Wednesday Write-Up: From Stem to Stern-My Medical Check

I have so appreciated all the love, support, and “get-wells” I have received in response to my recent posts about my medical woes. You all have made me feel so much better in every way possible!  Just knowing there are so many people who care is amazing! You are all the best!

I have been talking about getting a medical check here in Thailand since we got here and finally I did it! Today! I want to tell you about it, because it was awesome!

A friend of mine here in Phuket recommended Mission Hospital, in Phuket Town, for its excellent service and inexpensive prices.  She was not wrong! I just have to tell you all about it, mostly because I hope that someday America will have awesome and cheap medical care like this, and maybe a little bit to brag about the great parts of living in Thailand. Please don’t hate me for rubbing it in… Thailand is just fabulous!  I cannot keep it to myself, you should come visit and have a medical check-up, too!

I called up Mission Hospital yesterday and scheduled an appointment for this morning. I wanted to get the “Standard For Female 35-50 Years” medical check and the scheduler was easily able to communicate with me and made me an appointment for first thing this morning. (Just a side note, I am not yet 35, but it had all the procedures that I wanted done, just had to clarify.) I had decided I wanted to go first thing in the morning, because part of the exam is fasting blood work… so no food or drink for 8 hours before the appointment. Knowing that I am severely a little bit cranky if I do not eat first thing in the morning made me want to get it out of the way first thing. I would pity the people around me if I had to wait all day to eat… it would not be pretty.

I arrived this morning and was helped through the quick paperwork process and given a medical record card. I then waited for about 20 minutes (I was 40 minutes early) and was then guided by a nurse (who would end up being my nurse the whole time) to give urine and stool samples first.

Have you ever had to give a stool sample? I have not, until today… and I am not a person that can just poo on demand… sorry if that is TMI, but I guess I am getting close to an age where this will be a common practice? Will I need to become adept at going number 2 in a cup for every year from here on out? I hope not…  it seriously took me a whole day to work it out!

Sorry for that detour. After I returned with my lab cups, I was measured and weighed (I have lost 8 pounds since being back in Thailand! Woot Woot!) and taken for my blood work. I had one vial of blood drawn and they tested everything under the sun as far as I could tell. Then I was ushered for an EKG, then a chest x-ray. After the chest x-ray I was finally allowed to eat and drink, I was given 15 minutes before my next test! Sweet hallelujah! A wonderful thing about this medical check is that they also give you 100 baht (about $3) in food from their vegetarian cafeteria.   I ran over there and grabbed some fresh pineapple juice and a couple of carrot muffins. I would have had some of their curry, which was highly recommended to me, but it was just too early in the day for me to have spicy curry. Ack, here I am digressing about the food again…

After I inhaled my food, I went back and met up with my nurse again, she led me to the Gynecologists office, where after waiting for 20 minutes, I was brought in for a full annual exam. I found it very interesting that they gave me a large sarong sack to wear on my lower half, it was so much more comfortable than those horrible paper sheets that tear so easily back home. I know, I keep getting side-tracked, but these kind of things are note-worthy in my opinion.

I was then shown to another doctors office by my nurse, who gave me all the results of the tests that I had completed (yep, no stool sample yet) and also gave me copies of them all as well. After that, I was finally able to give the final sample needed… Success!!! How embarrassing. And I was done.

I have a coupon for a dental exam that was included in the price, but I was ready to be home, so I will go back for that some time later this week.

All of what I had done today (plus the dental check later on) only cost 3920 baht ($122.00 USD) and I was done within three hours. I cannot even fathom how much time and money it would have cost in America  for what I had done today. I am so thankful that there is wonderful medical care here that is also so affordable!

And now for the results, because I know you all are wondering! As it turns out, I am perfectly healthy! Also I am O Negative blood type. Interesting, right?!

So as it stands with my exhaustion and this cough that seems to keep coming back, I guess I will just have to wait it out. I have started taking an excellent multi-vitamin that has iron, the B’s, D, magnesium, and zinc along with all the other normal stuff that multi-vitamins usually have. I have been taking that along with Evening Primrose supplements for 3 days now, and I think things are looking up! I will keep you all updated as things get better and better (because I refuse to let them get worse!).

Have you ever had a medical check up in a foreign country? What was your experience?