Worried about my daughter's health

[xerostar]

I am working in Perth Australia and I'm booked to fly to Thailand on the 1st October, planning to visit my daughter for her 6th birthday.

Two months ago my daughter was ill and she was taken to the local hospital in Sawang Arom. Apparently she recovered.

Since then her mother has had to go to Phuket in search of work. After a long search she managed to find a  job doing traditional massage.

She is with her sister and eldest son and DIL.

I'm in contact with her by LINE.  Over the past few days she has sent me photos of my daughter who does look ill. 

She won't talk to her mother, merely looking at the photos she was sent. 

My wife's older sister is looking after our daughter and had to pay a local resident to drive them to hospital which is 35 Km from home.

She apparently had a blood test and was sent home with a a few tablets. She has not been able to keep the tablets  down merely vomiting them up again.

She has not been eating but sleeping a lot. I  asked about her symptoms but all I get is "she no good" although the hospital did report a 39 degree fever.

I've been trying to encourage my wife to go back home and take our daughter to a private clinic until I get there but it's a long journey from Phuket and she is worried she will lose her new job.

I told her she should take this seriously otherwise she could lose her daughter as well.

I'm seriously worried and feel maybe I should get an earlier flight and go to help my daughter. The lack of information is so frustrating.

From what I understand a child's condition can deteriorate rapidly if she doesn't get the right care. 

From what I've read on the forum the Uthai Thani doc at the govt. hospital is too busy. She may only have case of worms or severe constipation.

I want to take her to a competent GP but apparently there are none in Thailand.

If somebody could recommend a GP or a hospital where we can take her, I'd be grateful. 

If my daughter is well enough to travel I'd rather bring her back to Perth and get her into Princess Margaret hospital for a proper diagnosis and treatment.

I can't sleep worrying about what she might have .. a brain tumor ?.. appendicitis ?  Has she been sexually molested ? bullied ? tick fever?  Dengue fever?

I've been trying to sell my business so I can retire and spend more time with my  family but due to the post-mining boom recession nobody is buying.

So I've been stuck her much longer than I planned.  

Any helpful advice would be appreciated.

 

 

[BKKdreaming]

There are many very good Hospitals all over Thailand , 

 

How far is your daughter  from the largest city ?

  Can you pay someone , maybe a certified nurse a days pay and have someone drive her to see your daughter ?

 

Or pay someone to drive down , pick up daughter and aunt and take them to the "big city" ?

 

or even pay an Ambulance  ( tell them not to speed  )

 

I can read you are going crazy , and I can understand ,  your brain is thinking all the worst things , 

but for a few hundred dollars you should be able to get help for your daughter ,  

 

And make sure they go to a full Hospital and not just a clinic 

 

I am sure Sheryl will have some ideas ,  post  is the closest big city is and she may know the big Hospital

 

good luck and let us know how it goes

[BKKdreaming]

double post

Edited September 17, 2016 by BKKdreaming

[BKKdreaming]

double post

Edited September 17, 2016 by BKKdreaming

[xerostar]

Sorry for multiple posts but every time I got an error message  Error code: EX1205   

saying "something went wrong" and to try again ! So I did !

 

The closest city is Uthai Thani 65 Km  of Nakhon Sawan about 85 Km from home.

 

[xerostar]

Sorry for multiple posts but every time I got an error message  Error code: EX1205   

saying "something went wrong" and to try again ! So I did !

 

The closest city is Uthai Thani 65 Km  of Nakhon Sawan about 85 Km from home.

 

[chiang mai]

Large hospitals from Uthai Thani would mean Phitsanoluk, Ayuthaya or Korat (Nakon Ratchasima) - there are almost certainly decent sized government hospitals closer but those are the centres that I'm aware of that have good medical facilities.

 

And actually, Nakon Sawan is only a couple of hours drive from Chiang Mai on a direct and fast road, maybe that gives you some other options - if you need help with doctors/hospitals there, please shout. I can also recommend a very good GP there if needed. Hiring a driver with a car, an off duty nurse from a local hospital for a day, plus the cost of a GP/Hospital visit shouldn't cost more than say 2,000+1,500+500, excluding treatment costs, if needed.

