NancyL

As the OP discovered, Dr. Morgan is great for situations where someone hasn't been seeing a doctor regularly, has no idea what's causing their problem and has multiple issues (age, smoking, blood pressure, diabetes, etc) She serves as a good "manager" for a patient and knows the best specialists in town. Before referring to a specialist, she does basic tests to help both the specialist and patient understand the nature of the problem. She can cut through the red tape at the private hospitals to help patients navigate the hospital and secure discounts for her patients. Once a patient is "cured" it's a very good idea to continue to see her regularly, at an interval she suggests, to continue to remain healthy.

Just this week, U.S. news is reporting on two small studies showing that the new bivalent booster isn't much better than the original Moderna and Pfizer vaccines in boosting immunity. https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/10/25/business/omicron-boosters-not-much-better-against-variants-than-originals-say-two-small-studies/ While the new Pfizer and Moderna vaccines do a great job of preventing Covid, one big drawback of these two vaccines is that they don't give long-lasting immunity and do need to be boosted. So if it's been six months or more since your most recent Covid shot, then waiting for the new bivalent vaccine to come to Thailand isn't a good idea. Go get the "old" Moderna or Pfizer vaccine. They do a good job of boosting immunity, too.

null The OP said that the man on OS went to the UK on holiday, so I assumed that was his home country and he had relatives/friend there. Even if he doesn't, a UK national can come into Heathrow during M-F business hours and report to Travel Care for assistance. If an elderly person wants to return to the U.S. my suggestion would be different. He can contact the U.S. Embassy's American Citizen Services group and ask for assistance prior to leaving Thailand. They can help make arrangements for a suitable placement in the U.S. through the Health and Human Services department. I've seen this done numerous times. It takes a few weeks, and it's not like selecting a hotel on TripAdvisor, but someone will be met at the airport and receive suitable care upon arrival.

I switched from monthly income to 800K method about three years ago. Moved the money about five months before application for extension from several Thai bank accounts. Visa agent claimed that: 1. I should have switched methods as soon as I received previous extension (12 months before the next application); the 2 month rule applies only for first retirement visa extension 2. The money HAS to come from abroad 3. For an extra 15,000 baht Chiang Mai Immigration could overlook my sins and grant a retirement extension even though I hadn't done the switch correctly I refused, telling the visa agent that I would just pay their normal fee and if CM Immigration refused my retirement extension, I'd take the matter to the U.S. Consulate because in a recent town-hall meeting they'd asked us to share instances where CM Immigration seemed to be developing their own rules. Nothing further was said, either at Immigration or by the visa agent and I received my retirement extension. I wonder how many others caved and paid 15,000 baht for "special consideration".

The old guy won't want to hear this, but it may be time for him to return to his home country for good. This isn't a good country for elderly foreigners with limited resources, no local family support, who are starting to "lose their marbles". The fact that he left the country without a re-entry permit, didn't realize he was going on overstay and now doesn't have the financial resources to correct the situation is evidence that he can't handle his own affairs. It seems that he has family/friends in his home country because he visited them recently. There are social and medical services available to people of his age there. He's not going to want to hear this. There are no young beautiful women to tell him he's handsome and willing to spend the night with him for a modest gift. Cheap beer and barstool buddies aren't steps away. But he's in danger of being arrested for overstay (yes, they do arrest men of his age) or having an accident and receiving only minimal care because he can't pay the bill. Something where he can't travel back to his home country, like a fall resulting in a broken hip.

I don't remember which generic fosamax I used. It was over ten years ago and the situation has probably changed. Go with what your doctor recommends or better yet, get a second opinion if you aren't confident of your doctor yet.

