I don't want to go to hospital as I may be told bad news.

[BTB1977]

So if you stop taking him to the quack that part of the problem is solved. He obviously isn't helping.  

[OneMoreFarang]

1 hour ago, kwak250 said:

19 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

First post from Bill Poster...

 

Luckily is was straight to the point .

I hate it when posts go on a bit.

20 hours late, by now page 3 - without any further input by the Newbie...

[tomauasia]

20 hours ago, Bill Poster said:

If this post is in the wrong place please if possible move it to the appropriate section.

 

My Thai wife’s pensioner father has not been feeling very well and he is suffering from a repeated bloated stomach , loss of apatite and constantly feeling tired . When I first heard what the fathers symptoms were I immediately offered to take him to a well known and respected university hospital and pay for any necessary medical treatment , possible surgery or drugs . My offer of assistance was refused by the father on the grounds that the father did not want to go to any hospital because in the past he has known many people who went to a hospital and they were told bad news about their medical condition and in a few cases some people ended up passing away. So in his mind its better not to be given bad news by a hospital doctor, sort of out of sight out of mind type of thought process.

 

So the father after talking to numerous Thai neighbors decided to visit a rural doctor some 4 hours away from where he lived. From what I can find out the father went to this doctor at their house and the doctor ran some sort of medical clinic from their home . The doctor was retired from medical practice .On arriving at the doctors home based clinic , the doctor asked father what were his symptoms and then asked him to lay on an old wooden table under a garden tree . Once laying on the table the doctor laid their hand flat on fathers stomach and with the other hand start tapping, as a way to diagnose the complaint.

 

The doctor then announced that they would prescribe some drugs that will sort out fathers medical complaint , the doctor also advised father not to eat any sea food , beef or bamboo and to stop drinking alcohol . The doctor then handed father three unmarked plastic bags containing a small amount of both pills and capsules . The cost of the doctors 15 minuet consultation and the drugs was 2,500.00 Baht.

 

Father returned home a happy man and once he was taking the drugs the home doctor had given him he started to feel a bit better and the bloated stomach became less . When all the drugs had finally finished that father was given by the doctor , about one week later all fathers exact previous symptoms then returned. Father thinking that the now returned symptom were only a temporary hiccup and would some how soon disappear.Well a few more weeks went by and fathers symptoms never went away as he had expected. So he decided to again go and see the same doctor who had prescribed the original drugs .

 

This time my Thai wife accompanied her father to the home of the doctor . On arriving at the doctors run down old Thai house around 10 am . My wife and her father went into the front garden of the doctors house and saw a sign that said please ring the bell , the hand bell was hanging from a wooden pole. After ringing the bell the doctor appeared at the house front door dressed in what my wife describes as bed time pajamas. The father then described his symptoms to the doctor and as in the last visit father was told to lie down on the old wooden table and once more the doctor proceeded to tap fathers stomach .

 

This time the doctor made no mention of knowing what fathers medical issue was , but did once  more advise father to not eat any sea food , beef or bamboo and to stop drinking alcohol. The doctor then still dressed in his bed time pajamas went back into the house and a few minuets later came back out and handed father several small unmarked plastic bags containing pills and capsules and asked father for 2,500.00 Baht.

 

As father handed over the 2,500.00 Baht to the doctor , my wife then said to the doctor, my husband wants to know the name of the drugs your are giving to my father . Which was some thing I had ask my wife to ask the doctor , as the plastic bags and drugs were all unmarked . The doctor said to my wife that the drugs come from abroad and had no markings that her husband would understand , then the doctor turned around and went back into their house and closed the door. So now father has spent a total of 5,000.00 Baht on drugs from this doctor . Fast forward father did again feel slightly better after taking the second round of drugs , but again when the drugs were finished a few weeks later , yes fathers old symptoms came back.

 

This time father decided to go and talk to a local man who had the reputation of providing other villagers with natural herbal remedies for their medical problems . Father went over his ongoing  medical problems and the natural herbal man said that he had just the answer . The answer was  a small amount of boiled tree leaves mixed in with tree bark. The concoction would cost 1,000.00 Baht for a singe small bottle. Farther happily paid the 1,000.00 Baht and thought all his health problems would be a thing of the past .

