Cardiologist in Udon?

[peterk]

Seeking recommendations for a good cardiologist in Udon if anyone can help.

[Marcosteffano]

I used naga clinic but wasn't very impressed.then went to an individual heart hospital in khon kaen state hospital with private use and know what they are doing.i wouldn't use bkk hospital as it's just a money pit.can even try the army hospital.

[jackson]

There is a cardiologist on duty full time in Wattana hospital . She is ver approachable. I know there is another big newish hospital also has one.WHICH I DON'T GO TO. Good luck

[peterk]

PS: is there an issue with the new hospital - that causes you to not go there?

[semperfiguy]

PeterK, I can highly recommend Dr. Kaseem at Bangkok Hospital Udon. He saved my life one morning two years ago as I was rushed to the ER with an episode of atrial flutter. He coordinated by phone with the ER team before he arrived at the hospital, and thankfully I had a happy ending. He really knows his stuff! Your first consultation will only cost you only 300 baht for the doctor, but be prepared for him to put you through a series of tests before you get any diagnosis if one is needed at that time. I took a friend in one day who had high blood pressure and these tests ran him about 12,000 baht. I suggest that you insist on just having a conversation with him first before he subjects you to all the tests.

[peterk]

Many thanks semperfiguy and jackson. Much appreciated to benefit from your experiences.

[peterk]

Thanks also to Marcosteffano for your input.
We did visit Dr Kasem at BKK hospital today. It's for my farther in law, so although they're quite $$ we aren't here mostly, thus feel better if we at least go with a recommended Dr. than to be experimenting. BTW, the initial consult was about 900 and tomorrow's full battery of tests including CT scan is 23,900..... more pricey than other's experiences.

[Hoopoe]

Most Thai's who know their stuff all go to Queen ,,,,,,,,Sirikit heart hospital Kohn Kaen , i had an angioram in Udon general hospital , they know their stuff there , they told me it was to difficult for them to do as they didn't have the full team necessary ,and advised me to go to KK the charge for the angiogram 15,000 bht , Emergency admittance to KK 2 difficult long stents ,2 separate op's ,only a professor from Bkk ( who was on a teaching mission at the time , lucky for me ) was able to unblock and stent as 3 cardiologists tried and failed , total cost 250,000 bht

[MALC]

I had heart problems a few yrs ago and went to the an individual hostpital in kohn kaen.sorted my problem out.and they where not rip off prices like in udon.

[wazza]

If you are crook , KK is the only 24/7 service available for angioplasty, Udon has some services

The private service at Wattana, doesnt have angiogram/ angioplasty ??? to my knowledge

BKK Hospital does , but the only Consultant isnt there all the time.

Surgical intervention is a far better outcome for most Cardiac Infarctions ( Heart attacks )

If the hospitals tell you thrombolytic therapy is the best treatment ( clot busting medications ) its probably because they dont provide the surgical intervention to be honest.

[Faraday]

Could this & other very important threads be pinned please.

It would help enormously, if any of us have an event & need to see a Cardiologist quickly.

Btw, which hospitals have a mobile ICU, & do they have a defib?

[Hoopoe]

If you are crook , KK is the only 24/7 service available for angioplasty, Udon has some services

The private service at Wattana, doesnt have angiogram/ angioplasty ??? to my knowledge


Udonthani general has some very good Cardiologist ,the man who did my angiogram there ,pointed out the problems 2 very long blockages , which were to difficult for him to attempt ( also they needed a full team ,which at the time ,2 years ago they didn't have )and i needed specialist's to attempt this ,he spoke VERY good English and wasn't full of the holier than thou nonsense you sometimes get ,straight talking this man , he advised that he would send all the details to KK,( but n the mean time i had another attack , and after i got stabilised at the local hospital i went to KK ,) so to conclude ,if it's a straight foreword Angioplas ( if there's such a thing ) they can do at Udonthani general
RE Private service ?? I went in and Queued like everyone else ,
This Info is now 2 years old so things could have improved ,( to my knowledge they are strengthening the Cardiologist dept at Udonthani general )Sorry guy's i was getting mixed up between Wattana & Udon General so have edited the post to say Udonthani General

[d p meijer]

what about Udon General big hospital ?

i understand they have a large cardio team 24/7 and upgrading .
i have been advised that if ever get a heart attack ....... straight to Udon General .
best place to go in Udon .