Was the heparin in an injector pen? That's the only way I can see how it would cost 3,000 baht/injection. I've injected myself with heparin and even with U.S. prices, it was very inexpensive, but I was loading an insulin syringe and jabbing it into the skin of my belly fat. The first few times, I had to work up my courage, with actually pushing down the syringe contents being the hard part. It was a real thrill to do it in an airplane toilet the 2nd or 3rd time the situation arose (with people knocking at the door, wondering why I was taking so long)

It really helps to have both a trusted pharmacist and doctors here. Yes, there are a few drugs where the generics aren't quite the same as the brand name drugs or, for some reason, a problem develops with the generics and doctors/pharmacists start to talk among themselves about what they're seeing with their patients/customers, so it helps if you're seeing a professional who is "in the loop". Yes, there is a way to test the effectiveness of generic vs. brand name Fosamax, but it involves waiting months and having another check of your bone density. It's not as easy as seeing if a generic blood pressure medicine has the same effect as the brand name version. That being said, I took the generic version of Fosamax here in Thailand for several years after I arrived for retirement, having started it in the U.S. I see where they're still recommending that you take Fosamax for just five years or so. My internist in the U.S. thought it best to start at the first sign of bone loss, early in menopause, rather than waiting until there were obvious signs. He was a big advocate of having your first bone scan at the first sign of menopause, actually when your periods start getting irregular and you're not yet in menopause, to obtain a baseline reading of bone density.

I doubt that those who are making fun of the Thai police and their people-control rods have ever seen them in use, nor have they ever seen a taser used on someone, except in the movies/TV shows. I've had the experience of assisting as a translator, from a safe distance, as several TRP officers, calm and collect out-of-control foreigners with mental health problems, often exacerbated by alcohol and drugs. These people usually respond well to being helped by calm professionals, rather than law-enforcement personnel who seem bent on harming them. Thai police are so much kinder and more gentle than American police would ever be. A taser would only enrage someone more and could miss or even be turned against law enforcement. The police don't come into direct, crushing body-contact with the person they're detaining with the control hoops/hooks, so little chance of a George Floyd situation. Much more opportunity to "talk down" a situation, even if the soothing voice is in Thai. Sometimes better if an older white woman is talking to them (that would be me). Frankly, the orderlies at the local government mental hospital can be rougher than the RTP, but they have the option of injecting tranquilizers, which the police don't. The police have to rely on time-tested methods of calming someone out-of-control, like the hoops and hooks pictured several times in this thread and a take-charge attitude with calming voices like you'd use with a child throwing a tantrum or a charging water buffalo. Thais are good at this.

Yes, it's seasonal, with a definite shift in wind directions that you can sense. They change the landing/take off patterns at CNX depending on the season. We live far enough away that there isn't much noise, but close enough to see aircraft climb north and make the turn to the east when heading to Bangkok this time of year. Soon direction will reverse and they'll be landing from the north.

The CEC Friday breakfast have been rather transient for the past several months. Looks like it's back to Duke's at Ruamchok. Not as convenient or scenic as Rivermarket, but better than the other places that CEC tried. First and third Friday morning of the month. Maybe you'll be here during those times. Be sure to subscribe to the CEC newsletter if you aren't already, because Duke's Ruamchok only seats 70 people, so they want advance reservations for the breakfasts. Not like Rivermarket, sadly, where they could handle twice that number.

I agree with Sheryl's recommendation to see Dr. Morgan first. Yes, I know she is a "general doctor", but she can help the OP to understand what specialist is needed, if any. I think the OP mentioned that the lump is causing his wife pain, so it probably does need some attention. It could be anything from a lipoma to lymphoma, two very different things, both in terms of the type of specialists required and how serious they are. Dr. Morgan can help the OP and his wife to understand what they're dealing with. Sometimes the specialist doctors here have a tendency to "dismiss" patients if the problem doesn't fall within their speciality.

During Covid lockdown I turned into a bit of a slob and only washed my hair twice a week. I found that my scalp wasn't as itchy as normal and my hair was healthier. Also, I was able to grow my hair longer and not worry about anyone seeing me during the awkward growing-out period. You can use conditioner just on the end of the hair, wash it out immediately after application, and not get it on the scalp.

This is very odd. Was the mask new? You know, you should have a new, clean mask each time you wear one and change it out every four hours or so. I wasn't and developed some eye infections as my glasses would fog up from the mask wearing. The news about new, clean masks from my eye doctor was, an "eye-opener". Also, it's very possible that the Bangkok pollution was causing the runny nose and the mask was actually helping. A good 24 hour allergy med could have helped. That's also done wonders for my runny nose.