 

 

Three weeks later and with the boiled tree leaves and bark all finished , father was still experiencing the same original past symptoms of a bloated stomach , loss of apatite and constantly feeling tired .
So father once again telephoned my wife and asked to be again taken back a third time to the original doctor who ran things from his home. So now my wife takes her father back to the rural doctor some 4 hours away from where her father lived for the third time.

 

One this third visit , father went through the same laying on the old table routine as in the past and again doctor laid their hand flat on fathers stomach and with the other hand start tapping. This time the doctor calmly said that father had a black spot on his liver but there were no signs of cancer and not to worry.

 

Once more the doctor told father the cost for their time and two small plastic bags containing pills would be 2,500.00 Baht . My wife this time had taken an aunt with them and the aunt asked the doctor if they had any thing to stop stomach acid. The doctor went into the house and came out with a small plastic bag , and told the aunt the pills would stop any stomach acid problems. The charge for that small bag of pills to stop stomach acid was 500.00 Baht.  So now father has paid out a total of 8,500.00 Baht ( 3 visits to the doctor + the boiled tree leaves mixed in with tree bark concoction ).

 

Only time will tell the outcome of fathers last third visit to the home doctor , but I suspect that again once the effect of the drugs wear off , father will be back to looking for another remedy or even a fourth visit to the same home doctor. 
 

Here's where it gets some what difficult . The wife's father is steadfastly refusing to attend any hospital relating to his stomach issue . If my wife pushed and pushes her father to attend a hospital and if once at a hospital her father is actually informed that he indeed does have a serious medical issue , or god forbid some thing terminal, then for sure in the eyes of her father , its going to be 100% his daughters fault for making him seek and attend proper medical assistance. 

 

Any one had any similar experiences and can offer suggestions or sound advice on how to try and convince the father that going to a hospital will be his best option.

 

 

Thank You . 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Nobody can help people that refuse to be helped. Hospital 

[KC 71]

18 hours ago, CorpusChristie said:

 

  What happened in the end ?

I'm hoping that  " They All Lived Happily Ever After "

[markeewan]

47 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

20 hours late, by now page 3 - without any further input by the Newbie...

 

 

Is it Friday already?

[CH1961]

Not read till end.

Did I missed something? 

[Caldera]

Up to him.

 

You won't change his mind, so don't waste your time!

 

[AgMech Cowboy]

21 hours ago, Bill Poster said:

When I first heard what the fathers symptoms were I immediately offered to take him to a well known and respected university hospital and pay for any necessary medical treatment , possible surgery or drugs .

 

21 hours ago, Sheryl said:

In my experience, there is little you can do.

 

It is his choice and he is making it. Badly, unfortunately.

My wife's mother lost her appetite and was taken to the hospital. Sure enough she had a cancer tumor growing on her bile duct. It needed to be remove 'now' and to wait on the 30 baht coverage would mean certain death. Nearly 7 million baht and one month later, she still died. The surgery cost was manageable. The intensive care was expensive (who knew the surgery would be so difficult for her). They never told her she had cancer. She suffered, a lot, and I hope you don't over do too much. I do not regret helping, but do regret she didn't really get a choice.  If he doesn't want to go to the hospital, respect that.

[jomtienisgood]

21 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

First post from Bill Poster...

 

Hopefully not the last.....

[jomtienisgood]

1 hour ago, KC 71 said:

I'm hoping that  " They All Lived Happily Ever After "

Impossible, WDW is letting off 24.000 employees worldwide......

[The Theory]

On 12/6/2020 at 3:15 PM, Bill Poster said:

Once more the doctor told father the cost for their time and two small plastic bags containing pills would be 2,500.00 Baht . My wife this time had taken an aunt with them and the aunt asked the doctor if they had any thing to stop stomach acid. The doctor went into the house and came out with a small plastic bag , and told the aunt the pills would stop any stomach acid problems. The charge for that small bag of pills to stop stomach acid was 500.00 Baht.

No mercy even for a sick man. Cash only matters. All pills available at any pharmacy that have been removed from original packaging. And a man who wants to hear beautiful words as diagnosis. 

[jomtienisgood]

20 hours ago, Pilotman said:

its very informative to know how people used to live in the 1500,  You can't change uneducated people brought up on a mixture of religious nonsense, old wives tails  and witch craft,  I very much doubt that the local quack had any qualifications at all and your relative was acting true to form for village people here.  

Nothing new or old, they simply swapped the old story-tellers for FB.....

