Doubt that very much at all.
Lieland has some of the best Hospitals on the planet if one can afford to pay.
Kev was in a top wack Hospital.
Na, he was fooked from the get go unfortunatly.
Doubt that very much at all.
Lieland has some of the best Hospitals on the planet if one can afford to pay.
Kev was in a top wack Hospital.
Na, he was fooked from the get go unfortunatly.
Hard to say if it would have cured or saved him, but he would have been spared a lot of the anxiety and uncertainty that comes with a cancer diagnosis and not knowing if treatment was affordable or not. 2 of my in laws here in thailand have died of cancer, they were treated in thai hospitals, one a government hospital and one a private hospital. In both cases the treatment planning was haphazard, tests were often duplicated unnecessarily thanks to doctors from different departments not reading the notes thoroughly and there were surgical interventions close to end of life that just made the suffering worse. The end of life protocols in thailand were frankly horrifying. In the uk there is calm acceptance and peaceful hospice care, in thailand there were just endless interventions in useless attempts to prolong an already doomed life.
So this is my point of view, I agree on insurance when younger. I had it for my wife and I and children. Completely makes sense. The body can recover, ailments can be fixed and you are young enough to live life.. I just don't get people that want to cough up loads of money on medical insurance at 70? Why? I mean if you are diagnosed with a terminal disease do you really want to keep paying into it to sustain your life..or worse yet, make it a longer slower death?
Good thing about Hospice in the real world is you are that out of it anyway you would not know who was hanging around ya bed. Pain control these days is superb mostly.
But in this seething shithole its hit and miss how they would treat you.
Silly coonters.
Actually the Thais that I have seen pass were pretty well taken care of. But then there are probably more that are not.
I guess what I am saying Dil, Have some money set aside for those morphine doses at home. I mean at some point the body stops healing itself. We have a shelf life. Maybe my point of view is based on personal experience watching people I know spend every last penny on keeping someone alive (And they had insurance but the company at some point stops paying). They refinanced their house, pulled money from their 401Ks then had to file bankruptcy and the person they were trying to save, died a short time after.
I know if I was ever diagnosed with a terrible disease like cancer, I will say no treatment. I am at an age now that I have seen and done enough. Not really much more I want to do except maybe pilot one of the parasailing things I see flying around my damn condo....
So much for the Paddaya Wunderlaaand.
My wife's Grandfather was taken to hospital and while there he had 3 heart attacks. The first time they revived him, second time same but on the third occasion my missus told them no more let him die. Of course this lead to a bit of a family squabble and the wife says to the Aunties who wanted to keep bringing back that when and if he came home they had to look after him as she wouldn't (he had been living with us). Very quickly they changed their minds and he died not long after. He was over 90 so it was time.
Anyway I am a firm believer in euthanasia but the person involved really needs to have made a will explicitly stating that was what they wanted.
In Thailand it is not allowed but happens in that people are just allowed to die.
Keeping someone alive who is terminally ill is the same as not giving the death sentence to a murderer just a waste of money in a system (both cases health and prison that needs all it can get.
But see I do not see it dying like a stray dog. I am saying why cough up a ton of cash at 70 to insure oneself? Just set aside some cash for the good meds and call it. Again my opinion is based on watching some others go down a long dark financial ruins path (even with good insurance). To me its all about the quality of life, not just living and trying to hold on to live a long life.
Me too ootai.
This is my feeling as well. We had a similar situation with my Grandmother in the states. After about 80 she was alive but living a recluse life. She started falling and breaking bones that were not going to heal right. They wanted to do a hip replacement at 84. I chimed in to my Mother and aunt and said "Think about it" . She didn't want it, but they did. She muddled along until 90. Quality of life had really long since been gone. Hadn't been out of the house unless to go to the doctors and maybe a store. Finally was diagnosed with Cancer and they all agreed NO MORE. They had a nurse drop by and giver her Morphine and she passed shortly after.
I agree, but with a proviso and a question.
P: I might feel very different if/when I get to say 84 and just fancy the idea of 85.
Q: Are 'good meds', ie painkillers, that easy to get in Thailand through the proper medical channels?
Certainly in the UK palliative care comes to a point when you're just basically put on opiates. Could Kev for example have just got those with relative ease in Hospital, or would he have had to ask somone to try a street corner outside?
I have the impression that it's the latter, but I'm happy to admit to a lack of experience in this (so far).
