Boredom and Thai TV

Since the key to recovering from bunion surgery is keeping your feet propped up, lying in bed, watching tv, and boredom play a big part in recuperation as well. As you are all aware, we've undertaken this adventure in the Kingdom of Thailand. I do not speak or understand Thai so I am limited to a handful of English TV channels on the TrueVision cable system. So here's what we have CNN International and Al Jazeera International. The war is still raging in Syria and the news from there is on a continuous loop or so it seems. The good news is I have an old colleague Lisa Verch Fletcher who is a Washington bureau anchor/reporter so I get to see her. Yay!
I used to think I loved movies, but I figured out many years ago that I like knowing about movies and not actually watching them. It's the ADHD in me that makes it difficult to sit through a movie from start to finish. But when you're stuck in a hotel room with your feet propped up and a handful of English language channels, you watch movies. Here's the hit list and my reviews.
Batman and Robin 1997, really it came out 15 years ago? Un-fricken-believable. I'm not really a big fan of superhero flicks but that George Clooney is something else to look at. Ah-nold before he was the Governator was the bad guy Freeze. Not a horrible way to spend a couple of hours.
The Rundown 2003 starring Dwayne Johnson formerly known as the Rock. The premise is Johnson is a bounty hunter hired to get a kid home from somewhere in South America. It's a bang bang shoot 'em up as Alan might say. I wouldn't watch it again too many guns and too much blood. But that Dwayne Johnson isn't bad looking. Christopher Walken is the bad guy and he is so good at being the bad guy he is always scary.
JAWS 1975, the original. It makes mean anxious just thinking about it. Alan wanted to watch so it's on. He's been so good to let me control the remote, I've given in. There's not even a hottie to look at in the movie. I do remember when I first saw the movie, it was on a date with Doug Bennett.
The King's Speech 2010, Colin Firth is tremendous in this Academy Award winning film. I watched while Alan was out on a bike ride. I love history and this movie was great. I'd watch it again and I never do that. Helen Bonham Carter was great as His wife and the woman who would become the Queen Mother.
Valentine's Day 2010. I love romantic comedies and cameo appearances. This is a Garry Marshall film and as he says no one dies in a Garry Marshall film. And it is filled with hotties, Eric Dane, Bradley Cooper, and Patrick Dempsey, there are even hotties for the guys, Jessica Alba, Julia Roberts, and Anne Hathaway. It's a feel good movie filled with stars for the young Taylor lautner, Taylor Swift, Topher Grace and for the older people Shirley Mclaine and Hector Elizondo. I'd watch it again to check out how the stories touch one another on one Valentine's Day in my home town of LA.
I've also caught up on a few episodes of some of my favorite TV shows, Glee and Modern Family in particular. But one thing I've enjoyed are the TV shows I've never heard of that they are showing here. Mostly short lived US programs I've missed while living abroad or in Hawaii with no TV.
Chase a 2010 NBC series. The only people I recognized are Eddie ciproan and Jesse Metcalf. It's a Jerry Bruckheimer procedural drama. Petty good.
Glade 2010 A&E series. Set in Florida, the main character is a super sleuth with a very sharp wit. But the the person that caught my eye was Kiele Sanchez who I loved in the 2009 movie A Perfect Getaway.
There have also been the odd Discovery Channel documentaries on the fall of Singapore and the Japanese in WWII.
So there's my completely ill informed review of the TV viewing I've been doing while stuck propping my legs up in Thailand

Ouch!

Note to self- walking hurts.
I got myself cleaned up and decided I needed to go for a walk today. I got the boots on grabbed Alan by the arm and started walking down the sidewalk. Went a block before the burning hot pain became unbearable and Alan said he thought this was a bad idea. So we turned around and I'm back in bed with my feet propped up. I'll try again tomorrow.