[brianthainess]

On 12/6/2020 at 3:15 PM, Bill Poster said:

. On arriving at the doctors run down old Thai house around 10 am .

Must have been a very emanate doctor then, jim jams 'an all. Why not just go to the local Govt clinic, no doctors there normally just a qualified triage nurse. Or a pharmacist.

[Why Me]

I think what happened was that Bill Poster wasn't feeling well and his wife said let's go to the hospital and Bill said I hate hospitals but his wife said you have to go so then Bill said I am just going to dash of a post to TV and be with you.

[xtrnuno41]

You cant make him go if he doens t want.

Maybe he has spastic colon, a very common thing, i red.  Here one out of 10 people has it, they say.

He might have an allergy developed. Diet is important then.

Once had troubles and had mebeverine, it worked.

First doc  said groin rupture, going to specialist, couldnt say by pics and feeling, but he could open me up to explore.

No way, Jose. Back to doc, who gave me then mebeverine, which helped. Knock, knock, it is still gone.

[SiSePuede419]

On 12/6/2020 at 1:15 AM, Bill Poster said:

arriving at the doctors run down old Thai house around 10 am . My wife and her father went into the front garden of the doctors house and saw a sign that said please ring the bell , the hand bell was hanging from a wooden pole.

 

That's how I can tell you got a good doctor.  ????️

[caughtintheact]

The OP might want to consider taking the pills to a pharmacist or to a doctor who specializes in stomach ailments to see if the diagnosis is consistent with the medicine.  Might  be helpful in convincing the man to get  a second opinion.

[Daffy D]

There are several Internet sites that have Pill Identifier programs, maybe one of those will help identify the pills from the doctor:-

 

Pill Identifier Programs

 

On the other hand the original pills which do seem to work only because they come from the quack doctor. Getting the same pills from another source may just not work.

  

[tinca tinca]

On 12/6/2020 at 3:53 PM, scubascuba3 said:

I thought I was reading the longest joke in history. I would have summarised that story in 3 lines, but that's me

i will not read a BOOK posted on TV ....

[Daffy D]

14 minutes ago, tinca tinca said:

i will not read a BOOK posted on TV ....

You obviously did read it, so what does that say about you ?

[4MyEgo]

On 12/6/2020 at 7:15 PM, Bill Poster said:

the father did not want to go to any hospital because in the past he has known many people who went to a hospital and they were

 

I too was waiting for the punch line ????

 

That said, I can relate to the father's fear of going to hospitals, I overcame that fear and now go to a private hospital when I need to, no waiting for hours, I usually see a Doctor within 10 minutes, even a Specialist, where back home I would have to wait months, and there are lots of pretty nurses smiling, fortunately for them I haven't had to be admitted yet, willing and able.... 

 

Maybe let the old man know about the pretty nurses at the privates, nothing to lose.

 

Go out and buy him some yogurt (pro-biotic) and see if the bloating persist in a week, best case scenario, won't cost anywhere near what money his daughter I am assuming has out laid, besides, it takes nice and sorted my stomach issues and bloating and also tell him not to eat any cabbage or stuff like that as that can take a while to breakdown and digest, i.e. if his internals aren't working too well, lots of gas in the meantime until its completely digested and gone, and if he keeps eating stuff like that, it won't go away.

 

No charge, there you go ????

 

Edited December 8, 2020 by 4MyEgo

[Sheryl]

50 minutes ago, caughtintheact said:

The OP might want to consider taking the pills to a pharmacist or to a doctor who specializes in stomach ailments to see if the diagnosis is consistent with the medicine.  Might  be helpful in convincing the man to get  a second opinion.

 

We already know these pills - indeed any pills - are nto consistent with the "diagnosis" as ti was a nonsensical "diagnosis". And at some level this man knows that too.

 

He  obviously believes he has a terminal condition such as cancer and is terrified by this and seeking means of denial. I don't think any logical approaches will help. He will just have to get to the point where he is in so much pain, or so weak, that he has no choice but to go to a proper hospital. 

 

The delay may or may not matter to the outcome, depending on what it is that is actually wrong with him.

[teacherclaire]

On 12/6/2020 at 5:46 PM, Techno Viking said:

For many years I too was in the "I don't want to go to hospital as I may be told bad news." basket.

