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Yes Oz there is no doubt the USA medical system is screwed up. Last time I visited an emergency room was a few years ago and it cost me $1750. What you just had done in Bangkok would have cost $15-20,000 I am sure. But that is what happens when the entire system is run by greedy corporations and drug companies. Time Magazine recently did an exhaustive Cover story on the ridiculous charges that some hospitals charge and how the same procedure can be 5 to 10x as much in the same city and many times the most respected Hospital had some of the lowest charges. Go Figure? Why? Greed!!!

Hospitals in Thailand are much different than they are in the United States. First of all the hospitals here are much cleaner and better organized than they are in the USA. I had some problems with my legs and so I made an appointment to see a doctor at Bumrungrad Hospital in Bangkok. http://www.bumrungrad.com The main difference between the hospitals in Thailand and the hospitals in America probably comes down to customer service that is presented at the hospitals in Thailand. When you walk into the hospital, you can go to pretty much any doctor that you want to see and you are treated with kindness and respect from everyone from nurses to doctors to technicians. You do not have to go to the emergency room in order to see see a physician. You check in at the information desk on the first floor and tell them what is wrong and they will point you in the right direction. You can go for any ailment or issue and not have to pay the high emergency room fees. For me they sent me to see a cardiologist. The cardiologist was on the 15th floor of the hospital. Once they determine what kind of a doctor I need to see, I went up to the floor and gave my information to the nurse at the front desk. Once she had my information they do a blood pressure test and check your weight and then you are asked to sit back down and wait for the doctor to see you. The wait is never long. Or, I should say, not as long as the wait in USA. Once the doctor sees you he makes a plan of what he wants you to do in order to find the problems. For me this was a Doppler x-ray of my legs, a urine sample, blood work, a chest x-ray and some other odds and ends. For me every time I would go to a different part of the hospital a nurse would walk with me and direct me to the next reception area in order to check in. Once I finished in that area, another nurse would take me to the next area. And so on and so forth until I got back to my main doctor. I have had some problems with my legs swelling and my feet swelling since I was in the USA for about 3 to 4 weeks. The doctor in the USA gave me a pharmacy for Lasix for 20 mg. For the last few months I've seen three different doctors in the USA. None of them seem to help at all. None of them also did any test except for some blood work to check to see if there was a problem with the kidney, liver, or the heart. This doctor however prescribed for me to see a radiologist and have a Doppler scan of my legs to be sure that there was no blockage of the arteries that was causing the problem. He also had a chest x-ray and several other x-rays done. All of them actually turned out normal and I had no blockage and I had no problems with any of the x-rays. He prescribed for me 80 mg of Lasix twice per day as opposed to one dosage of 20mg per day. Today was the first day that I've actually seen the size of my legs decrease and the swelling on my ankles decrease. All in all I spent two days at the hospital, I saw a cardiologist, radiologist, a regular doctor, several nurses I had time to test done I was there about six hours each day for two days. The total cost for the two days was right around $1100. Not only is the cost much less than what is in the US, you also get much better service in a Thai hospital then you would get a hospital in the USA. That said, this hospital is a pay hospital is a for-profit hospital. This is not a typical hospital that many Thai people would go to. This is something that is very expensive for their culture. The hospital's clientele consist mostly of foreigners. The majority of those foreigners come from the Middle East. The reason for this is many Middle Eastern countries send their citizens to Bangkok in order to be treated at the hospital. They have an agreement with the hospital to wear any of their medical needs the baby is covered by that country. My Blue Cross Blue Shield policy covers me while I'm overseas but I have to pay out-of-pocket and then get reimbursed from Blue Cross Blue Shield in the USA. I had a very good friend that did a got stamps from the hospital last year. He received three stents was in the hospital for one week and the cost of the entire surgery including follow up visits and consultations and meds was less than US$10,000. For me, the doctors appointment with the cardiologist each day was less than US$25. The cost for the radiologist was a bit more rounded to be about US$100. The radiologist actually did the Doppler of my legs and spent the entire hour with me and didn't outsource this to a technician. The price that I gave you for the cost of the entire two days also included all medicines that they prescribed for me on both days as well as a pair of socks that I that were prescription that would go on my legs. The socks were over 80 USD, which is insane. LOL They cost more than seeing my doctor. I did get a break down of the bill which was fascinating as the costs were so low compared to anything I could get done in the USA. The biggest problem that I have with the hospital is the area that it is located. The area is not a bad area for violence. However the area is a very bad area for traffic. It took me an hour go from my hotel to the hospital which is less than 5 miles. There is a sky train in Bangkok that is available for anyone to use, however it is not really convenient for this particular hospital. I have told my sister for many years that if I ever have a major medical problem but I wanted to be in Thailand to be treated. The main reason for this is the friendliness of the people that work in the hospitals, and the cleanliness of the hospitals. Hospitals in Bangkok Thailand in general that expats use really do look and feel more like a hotel that they do a hospital. My one night that I stayed at a hospital in Thailand had a balcony, a mini bar, and a huge well decorated room. As someone who likes to be treated in a certain way, the hospitals and Thailand certainly do not disappoint.

