simon43

I recently returned to the UK for urgent prostate cancer investigation on the NHS. I registered with a GP within a few days and stated that I had been an expat for the past 21 years, and had now returned to the UK for medical treatment. No other questions were asked and I was treated promptly and for free by the GP and local hospital urology department. Happily, no cancer was found, but had it been, all treatment would have been free of charge for me. I think it depends on your attitude. I was upfront and honest to my doctors about my residency history and no one ever raised the issue of having to pay or not qualifying for free treatment. (I suspect that my doctors made their own decisions based on the fact that I was born and lived in the UK for 43 years, and that I wasn't a 'free-loader'). Also, cancer diagnosis and treatment is fast-tracked in the NHS. For me, from GP registration through to the all-clear after tests and biopsy was about 9 weeks.

Pratumnak = Little Moscow (fine if you like that sort of thing). I see decent condos in Jomtien near to the beach for about 7,000 THB/month.

I learnt from a young age that if you 'lie' with confidence than most people will not challenge you. I used to drive a LHD Grand Jeep Cherokee in the UK that I bought from the US military. It was registered in the Principality of Andorra with impressive-looking registration plates. I used to tell traffic wardens who wanted to ticket me for illegal parking that I was a diplomat..... (Harmless Walter Mitty fun, perhaps I could have used my bare-faced cheek to defraud a bank of millions, but I never did!).

Totally off-topic, but about 45 years ago when travelling by train into communist Czechoslovakia I was asked by the Czech border official for an entry document that I did not possess. In an example of how 'bare-faced-cheek' was to become my motto in later life, I searched through the documents in my bag and presented the border official with a gas bill for my apartment in London. This was duly accepted and I was allowed to enter the country!! ????

Re-activating this thread ???? I used to self-inject Rotexmedica that I obtained after a consultation with Maximum Performance Clinic. I did this for a few years and the effects were very positive for my libido (not that important for me), clear-thinking, general feeling of good health etc. I paused use of testosterone after a prostate cancer' scare' in Autumn 2022 when suspicious growths in my prostate in a MRI scan. Testosterone does not cause prostate cancer cells but can encourage such cells to multiply. Luckily, after an extensive prostate biopsy, no cancer cells were found, the growths are benign calcium stones. Now I was free of cancer, but I was feeling the effects of getting older >> aching bones after jogging etc (I'm 63). So I popped over to Dr Olivier (my usual doctor when I'm in Thailand) and purchased 20 ampoules of Rotexmedica for 6,000 baht = 300 baht per ampoule which seems very reasonable. Just 2 days after my first injection, the aches are all but disappeared and I'm feeling very lucid. One box of 20 ampoules will last a year (1 ampoule every 3 weeks as per the doc's recommendation). I have to go back to Myanmar, so will take an extra box with me and the medical prescription from both Dr Olivier and Maximum Performance Clinic, just in case the Burmese Customs department asks questions!

Right now I have started taking 'Glyf' mucus thinner and an antihystamine tablet daily, plus no nuts. I decided that to avoid all foods with sulphides is nearly impossible unless I survive on a diet of only fresh fruit and vegetables. Yesterday and today I have less mucus congestion in my lungs, which is encouraging. I have my usual throat cough, but cough lozenges 'smooth' that out. I'll keep with the antihystamine to see if that solves the problem.

When I was in the UK a few months ago, I ordered a Wise debit card for my bank account, having changed the registered address on my Wise account to my new UK address. Wise promptly sent out an UNLOCKED card which was physically stolen before it reached me and 100 quid of Grab food charged to the card... Stunned, I contacted Wise who were very apologetic, refunded the 100 quid to my account, and then sent out a new UNLOCKED card yet again. Yet again, that card never got to me, being stolen on the way. Luckily, I had frozen the card so that no charges could be made to my account. The bank records show that the thief tried on a number of occasions to charge Grab food to my card. Trust me, you don't want a Wise debit card when their lack of security concerns is as bad as this.

I remember chasing an elephant down the sois in Patong (in the days when elephants were brought into the city in the evening for bananas). I was a tourist police volunteer and said elephant had just sat on a car!

Yes, I bought a humidifier when I was in England. It certainly helped with the dry air in my hotel room, but I ended up with loads of black mold growing up the walls lol. I brought this humidifier back to Thailand and will take it to Myanmar.

Thanks, but I try to avoid processed foods wherever possible. Maybe it is in the fruit juice that I drink daily. I need to check the ingredients labels....

Concerning a possible food allergy, I do know that drinking red wine worsens my cough, (which is very annoying since I like red wine!). I suspect that it is the sulphite in the wine that is causing this problem. So could it be suphites are present in other foods that I eat regularly?

Yes indeed. I always thought that my lung problems might be down to aspergillosis fungal infection. But no other staff working in the office became ill. Additionally, my understanding of aspergillosis is that x-rays would show shadows or fungal balls in my lungs. But the x-rays are always clear... I used to take anti-fungal medication (intraconozole), but it never improved my lung condition.

My lungs seem unaffected by the air quality. I lived in Luang Prabang for 2 years and in the burning season my lungs were the same as any other time = congested but not worse with the air pollution. I lived on Samui, Phuket, Phangan, all with relatively clean air. My lung condition was the same...

I jog 5 km every day, plus maybe another 5km walking. I don't have time to jog 20km because I have to teach. When I jog, I don't get out of breath but it's tired leg muscles that cause me to end my exercise ????

It's difficult to say if that would help. Although my sinuses were streaming like a waterfall in the cold UK weather, they are normally clear in south-east Asia. The phlegm doesn't come from my nose but is coughed up from my lungs. The thick white phlegm comes from deep in my lungs and thinner green/yellow phlegm from the upper part of my lungs. I have been on antibiotics for several months now (UTIs), and haven't had bronchitis for at least a month now (I had bronchitis again whilst in the UK).