Surgery and post surgery

So now I'm checked into the hospital, wearing a hospital gown and sitting in the bed. It short order the nurse came in to start my IV. A couple of hours before the surgery they brought in a tray a food, clearly marked "for relatives only". Yay for Alan, boo for me.  About an hour before surgery time they wheeled me into the pre-op area. I was so bored, eventually I asked for something to read and they brought me a newspaper. This is also where I met with the anesthesiologist. Most ofter bunion surgery in the US is done by podiatrist and in an outpatient surgical center. Here it is an inpatient procedure done by an orthopedic surgeon. As a patient there's not much to decide. But one thing I did have to decide was whether to go with a general anethesia or a spinal block with sedation. Alan was voting for general and Miranda wanted me to go for the spinal. She was afraid. I have done both before. After talking to the anesthesiaolgoist I decided to go with the spinal and sedation. I think it was a good choice. When I arrived in the operating room, the doctor gave me the sedation. After I was asleep she did the spinal. Not going to offer an opinion on which option is best, that is something that only you and your doctor can decide together. I don't remember anything else. The first thing I remember after that is being back in my room. I think I asked someone to take my phone, Ipad, and purse out of the safe. Oh, that's something, there is a small hotel style safe in the room to keep your valuables while you are in surgery. One thing that didn't go as planned was a call to Alan when the surgery was done. I had specifically asked them to call him and tell him that I was ok and that I would call him when I woke up all the way. They didn't call and he ended up calling me about 2am to check on things. I was hooked up to an IV with morphine and dramamine to fight the nausea. That was probably my biggest complication, the nausea. I was plesantly surprised about the pain, not nearly as bad as I thought it might be. I was pretty sick to my stomach though. As soon as I complained about that they gave me anti-nausea medication and that helped. Because of the nausea the doctor wanted me to stay one more night and take me off the pain meds and make sure I felt ok. 
Food assessment: Wide variety from Halal, vegetarian, Western, or Japanese. I chose Japanese. One complaint by the time I got the food it was cold. Otherwise tasty. 

And that leads me again to the roommate situation and why if there had been availability I would have paid for a single occupancy room. I so wish I had a photo of this.  I was in the bed closest to the door and bathroom. A relative can stay over night with the patient, however, when you are in a double occupancy room the relative is supposed to be of the same gender. Apparently they don't really enforce that policy. My roomie's husband stayed in the room the entire time. This included using the bathroom for his showering and toilet routine. I had the bed closest to the door and bathroom so I got to see the parade of visitors. The evenings were quite loud and rowdy. At one point there were six people in there. Lots of laughing and telephone calls. I usually don't have a problem with that sort of thing but I had just had a four hour surgery and couldn't walk. Good thing I brought my earplugs, and sleeping mask. I actually ended up sleeping with podcasts playing in my ears to cover the sounds of the talkers. In the morning the parade began again when friends and family arrived on their way to work. But this takes the cake, about 8 in the morning, the husband shuffles past my bed, barefoot, in his undershirt with newspaper in hand into the bathroom, oh and he had his phone. He was in there for 45 mins, doing his morning routine and taking phone calls. Alan has now adopted the man's walk whenever he's headed to the loo. It is funny. Every US hospital I've ever been in had a notice on the door saying that the bathroom in the room was for patients only. Again, pay the extra and get a single occupancy room.
 Another choice I had to make was whether to repair one foot or two.  I had tentatively planned to do both feet but after talking to the orthopedic surgeon I decided I would go with the bi-lateral surgery. He allows walking in a boot the day after surgery. But all walking is not created equally. The first trip to the bathroom and back took about 15 mins. By the time I got back to bed the nausea was so bad, well no need to describe that.

Hospitality Suites

One important thing we did is to stay at the Bumrungrad hospitality suites just a couple of blocks from the hospital
The all efficiencies have room service and offer porters ans wheel chairs to get back and forth to appointments of you are not fully ambulatory div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">

Warning: Graphic Photos

Three days after surgery the big reveal...oh my gosh...that is ugly. As you can see from the photos the doctor did two incisions per foot. The one between my toes was to release the ligaments and tendons. The larger one on the outside of the feet he cut out some of the bunion and put in a screw or two to straighten the great toe.  When he talked to me after the surgery he said the tendons were very tight so the wrapping will be very important. 
The pain wasn't as bad as I expected on day three.  I also met a woman who had the surgery 18 days before and she was very happy with the surgery and her mobility.  I took that to mean she was walking and doing great.  So on day four I went for a short walk...big mistake. 
Today when I went in for another check my foot was more swollen and the doctor told me maybe I shouldn't be walking so much.
So I will be laying with my feet up for a few more days. Oh and I ran into that woman again and got some clarification. She was in bed with her feet up for 10 days before walking much. Now she tells me. 