 

I'm sure Sheryl may be able to add to your options when she comes on line.

 

Good luck

Edited September 17, 2016 by chiang mai

[BKKdreaming]

I think its very important that someone she knows goes with her to comfort her ,

 

she will be scared  and maybe someone might need to sign for her at the Hospital

[bino]

What is the story with your wife? Surely she must be in contact with her family members by LINE also. Can you not get any explanation or information from her?

 

Could you send some money for her to go home and be with your daughter now? As BKKdreaming says above, your daughter needs someone she knows, and the mother is who every child wants when they are sick.

 

You can't be so poor that this is not a possibility if you are willing to change your flight plans and bring the daughter back to oz. Your wife can't be earning a fortune giving massages in Phuket during low season.

 

Failing that, I'd be on the plane ASAP.

[happy Joe]

There has a lot of competent physicians everywhere in Thailand.

 

Your problem is that you do not have confidence in the mother report.

 

A pensioner living near Nakhon Sawan should be able to help you.

 

This is not very complicated to take your daughter in  Nakhon Sawan hospital and communicate its precise checkup. So you can decide what action to take in perfect knowledge.

 

Of course, you will cover the costs but they will benign. To you to propose a concrete organization.

[chiang mai]

9 minutes ago, happy Joe said:

There has a lot of competent physicians everywhere in Thailand.

 

Your problem is that you do not have confidence in the mother report.

 

A pensioner living near Nakhon Sawan should be able to help you.

 

This is not very complicated to take your daughter in  Nakhon Sawan hospital and communicate its precise checkup. So you can decide what action to take in perfect knowledge.

 

Of course, you will cover the costs but they will benign. To you to propose a concrete organization.

 

Trying to find those competent physicians in small government hospitals, outside of the many cities in Thailand, can be difficult. I have a lot of experience of trying to get medical help for family members (and myself on one occasion) in Sukhothai, everything is assumed to be flue and vitamin B shots are the best you get in many cases followed by Tylenol - it can be dire and very daunting indeed.

[xerostar]

Money isn't a problem. I offered the wife money to fly back to Bangkok but she wants to drive,  her reason is that when she gets back she will have her car for transport.

Otherwise she'd rely on taxis and there are no taxis out that way. She is so stubborn anyway.

She wanted to work in Phuket to get away from boring farm life while they wait for the Cassava crop to grow.

She should have taken our daughter with her but I guess that would have had it's own problems.

She is in communication with the family via LINE.

As I  told her she is the only one that can give comfort , a child needs her mum when he/she is sick.

[impulse]

I sense the forest is being missed for all the trees.  (And the sensitivities since a precious child's involved) Sorry if this is going to sound blunt.

 

If money's no problem, why not hire your wife to take care of your child?  

 

How much can she be making in Phuket as a masseuse?  $10-$30 a day?  It's not as if she's on some kind of career ladder that can't stand a few months' of sidetracking to make sure your child is being cared for.  A month at even $30 a day is less than a R/T plane ticket from Oz.

 

And to be even more blunt, if she's making over $20 a day as a masseuse working in someone else's shop, you have other problems and need to get your child out of there.  My apologies for that.  But it's the truth.

 

Edited September 18, 2016 by impulse

[xerostar]

I said "wife" for simplicity but she is actually my ex-wife since 2013. As I said she prefers to do something where she is independent and away from the farm.

After we got married in 2005 I paid for 160 Rai of farmland, pickup, traktor, built a house, but she couldn't make enough out of farming to make ends meet. ?!

Of course she is supporting her mum, 2 sisters and her kids plus my daughter (and formerly several other relatives).

I've been sending her money regularly but it's never enough.

Today she told me her eldest boy (from a previous marriage) was working for the Muslim mafia down south as a stand-over man.

The deal turned sour and they threatened to kill his family  members if he didn't pay them a heap of cash.

He was probably trying to swindle them anyway. He has been a serious problem-child all along. My ex-wife has had to bail hime out of trouble a number of times.

Of course my ex-wife had to sell 20 Rai of land to get the cash needed to pay them off. They took his pickup as surety while they waited for the cash.

