Please recommend a skin cancer dr in Bangas

[ghworker2010]

I want to see a dermatologist in Bangas that has done a 'course' on skin cancer. A lot of them obviously have general training in this area but limited experience.

Does anyone know of a Dr where checking for skin cancers is their speciality. Back in the nanny state of oz there are many dermatologists who specialise in this field. Over here I cant find anyone.

thanks

[Sheryl]

I have no idea where Bangas is, but in any case in the whole of Thailand I know of only one doctor who I consider really competent in this area. There are a few more who have "taken a course" or even done a fellowship or residency in dermatology in a western country, but none of them have made skin cancer their specialty and really kept up with it. (To be fair, very hard to do that working in Thailand).

Dr. Anna at BPH is the person to see for skin cancer, and it is worth the trip. She will do a whole body examination and skin cancer is her professional focus.

https://www.bangkokpattayahospital.com/en/doctor-profile?v_id=7&depid=2

[ghworker2010]

thanks sheryl, bangas means bangkok! That contact above is in Pats. Can anyone recommend one in the big city of bkk

Edited January 13, 2016 by ghworker2010

[Sheryl]

No, I cannot, and believe me I have tried hard to find one, and recently - I don't live in Bangkojk but it is closer to me than Pattaya.

The best that Bangkok had to offer was disinterested at best and wrongly thought the lesion was nothing. Biopsy (at my instance) proved it malignant and I then made what for me is a 6 hour round trip drive to Pattaya to see Dr. Anna.

I suggest you do the same.

[wpcoe]

Coincidentally I just returned from BPH this afternoon where Dr.Anna removed a basal cell carcinoma from my arm. She is definitely top notch, and indeed has specialized in skin cancer.

That said, be wary of the nurses and support staff that work with her. The level of competency with some of them is questionable. Dr.Anna will give you a clear and unequivocal explanation of what your steps in treatment should be, with the nurse in the room, and after you leave Dr.Anna, the nurse sometimes does something different.

Today during the routine pre-visit BP/pulse/weight check, the nurse asked me if I were on heart medications ("No") and how I felt ("Bored" ) I then went to the waiting lounge and she showed up a minute later to manually check my pulse, and she did a check for a full minute (rather than the usual 15-seconds and multiply by four) so I asked what was up. She didn't want to say, but finally told me the BP/pulse machine showed my pulse as 38 (!). Her manual test showed my pulse as 50(!). I checked myself and came up with 64, which was still lower than my normal 72. She checked again and got 60, so said that was fine.

When time came to enter the surgery room there were two nurses and I asked each of them to please re-check my pulse. THEY WOULDN'T. One immediately left the room, and the other one just continued tinkering with supplies for the operation. When Dr.Anna entered, I apologised for asking a doctor to check my pulse, but explained the earlier situation and wanted to be doubly sure we should proceed with the operation, and that the nurses were not humoring me. Dr.Anna just said, "Okay, *I* will take your pulse." and she did. It was still 60, so we apparently were good to go. It was clear she had not been advised of any irregularity with my heart.

Also, on my visit last week to get the results of the biopsy, Dr.Anna suggested I give my BUPA insurance card to her staff to submit today's operation for pre-approval, so I did. While I was waiting today for the operating room, a staff member (nurse?) told me that after the operation I would need to wait two hours before leaving so they could see if insurance would pay for the operation. I called BUPA and they had sent approval last week to the hospital. Full coverage. The staff member apparently hadn't even checked my file before telling me I'd have to wait two hours.

Next on my agenda: See a cardiologist ASAP after I get back to Hua Hin tomorrow. Like Sheryl and her long trip to Pattaya just to see Dr. Anna, now that I live in Hua Hin, I still make the trip back to Pattaya to see her, too.

I have experienced other questionable actions by the nursing staff in Dermatology. Dr. Anna, however, is rock solid and is a straight shooter. Her English is excellent and she understands my strange American humor.

[Bernard Flint]

hemp oil is the answer for the cure, well, thats what the nutty conspiracy theorists say

[Sheryl]

My experiences with that hospital match what wpcoe said, only were even worse as regards billing and insurance issues, and extended to their billing office as well as the nurses (who have what to me is an unseemly involvement in the collection of money aspect of things).

Still, despite all this and the 6 hour drive, I went and will grit my teeth and go again if in need of diagnosis or treatment of possible skin cancer. just isn't anyone else in Thailand like Dr Anna AFAIK.

And one can understand why a Thai doctor with specific specialization in skin cancer -- a problem rare in Thais -- would choose to work in a large Pattaya hospital. Never ending supply of over-sun exposed farang...

[dsurin66]

Saroj Suvanasuthi, M.D.,Ph.D works at Samitivej hospital and he is your man for melanoma checking:

https://www.samitivejhospitals.com/en/fotofinder-new-skin-cancer-screening/