Living with Dialysis in Thailand

[AntiWinter]

Hello good people and I thank you in advance for any help & advice you can give me.

 

I am a Type 1 Diabetic (Insulin Dependent) for over 30 years now but was just told by my Endocrinologist that My Kidneys are leaking protein and that this in irreversible. He told me that I was on my way to having to use Dialysis. He did say however that there are ways that I can "prolong" this and I am now in Canada so I will be visiting some specialists over the next while. 

 

I am researching this as we speak and it doesn't look good for an active lifestyle any more or even for working etc. I am only 53 and still wanted to continue working and living most of my life in Thailand. I still have all of my belongings in Thailand. 

 

My question is, is this possible anywhere there? From what I'm reading, people to be on the machine 2 or 3 times per week so are there any cities or even smaller towns etc. that would have Dialysis Machines for use as in; Pattaya, Phuket, BKK, etc?

 

I have spent several years living in Thailand and although I am single now I can speak Thai fairly well.

 

If anyone has direct experience with this I could sure use some advice however any advice would be helpful of course. 

 

I have never even had any Health Insurance there but know that there are a few companies offering some pretty good coverage and yes I have a lawyer who is willing to look over the policies for me if needed but does anyone know if these would cover Dialysis? 

 

Thanks for the help and I'm sure not looking forward to this part of my life. 

[rgs2001uk]

This isnt what you want to hear, but never mind, stay at home.

 

You wont get any company here offering free dialysis treatment.

 

There was a girl used to post on here who had to go back to the UK for the same problem.

One of the wifes friends gets this for free, she is Thai, you aint, you will pay for it.

 

My brother had a transplant about 30 years ago, and now the kidney is shagged, he is back on dialysis in the UK.

 

Best of luck to you, stay where you are, with your condition there is nothing here, unless of course you are mega rich.

[Sheryl]

It is available in large urban hospitals but very expensive.

Even if you are able to get an insurance policy (doubtful) it will exclude anything related to a pre existing condition. Do no cover for dialysis or anything remotely related to your diabetes.

unless you are very well off financially, not feasible to do in thailand.

[NancyL]

I assist expats with medical problems in Chiang Mai and for a time, I was helping a woman who had dialysis at a clinic here. The cost was about 2000 baht per session at the private clinic, much less than the cost at the hospital, even the gov't hospital. She was really pleased with the service and how she was treated with respect. Much better than in the U.S., where she was on disability and not treated well. However, there was a staff change at the private clinic here and she found her concerns about pain in her arm during dialysis weren't adequately addressed.

Part of the problem was that the doctor at the CM clinic (and her doctor at the gov't hospital) recommended three times weekly dialysis, but to save money, she tried to get by with once or twice a week treatments. This vastly reduced the respect she received from the staff when she failed to show up for appointments and blamed them because she didn't feel good.

In the end she returned to U.S. where her health care costs were free. Edited August 15, 2014 by NancyL