I Need Some Answer?

[HELP123]

Whether can I buy the Second Route medicine by assay report or prescription for 2 years treatment?

Main in 3TC(strypped-down),AZT(strypped-down), EFV(strypped-down), ATV ,Zilarvir and Kaletra. Also need get their update price in Thailand's pharmacies?

[Sheryl]

You have to get these drugs from a doctor at a hospital.

[HELP123]

1. How can I buy anti-HIV medicine in Thailand by Chinese tradition prescription for 2 years treatment?

The cheaper medicine is prefered.

2. And what's the formal procedure? Telling doctor that I dose myself with medical combination and showing doctor the HIV(+) paper are all the necessary condition?

[Sheryl]

Since none of us are the doctor who would treat you, none of us can tell you what will be required, and even if you contact a hospital they also will nto be able to tell you without having a doctor consultation first.

Certainly you should bring with you all medical records from China. A doctor is very unlikely to prescribe these drugs to you just on the basis of what you say.

[dukkha]

I just had a dinner conversation with a farang friend my own age, 63...He is constantly frustrated by thai culture so I said well why stay here...his reply was: Well if you cant afford medical treatment here then you should not live here in relation to my saying that on my Australian pension I could not afford any hospital medical treatment for major illness, which will come at my age....wow it brought me down rapidly and food for thought, as you may or not know, Australia has a health system whereby one does not have to pay for such treatments..but Thailand has been my home for 10 years and the thought of leaving leaves me depressed not to mention I would have to say goodbye to my thai partner of 4 years..how many other farangs of my age are in the same situation? Stay healthy is the logical retort, but illness is so often random, something we may not have any control over..........NO I am not rushing to buy a ticket home! Dukkha

[Livinginexile]

I just had a dinner conversation with a farang friend my own age, 63...He is constantly frustrated by thai culture so I said well why stay here...his reply was: Well if you cant afford medical treatment here then you should not live here in relation to my saying that on my Australian pension I could not afford any hospital medical treatment for major illness, which will come at my age....wow it brought me down rapidly and food for thought, as you may or not know, Australia has a health system whereby one does not have to pay for such treatments..but Thailand has been my home for 10 years and the thought of leaving leaves me depressed not to mention I would have to say goodbye to my thai partner of 4 years..how many other farangs of my age are in the same situation? Stay healthy is the logical retort, but illness is so often random, something we may not have any control over..........NO I am not rushing to buy a ticket home! Dukkha

Why would you have to leave Thailand if you get sick?

You could just go home and then return when the illness has been treated!

Are you addicted to Thailand so much that you can't bear to leave even for a few weeks?

[camerata]

I just had a dinner conversation with a farang friend my own age, 63...He is constantly frustrated by thai culture so I said well why stay here...his reply was: Well if you cant afford medical treatment here then you should not live here in relation to my saying that on my Australian pension I could not afford any hospital medical treatment for major illness, which will come at my age....wow it brought me down rapidly and food for thought, as you may or not know, Australia has a health system whereby one does not have to pay for such treatments..but Thailand has been my home for 10 years and the thought of leaving leaves me depressed not to mention I would have to say goodbye to my thai partner of 4 years..how many other farangs of my age are in the same situation? Stay healthy is the logical retort, but illness is so often random, something we may not have any control over..........NO I am not rushing to buy a ticket home! Dukkha

I think a lot of us are in this situation. The choices I guess are get treatment at a good hospital with reasonable prices, like Chula, or go home for treatment and then come back.

[dukkha]

Thanks Camerata for your measured and intelligent reply.

My concerns are if it is a terminal illness I would find it difficult to meet medical costs.

Addicted to Thailand.....sure!

Have been back to Oz 5 times in 10 years and found it a souless experience.

My conversations dont include Investment Properties, children, sport, shopping, Australian Idol, Interest Rates, new restaurants, overseas holidays, Stock Market, blah blah blah....not one person, that I can recall, asked me what was it like teaching at a Buddhist University for 4 years, culture of Thailand, but they always ask about financial things..give me a break..besides I dont have money to fly back and forth for medical treatments...my cardio is at BNH, one room per night, 7500 baht which does not include doctors fees, operations, medications etc...will look into Chula...how do their prices compare with BNH...a cardio visit is 400 baht, reasonable, but anything like lab tests are in the vicinity of 4000 baht plus...

I know BKK Christian hospital does have 4 bed wards at around 1000 baht per night, but the level of care is dubious.