All day at Bumrungrad

Bumrungrad International Hospital is a great place to people watch.  It turns out that people from all over the world come here for a head to toe physical. During the four hour program as they call it here, I met people from United Arab Emerites, Holland, China, Korea, Japan, US, Myanmar, and Australia. Of course there were lots of Thais around as well. There are several levels of physicals available, our insurance covers the "regular" physical. It includes a complete blood panel, chest x-ray, mammogram for the gals, urinalysis, stool occult blood test, prostate check for the guys, At the end of the exam, you have a consult with a GP who goes over the results and you go home with a packet of the results. The place was very well organized and when you left one location someone made sure you knew where you went next.  For any of you who've had a blood panel, you'll remember that there is a fasting requirement. The blood work came first and once that was complete, the clinic provided a light breakfast that included cereals, bread, juices, yogurt, and coffee.

 If any issues or concerns came up during the physical the clinic set up a follow on appointment right away. In my case, I had a neurology appointment set up to check in on my trigeminal neuraligia. Now, having fasted since 8pm the night before, and having to start a new fast at 1pm for the bunion surgery I really wanted to eat lunch. So I set up my neurology appointment for 1:30 after I ate a big lunch. I even suspended my low carb diet for the day. I ate a hamburger, fries, soda, and pizza bread with a yummy marinara. That morning the hospital had called and told me I needed to go to admissions at 1pm to have my intake blood test, and EKG. But during the physical they could see the order for those tests so I had them earlier in the day. I figured, I'd check in with admissions and then come back at 7pm for the surgery. Nothing doing. It turns out that my surgery was scheduled for 9pm and that once I showed up at admissions I was theirs. No going anywhere. So at 1pm I was in the hospital. A nice porter took us to room 935, a double occupancy room (that's what my insurance pays for). I could have paid out of pocket for a single occupancy room but they didn't have one available. Looking back at the whole experience I think I would pay the difference if the room had been available. More about that later.

Little Loopy

Feeling fine post op. likely the meds talking. I'll have a complete description when my head is clearer, I feel quite like this blurry self-portrait.

Hearing Test Competition

Huh? I didn't hear you. It's too noisy. Getting old has it's perks of course, but the failing senses are definitely not one of them. Alan and I have been bickering for months over which one of us has the most hearing loss. Of course he loses either way, if his hearing loss is greater then he loses the competition.  If  his hearing is better than mine them he just wasn't listening I win I win!
Our first appointment at Bumrungrad was for his and hers audiograms.  The test results in a moment. 

Bumrungrad is really so easy to navigate.  All of the signs are in multiple languages, English, Arabic, Japanese, and Thai.  The majority of the staff speaks both English and Thai. Today I saw people from Africa, multiple Arab countries, China, Korea, Japan, and India.  For those who need additional help there are interpreters to be called who will sit in the appointments with the patient. Our day was planned and we had a consolidated schedule printed out at the reception desk when we stopped at the hospital yesterday to get the lay of the land.  
After the audiologist, I was off to the dentist. She was a woman about my age, who spoke wonderful English, I had my cleaning, x-rays and had a crowned removed for replacement. 

The hospital makes life very easy.  There is a lovely food court on the second floor. To pay you buy a charge card and it is debited as you go from place to place ordering your dishes.  The food ranges from Chinese, Italian, Vegetarian, Indian, and of course Thai.  I chose roast duck, Chinese broccoli and a Diet Coke ( I am after all an American).

