Pacemakers

[Spee]

Hi All,

Does anyone know if the term "pacemaker" has a Thai language equivalent? I would have posted this in the language forum but also had a couple of other questions.

My partner's mother has a bad ticker. She has seen a doctor and from what I can gather, it sounds like he has recommended implanting one of these devices. My partner wasn't sure how to call it, so she said something like "fai fa heart inside" which I interpreted as a pacemaker.

Her mother is just a simple country woman with little education to speak of and she is afraid of such a surgery. My partner was also worried and didn't know what to say, but was reassured a lot when I told her that millions of people have these all over the world.

So my questions are:

- Any advice to help get her mother over the fear of the unknown?

- Does anyone have a cardiologist to recommend who is skilled in this surgical practice?

- Any suggestions on location and approximate cost in Thailand? We are up country in the central provinces, but I'd would take her to Bangkok or somewhere else if that is where the top practitioners are.

TIA for any advice offered.

Cheers,

Spee

[Sheryl]

"Fai Fa inthe heart" would probably be it.

The best way for her to get over her fear would be to meet someone else who has had the procedure.

As a surgery, it is an extremely simple procedure. It doesn ot involve surgery on the heart iotself, cutting through bone or anything of the sort. The wires of the device are threaded into the heart through blood vessels and the device just placed under the skin. Minimal dioscomfort afterwards, uop and about same day. It is a very minor surgical procedure. She may not understand this and imagine it to be something major.

More complex is being sure that it is what she really needs. And yes, the best cardiologists are in Bangkok.

The one who has been most often recommended on this board is Dr. Visut at Bumrungrad. You would not want to have the proecudrue done there -- quite frankly a waste of money as it will run to 10-20 times the price at a government hospital -- but it might be worth having a consultation just to get a second opinion, and also hopefully to have a doctro explain to her a little better what the procedure involves. Would need to bring records of all tests done with her to avoid having them unnecessarily repeated.

Among the government hospitals, Rachatwithi Hospital near Victory monument has the longest track record for all types of cardiac surgery. Siriraj would also be OK.