Cataract surgery - question

[Jumbo1968]

1 hour ago, transam said:

Tell me the facts, how was it botched...?

He is blind in that eye now, he lives the other side of the world so I never speak with him.

[transam]

18 minutes ago, Longwood50 said:

How long ago was that?  Before I discovered Jomtien Hospital I went to Queen Sirikit.  They were excellent in terms of the completeness of the examination.  However I was there for the entire day only to be told that my eyes were not that severe.  That is true.  However, I had problems at night with glare.  They indicated because of Covid now that they were scheduling surgeries they were doing only with severe eye problems and they could not do mine.  

Just as well, I don't think I would have cared to do all the follow up driving from Pattaya to Queen Sirikit. 

3 years back...

Oh, I had worn specs since the age of 6, I hated it, now I don't wear specs when out or driving, just to read, the PC and phone, so specs always in my pocket, it is like being reborn.....????

 

The 2 retina ops were a bit worrying as my family has a history of blindness on both sides, if not for modern day procedures, I would be blind now..

[Jumbo1968]

44 minutes ago, Longwood50 said:

I went to Doctor Santa Methasari at Jomtien hospital.  He has outstanding credentials and speaks fluent English.  Cost right now is 39,000 baht for the single vision lens.  I had both eyes done and could not be happier.  

Jomtien Hospital is part of the Bangkok Hospital group.  Dr. Methasari also practices out of Bangkok Hospital but the cost is higher.  I have no idea.  The facilities at Jomtien are brand new and first class. 

You do have to make one trip to Bangkok hospital for a special machine that calculates the lens power.  1,000 baht for them to scan your eyes with the Zeiss machine and give the doctor the expected outcome with several different lens choices. 

Mine were a Johnson & Johnson lens so nothing off brand. 

The initial appointment to discuss is free.  After you go to Bangkok Hospital you then meet with the doctor who will confirm the lens choice and set the date.  After surgery you go the following day to have the eye examined.  Then again one week later and again 1 month later.  Finally a follow up 1 year later.  All the appointments, meds, and the surgery is included at 39,000 baht. 
 

39000 baht, part of the Bangkok Hospital Group, the Bangkok one in Pattaya is 68000 and that’s a special price the consultant told me ?

 

[Jumbo1968]

40 minutes ago, transam said:

I had both mine done at a Thai military hozzy just up the road from me.

 

Total cost for the 2 procedures, including x2 overnight hospital stay (the one part I didn't like) was around 38,000bht. (19,000 each)

What Military Hospital ?

[transam]

2 minutes ago, Jumbo1968 said:

What Military Hospital ?

Warin, Ubon...

[sawadee1947]

2 hours ago, Gillyflower said:

Thanks!  I'm due to have one eye done on Tuesday (Europe).  I thought it was just a simple old thing. just half an hour and another half resting.

Me too. Easy thing for an experienced doc.

[superal]

18 hours ago, transam said:

I had both mine done at a Thai military hozzy just up the road from me.

 

Total cost for the 2 procedures, including x2 overnight hospital stay (the one part I didn't like) was around 38,000bht. (19,000 each)

       That sounds like a good deal . After your initial consultation , how long was the wait for the operation ? How long ago was the op and was it successful ? I am intrigued that you had both eyes done at the same time because I had one eye done in the UK and had to keep a dressing on it for 2 days followed by eye drops through out the day which made the vision blurry and unable to drive . Eye drops finished after 3 weeks , vision good but need to get the other eye done . At night I still get glare from car headlights but if I close the bad eye it the glare stops . Would you recommend your hospital for the operation ?  

[Jingthing]

My understanding is that some surgeons will do both eyes at the same time but the safer option is to do one at a time for obvious reasons.

 

The risk is small but still there.

 

Blind in one eye is manageable. 

 

When surgeons do clinics to remote areas working on each person for minutes I'm pretty sure they do both eyes.

 

Obviously if you only need it for one eye they don't do two!

[chiangmaibruce]

Interesting to see several people who only needed one eye treated, like myself. In my case they suggested that the second eye would probably need doing within 2-3 years. More than 10 years later I think that eye is actually better than it was, rather than worse (?)

