Are you prepared for emergency illness

[scubascuba3]

A Thai lady i know, her father is in ICU Siracha, 100k baht a day and i thought it was just falang they milked. 

 

Another lady her son was in ICU after an accident, 3m baht later, got him moved to govt hospital, private hospital didn't want him moved. Recovered well at govt hospital

[Henryford]

If you get cancer in your 60s/70s you are probably a gonner anyway, despite what insurance/money you have. Ask Steve Jobs. And don't think the NHS is a miracle cure, at best you might get a few years while you go through chemo, which would ruin your life anyway. Live your life as you want and accept it's over when the Grim Reaper comes calling.

[Henryford]

1 hour ago, The Fugitive said:

I went for an interview for a post with UK NHS of recovering money from overseas patients. The office was more of a cubicle with a few lever arch files and no staff! I got the impression the work was no more than a token gesture and absolutely a losing battle. A couple of years afterwards I read somewhere that our NHS had given up doing this. 

You could easily solve by requesting a payment up front equivalent to the expected treatment cost. But that is too simple for our Marxist NHS to comprehend.

[The Fugitive]

14 minutes ago, roo860 said:

Money up front or medical insurance?

That would definitely make sense with our wonderfully creative NHS accountants. The £1.3 billion 'recovered' since 2015 might not only be debt collected after the event but could include payments obtained in advance!

[thaibeachlovers]

On 4/9/2023 at 3:52 PM, Henryford said:

If you get cancer in your 60s/70s you are probably a gonner anyway, despite what insurance/money you have. Ask Steve Jobs. And don't think the NHS is a miracle cure, at best you might get a few years while you go through chemo, which would ruin your life anyway. Live your life as you want and accept it's over when the Grim Reaper comes calling.

If I could go back to before my op for prostate cancer knowing what I know now, I'd absolutely do that.

[sharksy]

On 4/3/2023 at 6:43 AM, scubascuba3 said:

Exactly, who wants to live 80s once you become very unwell, mobility not good. 70s it's doable to be fit and healthy

Just ask anyone who is 79

[scubascuba3]

1 minute ago, sharksy said:

Just ask anyone who is 79

Depends what health condition they may have, if Parkinson's I'd definitely choose early death

[georgegeorgia]

16 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Depends what health condition they may have, if Parkinson's I'd definitely choose early death

What about scoliosis,it seems I'm getting this the doctor said .

My spine is starting to curve ...

[The Fugitive]

Just now, scubascuba3 said:

Depends what health condition they may have, if Parkinson's I'd definitely choose early death

Thai mother-in-law had Parkinson's Disease amongst other conditions such as one kidney. Managed very well IMHO.  Her medications continuously reviewed and tweaked. She went into general decline at 76 and didn't look good at all. The end came just weeks later from an accidental head injury.

[Ralf001]

On 4/7/2023 at 11:16 AM, Lacessit said:

Vaidam Health: "Pet Scan cost in Thailand is between USD 1530 to USD 1870. The total cost of the treatment depends on the diagnosis and facilities opted by the patient"

 

BookIMED "The average price of PET/CT in Thailand is $19058, the minimum price is $15246, and the maximum price is $22869. Request the price. United States of America."

 

Is it my fault I found the BookiMed site or something similar on my original search? Or the unit may be baht instead of dollars?

 

You are also assuming the cost of scanning a single body part such as the knee is the same as a full body scan with all the bells and whistles.

 

I can't find the  original link of $15,000 , Google probably puts up and takes down thousands of links every day.

 

Your repetitive harping does not even possess any originality or creativity. End of discussion with you.

 

 

In a PET scan thread back in 2019 our resident medical go to lady suggested another forum member paid 63,000 ($1800)............ I doubt they are now $15000.

 

https://aseannow.com/topic/1079763-the-affordable-pet-scan-cost-in-bangkok/

[scubascuba3]

5 hours ago, The Fugitive said:

Thai mother-in-law had Parkinson's Disease amongst other conditions such as one kidney. Managed very well IMHO.  Her medications continuously reviewed and tweaked. She went into general decline at 76 and didn't look good at all. The end came just weeks later from an accidental head injury.

My Dad is 87 with Parkinson's, last few years he's a shadow of his former self, a torturous slow death

[scubascuba3]

7 hours ago, georgegeorgia said:

What about scoliosis,it seems I'm getting this the doctor said .

My spine is starting to curve ...

I know a guy who is very fit with a curved spine 71, maybe the same condition, never mentions it

 

[thaibeachlovers]

On 4/18/2023 at 10:30 AM, sharksy said:

Just ask anyone who is 79

Going by my present age problems, I have no wish to see 79, let alone 80

[MicroB]

Dementia has not been mentioned. Using the US population as representative of a Western population, 5% of 65-74 year olds will have Alzheimers, 13% of 75-84 year olds have, and after 84 years, its 33%.

 

There's no cure. Early diagnosis means you can receive medication that slows the pace of the disease in some people, but by the end, you are on a bunch of anti-psychotics to control your behaviour.

 

AD is also a terminal diagnosis; AD will in the end kill you, usually cardiac failure as the bits of the brain die off. The irony is, in the UK, the majority of pace maker recipients have dementia; the pacemaker keeps the patient alive long after the patient has gone. Familiies have to resort to court orders to get the thing turned off, to prevent a continuance of a living nightmare.

