My 52k medpark visit

[Celsius]

No insurance. Waste of money.

 

Woke up with horrible pain around my right abdomen. Had the same pain a year ago where i suspected stones, but nothing was found in another hospital.

 

Wife drives me to medpark because you only live once. Pain getting a lot worse. Specialist not on duty, so i get admitted to ER. I beg for painkillers. Get 2 different injections. A nurse sees me and wants to do pee test, blood test. I am panicking and saying my last goodbyes to wifey amd demand a full contrast CT scan. Wish granted. After a pee and blood test i go to a prep room. They take my blood pressure 10 times because that is what they do and bring me to a CT scan machine. A huge Siemens masterpiece where you have to follow orders and do as it says. "Take a deep breath". "Breathe normally". Oh yes, before they put contrast in me the 2 cute nurses tell me to turn around as they will stick a pipe up my hole and fill it with water. I never heard of this procedure before and start to panick. She tells me whatever you do hold that water inside your bum and don't let it go for 20 minutes. One nurse was facing me while the other one was pumping liters of water on the other side. I swear to god the nurse who did the pumping enjoyed it so much that the other nurse was telling her to stop twice. In the end they almost hi fived eachother.

 

Anyhoo the diagnosis came in and it was indeed the stones and some small cysts on my liver. See the specislist afterwardd and get some meds. Time to pay.....52k for all that work. To be honest, I was expecting almost 100k. The ct scan was very thural. I don't think this would cost much less at some mid tier private hospital.....so why not go to the best?

 

[timendres]

13 minutes ago, Celsius said:

I swear to god the nurse who did the pumping enjoyed it so much that the other nurse was telling her to stop twice. In the end they almost hi fived eachother.

I can't stop laughing.

[grain]

Sounds like they gave you a barium enema, a test that helps to see the large bowel more clearly on an X-ray.

[Sheryl]

I am not clear what the purpose of your post is. Are you complaining about the cost? it was you who insisted on the CT, which was likely the biggest ticket item. Might have been possible to diagnose the stones with ultrasound.

 

Liver cysts are common and nothing to do with your pain.

 

Gallstones and kidney stones (not clear which hyo uhave), o nthe otjher hand, would.

 

There are no "best" hospitals only best doctors. Who often work at more than one hospital.  Going to any particular hospital, expensive or otherwise, never guarantees you wuill get the best care. I suggest that next time, unless a life-threatening emergency, you select an appropriately qualified specialist and go when he/she is available,

 

 

[Sheryl]

29 minutes ago, grain said:

Sounds like they gave you a barium enema, a test that helps to see the large bowel more clearly on an X-ray.

I think he had a CT (which is what he demanded) with rectal contrast media. Not unusual. He certainly did not just have a BE xray.

 

 

[Celsius]

43 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

I am not clear what the purpose of your post is. Are you complaining about the cost?

Not complaining at all. Was very happy with the outcome and the price. My point is that the price I paid at MedPark is probably similar what one would pay for some run down private hospital. 

 

I disgree a little about hospitals. The point was that MedPark is a very new hospital, so the equipment and tools used would be top notch. Also it is very clean. It sometimes makes a bit of a difference in the quality of overall care.

 

Previously (a year ago) I had the same pain. Went to a certain private hospital with pee test and ultrasound and they did not find a thing. Also I was insured and still paid almost 10k out of my pocket. This time I insisted on a CT scan and am happy I did so because there are few other things that worried me, not just the pain.

 

I was not aware about rectal contrast. This is what took me a bit by surprise, so I tried to make my post a bit humorous. That is all.

 

 

 

 

Edited May 26, 2023 by Celsius

[Celsius]

@Sheryl

 

I got prescribed 3 meds. Paikiller which I did not take as the pain stopped. Rowatinex which is for kidney stones and Tamsulosin for I don't know what because I did not have problem urinating or have enlarged prostate. My only diagnosis was very small kidney stones.

 

 Been talkingTamsulosin for almost a week before sleep and noticed I have retrograde ejaculation. I mean nothing comes out no matter how hard I try ????????. I read that this is somewhat common side effect, but as I have still one week to go I don't know if there would be any long term effects. I really don't know why I was prescribed this at all. Is this another case of overprescribing medication for nothing or am I wrong?