Well I can tell you from the few I know that have been in the hospital here in Thailand for Major life threatening events, Yes you can. Its all available here. However I think it will probably depend on what hospital and the location. I seriously doubt that many govt hospitals have top meds but like you, I do not know that. That would be my guess from the visits I have gone to with my FIL.
I currently have insurance through work but at some point in the near future I am going to "Retire" again and I will not. I will likely get outside med insurance for awhile but will eventually stop it. My wife is covered through her own insurance.
Hey if your life is still active and you are enjoying it, then more power to ya. Most at that age sadly are not. Its more of a waiting game.
i believe thai doctors are very reluctant to prescribe opiates in the strength or dosage necessary to end a life in a terminal case, it is tantamount to a killing and goes against buddhist principles. death must occur naturally, and that sometimes can be unpleasant both for the patient and the patients loved ones in the days leading up to it.Certainly in the UK palliative care comes to a point when you're just basically put on opiates. Could Kev for example have just got those with relative ease in Hospital, or would he have had to ask someone to try a street corner outside?
i have observed deaths from lingering terminal illnesses both here and in the uk, and there is no way i would want to be at the "mercy" of the thai system. it is cold, calculating and heartless. the medical staff show no consideration for the feelings of the patient or the bereaved, they just do their jobs like programmed robots and the final insult is the visit to the accounts department at the end which just compounds the feelings of total abandonment and lack of compassion as the calculator clacks up every pill, potion and procedure to the very last satang.
dont even get me started on the greed and detachment of the undertakers or the heartless bean counters at the temple. avaricious scum.
Well I do enjoy life. Always have. That said though I am also realistic in that we all die. Some from natural causes or events, others from terrible diseases. I just know that I will not try and prolong my life if I am diagnosed with a terminal disease. When I go, I go. I think many fear death. Its a deep discussion for certain. We have a built in mechanism to survive. Hard to fight that. Its why Morphine is so helpful.
^^ Thai Buddhists just have a different way of dealing with it.
It's tough though, no doubt about that.
Where isn't it, one way or another?
Horrifying for the penniless vagabond, luxury for the hi so "insured", until their assets are zero. I suspect similar in many countries, barring those governments who truly are designed around and actually work towards, alleviating their citizen's strife.
My own, personal experience, not hearsay, of Thai long term cancer care was this.
My MIL had been diagnosed with, I was told "leukaemia", an accurate translation or not. Already cut open, bits removed and overweight even for older Thai women.
Her long term treatment consisted of a 3 day expedition a day's bus travel to the nearest Thai cancer specialist hospital Chonburi, a day being scrutinised at the hospital, scans, tests etc. but mainly waiting as it was always crowded. A day's bus travel home.
Once i arrived and had transport, it was a 24 hour jaunt.
Leave home at 4 in the morning, to get a low number ticket, a full days "treatment", and a return in the evening. This went on for a number of years until she was told "it had returned". At that point she decided to stop the visits and went to our local city hospital, some tests but mainly drug supply topping up. After a year or so of this I saw here take to her bed. She then just faded away.
In the company and care of her family and friends.
Agree.
See above
See above.
The civilised alternative is drug induced "care" which being "privatised" is just a room, a few meals, and a large TV in the corridor/communal room.
No Thanks.
But as long as you have a plan I wish you well.
A tray full of GOLD is not worth a moment in time.
Fondles
I think I understand what you're asking and yes if the will is only looked at after you're dead then how did anyone know what you wanted before you died?
What I was trying to say is that you need to make it known somehow while you are in a fit and healthy state of mind and body that once you can no longer care for yourself or know what day it is then you would like someone to help you end the mindless state you're in. I don't just mean if you are in immense pain but if you are then I think it should be known you would like them to help you leave this world. I hope I am making sense, maybe I'm at the stage where someone needs to step in?
I am not sure but I think the terminology is a "Living Will".
Just checked with Google and got this as the meaning.
a written statement detailing a person's desires regarding their medical treatment in circumstances in which they are no longer able to express informed consent, especially an advance directive.
Just make sure those that matter know about your living will, that you made it in the right state of mind, and also confirm it early when things start going wrong. They can be expensive to challenge, and the lawyers end up with whatever the hospitals couldn't prise out of your estate.
I'm going to get the 432 baht a month for life Social Security insurance.
I don't use it often but do when I know the doc there also works at the best private hospital, or is an expert.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)