All the Asian ass that I have eatten were nice and smooth, not lumpy and bumpy. But then, I have only eatten asian ass in the USA... But hito, dont think of them as anal warts.... think of them as bunyions that come from wearing too tight SHOES....

www.nbcnews.com/technology/privacy-vs-security-false-choice-poisons-debate-nsa-leaks-6C10536226 Best regards, RA1

I find it more than a bit ironic that Obama says we should have a national debate about this, but wants to crucify the guy that tells us what we are actually debating....

Stupid me. I thought that this movie was about my foreskin reappearing nearly six decades after my bris. Oy vay. NOT.

The Ultimate in Protection - Full Body Condoms

See, Oz, you already have stories to tell! I asked a Thai friend to get me a copy of your medical report from the hospital, and what you left out of the story are the doctor's specific instructions that you cannot put your legs in the air for 6 weeks! Doogy-style only is what I read....

Pope's Reform Path: Francis Shakes Up Church Establishment By Hans-Jürgen Schlamp in Rome, SPIEGEL July 6, 2013 It appears Pope Francis truly wants to change the Catholic Church. He's reforming the Vatican Bank first, but he's also circumventing the old guard wherever he can. The establishment is up in arms. A cardinal in Rome earns about ?3,000 ($3,888) a month, even less than a pastor in Germany. But a cardinal's life in Rome is a lot more expensive -- with visits to restaurants and shopping at boutiques for the upscale clothing men of the church are expected to wear, not to mention their jewelry and the antiques they display in their apartments. So it's good to have friends who can treat you or otherwise provide support now and then. Friends are also happy to give a cardinal a hand -- and not just out of religious considerations. A cardinal can be helpful in both political and business terms. So it's not surprising that a symbiotic relationship between parts of the Curia and the upper class around the world has formed -- one that brings together the establishment, luxury and power. It's a nice little tradition that new Pope Francis would like to put an end to. For the Catholic establishment, though, it is nothing less than a catastrophe. A 'Sick' Church of 'Theological Narcissism' Even before his enthronement as pope, when he was still a cardinal, Jorge Mario Bergoglio had spoken clearly about this. During his speech to the cardinal conclave, he warned that, "When the church does not emerge from itself to evangalize, it becomes self-referential and therefore becomes sick." He warned of "self-referentiality" and "theological narcissism." He also criticized a "mundane church that lives within itself, of itself and for itself." And it appears the Argentinian pope meant this criticism seriously. In fact, he demonstrates that every day. Instead of wearing a gold cross, he has one of steel. And he lives in a sparsely furnished apartment in the Santa Marta guest house rather than in the Apostolic Palace. Instead of taking his seat in the Vatican concert hall to listen to classical music, he recently remained at his desk working on the final version of his decree for the church-state's own Institute for Religious Works (IOR) bank. With his signature, he created a powerful special papal commission to review the bank's activities. He also said the new commission must change everything at the Vatican Bank, as it is also known. He said the Vatican certainly needed a bank, but its areas of business should only reach a "certain point." A Papal Bank with Mafia Contacts For decades now, the IOR has been in the headlines for one scandal after the other. At the beginning of the 1980s, it was at the center of one of the darkest crime thrillers in postwar Italian history. The scandal surrounded billions in business with the mafia, and a Vatican banker was hanged from a London bridge by a killer commando. But the chain of scandals never let up. When, in autumn 2010, fresh suspicions of money laundering to the tune of triple-digit millions emerged, then Pope Benedict XVI promised stricter rules for his financial managers. In fact, though, nothing changed. In the so-called Vatileaks scandal, secret documents that had been smuggled out of the Vatican shed light on bizarre intrigues inside the papal state. Often, the Vatican Bank played a role in those intrigues. Benedict XVI was appalled, but also overwhelmed. He failed to prevail over the powerful cardinals who backed the IOR. His resignation was the logical outcome. German Baron Takes Helm of Bank His successor is taking more decisive action. First, he fired Nunzio Scarano, the top accountant in the Vatican office that oversees Vatican property and investments, after he was accused of money laundering and corruption and arrested. Then, practically overnight, he forced out IOR Director Paulo Cipriani and his deputy. Now the bank will be led by Ernst von Freyberg, a German baron and former consultant, member of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and the president of the IOR supervisory board since mid-February. Between now and October, Pope Francis wants to ensure clarity and also determine how the financial institute will handle its duties in harmony with the "church's mission" in the future. A that point, a new structure will be created for the bank and a new boss will be appointed. "Did we actually vote for someone who really believes in what he preaches?" some within the Curia are now whispering. Once again, Francis has taken them fully by surprise. In an almost demonstrative manner, he has been excluding the Vatican apparatus in every way he can. Most recently, this happened with the trip the pope announced he would take on Monday to the island of Lampedusa in southern Italy. Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican secretary of state, first learned of the planned trip through a papal press release. And instead of the kind of months of advance-team work used by heads of the Catholic Church for trips in the past, Francis has dispensed with that. Instead, the eccentric Argentinian pope ordered his staff to prepare a plane so that he could fly there in the morning and be back by midday. Thousands of refugees have arrived at Lamedusa each year in desperation after making the journey across the Mediterranean from North Africa in small, dangerous boats. Francis wants to pray together with them and also throw a wreath into the sea to commemorate those who have lost their lives trying to make it to Europe. The pope has announced that he doesn't want to meet with the mayor or other authorities. He also also ordered church officials to stay away. http://abcnews.go.com/International/popes-reform-path-francis-shakes-church-establishment/story?id=19573297&page=2#.Udg-u212mTo