My daughter has never been to Phuket and never seen the ocean.

I've just been working, living in a 2 room flat for the last 4 years trying to make ends meet myself.

Not much of a life here on my own with an occasional few weeks in Thailand.

I would take on the job full time to look after my daughter if I could just sell my business and retire in Thailand.

The e-wife called me just now to say our daughter is feeling better today so that's good news.

 

[Sheryl]

The best facility in Uthai Thani is the Uthai Thani provincial hospital. Yes, it is busy and crowded, but that does not mean that the care is poor  quality - just time consuming and uncomfortable to access. I do not recommend private clinics or hospitals in small upcountry locations, usually not at all good quality.

 

The hospital they brought her to is a small district level hospital, these often have just 1 doctor, usually a new graduate and are frankly not worth much other than minor wound care and vaccinations and the like.

 

The problem is that if this is the hospital responsible for the area where she lives (which sounds like the case), she has to go there in order to receive free care. She can get free care at the provincial hospital only if she has a referral letter from the hospital in Sawong Arom.

 

They should try to get such a letter, assuming she is still ill. It is usually not that hard though does require speaking up to the staff at the district hospital.  If that fails (or they are unwilling to try) then just pay out of pocket at the provincial hospital, it will not come to much. Depending on how ill she is, they should either bring her to the OPD at the provincial hospital  or go straight to the ER there.

 

Should her condition not resolve despite care at the provincial hospital, then regionally the best facility is the government hospital in Nakon Sawan, (Sawan Pracharak Hospital). To get free care there she would have to be referred (Sawong Arom Hosp ---> Uthai Thani Prov Hosp ---> Nakon Sawan). Alternatively, if they will be paying out of pocket anyhow, could just go straight to Nakon Sawan especially if if is as close or closer than Uthai Thani town.

 

There are also 2 good military hospitals (army and air force) in Nakon Sawan which will treat civilians on a fee basis.

 

As to how serious this may be, I can't begin to guess at in the absence of any information about her symptoms. A fever of 39 C is not at all unusual in children of that age when ill. 

[xerostar]

Thank you so much Sheryl for your valuable advice.

I tried my best to get "a diagnosis" but my ex-wife didn't really understand and was only able to relate second-hand that our daughter had a stomach pain and a fever.

The Sawang Arom hospital probably don't waste time explaining in detail what "the problem" might be, to farmer folk who wouldn't understand such things

and who are more conditioned to just getting the "miracle cure" in a variety of tablets and doing as they are told.

Seeing as she had this problem before, I would not be surprised if she will get it again in which case we will try to get her direct to the Uthai Thani hospital.

When I get there I will try to find out as much info as possible about her symptoms, the medication they prescribed and her diet.  

Anyway I was glad to hear she was feeling better. I will see her in early October and write a report if I discover anything significant.

[meatboy]

as its your E-WIFE you do need to decide,do you want your daughter to be brought up by others as you dont now what your X is doing.

if you love her its time to start the process of taking her to live with you.

you do say money is ok.so pay off your X so that she doesnt give you any grief and give your daughter a new and better start in life.

i dont want to be too blunt but you are not going to know what kind of life she is going to have.

i have seen too much heartache when it comes to abandoned children that are left to be brought up by any noi,somchoi ect.

so have a good think about what you intend to do and good luck to you and your daughter.

[xerostar]

Thanks meatboy

Yes I have been considering that option, but first I have to move permanently to Thailand. 

Up to now her upbringing has been OK as she has well 2 behaved girl cousins in early teens that live there, plus a girl one year older and they are good mates.

However I don't have much faith in the local school although she seems happy enough there, if not a little bored in the maths class ..

She loves the dancing and stage performing that they do with fancy costumes etc.

I'd like to bring her to Bangkok and get her into a nice school where she could get a western style education.

 

[Sheryl]

Sounds like a plan (though such schools are costly, tuition wise).

 

Hope you stick to it. for her sake.

 

A world of difference for her future .

 

Though as young as she is, need to consider who would look after her in Bangkok - might need to bring along a family member for that.