 

No-one has said anything about related pain/discomfort. Relax, because unless I got off lucky then there is virtually none. In fact I found the twilight anesthesia to be not unpleasant at all ... akin to lying on your back on a raft whilst floating down a river. 

[transam]

1 hour ago, superal said:

       That sounds like a good deal . After your initial consultation , how long was the wait for the operation ? How long ago was the op and was it successful ? I am intrigued that you had both eyes done at the same time because I had one eye done in the UK and had to keep a dressing on it for 2 days followed by eye drops through out the day which made the vision blurry and unable to drive . Eye drops finished after 3 weeks , vision good but need to get the other eye done . At night I still get glare from car headlights but if I close the bad eye it the glare stops . Would you recommend your hospital for the operation ?  

They were done a month apart, think I waited 3 weeks for the first OP, vision is great, BUT, the first OP ended up in a slow detached retina, I say slow because it was not spotted as a D.R. My eye fluid was leaking at a very slow rate behind the retina, long story and a head scratcher for the Doctor. Sadly, there was no place in my area that could fix the retina creeping damage. 

I ended up in a Khon Kaen hozzy, where a professor in eye stuff had the knowledge and apparatus to have a go at it. Which he did, the same day I saw him, it was that serious.

My eye was fluid drained, laser and nitrous oxide probes shoved in to fix it, I had that done with local anaesthetic, it was advised, but it wasn't nice, very painful, the N2O use.

So, 2 x cataracts and 2 x detached retinas, fingers crossed there are no more problems..

[cardinalblue]

I would never do both eyes at once…just too much of a risk….

 

do one and evaluate…then the 2nd after you are pleased with the first 

[Rasseru2]

Prompted by the recommendations here for Dr Paradee of Sriphat, for which many thanks, I consulted with her and had her do cataract surgery on both my eyes a week ago. I decided to go with multifocal lenses, which are considerably more expensive than monofocal lenses but which cost at Sriphat less than two-thirds the advertised cost at Bangkok Hospital for the same lens. A week later I am very satisfied with the result.

[JimmyJ]

On 8/5/2022 at 8:55 AM, Rasseru2 said:

Prompted by the recommendations here for Dr Paradee of Sriphat, for which many thanks, I consulted with her and had her do cataract surgery on both my eyes a week ago. I decided to go with multifocal lenses, which are considerably more expensive than monofocal lenses but which cost at Sriphat less than two-thirds the advertised cost at Bangkok Hospital for the same lens. A week later I am very satisfied with the result.

What was the charge for all minus the cost of the multifocal lenses?

[Longwood50]

On 7/1/2022 at 2:22 PM, Jumbo1968 said:

68000 baht at Bangkok Pattaya Hospital, they suggested claiming on my Health Insurance but as it’s a pres existing condition they would not pay for it

39,000 at Jomtien Hospital Pattaya by the same surgeons on staff at Bangkok Hospital. 

[transam]

3 minutes ago, Longwood50 said:

39,000 at Jomtien Hospital Pattaya by the same surgeons on staff at Bangkok Hospital. 

For one or two..?

[Rasseru2]

On 8/6/2022 at 5:37 PM, JimmyJ said:

What was the charge for all minus the cost of the multifocal lenses?

97,227 baht.

[lopburi3]

19 minutes ago, Rasseru2 said:

97,227 baht.

Believe that is total cost including lens?

[Rasseru2]

9 hours ago, lopburi3 said:

Believe that is total cost including lens?

No. Total cost for operations on both eyes excluding lenses.

[lopburi3]

57 minutes ago, Rasseru2 said:

No. Total cost for operations on both eyes excluding lenses.

Thanks - obviously a lot more expensive than I had thought.  Mine were done few years ago here in Bangkok at a major private hospital for about 70k including lenses (but mono).  Guess prices have greatly increased if paying that without lens at a university hospital.  

[FolkGuitar]

17 hours ago, lopburi3 said:

Thanks - obviously a lot more expensive than I had thought.  Mine were done few years ago here in Bangkok at a major private hospital for about 70k including lenses (but mono).  Guess prices have greatly increased if paying that without lens at a university hospital.  

