Doc/Hospital suggestion for broken collar bone

[malc123]

I would think the you should cheak with Bumrungrad. I have had Stent put in my heart first class service and my mate has had work done on his eyes and also going later this year to have more cheak ups.For me Udon could not go what I needed.
malc123

[danchatka]

Bumrungrad...had a Stent put in my heart first class service...

Glad to hear you found a hospital to help with something as serious as an heart stent!

As for my far less serious collar bone (clavicle) problem, I'm off to Bumrungrad Saturday to meet with two orthopedic doctors. If time allows, I'll also try to visit BKK's well regarded BNH hospital.

My best local option for installing a clavicle plate is Bangkok Hospital. The only draw back is they can't find a titanium plate, which is the standard in Western hospitals. Stainless steel is their only choice (but it's thicker, reacts to outside temperature, and has slightly higher complication rates). You'd think a hospital chain as big as Bangkok Hospital (25+ hospitals) could get medical parts like this quickly.

I'm hoping Bumrungrad or BNH has the titanium plate and can operate soon. I'm soooo ready to regain use of my arm.

I really appreciate all the comments fellow Udonmap members have given:-)

[danchatka]

Update
======

As mentioned previously, my collar bone was not healing up as quickly as expected. I went to Bumrungrad and they found out why. One side of the bone was hung up in the tissue that surrounds it. Natural healing would have probably taken months, or not happened at all. Also, it would've resulted in a shorter and probably weaker collar bone on one side.

I decided to get surgery at Bumrungrad. Almost everyone I talked with said it was the best in Thailand. Since insurance will pay for it, cost was not an issue.

If you've read many of my posts, you'll know I'm a complainer and know-it-all. With that in mind, here's my impression of Bumrungrad:

* Based on credentials and out-of-country extra training, I believe Bumrungrad doctors are probably the best.
* Surgery and pre-op tests were arranged and done quickly. Two days after my examination, I had surgery.
* Despite being an international hospital, many Bumrungrad nurses don't speak or understand English well. Based on my experience, 20% of their nurses speak English competently for a medical environment.
* Bumrungrad, in my opinion, does a poor good job of pain management. One rule of good pain management is that you don't let the pain medication wear-off before giving the next dose, instead, you keep it at the required level, so the patient doesn't needlessly feel pain and then have to wait for the next dose to take effect. At Bumrungrad, they usually let it wear-off before I had to tell them to give me more.
* Bumrungrad doctor's don't always listen well. I told my doctors that I need more pain medication than most people, but they didn't take steps to ensure I had enough pain medicine. After the surgery anesthetics wore-off, I was in excruciating pain for about three hours, while pleading with nurses for more pain medication ( 8 metal screws drilled into your bones can do that
* My overall impression is that, for the things Bumrungrad specializes in, such as cosmetic plastic surgery etc, they are very good. For procedures they don't specialize in, I think it's likely that almost any big city western hospital will give better medical care.

Nevertheless, within a week of getting surgery I could begin use my arm again and resume normal living. Surgery was the right choice. The bones still must grow together, but they'll grow together straight and the normal length.

It's a shame that overly conservative Udon Thani doctors, relying on outdated medical studies, pushed so hard for natural healing of my collar bone, when signs indicated it wasn't healing. I lost at least a month by taking their advice. During that month, my shoulder joint froze up. It will take a month or more of physical therapy to regain full use.

The well know Thai dislike of reading seems to affect doctors too. I doubt they keep up on the latest information from medical journals as much as western doctors.

[semperfiguy]

Update
======

As mentioned previously, my collar bone was not healing up as quickly as expected. I went to Bumrungrad and they found out why. One side of the bone was hung up in the tissue that surrounds it. Natural healing would have probably taken months, or not happened at all. Also, it would've resulted in a shorter and probably weaker collar bone on one side.

I decided to get surgery at Bumrungrad. Almost everyone I talked with said it was the best in Thailand. Since insurance will pay for it, cost was not an issue.

If you've read many of my posts, you'll know I'm a complainer and know-it-all. With that in mind, here's my impression of Bumrungrad:

* Based on credentials and out-of-country extra training, I believe Bumrungrad doctors are probably the best.
* Surgery and pre-op tests were arranged and done quickly. Two days after my examination, I had surgery.
* Despite being an international hospital, many Bumrungrad nurses don't speak or understand English well. Based on my experience, 20% of their nurses speak English competently for a medical environment.
* Bumrungrad, in my opinion, does a poor good job of pain management. One rule of good pain management is that you don't let the pain medication wear-off before giving the next dose, instead, you keep it at the required level, so the patient doesn't needlessly feel pain and then have to wait for the next dose to take effect. At Bumrungrad, they usually let it wear-off before I had to tell them to give me more.
* Bumrungrad doctor's don't always listen well. I told my doctors that I need more pain medication than most people, but they didn't take steps to ensure I had enough pain medicine. After the surgery anesthetics wore-off, I was in excruciating pain for about three hours, while pleading with nurses for more pain medication ( 8 metal screws drilled into your bones can do that
* My overall impression is that, for the things Bumrungrad specializes in, such as cosmetic plastic surgery etc, they are very good. For procedures they don't specialize in, I think it's likely that almost any big city western hospital will give better medical care.

Nevertheless, within a week of getting surgery I could begin use my arm again and resume normal living. Surgery was the right choice. The bones still must grow together, but they'll grow together straight and the normal length.

It's a shame that overly conservative Udon Thani doctors, relying on outdated medical studies, pushed so hard for natural healing of my collar bone, when signs indicated it wasn't healing. I lost at least a month by taking their advice. During that month, my shoulder joint froze up. It will take a month or more of physical therapy to regain full use.

The well know Thai dislike of reading seems to affect doctors too. I doubt they keep up on the latest information from medical journals as much as western doctors.

Thanks for the update and the comments. It has been my observation that Thai patients will never question the advice and authority of a doctor, so they can pretty much get away with sloppy work and poor diagnosis since no one holds them accountable. There's simply no incentive for them to read and be on top of the latest in medical advancement. They're much too busy trying to run their corruption scams with all of their patients. My daughter's roommate recently had a hysterectomy and tumor removal at the Udon General Hospital. First question out of the doctor's mouth was "how much insurance do you have at the private school where you teach"? The hospital got the max from the surgery and two day hospital stay, and the doctor asked for 6000 baht under the table to give her the VIP treatment. Turned out she got no better care and attention than any other patient.

When I go in to see a doctor I have already done my homework on the internet and have a good grasp of my problem and the treatment that may be required. The doctors here just don't like it when someone tries to compete with their observations because it is a loss of face for them. They also feel a loss of face if they can't properly diagnose your problem, so to save face they will either just make an unfounded wild guess or send you off to another doctor. I've never met one yet that is willing to spend the extra time and effort to get to the root of a problem that is out of the ordinary. Going to a doctor in Udon is a very frightening experience for me.

[merchant seaman]

What type of pain medication were they giving you? Some can be very addictive,