Some banks in the U.S. do this if they get tired of dealing with nut case customers, either in-person or on the phone. And they don't tell the customer they're doing this or maybe they do, but the customer I know just didn't listen. I know someone who lost his home to foreclosure because the bank tired of his tirades on his phone calls from Thailand where he was hospitalized for a while, closed his account and the auto-payments of his mortgage stopped. He was from a state that permitted banks to do this and had no recourse.

What is the harm in putting on a mask for the few minutes you'll be in a business or riding on public transport Walking down the street or riding on a motorcycle, OK it makes sense to go maskless, but please just humor everyone. You could insist on going around shirtless, too, I suppose, but you'd get plenty of push-back.

Those North Korean guys look much more fit, like they'd trained for a lifetime of running next to a Mercedes limo. The ones running after Big Pom were probably the managers of the waste treatment plant, who, like me, decided to major in engineering in college because there was no requirement to take physical education, unlike the poor saps who majored in the liberal arts.

I'm so glad our condo building in Chiang Mai cracked down on the short-term rentals. The short-term holiday renters would bully the non-English speaking security guards, thinking they were front desk clerks, expect the office to be a 24/7 operation (it's not), drag luggage in/out while while talking loudly at all hours and gripe about the lack of furniture around the pool. Hint: it's meant for swimming, not lounging and partying because there are condo units directly adjacent.

Yes, I've seen less expensive models that look like some of the "custom" build frames we had before where there were several choices of elevation for the head and used a conventional twin bed mattress. These never held up very well. Or in the U.S. our regular twin bed frame was sturdy enough that we could elevate the head with bricks under the legs of the bed. Never could find a conventional twin bed frame in Thailand that looked sturdy enough. This bed, while expensive, is much, much better. Frankly, we're at a stage in our lives and without children or others waiting to inherit, that we might as well spend our money on being comfortable.

We bought ours in the store. I doubt most people would purchase an item like this online. It was a little cheaper in the store and came with many extra goodies like pillows, sheets, duvet, etc, that we were able to select. Hospital beds aren't as comfortable because they're designed to be easy-to-clean and don't seem to "breathe" as well as a conventional mattress. Same problem with a recliner.

She could run as an independent and syphon off enough Republican votes to permit the Democrats to win again, assuming, of course that Trump is the Republican nominee. Even if he's languishing in a prison someplace, she could prevent DeSantis or some other Trump-clone from winning. Then she could go onto a nice career as a cable new commentator. Or perhaps set up residency in a more moderate Republican state and run for Senate there.

In theory yes, she could work as a staff member for the J6 committee, but as JT wrote, that committee is working hard to complete its work by the end of the year. Besides, she'll need the time to focus on her bid to run for president.

Many news accounts say that the smallpox vaccine can prevent MP. Does that include smallpox vaccine that was received many decades ago? Hubby and I both had second smallpox vaccines in the mid-1980s when it wasn't commonly given anymore in the U.S. because we were going to Africa and we insisted. I remembered that one of my college professors from a decade prior, originally from India, had bad smallpox scars. He was fairly young. Yes, I know they said it had been eradicated, but we insisted. As I recall, we had to wait just a few days for the smallpox vaccine to arrive. I don't think it would be so easy now.

Dr. Viroj at Bumrungrad is very well respected. Twice the OP wrote that he said the swelling was "fluid of spam". I googled that and got no sensible results. Perhaps there is a misunderstanding of what Dr. Viroj said.

This is a rather pricey recommendation, but three years ago when we totally remodeled our condo, we bought this adjustable bed from Home Pro: https://www.homepro.co.th/p/1151273 I have a congenital heart defect with a couple of leaky heart valves, so I've been advised to sleep with my head elevated for years. We've managed to do to this with home modifications, but thought we'd do it properly with the remodeling and really made the day for the sales gal at the local Home Pro when we bought the bed. Very glad we did. I discovered that slightly elevating my feet also reduced ankle swelling and slight elevation of Hubby's head (not as much as mine) eliminated his slight snoring. Recently I injured my back and this bed was a God-send to getting comfortable. It's been very reliable and I wish we'd bought it years ago.