Gastrologist I think is the right term.

[elgordo38]

My g/f is complaining of stomach pain right behind the belly button. I took her to Chiang Mai Ram twice and he tried to hit me with a 9700 baht drug prescription which I filled

elsewhere for 1140 bahts. I was not impressed with this guy my g/f did all the talking and he smiled and interjected a bit from time to time. Anyone know a good doctor in this field?

Beaucoup Thanks

Edited May 28, 2016 by elgordo38

[unclueng]

It's a gastroenterologist.

[jadee]

Do you mean a good doctor in Chiang Mai or in Thailand or elsewhere? There's always Bumrungrad in Bangkok if you need a more Western experience.

[slapout]

If she can wait until Monday, take her out to see doc Morgan across the road from the new hospital just past tesco on Hang dong road. She has a green cross on footpath in front of her clinic, right before a big lotto sales display of several tables.

She is straight talking, speaks good English along with her Thai and does not mind being ask questions. If Morgan cant help she will put you on to some place or someone who can.

[metisdead]

Moving to the Health forum.

[lostinisaan]

OP, that could be anything. Please watch her closely. Here's an older thread, that might be of help:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/294290-looking-for-good-gastroenterologist/

It was about 13 years ago when my wife had severe stomach pain and she couldn't even walk anymore. Took her to the Sisaket hospital on a Saturday night. Then the shock..

Eight seriously wounded girls, boys, men and women laying here, many of them bleeding from several wounds.

A guy who's usually the clerk where you have to fill out a form, wearing a white coat tried his best. no doctor available for a long time.

I finally helped a little bit stopped a serious bleeding at a guy's arm by using a bandage.

Then off to the private hospital. Two of these guys didn't survive the hospital, because the help came too late.

There's no emergency team ready for an emergency operation waiting. Never have an accident on the weekend....

best of luck for your gf and you. Hope she's well soon,

Edited May 28, 2016 by lostinisaan

[lostinisaan]

If she can wait until Monday, take her out to see doc Morgan across the road from the new hospital just past tesco on Hang dong road. She has a green cross on footpath in front of her clinic, right before a big lotto sales display of several tables.

She is straight talking, speaks good English along with her Thai and does not mind being ask questions. If Morgan cant help she will put you on to some place or someone who can.

All these doctors usually work fulltime at a hospital. And that's where the OP should go to.

The smaller clinics do not have Ultrasound, etc...which could be very helpful...please don't get me wrong, nothing against Morgan.

A doctor shouldn't have a problem when patients are asking questions. They have to swear Hippocrates's oath....

[johnatong]

That is an interesting assertion. Is there a Thai translation of an ancient oath written in Greek ?

I fact very few, if any, modern day doctors swear the oath ! But perhaps you can name the medical schools who still adhere to this ancient ritual.

[elgordo38]

Do you mean a good doctor in Chiang Mai or in Thailand or elsewhere? There's always Bumrungrad in Bangkok if you need a more Western experience.

My apologies. I thought when I said Chiang Mai Ram this was understood. She is not bleeding etc. but seems in discomfort some of the time. I personally had this condition some years ago and just popped a couple ant-acid till it disappeared. This doctor at Chiang Mai Ram did see her twice and seemed to rely on the prescription pad more than anything else. Me I never take pills unless it is absolutely necessary.

[chickenslegs]

My wife had similar symptoms.

To cut a long story short, I eventually suggested to the doctor (Queen Sirikrit, Sattahip) that she had appendicitis and asked for a blood test.

Luckily I still remembered my symptoms - pain in the belly button region then, later, pain in the groin area - from when I was 11 years old (1966).

A quick keyhole op. and problem fixed (the wife that is - in 1966 it was a bigger deal and a 6 inch scar).

Edited May 28, 2016 by chickenslegs

[johnatong]

My wife had similar symptoms.

To cut a long story short, I eventually suggested to the doctor (Queen Sirikrit, Sattahip) that she had appendicitis and asked for a blood test.

Luckily I still remembered my symptoms - pain in the belly button region then, later, pain in the groin area - from when I was 11 years old (1966).

A quick keyhole op. and problem fixed (the wife that is - in 1966 it was a bigger deal and a 6 inch scar).

Does a blood test confirm a diagnosis of appendicitis ?

[elgordo38]

My wife had similar symptoms.

To cut a long story short, I eventually suggested to the doctor (Queen Sirikrit, Sattahip) that she had appendicitis and asked for a blood test.

Luckily I still remembered my symptoms - pain in the belly button region then, later, pain in the groin area - from when I was 11 years old (1966).

A quick keyhole op. and problem fixed (the wife that is - in 1966 it was a bigger deal and a 6 inch scar).

Does a blood test confirm a diagnosis of appendicitis ?

Thanks for your concern. Her appendix has already been taken out.

[chiang mai]

There are three prominent gastroenterologists in Chiang Mai and they all trained under Dr Kanika who is the retired Dr Emeritus in Gastroenterology (CMU) at Rajavej, they are Dr Pisset at Sriphat, Dr Jaruwat at RAM and Dr Jeerasak at Rajavej. I've consulted with all three and by far the best is Dr Jeerasak at Rajavej, he's got a good bed side manner and he's very skilled at what he does, he's backed up by Dr Kanika as the need arises hence there's a good knowledge base. I stopped going to RAM for the reasons you mentioned plus the gastro dept there simply didn't seem interested in trying to solve my problem. Dr Pisset is good but he leaves me concerned because of his habit of shouting at verbally destroying junior nurses in public, very strange behaviour. BTW Mrs CM had a gastroscopy (camera into the stomach) under Dr Jeerasak and she spoke highly of him, his diagnosis was spot on also.

[chiang mai]

BTW a pain behind the belly button may point to gall bladder problems, perhaps consider an abdominal ultra sound exam to check for gall stones.

[lopburi3]

A blood test is as basic as fever (which if taking pain relievers may not be accurate) - and can quickly point to infection. My wife just had acute diverticulitis (extreme chills/pain) and blood/urine test result showed infection by white cell count so next step was abdominal CT scan which immediately showed infection point (without need for contrast dye). This was followed by 4 days in patient treatment/recovery.

[Sheryl]

Be aware that the pain is not necessarily GI in origin - could be a gyn problem, or vascular (abdominal aortic aneurysm) etc. For which reason, unless there are other clearly GI symptoms I would start with Dr. Morgan.