How many surrealists does it take to screw in a light bulb? A fish: The most highbrow jokes in the world Ultra-highbrow humour has become the hottest thing on the internet Andrew Johnson The Independent Friday 05 July 2013 Have you heard the one about the internet forum thread which took the world by storm? Scientists are not generally recognised for their sense of humour, but those disparagingly referred to as “geeks” by the more intellectually challenged of us have responded in their thousands to a question posed on the Reddit website: “What’s the most intellectual joke you know?” The huge number of gags – and yes, many of them are funny – cover all disciplines from physics to philosophy. They range from the accessible, such as: “A Roman walks into a bar, holds up two fingers, and says: ‘Five beers, please’,” to those that require a working knowledge of Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle to understand. The joke about Benoit B Mandelbrot, for example, relies on a knowledge of the scientist’s work on fractals. For all their highbrow intellectualism, however, the jokes follow traditional forms. They include puns: “Did you hear about the man who got cooled to absolute zero? He’s OK now” – as well as someone-walks-into-a-bar jokes and light-bulb-changing jokes (“How many Marxists does it take to screw in a lightbulb? None: the lightbulb contains the seeds of its own revolution”). There are also plenty of jokes of the Englishman, Irishman and Scotsman format, where the usual protagonists are replaced by physicists, engineers and economists. It is rather unfair to assume that there is anything improbable about science overlapping with humour. Popular TV and radio shows such as The Big Bang Theory, Infinite Monkey Cage, Museum of Curiosity and Dara O’Briain’s School Of Hard Sums happily marry science with jokes. And, as Brian Cox, the scientist and presenter of Wonders of the Universe, points out, comedians such as O’Briain and Ben Miller are physics graduates. “There is a strange nexus between physics and comedy that I seem to be a part of,” Cox told the Daily Telegraph. “It’s a powerful if strange alliance. Dara O’Briain did mathematics and physics, and is passionate about it. Ben Miller did a PhD in physics. Robin Ince [his co-presenter on Infinite Monkey Cage] is a very good friend of mine.” Too clever by half: 25 highbrow jokes 1. A photon checks into a hotel and the porter asks him if he has any luggage. The photon replies: “No, I’m travelling light.” 2. “Is it solipsistic in here, or is it just me?” 3. What does a dyslexic, agnostic, insomniac spend most of his time doing? Staying up all night wondering if there really is a dog. 4. A TCP packet walks into a bar, and says to the barman: “Hello, I’d like a beer.” The barman replies: “Hello, you’d like a beer?” “Yes,” replies the TCP packet, “I’d like a beer.” 5. An electron is driving down a motorway, and a policeman pulls him over. The policeman says: “Sir, do you realise you were travelling at 130km per hour?” The electron goes: “Oh great, now I’m lost.” 6. Pavlov is enjoying a pint in the pub. The phone rings. He jumps up and shouts: “Hell, I forgot to feed the dog!” 7. How many surrealists does it take to screw in a light bulb? A fish. 8. There are 10 types of people in this world. Those that know binary, and those that don’t. 9. When I heard that oxygen and magnesium hooked up I was like OMg. 10. The barman says: “We don’t serve faster-than-light particles here.” A tachyon enters a bar. 11. A Buddhist monk approaches a hotdog stand and says: “Make me one with everything”. 