Mine too, at Sriphat Medical Center and done by Dr.Paradee, was just about 70K for both eyes, including mono-focus lenses. In at 11am, home by 2pm each time. 23 minutes in the operating room for one, and 28 minutes for the other (she was teaching a student that time.) No problems with follow-up care.

 

[The Hammer2021]

On 7/1/2022 at 2:42 PM, Jumbo1968 said:

No idea.

It's virtually  impossible  to sue the NHS. The list of abuses and Scandals is enormous

[JimGant]

Had mine done at Bangkok Hospital, Dr Prawit. A day in-between before doing the second one. Had the multifocal lenses -- and I'm happy: Far vision is 20/30 and near vision for computers, reading books, etc is great -- just need glasses for threading a needle. Glasses could not bring things far away to 20/20 -- but easy to live with 20/30.

 

Bangkok Hospital billed my insurance, Tricare, directly. Each eye was approximately $3,900. Now, Tricare follows Medicare guidance, which says they'll only pay for single focus, not multifocus, lens. However, they paid the total bill, probably because the $3900 bill here was still cheaper than the allowed rate for single focus lens in the States. Whatever. I actually paid nothing, no co-pay, because we had reached Tricare's catastrophic cap of $3000 out-of-pocket earlier in the year. All those years in the Air Force, half in Hawaii, have really paid off with Tricare.  Thank you for your service? You bet. The Japanese never reattacked during my guard duty on the Hickam Golf Course. ????

[SiamAndy]

Do most people opt for the mono focus lens over the multi focal? Is it because there are less complications with mono focus lens?

[transam]

3 minutes ago, SiamAndy said:

Do most people opt for the mono focus lens over the multi focal? Is it because there are less complications with mono focus lens?

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30627791/#:~:text=Existing systematic reviews have generally,halos%2C compared to monofocal IOLs.

[lopburi3]

15 minutes ago, SiamAndy said:

Do most people opt for the mono focus lens over the multi focal? Is it because there are less complications with mono focus lens?

Yes and yes.  It is also cheaper, reading glasses cost almost nothing.  And most insurance will not pay for multi focal.

[transam]

I have mono in both eyes, I can now literally see for miles, I can read the car dash when driving too, but any nearer I need glasses, computer, books, phone and shop labels much the same, so Mr. DIY specs sort that out....  

[Jumbo1968]

On 8/17/2022 at 2:47 PM, JimGant said:

Had mine done at Bangkok Hospital, Dr Prawit. A day in-between before doing the second one. Had the multifocal lenses -- and I'm happy: Far vision is 20/30 and near vision for computers, reading books, etc is great -- just need glasses for threading a needle. Glasses could not bring things far away to 20/20 -- but easy to live with 20/30.

 

Bangkok Hospital billed my insurance, Tricare, directly. Each eye was approximately $3,900. Now, Tricare follows Medicare guidance, which says they'll only pay for single focus, not multifocus, lens. However, they paid the total bill, probably because the $3900 bill here was still cheaper than the allowed rate for single focus lens in the States. Whatever. I actually paid nothing, no co-pay, because we had reached Tricare's catastrophic cap of $3000 out-of-pocket earlier in the year. All those years in the Air Force, half in Hawaii, have really paid off with Tricare.  Thank you for your service? You bet. The Japanese never reattacked during my guard duty on the Hickam Golf Course. ????

My insurance company won’t pay as it’s a pre existing condition  ?

[JimmyJ]

~~~~~~

[Wandr]

I had it done recently at Sriphat. Monofocal lens with no astigmatism correction needed. Total cost including pre- and post-op exams came to about 58000 baht.

But a far better experience than Queen Sirikit in Sattahip, which botched it and left me needing a second surgery. 

[OneZero]

On 8/8/2022 at 7:00 PM, Rasseru2 said:

No. Total cost for operations on both eyes excluding lenses.

Rasseru2,

OK, 97,227 Baht for both eyes at Sriphat excuding the multifocal lenses.

What was total cost, ie including the multifocal lenses?