[Sheryl]

2 hours ago, Celsius said:

@Sheryl

 

I got prescribed 3 meds. Paikiller which I did not take as the pain stopped. Rowatinex which is for kidney stones and Tamsulosin for I don't know what because I did not have problem urinating or have enlarged prostate. My only diagnosis was very small kidney stones.

 

 Been talkingTamsulosin for almost a week before sleep and noticed I have retrograde ejaculation. I mean nothing comes out no matter how hard I try ????????. I read that this is somewhat common side effect, but as I have still one week to go I don't know if there would be any long term effects. I really don't know why I was prescribed this at all. Is this another case of overprescribing medication for nothing or am I wrong?

The  tamsulosin is to aid in passing the stones. Although not having trouble peeing now you might if/as the stones pass...as well as considerable discomfort. The tamsulosin helps avoid or reduce that. The retrograde ejaculation is temporary and will stop when you go off the drug. 

 

Apparently the stones are small enough that they think you may be able to pass them without need for other intervention. Did they instruct you to strain your urine? (To see if stones/stone fragments have passed.)?

 

With kidney stones it is useful to know what they are made of as there are several kinds  and specific dietary advise for each to help avoid them in future (that plus of course drinking plenty of water).

[Celsius]

1 hour ago, Sheryl said:

The  tamsulosin is to aid in passing the stones. Although not having trouble peeing now you might if/as the stones pass...as well as considerable discomfort. The tamsulosin helps avoid or reduce that. The retrograde ejaculation is temporary and will stop when you go off the drug. 

 

Apparently the stones are small enough that they think you may be able to pass them without need for other intervention. Did they instruct you to strain your urine? (To see if stones/stone fragments have passed.)?

 

With kidney stones it is useful to know what they are made of as there are several kinds  and specific dietary advise for each to help avoid them in future (that plus of course drinking plenty of water).

Thanks. Appteciate the reply.

[JustAnotherHun]

52k? Wow. I wish I'd run a clinic in Thailand :-).

 

In Germany we get between 120 and 150 Euros for a CT. Plus additional costs for contrast medium, medical examination and advice it's maximum 450 Euros all together. Privatly insured patients pay a maximum of 1.035 Euros (38K THB).

 

But at least you had fun and two cute nurses. Much more cute than ours, I guess ????

Edited June 1, 2023 by JustAnotherHun

[ExpatOilWorker]

I have had a brain CT scan with contrast for 6,000 baht at a different hospital. You certainly paid a premium at Medpark.

[Celsius]

13 minutes ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

I have had a brain CT scan with contrast for 6,000 baht at a different hospital. You certainly paid a premium at Medpark.

I think you can't compare the two. I had a full abdomen scan including my back.  Also had a detailed analysis of every organ on the spot. That being said 6k baht is very cheap so please share the name of the hospital. Also was it just a scan or was someone there to interpret the results?

[ExpatOilWorker]

31 minutes ago, Celsius said:

I think you can't compare the two. I had a full abdomen scan including my back.  Also had a detailed analysis of every organ on the spot. That being said 6k baht is very cheap so please share the name of the hospital. Also was it just a scan or was someone there to interpret the results?

Scan and full report and doctors visit.

Nick Walters at Mission Hospital. 

He is a fantastic doctor. 

[Celsius]

12 minutes ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

Scan and full report and doctors visit.

Nick Walters at Mission Hospital. 

He is a fantastic doctor. 

 

Very cheap. Did insurance cover something or was this really the full price out of pocket?

[In Full Agreement]

 

 

Maybe they decided a "colon cleansing" was just the ticket for your ailment?

 

[ExpatOilWorker]

28 minutes ago, Celsius said:

 

Very cheap. Did insurance cover something or was this really the full price out of pocket?

That is the full price as paid cash.

[h90]

19 hours ago, JustAnotherHun said:

52k? Wow. I wish I'd run a clinic in Thailand :-).

 

In Germany we get between 120 and 150 Euros for a CT. Plus additional costs for contrast medium, medical examination and advice it's maximum 450 Euros all together. Privatly insured patients pay a maximum of 1.035 Euros (38K THB).

 

But at least you had fun and two cute nurses. Much more cute than ours, I guess ????

If it is in Germany similar to Austria than the docs still make great money as they take only 12 seconds per patient (I exaggerate, but often the system is complete overloaded and no one has time).