12. What do you call two crows on a branch? Attempted murder. 13. An Englishman, a Frenchman, a Spaniard and a German are walking down the street together. A juggler is performing on the street but there are so many people that the four men can’t see the juggler. So the juggler goes on top of a platform and asks: “Can you see me now?” The four men answer: “Yes.” “Oui.” “Si.” “Ja.” 14. Never trust an atom. They make up everything. 15. How many programmers does it take to change a light bulb? None, it’s a hardware problem. 16. A student travelling on a train looks up and sees Einstein sitting next to him. Excited, he asks: “Excuse me, professor. Does Boston stop at this train?” 17. Did you hear about the jurisprudence fetishist? He got off on a technicality. 18. Werner Heisenberg, Kurt Gödel, and Noam Chomsky walk into a bar. Heisenberg turns to the other two and says: “Clearly this is a joke, but how can we figure out if it’s funny or not?” Gödel replies: “We can’t know that because we’re inside the joke.” Chomsky says: “Of course it’s funny. You’re just telling it wrong.” 19. A Roman walks into a bar, holds up two fingers, and says: “Five beers, please.” 20. Did you hear about the man who got cooled to absolute zero? He’s 0K now. 21. An infinite number of mathematicians walk into a bar. The bartender says: “What’ll it be, boys?” The first mathematician: “I’ll have one half of a beer.” The second mathematician: “I’ll have one quarter of a beer.” The third mathematician: “I’ll have one eight of a beer.” The fourth mathematician: “I’ll have one sixteenth of a…” The bartender interrupts: “Know your limits, boys” as he pours out a single beer. 22. What does the “B” in Benoit B Mandelbrot stand for? Answer: Benoit B Mandelbrot. 23. Jean-Paul Sartre is sitting at a French café, revising his draft of Being and Nothingness. He says to the waitress: “I’d like a cup of coffee, please, with no cream.” The waitress replies: “I’m sorry, Monsieur, but we’re out of cream. How about with no milk?” 24. A classics professor goes to a tailor to get his trousers mended. The tailor asks: “Euripides?” The professor replies: “Yes. Eumenides?” 25. A programmer’s wife tells him: “Run to the store and pick up a loaf of bread. If they have eggs, get a dozen.” The programmer comes home with 12 loaves of bread. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/how-many-surrealists-does-it-take-to-screw-in-a-light-bulb-a-fish-the-most-highbrow-jokes-in-the-world-8691191.html

RA1, people travel to Thailand for Medical Tourist for many reasons. But, for me, I forgot to mention that all my doctors were trained in the USA. One in NYC and one in Chicago. This is very common for the Thai hospitals. You are not relying on anything other than a real doctor with great training. The cost is great and very effective for many issues. See their website for this as well. And, I did go to the most expensive hospital in Thailand. There are others that are half the price. I even have friends that get diagnosed at this hospital and ask the doctor if they can do surgery in another one for less money. In other words, you have lots of options and top quality care. As for the bed rest, he said, rest in the bed with 2 Thai boys. I am following his advice.

Thailand and India (among others) are well known for "medical tourism" and your report shows some of the reasons why. Please follow the doctor's orders, especially if he says, stay in bed and get well. Best regards, RA1

Great story and photos! http://edition.cnn.com/2013/07/04/travel/brazil-10-things/index.html