But the reason we came to Bumrungrad was for my feet, those ugly feet.  After my delicious lunch I was off to the Orthopedic surgeon. He took a look at my feet, had me go to X-ray and then we talked about the options.  He was very knowledgable, answered all my questions and put me quite at ease.  Because doctors know you are visiting, they are able to schedule follow on appointments right away.  He arranged his schedule so I can have my surgery tomorrow at 9pm.  I'll spend one night in the hospital with three follow on appointments before I leave in two weeks.  
After the appointments were done for the day, it was time to settle the bill.  Our insurance company has direct billing for medical procedures with the hospital. Some do not. I recommend that you check that out ahead of time. If yours doesn't you will be required to pay ahead and submit your receipts to your insurance company. That could be a significant outlay of cash depending on what you're having done.  It may also help to have your insurance company send an authorization letter to the hospital in advance.  



Now for the results of the hearing competition: 
I win! I win! I win!!!!!!!!!!!
My hearing is completely normal. Alan's is not. 


Tomorrow I'll have my executive physical. Stay tuned.

Smut and Smells vs. Food and Fabrics

We came to Thailand to fix my "ugly feet". And while medical tourism is a growing sector of the economy sex tourism is a much bigger sector. In some areas of town prostitution is very prevalent and public. We walked down Soi Cowboy last night on the way to dinner. Girls stand on the street with numbers to be ordered as if on a menu. Very disturbing. Let me just get this out there, my husband is cheap as a result he has a fondness for dirty smelling countries. Bangkok is both dirty and smelly. If you don't mind that then you may enjoy the rest of what it has to offer.
Fresh Thai specialties are available everywhere from small table where cooks prepare your meal on the sidewalk to fancy sit down restaurants of every cuisine, there is no shortage of food choices.
Another thing that draws people to the Land of Smiles is custom tailored clothes. This afternoon Vinay, a meticulous Indian man who has been in Thailand for 40 years, interviewed, annotated, and measured me for suits, slacks, and blouses for work. First fitting is tomorrow after a full day of medical appointments. Stay tuned.

Goodbye Painful Ugly Feet !

         Bumrungrad International Hospital made planning for this trip a breeze. They are online and we submitted an inquiry via their website.
http://www.bumrungrad.com/thailandhospital
       Within a couple of days they gave us a general estimate on the cost. They also set up all of our appointments via email. In addition to the bunion surgery, we'll be seeing the dentist and having a complete physical. While our insurance company will be covering the costs of the procedures, we've known many people who have gone to Bumrungrad for elective procedures not covered by insurance. You know, tummy tucks, boob jobs, face lifts, and even gastric by-pass surgery.  The hospital's website describes those services.
        My always competitive husband never to be outdone is blogging about our medical tourism trip as well. Check out his perspective. http://unconventionalretirement.blogspot.com/
        We're heading out early in the morning via Qatar Airways Kuwait – Doha, Qatar – Bangkok.  But before we get on the plane, I want to show you the BEFORE pictures. Warning! These photos may be disturbing. 

       Yes, the bones in those feet are meant to be straight. If all goes well, in a week or so they will be.   
        See ya soon.

Ugly Feet

I am the girl with ugly feet, that's what I've always thought.  Even when I was wearing those rubber capped keds, I was the girl with ugly feet.  It was a congenital thing I'd inherited from my mom, lucky me.

No hot shoes, no walking in pumps, no dancing till dawn. Well, maybe not dancing had more to do with being a dork than anything else.  

During my ten year career as a reporter my feet hurt everyday. 

Back in 2005 I went to Japan with my 80 year old mom, my twin sister, and my wonderful daughter Amanda.  We were trudging up a hill and my formerly bunion baring mom and sister were striding up like it was nothing, while I was walking like a crippled old woman. They had both had their bunions removed and feet repaired. They all have black shoes and I, I'm the one with the sneakers, BIG FAIL.

So finally after 50 years of hiding my feet, wearing boring shoes, and fighting my aching feet I am doing it. Sunday we're  heading to Bumrungrad Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand for a bi-lateral bunion removal. Yay!  I first heard about the hospital and medical tourism on 60 Minutes...take a look.

So stick with me as I chronicle our adventure in medical tourism.