 

10 years ago at the age of 32 a blood vessel in my brain blocked (and popped), to this day Iam still recovering, luckily I can still fucntion on a daily basis about 90% which allows me to keep working and earning a living but the years of rehab to get where iam today was atrocious.

 

I know have a full check up every year.

 

   

 Sorry to hear that, mate. A great example that we should be happy to be healthy. 

Too many people drink themselves stupid and wake up way too late.

A friend of mine took the cirrhosis medication together with his best friend, Mr. Jack Daniels. 

 

I hope that you'll recover in a way that you don't have to fear any problems that might occur—best of luck from Isaan. 

 

 

[4MyEgo]

1 hour ago, tinca tinca said:

i will not read a BOOK posted on TV ....

 

Maybe some nice pictures then.....?

[Neeranam]

On 12/6/2020 at 5:32 PM, teacherclaire said:

This time the doctor calmly said that father had a black spot on his liver but there were no signs of cancer and not to worry.

 

Did you pay for all the trips?

 

    You can bring a horse to a lake, but you can't make it drink.

 

    If he drinks Lhao Kao, he'll soon be past and the problem solved.

 

A very insensitive post. I have a history of alcoholism in my family, as has my wife. 

 

OP, if you feel that your choice in in some way 'better' than your wife's father's, order him to go to the hospital. 

 

Why didn't you make the doctor give you the name of the drugs? If he hadn't given the name, I certainly wouldn't have gone back. 

[Bill Poster]

Ive had a several recent personal health issues my self , so sorry for not replying to every one , your thoughts and comments are thankfully received. 

Well today my Thai wife received yet another telephone call from her father , he was again complaining of ‘’ no power ‘’ . According to my wife her father was finding it difficult to carry out any simple physical activity, like doing his normal daily routine of tending to his garden or walking down the Soi to see a neighbour . He was not complaining of being out of breath , just that he felt a lack of physical stamina and the ability to do things that he use to do without a problem before this episode of feeling ill started. So my self and wife went to see her father , who I had not personally seen for a while . I was a bit shocked at fathers gaunt looking face and obvious loss of weight appearance .

 

Through my wife translating I tried to understand what her father was saying in respect to the , I don’t want to go to hospital situation. One thing that became very apparent was father is steadfast and adamant  that in no way will he step foot in a hospital. As far as I could understand father had in the past some sort of experience  while being treated in a hospital after getting bitten by some sort of insect while out working in a field , his foot became swollen and bloated , so at that time he went to a local government hospital for treatment . He was admitted to an open general ward and underwent a few days of inpatient drug treatment . While laying in the hospital bed he became sort of friends with a man in the next bed , and according to my wife that man in the next bed some how scared father into believing that all hospitals were very bad places to end up in . As father was discharged on the same day the man in the next bed who father had become friendly with  , passed away in the hospital.

 

That experience father had listening to the man in the next bed talk about hospitals were bad places to be , and the fact the man died in hospital,  I think some how stuck in fathers mind and set into motion fathers statement , don’t want to go to a hospital .

 

So now here we go again , father has again asked my wife to take him back to see the same doctor ( doctor pajamas ) so he can ask for more of the same pills that doctor pajamas prescribed to him in the previous visits ( 3 ) so far costing a total of 7,500 Baht.. According to father each time after taking those pills he started to feel better and his power started to return . Some time after the pills had run out fathers past symptoms then started to return . This is where Thai logic in my view goes off the rails. So father has so far been to see ‘’ doctor pajamas ‘’ on three separate occasions and doctor pajamas on all those past occasions prescribes a set of pills costing 2,500 Bah per set .

Father on each occasion took the pills and started to feel generally better , but soon after the set of pills came to an end , father’s same symptoms slowly started to return. Then father once again wanted to feel better so off back to doctor pajamas for yet another set of magic pills . So in my view the pills prescribed by doctor pajamas only acted like some sort of temporary answer by removing fathers symptoms but did not actually do any thing to finally cure the medical issue that was causing the reoccurring symptoms. The thing I can’t understand is why father after 3 past separate visits to doctor pajamas and paying out 7,500 Baht , still believes the if he goes back to a fourth  time to ask for more pills , which will only make him feel temporarily better , is the right thing to do , and that forth coming visit will mean father will have so far paid doctor pajamas a total of 10,000.00 Baht , not including the 1,000.00 Baht paid for a natural herbal remedy.

