ,yuppee iv lost 2 kilos ,must be all the friut i eat now and healthy living ha ha

 

Blood pressure checked by nurse was 139/87 ,I was very happy with this as was much

higher when I was in the UK before taking medication ,with medication was about 130/80

Maybe living here is good for my health,I know I do feel far more happy and relaxed more than

I have felt for such a long time .

 

Well nurse said blood pressure not to bad ,but you can still see doctor .

 

Doctor looked so young ,maybe its because im getting older HA HA

Spoke excerlent English ,He also said my blood pressure just slight above normal ,so prescibed

me small dossage of medication and said he would like to see me in one month for check up.

 

All the treatment including the tablets total cost was 160bhts

 

Now thats what i call good service with smile ,well this is LOS

[bigmick 840]

kepp going and good luck to ya

[bratpack 91]

may i ask how old you are dr mick,as i am 56 and my blood pressure is 120/74,which i am very happy about,although i am 89 kilo and 6ft(nearly).

[Dr Mick 111]

may i ask how old you are dr mick,as i am 56 and my blood pressure is 120/74,which i am very happy about,although i am 89 kilo and 6ft(nearly).

 

i am 55

[ozijeff 9]

No physicians discount?

[joekicker 53]

All the treatment including the tablets total cost was 160bhts bigsmile:

 

Wow, they are STILL ripping off the farangs in Isan, I see. Terrible.

 

I have given up explaining this stuff to my friends in the west. They think I'm lying.

 

Congrats on the lower pressure Doctor M. Between Khon Kaen and tilak, sounds you're being pretty well looked after indeed.

[CheshireTom 1,377]

Well done, Mick. If you'd strolled into Bumrungrad with the same problem we'd be having a whip-round for you by now.

[Mescalito 19]

Good news on the BP, Mick. Yep, living in Thailand is good for your health. I have problems with high cholesterol; my LDL was over 200 at my annual checkup last month. But it's always down a good bit after a trip to LOS, probably due to all the garlic and chilis in the food (I eat a lot more Thair food over there than western).

 

As for the hospitals, last November I went into the ER at Pattaya Int'l a few days after the car wreck I was in on my way to Pattaya, since I was still having pain in my lower right ribs. I was in and out in less than an hour. The Thai doctor I saw got his MD at Yale U. (I saw his diploma on the wall). Doctor's fee, x-rays, radiologist services, and 3 Rx's: 1,900 baht, or about 60 bucks US. Compare that with my recent trip to the ER here in California for a badly-sprained ankle:

 

4-1/2 hours from arrival to discharge.

about 20 minutes of those 4-1/2 hrs were spent actually being attended to. the rest of the time I was sitting in a wheelchair in the hallway

total bill: over US$3,300, or approx 112,000 baht.

 

 

OK, I realize one can't really compare the costs, but the level of service I got in LOS was so vastly superior to what I got here that it defies description.

[bigdelta 46]

Well i knew living here i would maybe have to go to hospital one day

 

Well it was sooner than expected

 

As when i was living in England my blood pressure was higher than normal ,so i was on medication.

 

So when my medication ran out I went to buy some more

 

But the answer was at every chemist was mia mi ,not have.

 

So after 2 weeks not taking any medication,my Lady says she will take me to

hospital to see doctor for check up,

 

So yesterday up at 6:30 am ,breakfast ,then tuk tuk was at hospital for 07:30 am

 

My Tilak looked after me so well,was my guide as we went through all the procedures

also my translator

 

Would have found it so hard being here alone ,think i must have been the only

falang at the hospital,

This reminds me i must study more thia ,as very little English is spoken in Khon Kaen

 

Well after all the forms were sorted and 2 hours later was weighed

77 Kilos ,yuppee iv lost 2 kilos ,must be all the friut i eat now and healthy living ha ha

 

Blood pressure checked by nurse was 139/87 ,I was very happy with this as was much

higher when I was in the UK before taking medication ,with medication was about 130/80

Maybe living here is good for my health,I know I do feel far more happy and relaxed more than

I have felt for such a long time .

 

Well nurse said blood pressure not to bad ,but you can still see doctor .

 

Doctor looked so young ,maybe its because im getting older HA HA

Spoke excerlent English ,He also said my blood pressure just slight above normal ,so prescibed

me small dossage of medication and said he would like to see me in one month for check up.

 

All the treatment including the tablets total cost was 160bhts

 

Now thats what i call good service with smile ,well this is LOS

 

Congrats on the lower BP from a daily user of Norvasc,which is incredibly cheap here BTW.The 160b you paid would not cover your HOSPITAL PARKING in the States.

[joekicker 53]

Well done, Mick. If you'd strolled into Bumrungrad with the same problem we'd be having a whip-round for you by now. grin

 

Food stalls and go-gos. There are lots of prices for beer.

 

If he'd strolled into Chulalongkorn he'd probably have got out for 120 baht.

[JohnnyK 28]

I went to KK hospital 5 years ago with an eye infection. They quickly found someone who could speak English, hustled me through registration, opened a file on me and got me a bar code number.

 

Then upstairs to the eye/ear/nose/throat dept where I waited about half an hour before seeing a young doctor who spoke excellent English (I think he had an American MD).

 

He examined me, wrote out some scrips, told me what the problem was and sent me to the dispensary on the other side of the floor.

 

I was given eye drops and two kinds of pills with instructions in English.

I paid the bill there for his services plus the prescriptions - about 800 baht in all. I was treated kindly and efficiently at every step and it seemed other people were treated well, too. I was very impressed.

[jacko 8,822]

Well done, Mick. If you'd strolled into Bumrungrad with the same problem we'd be having a whip-round for you by now.

 

Truly... I can never get out of the Bangkok Pattaya for less than 2000 baht. Infuriating to be paying for excessive amounts of medication that are 1/3 the price at the corner pharmacy!

 

Well done DrMick... a healthier lifestyle reaping benefits.

 

One of those battery blood pressure monitors might be handy in case you ever feel you need to check again.

Edited October 4, 2008 by jacko

[CheshireTom 1,377]

Food stalls and go-gos. There are lots of prices for beer.

 

If he'd strolled into Chulalongkorn he'd probably have got out for 120 baht.

 

 

Don't knock it Joe ......... Prince of Songkhla does your teeth for free.

[joekicker 53]

Don't knock it Joe ......... Prince of Songkhla does your teeth for free. bigsmile:

 

Good for them.

 

True story, though - ALL my medical is for free, thanks to the social security system that started up late in the last century. I was teasing my mother in law, who had to pay 30 baht for her quintuple heart-bypass a month ago (true story) that she was over-charged, probably they mistook her for a farang.

 

The social security medical is not the same as the 30-baht plan, although there are similarities. But I pay a total of zero for all diagnosis, treatment and medicine at my assigned (private) hospital, and if they can't handle it they'll send me elsewhere.

 

I have very good health, knock on wood with a prayer, so I haven't had to test anything near the limits of this thing, and of course don't want to. On the other hand, growing old is a hell of a lot better than the alternative.