[Hoopoe]

what about Udon General big hospital ?

i understand they have a large cardio team 24/7 and upgrading .
i have been advised that if ever get a heart attack ....... straight to Udon General .
best place to go in Udon .

Correct, i have edited my post as i was getting mixed up between Wattana & Udonthani hospital ,For me and my past Experience , it's Udon General all the way ,The young Guys in there are very good ,and the dept is getting up graded all the time ,as my post's have stated i ended up at KK due to the difficulty of the procedure .
But just as an extra ,IF YOU ARE HAVING an HEART ATTACK ,GO TO THE NEAREST MEDICAL CENTRE TO BE STABILISED FIRST,( not as some have posted on here ,saying they would go directly to their hospital of choice) then you can decide where to go ,

[semperfiguy]

what about Udon General big hospital ?

i understand they have a large cardio team 24/7 and upgrading .
i have been advised that if ever get a heart attack ....... straight to Udon General .
best place to go in Udon .

Correct, i have edited my post as i was getting mixed up between Wattana & Udonthani hospital ,For me and my past Experience , it's Udon General all the way ,The young Guys in there are very good ,and the dept is getting up graded all the time ,as my post's have stated i ended up at KK due to the difficulty of the procedure .
But just as an extra ,IF YOU ARE HAVING an HEART ATTACK ,GO TO THE NEAREST MEDICAL CENTRE TO BE STABILISED FIRST,( not as some have posted on here ,saying they would go directly to their hospital of choice) then you can decide where to go ,

Hoopee, ordinarily I think you have given some good advice, but you have to remember that we are in Thailand now, and going to the nearest medical center to be stabilized instead of the hospital of one's choice could be a fatal mistake. I have previously reported on this forum that in Feb 2016 I woke up with a BP of 225/125 and a pulse rate of 150 and immediately drove myself to the Army Hospital ER. The nurses on duty didn't have a clue what to do and it took them 30 minutes to find an intern to tend to me. He said he wanted to draw blood to test my cholesterol and did I mind waiting for 1 1/2 hours for the results. I jumped off the gurney immediately, paid my bill and rushed myself to Bangkok Hospital Udon ER where they were able to stabilized me within 30 minutes. We discovered that I had an episode of atrial flutter and it could have led to a stroke had blood pooled in the upper sinus node of my heart and formed a blood clot. As far as I'm concerned I should have gone directly to Bangkok Hospital Udon which was a bit further away from my home. Had I hung around the Army Hospital while they sat there scratching their heads trying to figure out what to do with me, I could have lost my life. In Udon any decision is a big gamble because one never knows what to expect at any hospital. There is seldom any consistency in their practices, and what was a good decision last year could result in a fatal decision today.

[Hoopoe]

Hoopee, ordinarily I think you have given some good advice, but you have to remember that we are in Thailand now, and going to the nearest medical center to be stabilized instead of the hospital of one's choice could be a fatal mistake. I have previously reported on this forum that in Feb 2016 I woke up with a BP of 225/125 and a pulse rate of 150 and immediately drove myself to the Army Hospital ER. The nurses on duty didn't have a clue what to do and it took them 30 minutes to find an intern to tend to me. He said he wanted to draw blood to test my cholesterol and did I mind waiting for 1 1/2 hours for the results. I jumped off the gurney immediately, paid my bill and rushed myself to Bangkok Hospital Udon ER where they were able to stabilized me within 30 minutes. We discovered that I had an episode of atrial flutter and it could have led to a stroke had blood pooled in the upper sinus node of my heart and formed a blood clot. As far as I'm concerned I should have gone directly to Bangkok Hospital Udon which was a bit further away from my home. Had I hung around the Army Hospital while they sat there scratching their heads trying to figure out what to do with me, I could have lost my life. In Udon any decision is a big gamble because one never knows what to expect at any hospital. There is seldom any consistency in their practices, and what was a good decision last year could result in a fatal decision today.
[/quote]