 

Sadly my wife when it comes to any thing involving in some way disagreeing with her father ,  she just tends to be a bit timid and always seems to agree with what ever her father is saying . Added to that while we were at her fathers house several of the Thai neighbours popped in and from what my wife said , those neighbours all agreed with fathers notion that being in hospital is a bad thing.

 

Its going to be interesting to see what will happen when my wife once again takes her father back to doctor pajamas, you would think that father going back for a fourth visit , then doctor pajamas will realize that some thing is wrong and instead of prescribing another set of 2,500.00 Baht pills the doctor will finally say to father , its time you went to hospital. I wonder what will happen . 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sheryl]

11 hours ago, Bill Poster said:

Its going to be interesting to see what will happen when my wife once again takes her father back to doctor pajamas, you would think that father going back for a fourth visit , then doctor pajamas will realize that some thing is wrong and instead of prescribing another set of 2,500.00 Baht pills the doctor will finally say to father , its time you went to hospital. I wonder what will happen . 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I wouldn't count on it. People like this make their fortunes off of seriously ill people who are afraid to go to a real doctor.

[spornb]

On 12/7/2020 at 1:19 PM, AgMech Cowboy said:

 

My wife's mother lost her appetite and was taken to the hospital. Sure enough she had a cancer tumor growing on her bile duct. It needed to be remove 'now' and to wait on the 30 baht coverage would mean certain death. Nearly 7 million baht and one month later, she still died. The surgery cost was manageable. The intensive care was expensive (who knew the surgery would be so difficult for her). They never told her she had cancer. She suffered, a lot, and I hope you don't over do too much. I do not regret helping, but do regret she didn't really get a choice.  If he doesn't want to go to the hospital, respect that.

God Bless, so sad

I have three lots of cancer, and probably want no more surgery, did not have my last MRI, as I really do not want to know

I have a living will that does work in Thailand, and the doctors say thank you for letting them know my wishes also removes some responsibility from them

I also have palliative care, with a firm promise of no suffering from pain

[georgegeorgia]

Sounds like he has Cancer ...

He won't last the year I guarantee it 

Maybe 3  months without treatment.. even with treatment doubt they could do much now ..6 months even with treatment

 

 

Edited January 1, 2021 by georgegeorgia

[Bill Poster]

I thought I would not post any thing back until the wife's father situation changed . Well as the wife's father’s symptoms again returned so he once more  went to see doctor pajamas for a forth time, on this visit he was taken to the doctors house by some one in his village who also wanted to get some ‘’ pills ‘’ for a medical complaint they had.  On this 4th visit the wife's father was again given a small plastic bag containing pills , and once more the doctor advised father not to eat any sea food , beef or bamboo and to stop drinking alcohol and according to what my wife was told by her father this time the doctor did not comment on his symptoms or mention any thing about father going to hospital .  This time instead of charging father 2,500.00 Baht for the small bag of pills , he was charged 1,500.00 Baht   

Over the following weeks her father took the pills and told my wife that he was starting to feel better and in fact he had recommended doctor pajamas to several people in his village. The 1,500.00 Baht pills finally ran out and within a few weeks father’s same symptoms again returned . Father decided to go and ask an old woman who lives in a nearby village for advice about his symptoms , this old woman had a local reputation for being able to predict peoples future and communicate with the spirits . It turned out that this old fortune telling woman’s cousin owned a clinic in another village a few hours away from fathers village . 

 

So on the old fortune telling woman’s advice father made the two hours journey to her cousins clinic . My wife was not asked by her father to take him to this clinic , but instead he was taken by another neighbour . I can sense some sort of friction between my wife and her father and I thinks its all some thing to do with her father’s repeated visits to village clinics and refusal to go to hospital.

So father went for the first time to this new village clinic , and from what my wife has found out that clinic was in a small village and situated in a row of shop houses. It's not known what sort of diagnostic tests the doctor carried out on father but the total cost including , yes a small plastic bag of pills was 200 Baht. 

 

This time the ‘’ shop house ‘’ doctor told father that his medical problem was some thing called tuberculosis . The doctor made no mention to father of going to a hospital , he only said father should return to see him if he needed more pills.

 

So father is currently taking his new 200 Baht pills and only time will tell how things are going to progress .  

 

 I’m going to now check out a bit more about tuberculosis and see what having that medical condition entails and what the future may hold for father. 

 

The saga continues .