By having two medical procedures done at the Bumrungrad Hospital, Bangkok, Thailand. I saved $6,791 over what it would have cost me in the US. The US cost would have been $9,507 and the Thailand cost was $2,716—good enough for two more extended travel trips for me.
Back in 2005, I first experienced getting medical treatment in Bangkok. After checking online, I found the Bumrungrad Hospital was one of the most well-known and well-respected hospitals that also included dental work. I detailed this experience in a previous blog at:
After that, I returned in 2016 to have a cavity filled plus had the last of my amalgam fillings replaced with composite.
This time I made an appointment to return to see Dr. Pacharee Soonthornsawad for some dental work on my 2nd lower left molar. At home, my dentist recommended that I put in a crown for $1,507. When Dr. Pacharee saw this 2nd molar, she recommended that she could fill it instead by removing the cracked areas and filling out the chipped section. I agreed. She then saw that the lower right 2nd molar had sloughed off. She then proceeded to do both of those filling repairs. The total cost for both fillings, including X-rays, was $255.
While there, she asked if she could take some updated photos of the 4 veneers she had done in 2005. She explained that she was very pleased with how well my veneers had held up over the past 12 years and planned to use the photos as a teaching tool at the university where she is a professor.
When I last saw my ophthalmologist in the US, he suggested that I may want to have my upper eyelid operated on because it was restricting my vision. He said the cost would be about $4,500 for the upper eyelids or $8,000 for both upper and lower.
So when I was planning to visit Sri Lanka, I decided that I would check out the cost of having my eyelid surgery. I learned that I could have the eyelid surgery done at Bumrungrad Hospital, Bangkok for $1,525 for the upper eyelids and both upper and lower eye surgery for $2,431. Here is the link to that surgery cost. You can also check out other surgical procedures and costs at other parts of the Bumrungrad website:
As long as I was planning to do the surgery there, I decided to have both upper and lower eyelid surgeries—medically called blepharospasm—from Dr. Komwit Kaewchaijaroenkit.
On August 23rd I changed into an operating gown and was wheeled into an immaculate operating room where I was given a number of Novocain shots before the cutting began. I remember a neighbor back home had told me that his upper eyelid surgery involved just one stitch in each eyelid. Imagine my surprise after the cutting and stitching up afterward that I ended up with about 24 stitches in each eye area.
After the operation, and some time in the recovery room, I was released to walk back to my hotel. When the drugs wore off there was only slight pain and a feeling of some tightness because of the swelling. Although I was given some super Tylenol and some ointment, I did not need the Tylenol. I had two follow-up appointments: one a week later and the other a month later. Each follow-up visit costs just $15. In the first follow-up, Dr. Komwit removed the stitches. In the last visit, Dr. Komwit gave me some eye area massage suggestions to further smooth out the areas operated on. Here are the before and after pictures:
Before
Immediately after surgery with many stitches.
About a month after surgery
I have recently uploaded all of my travel videos to YouTube now that they allow longer uploads and you may want to see my travel adventures there. That link is
https://www.youtube.com/c/huntforgold.
If you do go there, please subscribe to my video channel since it will help me eventually get some income there and help with my future travels. Fewer people are using DVDs so I am transitioning to streaming my travels on my YouTube channel.
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