Whilst i understand what you are saying , it's a double edged sword , people driving ( if you can drive that is ) past reasonable hospitals to get to a hospital of their choice ,( this happened 2015 ish ,he drove past a perfectly good hospital , but never made the second one )If you live out in the sticks , so to speak ,Nonghan,Kumphawapi, Si That , etc to decide to go to a hospital further afield to me would be madness ,and as you say seldom any consistency ,so who's to say BKK hospital would be ok next time , depending on time of dayI have seen and spoken to people who have been to BKK Hospital, ref heart,they have failed to correct the problem and then had to send to BangKok for a professor to come and sort it ( this can also be the case at KK ) the only difference being one was 800,000bht the other for 2 operations 250,000bht ,as for the military hospital i've heard and seen (on here very good and bad reports) so on the toss of a coin it would seem we live in a lottery, so for me if and when the next one strikes , it's to the nearest capable centre ,hopefully get stabilsed ,as of now I'm here due to the expertise at KK .also i have never had a bad word said about the heart centre there ,I've no doubt someone on here will try to correct that ,

[86Tiger]

Thanks also to Marcosteffano for your input.
We did visit Dr Kasem at BKK hospital today. It's for my farther in law, so although they're quite $$ we aren't here mostly, thus feel better if we at least go with a recommended Dr. than to be experimenting. BTW, the initial consult was about 900 and tomorrow's full battery of tests including CT scan is 23,900..... more pricey than other's experiences.

peterk,

I was wondering your opinion on follow up experience with Dr Kasem?

[peterk]

I thought Dr Kasem was professional and competent. He also has good English skills. Please bear in mind, for him, this was just a routine check on my wife's 58y.o. father, who is believed to have some heart issues. So unlike the gentleman whose life seems to have been saved by Dr Kasem, I can't report such depth of experience.

Just to comment more about the testing:
The puzzle we wanted to solve was "exactly what" are his heart issues . . . e.g. is he about to die because of severely calcified arteries, or does he just have to change his diet . . . or something in between. Great thing about the full test, while although expensive, you get a good insight into this important area of health - without needing to have emergency heart surgery (as indeed my dad once did) or die to do so. After this experience in our family, I'm a big fan of knowing what's going on up front, so I can take some precautions. My dad had badly clogged arteries and only found out from the subsequent hospital admission.

We also discovered a low level of diabetes in the father in law's blood tests, which was an unknown factor, and this knowledge will influence him to be careful with his sugar intake. But of course, you don't need a test of this level to determine that position.

If you want to do this test, you can go and simply chat to Dr Kasem for a small fee. But if you are serious about the above, I suggest fasting (food, coffee etc.) for 12 hours ahead of the appointment. That way, you can go straight into the tests if you choose to do so. We didn't know this would be an option, ate breakfast, and thus had to come back the very next day.

PS: I have a 2015 Tiger xc-x

[wazza]

The best way an individual can treat Chest Pain / Infarction as an emergency presentation is take take a aspirin prior to travelling to a medical facility.

( Unless contraindicated )

The peripheral hospitals around Udon province dont have the specialised equipment and and certain medications required to stabilise Acute Myocardial Infarctions ( heart attack ) or even medications to lower the elevated BP in many cases.

Best practice for these basic hospitals / clinics would be to administer O2 Using a High Concentration Mask with Reservoir Bag attached ( (90 % O2 concentration ) Not the nasal prongs under the nose, they only administer approximately 25 % concentration , Aspirin, IV Line support, ECG , GTN / Morphine and then off you go ASAP to a specialist area in Udon City or KK Sirikarin Heart centre , depending on your location etc.

The only invasive teating they should conduct in a time critical situation is to measure the cardiac enzymes. can be done a dip stick with a finger ***** ( same as a diabetic measures their Blood Sugar )

Doing tests for cholesterol etc is a total waste of space during the Time Critical time, it doesnt change the treatment regime at all, only in cardiac rehab perhaps.

Treat the presentation not treat the causes is a good start, Dont play and stay another good statement .