narcisus

Count my prayers also for a quick recovery....Frank is truly a special person!

Does anyone know if there are any restrictions to receive a package by postal service from the States containing multi-vitamins and glucosamine with chondrotin. Glucosamine w/chondrotin is not available here and vitamins are quite expensive. Would appreciate any feedback on receiving postal parcels from the US.

I had my gallbladder removed at Sri Pat in May - PeaceBlondie was very instrumental in convincing me to go to Sri Pat as we were already frustrated by Ram's method of charging our credit card in dollars using an unfavorable conversion rate when we did our physicals there. Dr. Sandhu was my surgeon and I was very pleased with his skill as well as his bedside manners. I was in one of the rooms on the 14th floor, the room was great and the nurses very efficient plus they all spoke English well enough not to need any translators. We have since then gone back to the Special Medical Services on the 13th floor and plan to use Sri Pat whenever a need arises.

You might want to also try ASMA in the Anusarn Market off Night Bazaar. They offer more of a Pakistani taste which is closer to North Indian cuisine - the Chicken biryani is very authentic (being a good biryani cook myself, I can certainly vouch for it). Their nan bread is delicious and so are all the curries. Quite a few vegie items on the menu too. They do not serve or allow alcoholic beverages so those of you who must have alcohol with your meals should take this into consideration.

I have had my gallbladder surgery at the International wing of Maharaj hospital. Went in Thursday morning, had the surgery at 8pm that night and I am back home today, Friday evening. The doctor (Trijek Sandhu) was great, beautiful room and very attentive English speaking nurses - I walked out today with a total bill of 50,009 Baht or approx $1613. I am so glad I did not go to Ram as they really ripped us off when we had our physicals done there - we paid by credit card and they charged us in $$ naming their own exchange rate.

The surgery was laproscopic and I have very minimal discomfort and pain. I definitly would suggest Maharaj over Ram any day for any kind of illness. The staff on the 13th floor of Special Medical Services all speak English even though it is Thai standard English and they are all very helpful.

Thank you all for your input.

Thanks y'all for the info and support. I plan to see Dr. Thaijek (sp?) at Maharaj (who is the head of urology dept. and a professor)on Tuesday and once everything is taken care of I will post my experiences for the next gallbladder patient.

Can't help with any doctors in Thailand. I had it done in Australia about five years ago at Royal Darwin Hospital after crawling my way on to a plane and declining to have the procedure done in Indonesia.

Doctors at Royal Darwin first cut the duct to let the 12mm stone pass. Then they decided a couple of days later that the gall bladder may as well come out too.

I was told to expect a three day hospital stay. I spent 25 days in Royal Darwin with a suction bag sucking between .5 and 1l of blood a day out of me. The Gall bag had lesions attaching it to the liver and various other bits that it shouldn't and the surgery was more complicated than the scans showed.

Had a huge haematoma for about six weeks post-surgery.

The surgery is normally a fairly simple procedure but like any, complications can arise.

dam_n painful complaint too. Even morphine tablets didn't do much to stop the pain from the blocked duct prior to the surgery.

Thanks for the headsup on what to expect if things go wrong. Now I am really nervous but I need the surgery so I will have to go ahead with it one way or another. Once it's over it, I guess I will be the expert.

Has anyone had laproscopic gallbladder surgery lately in CM? Need names of qualified surgeons either in Ram 1 or Maharaj?