A thai friend, unemployed but with a farang sponsor, had a haemharroid opeeration there, and more than one year on I just heard he is still dressing the wound, we call that butchery in Oz and of course there would ensue a process of litigation, not here I am afraid. I nearly died on operating table in Chiangmai and after the debacle the surgeon admitted a level of liability due to the aenasthetic procedure...then I had insurance...6 representatives from AIA asked the surgeon what was he going to do about it...his answer was to take 30 000 baht of the bill...9 days in ICU for a botched job, yeah yeah, can happen in the west I know..and there is no point in taking out health insurance as even a thai doctor said at your age anything will be deemed as a pre-existing condition, waste of your money he said...I know I am off topic however I thought some others of us might think about this subject as we become older and thus sicker...as an ill health retired teacher of over 23 years I know about illness, hospitals, operations etc...oooooops had better lighten up before you all discover my condition, Hypochondriasis...but they say such people live longer...yes it is about quality and not quantity...stay well my friends.

Dukkha

[lopburi3]

Don't know the current price at Chula but about 5 years ago the large a/c single rooms in main building were about 1,800 baht per day as I recall. Believe price was income related and this was highest level. Most items very inexpensive - although the MRI was no cheaper than some private hospitals and we had issues with the operators not observing for drug reactions.

[jboras]

Whether can I buy the Second Route medicine by assay report or prescription for 2 years treatment?

Main in 3TC(strypped-down),AZT(strypped-down), EFV(strypped-down), ATV ,Zilarvir and Kaletra. Also need get their update price in Thailand's pharmacies?

This regimen for 2 years! It would be much cheaper if you have access to these overseas (like Australia where they are free for Australians).

On the same regiment I found it cheaper to arrange with my doctor for 1 year supply. It means making 1 trip a year to get the supplies and back again... Good way to do your bloods as well to make sure the drugs are still working!

The cost of these drugs for so long ... not sure how much the generic (copies are) would be too much. When I last asked... years ago.... 1 month supply of these drugs was equal to a ticket to Australia and back!

[Sheryl]

I just had a dinner conversation with a farang friend my own age, 63...He is constantly frustrated by thai culture so I said well why stay here...his reply was: Well if you cant afford medical treatment here then you should not live here in relation to my saying that on my Australian pension I could not afford any hospital medical treatment for major illness, which will come at my age....wow it brought me down rapidly and food for thought, as you may or not know, Australia has a health system whereby one does not have to pay for such treatments..but Thailand has been my home for 10 years and the thought of leaving leaves me depressed not to mention I would have to say goodbye to my thai partner of 4 years..how many other farangs of my age are in the same situation? Stay healthy is the logical retort, but illness is so often random, something we may not have any control over..........NO I am not rushing to buy a ticket home! Dukkha

This is what health insurance is for. Get some!

It is easy to say that one would go back home, or do XYZ, but you never know what exactly may happen. I have seen some really awful situations occur due to foreigners not bothering to get insurance for one reason or another:

A lady who suddenly collapsed at the BTS with a massive brain hemorrhage comes to mind. You can't specify an affordable hospital when you are comatose. And even the most affordable (in her case, Chula) isn't cheap when you are weeks in the ICU. Became a serious burden and crisis for her family.

A man who had a massive heart attack and cardiac arrest, resucitated but severely brain damaged, more than 6 months in an ICU and his family back home torn apart in arguments as to how or if to pay for his care or the cost of bring him home..these people were literally looking at either abandoning a sibling to streets or losing their life savings. One doubts the individual involved would ever have wanted to inflict this on anyonew, he just never imagined that such a situation would arise.

And these are just a few examples I could recite.

Nobody should be here without some type of insurance. If you have free health care available to you back home, a policy that covers emergency care and medical evacuation might suit (altho not sure it would be any much cheaper than a policy covering hospitalization here in LOS).

The older one gets, the harder it is to enrol in insurance, most companies have an age cap for issuing new policies. So do not delay.

[camerata]

..and there is no point in taking out health insurance as even a thai doctor said at your age anything will be deemed as a pre-existing condition, waste of your money he said...I know I am off topic however I thought some others of us might think about this subject as we become older and thus sicker...

I never took out health insurance in Thailand because of all the cases I heard where the company didn't pay out (or not fully). Then I worked for a company which covered employee health costs and at the same time a farang insurance expert told me at my age I wouldn't find the coverage I wanted at a reasonable price. I do have many pre-existing conditions. Right now I'm with the prakan sangkhom scheme and will probably stay with that after I retire. I doubt I could afford regular health insurance premiums when I retire without a pension.