 

Dementia is a diagnosis few people accept or believe. In 2017 my father, who had been living alone for 4 months while his wife was in hospital. was diagnosed with AD. No major crisis had triggered the mini mental test, just little changes in behaviour about the house. He passed away in September last year, after 2 weeks basically comatose at home. The Docs wanted him fitted with a pacemaker. This family pushed against that; he wouldn't have gotten out of hospital, a miserable end.

 

Looking back, at first he was dismissive of the diagnosis, insisting they had made a mistake. Those who did not know him might have agreed; outwardly, he was fully functio.nal. For a while, if I let him, he might have been able to drive his car. Two years in, it was more apparently, but he was still reasonably independant, popping down to the shops, even using a card machine to pay for a pub meal. He was even taking himself to the hospital for macular degeneration checks. At that stage, he knew there was something wrong with him, but couldn't recall what it was (for reference, he was a retired army Captain, 50 years in the medical field, and in retirement, he had gained a BA ans MA in Humanities)/ From 2020-22, he went downhill rapidly, possibly hastened by COVID lockdowns. He couldn't dress himself, subject to foul mouthed outbursts, increased anxiety, defecating in bed. His time was improved by family and carers, and he still enjoyed some good times.

 

But AD doesn't completely rob the individual. Most of the time, in conversations, he would recycle the same old anecdote, increasingly things from when he was a child; perhaps it was his attempt to remain relevant, join in a conversation. But sometimes, there was a light bulb moment, and he had regained his faculties, and you could actually have a conversation that didn't involve him recalling doodle bugs over London.

 

Given the incidence of dementia, and its prognosis, how would that go for an expatriate in Thailand. Living in an alien culture, probably diagnosis will be very late (social faux pas dismissed as something unique to foreigners). Without diagnosis, there is a good chance you will be found lost, possibly in a Thai prison cell. in a pretty miserable way (semi-starved, dehydrated)/

 

With a diagnosis, what then? You end up a burden to Thai society, unless you are flown home and dumped on the street.

 

With Dementia, patients lose the right to refuse treatment. Others have to act in your best interests. It was very hard for me to tell the doctors not to fit a pace maker to a man who had been told he was in heart failure, but I also knew that Dad would not want the treatment.. This is different from a DNR.

 

This chap was lucky, in that he had a Thai family to look out for him. I suspect there are many not so lucky:

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2270423/french-man-lost-in-chiang-mai-forest-found-safe

 

 

 

 

[transam]

On 4/20/2023 at 6:22 AM, thaibeachlovers said:

Going by my present age problems, I have no wish to see 79, let alone 80

Two of my friends are 81/82, they both have medical issues, but we have a good laugh over a few beers.....

[thaibeachlovers]

11 hours ago, transam said:

Two of my friends are 81/82, they both have medical issues, but we have a good laugh over a few beers.....

Enjoy that then.

I haven't had a good rib cracking laugh that left me gagging for breath with friends since the 70s. I think it's something to do with the world not being a place to have a laugh anymore. Even so called comedy shows on tv are not funny anymore.

It's like whistling. When was the last time you heard anyone whistling for enjoyment? I can't even remember the last time I heard someone doing that.

[scubascuba3]

43 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Enjoy that then.

I haven't had a good rib cracking laugh that left me gagging for breath with friends since the 70s. I think it's something to do with the world not being a place to have a laugh anymore. Even so called comedy shows on tv are not funny anymore.

It's like whistling. When was the last time you heard anyone whistling for enjoyment? I can't even remember the last time I heard someone doing that.

i often whistle a little bit, thai lady at Lotus said, good you happy

[Menken]

On 4/3/2023 at 9:41 AM, BritManToo said:

Do you really want to live longer?

Yes. Much longer.

[mokwit]

In the US now, 50% of people die of "frailty" and cognitive decline. Their quality of life isn't better, they just live longer with multiple conditions. It bankrupts their relatives.

Edited April 22, 2023 by mokwit

[transam]

3 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Enjoy that then.

I haven't had a good rib cracking laugh that left me gagging for breath with friends since the 70s. I think it's something to do with the world not being a place to have a laugh anymore. Even so called comedy shows on tv are not funny anymore.

It's like whistling. When was the last time you heard anyone whistling for enjoyment? I can't even remember the last time I heard someone doing that.

The culprit, regarding whistling, is seniors and false teeth......I can still whistle as I have no false teeth.....????

[Olmate]

45 minutes ago, transam said:

The culprit, regarding whistling, is seniors and false teeth......I can still whistle as I have no false teeth.....????

try 'dixie'!! 

[scubascuba3]

52 minutes ago, transam said:

The culprit, regarding whistling, is seniors and false teeth......I can still whistle as I have no false teeth.....????

I've noticed some men whistling because of their false teeth

[transam]

4 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

I've noticed some men whistling because of their false teeth

You can pay extra for that........????

[georgegeorgia]

On 4/20/2023 at 9:22 AM, thaibeachlovers said:

Going by my present age problems, I have no wish to see 79, let alone 80

You don't seem very happy.

You can always go back to Thailand and live if your NZ pension quite easily especially in isaan