Best hospital for possible skin cancer

[sikishrory]

I have vague memories of reading posts on here of people giving good reports of a particular hospital where they were treated.

I do not have a skin cancer diagnosis but seeing a dermatologist today in Barcelona he said there is one mole I need to get looked at in my home country and should think about getting removed and biopsied as it may be melanoma. I leave here in 2 days so couldn't do much for me here.

I am from Australia but live in Pattaya and have a few months work coming up in Phuket. So my options are really Phuket, Pattaya or Bangkok.

Having been ripped off by Bkk hospital that many times in Phuket and Pattaya I was thinking Bumrungrad just so I can get ripped off by somebody different for a change.

Really I just want to see someone who knows what they are doing.

Any recommendations of doctors etc would be helpful.

Thanks

 

[lopburi3]

Below, Dr. Anna, is the most recommended doctor (one of the few in Thailand with real skin cancer knowledge/experience).

https://www.bangkokpattayahospital.com/doctor2/view_profile.aspx?lang=de&v_id=7&depid=2&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

[ukrules]

You could try Samitivej Hostpital in Bangkok.

 

These hospitals are popular with Thai people who have good insurance policies.

[sikishrory]

Thanks all. I have emailed Bkk Pattaya and requested an appointment with Dr. Anna for ASAP.

I believe your right about Samitivej as I have seen it on a couple of websites purporting to offer cancer and I think even cyber knife treatment although I never saw anything about cyber knife on their website when I checked.

I will see what Dr. Anna says for starters and go from there I guess.

My only thought is if I should just skip Thailand altogether and head to Australia but that would probably mean losing my job as in past experience getting anything done in Australia is a few months process of tests and visits in an overcrowded system until you get any results.

[uhuh]

Dr Anna is the best in Thailand for skin cancer. 

Australian doctors,  for obvious reasons,  are the best in the world for skin cancer. 

 

I would start with Dr Anna.

 

BTW forget about Samitivej. You have to choose a doctor,  not a hospital. 

[Sheryl]

9 hours ago, uhuh said:

Dr Anna is the best in Thailand for skin cancer. 

Australian doctors,  for obvious reasons,  are the best in the world for skin cancer. 

 

I would start with Dr Anna.

 

BTW forget about Samitivej. You have to choose a doctor,  not a hospital. 

 

Exactly right.

 

Choose the doctor and Dr. Anna is  the best in the country for this.

[villagefarang]

I saw Dr Niyom at Bumrungrad yesterday and feel he did a good job. A mix of cryo and biopsies, and depending on the results I will need another appointment. I enjoy the experience at Bumrungrad more than other hospitals.  

[izod10]

Flying from Spain to Thailand,try flying via Bombay for this and other procedures,take a couple of days there,see how good and cheap it all is

[FruitPudding]

Chulalongkorn Hospital

[lopburi3]

45 minutes ago, FruitPudding said:

Chulalongkorn Hospital

Quite frankly that would likely be one of the worst choices (even if selecting by hospital rather than doctor) as it treats very few foreigners and most Thai do not have skin cancer issues so there is unlikely to be anyone with much experience. 

[VocalNeal]

An interesting topic. For very first appointment does one go to Oncology or Dermatology?

[lopburi3]

2 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

An interesting topic. For very first appointment does one go to Oncology or Dermatology?

Dermatology.

[Sheryl]

36 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

An interesting topic. For very first appointment does one go to Oncology or Dermatology?

Dermatology and be sure to pre-select a doctor with experience treating skin cancer, of which there are very  few in Thailand

[VocalNeal]

2 hours ago, Sheryl said:

Dermatology and be sure to pre-select a doctor with experience treating skin cancer, of which there are very  few in Thailand

Maybe it is worth a visit to Pattaya to see Dr. Anna if she is the one?

[Sheryl]

9 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

Maybe it is worth a visit to Pattaya to see Dr. Anna if she is the one?

Yes, it is. That or get care in your home country.

[ddartt]

I went to Dr. Anna for a skin lesion which turned out to be benign granuloma, but could've easily been melanoma.

The cost was 15k baht, but that included consultation, excision with stitches, pathology, dressing change day after and follow up after 1 week to remove stitches and discuss pathology. To me the price is okay - yes way more expensive than many other hospitals, but when it comes to a potential deadly disease, I think it's worth it. Cigna would have covered the surgery even without outpatient cover had I reached my deductible already.

I think Dr. Anna was very professional and took big interest in my case. She also had no problems writing prescription just on a piece of paper so I can buy it from pharmacy outside and not from hospital at outrageous prices.

I personally just had a couple of minor concerns:

1) I would prefer that she shares more of her thoughts process and diff diagnosis. Basically what she thinks it is, and why. But I totally realize this really depends on personal style.

2) She can email pathology results but make sure you explicitly agree about that. In my case we sort of talked about that but I guess there was some misunderstanding.

 

--and this about BHP and not Dr. Anna specifically:

1) I found the staff (nurses, admins, everyone) in the hospital to be surprisingly unfriendly. So very unusual for Thailand and certainly not for that price...

2) Their obsession with measuring the blood pressure etc just drives me nuts. 

Edited January 29, 2020 by ddartt

[lopburi3]

54 minutes ago, ddartt said:

I went to Dr. Anna for a skin lesion which turned out to be benign granuloma, but could've easily been melanoma.

The cost was 15k baht, but that included consultation, excision with stitches, pathology, dressing change day after and follow up after 1 week to remove stitches and discuss pathology. To me the price is okay - yes way more expensive than many other hospitals, but when it comes to a potential deadly disease, I think it's worth it. Cigna would have covered the surgery even without outpatient cover had I reached my deductible already.

I think Dr. Anna was very professional and took big interest in my case. She also had no problems writing prescription just on a piece of paper so I can buy it from pharmacy outside and not from hospital at outrageous prices.

I personally just had a couple of minor concerns:

1) I would prefer that she shares more of her thoughts process and diff diagnosis. Basically what she thinks it is, and why. But I totally realize this really depends on personal style.

2) She can email pathology results but make sure you explicitly agree about that. In my case we sort of talked about that but I guess there was some misunderstanding.

 

--and this about BHP and not Dr. Anna specifically:

1) I found the staff (nurses, admins, everyone) in the hospital to be surprisingly unfriendly. So very unusual for Thailand and certainly not for that price...

2) Their obsession with measuring the blood pressure etc just drives me nuts. 

Indeed 15k sounds very reasonable - have had several costing in the 25-30k range (several years ago) when using recommended plastic surgeon here in Bangkok (but that was wide margin after they were found to be cancer - for non cancer laser had removed).  As for blood pressure it is a normal screaming at any hospital - prefer it done by someone trained than the arm in hole self system used in some government hospitals (you still have to take).   

Edited January 29, 2020 by lopburi3

[sikishrory]

I ended up going. She cut a non cancerous nevus out. Cost was similar to above. 

Anna is very open and very easy to talk to. I really enjoyed our chats even though she was cutting pieces of me at same time.

I mentioned how she was highly recommended on internet with some saying "best in Thailand" for skin cancer.

Her modest response to this was she works in an area with a lot of westerners and Thais don't get much skin cancer. 

She emailed my results with no problems.

Would definitely recommend her.