A good idea, I will consult with a fish to see if they can offer a gill transplant!

I mean "pneumonia 23" - there are 2 different pneumonia vaccinations that guard against 13 strains of pneumonia and 23 other strains. I already had the 13 strain jab a few years ago.

I rarely eat seafood (in case it has crab meat in it). I eat nuts every day ???? So let's start with the nuts! Thanks.

Sheryl, my occasional doctor in Pattaya - Dr Olivier, whom I visited yesterday for a rabies vaccination, also stated that he did not think it was a lung disease but an allergy. I haven't been eating dairy food for the past 6 months (restricted diet because of my prostate cancer 'scare'). No change with my lungs... I am allergic to crab but other seafoods are fine. My daily diet consists of fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, nuts, muesli, chicken, green tea. What on earth could I be allergic to for the past 22 years and not be aware of it? ???? The lung condition is exacerbated by cold air. I rarely use air-con. If it is a food allergy, then I can't even begin to think what might be the cause.

Thanks. I have consulted Dr Google many times about my ailment, since this good Dr seems to know more than medical specialists ???? COPD symptoms include shortness of breath and impaired lung function. I have neither. My lungs are not compromised (chest x-rays show no problems) and the ailment hasn't progressed or worsened in 22 years. It started very suddenly and has remained with me all that time. (Surely even the most inexperienced doctor would be able to diagnose COPD?)

I just got back from the hospital after getting flu and pneumonia 23 vaccinations. These are important for me because I will shortly return to work in Myanmar, and decent hospitals are in short supply over there. I need to protect my lungs from possible infection. This fuzzy (sorry) photo shows what is lurking in my lungs. Huge lumps of white phlegm that is very much like silicone bath sealant, very sticky and very thick. I've been coughing and coughing up this phlegm for 22 years! It's the reason why I moved from the UK to Thailand all those years ago. In the UK I had no lung problems until I started to work in a damp, unheated basement office. Within a few weeks I developed a cough which month by month got worst and worst until I was experiencing uncontrolleable coughing fits. No one else in my office developed these symptoms. I went to my doctor, had x-rays and sputum tests and my lungs were pronounced as healthy... My doctor suggested living in a hot and humid climate (south-east Asia). So I tested this out by moving to Bangkok for a month. My lung condition improved immensely! I returned to the UK and was soon hospitalised with severe pneumonia. (Interestingly, the symptoms that hospitalised me were the same as I had experienced on several previous occasions in the UK, but without hospital diagnosis). I separated from my wife and kids in the UK for these health reasons (she wouldn't move to Thailand), and I started living in Thailand, Laos and Myanmar. My lungs were much happier in the climate, but in order to minimise my coughing fits I found jogging or walking 5km every morning helped to thin the mucus. On my recent visit to the UK for prostate cancer investigations (happily negative for cancer), I also attended hospital for investigations of my lung condition. After chest x-rays and sputum tests the doctors said I had no lung illness.... That's the same message that I received from both Bumrungrad (x-rays/tests) and Bangkok Hospital (x-rays/tests) last year! The weather/temperature in the UK in February almost did it for me and my lungs. I almost abandoned my prostate tests because I was suffering so much in the cold climate. I can add that recent spirometer tests show that my lung function is normal. I don't wheeze (unless I have bronchitis, a common ailment for me), and I don't get short of breath. I don't need to use an inhaler. I just have loads of thick phlegm in my lungs which causes me to cough extensively as I try to cough it up. Now back in Thailand, I realise that no-one seems capable of diagnosing what is going on.... I don't want a diagnosis anymore. I just want some advice as to how I can thin this mucus so I can cough it up more easily. I often sleep on my stomach with my head and upper chest hanging over the side of my bed so that gravity can assist in moving the phlegm. What might help alleviate these symptoms? I've read that Bromelein (from pineapples) can thin mucus. What about a vibration jacket that cystic fibrosis sufferers use to helps to move the phlegm? I'm open to suggestions. I want to be able to keep teaching and helping students in Myanmar and do not want this problem to force me to stop working ???? To add, annual health checks reveal no other illnesses, very healthy heart, blood works all OK (high PSA due to prostatitis), no family history of lung problems etc)

$2,500 USD tax-free ???? (No B.Ed, no PGCE, no QTS, just my science degrees, CPD certificates in pedagogy and years of in-class experience)

[quote] ... In my case, employed by a school and my contract of employment was not going to be extended for another year as I was over 60, ... [/quote] Out of interest, why was your age an issue? There is nothing in Thai law (AFAIK) that forces an employer to terminate your job when you reach 60 years old. Off-topic, but I'm soon off to my next teaching job in Myanmar - I'm 64 years old and my age is absolutely not an issue ????

[quote] ... with many Thai nationals outraged. ... [/quote] Oh please, were many Thai nationals really outraged? This seems to be a stock phrase often used in news reports about events in Thailand. I assume that it's The Pattaya News that is the guilty party. Quite frankly, I expect most Thai nationals couldn't give a fig.....

I read today that there was an attack on the Chinese oil pipeline that brings oil to China from a port in north-west Myanmar. IMHO, this is the way to go. China is the only party with the strength to end or drastically reduce the violence in Myanmar. The only thing that matters to China is money and it's investments. Put those at risk and China will act. Would they act against the ethnic armies who launched the attack on the pipeline? China must realise that it is totally impossible to protect that pipeline from attacks by the pdf or ethnic armies. It would be better to get those armies on China's side, and that can only be achieved if China stops supporting the junta. The junta cannot protect the pipeline, as has been demonstrated today and by previous attacks.