Doctor in Bangkok, Thailand

[K_Ken]

I'm scheduled for a gyne surgery with Dr. Poomee.  My major concern is on the scar.  Info from Rob is very helpful but couldn't help wonder if other has any experience with Dr. Poomee?

[april24th2007]

Ken,

Please tell us the cost, details of procedure and how long it takes to get a surgery date.  Any info you can supply would be well appreciated.

Thank you.

[K_Ken]

It's 130,000 baht for excision + lipo.  It takes a couple of months to get a date. 
It could be faster if there's an openning.  I decided that I need two months to prepare
myself.

I'm going for the operation this coming Friday.  You can go to www.bumrungrad.com
and get more info.

Ken,

Please tell us the cost, details of procedure and how long it takes to get a surgery date.  Any info you can supply would be well appreciated.

Thank you.

[as400]

Look forward to reading about your experience Ken as I also have a Bangkok option, good luck with it and enjoy the Bangkok heat! 

[K_Ken]

I've gone through the surgery yesterday.  I had a very good experience and didn't feel much pain at all.
My doctor checked on me this morning and we both were very pleased with the result.

I should have done this five years ago.  It was a very wise decision to choose Dr. Amorn Poomee. 
There was another gentleman from Bangladesh who went through the surgery a week before.
He was out shopping the next day so I couldn't take a look at his result.

Anyway, I'm sure it went well.

The recovery would take about a month and no excercise.  If things are coming along as they are now,
I would be extremely happy.  It worths to have a very experienced doctor who knows what he's doing.
As far as stiching and the incision is concerned, this doctor could be an artist.  His hand is very precise.

[april24th2007]

Ken thats excellent news.  But could you please give us the details of your entire experience.

Also, please post some before & after pictures.

Thank you.

[K_Ken]

My experience is in line with most people in the board.  First of all, I would say if I were to go through it again, I would still do it.  In fact, I thought I should have done this 10 years ago but again, I had no ideas who the good doctors are.

The healing part isn't too fun, especially you have to wear compression vest for 4-5 weeks.  I ordered something from underworks and their service was awesome.  Their products are more comfortable than those supplied by the hospital.

I'm 4 weeks aprox. post op.  My excision healed and mininum sign of excision is noticable.  I'm very impressed with the skills of this doctor.  However, I had the burning sensation at the lipo site.  This is the same with almost everyone and I started to have the hard band behind my skin. 

I had no ideas what people in the board talking about when they mentioned scar.  I guess this is how body coped and healed itself.  The hard band should be disappeared in a couple of months... I was told by my doctor.

Again, if I have to go through all these, knowing what I do now, I still go through the surgery.  Hope this helps.

[april24th2007]

Thanks Ken.  but please tell us more.  When you arrived, where you stayed.  How are the facilities, the clinic.  Was the nurses and staff helpful?  After care?  Do they speak english/

How long in bed did you have to remain?  Type of anesthesia.  Length of the surgery?  Location tips.  Things to do nearby if you can walk after the surgery.  What you ate etc..

Please advise some details Ken.  Also, cost of the surgery.  How about any cream to massage to help reduce swelling.  ANy pictures?

Thanks buddy.

[K_Ken]

My session was 9am so I checked in about 8am.  The hospital is first rated.  Very clean and well decorated.
The staff was very friendly and helpful.  They do speak English and my doctor speaks very good English.

I woke up a few hours after the operation but can't remember much other than being taken to the room.
I slept and woke up around 7pm.  Felt no pains at all.  My friend visited and we had good time.  I would
suggest bringing some DVDs or having visitors are good ideas in case you're borked of being alone.

My doctor gave me sleeping pill in case of any discomfort or insomnia.  Didn't need to take any at all.

You stay only a night there.  But if you need a hotel before and after the surgery, I would say JW marriot
for the luxury one.  In fact, you can stay at other hotels like Grand Hyatt since it's not too far.

If you're on limited budget, you can try Majestic grand which cost around USD 100 per night.

There're plenty of restaurants but you probably don't feel like eating much.

I'm so happy with the recovery.  The incision sites are healing nicely and the stiches are barely noticable now.

I got swelling / scar / hard band like all other people but this doesn't bother me much since they'll
come down.  In any case, I still look much better than before.

My concern was the scar from incision or crease.  I'm less worried about the scar that most people complained
since they're under the skin and you can't really tell.

The hardest experience is the infamous compression vest though.  You need to wear it close to 24/7 for a month!
I would recommend ordering the post operation vest from Underwork.  They're very quick and speedy.  Excellent service.
I didn't like the stuff that the hospital provided too much since they're not as comfortable.  At least, something from
underwork is something I can stand.

[Sam74]

Dear Ken,

Thank you so much for this very valuable info! You'll see that I started a thread "Surgeons in Bangkok" a while ago but we couldn't reach a satisfactory conclusion and are still left without serious recommendations. I had even consulted a doctor at Bumrungrad (not Poomee though) and was so disappointed that I never went ahead with the operation.

Therefore, your experience is most valuable. Apart from the costs etc, which we can find out by ourselves, I think the most important is... the RESULT!

Are you satisfied? Your last positive message dates from January, 1 month after the operation so I guess it means it all went well? But would you mind giving us the latest update?
It'd be great if you could maybe show us pre and post op pictures, as this is for sure the easiest thing for us to assess? This is very personal so would understand if you're not willing too, but would be great for all the guys who are willing to take the next step. It's so difficult to trust a practitioner (and i was turned off by my first consultation) that your feedback is highly valuable.
One more thing: how did you first consultation/assessment with Dr Poomee went? Did he take time to really check on your gyne? How long did it last? Did he ask many questions, etc? You can see in my previous post that mine lasted like 2 seconds and then surgery was planned for the next week. This really did not make me feel at ease, and I know that Bumrungrand tends to treat his patients more like business clients.

Many thanks in advance and congratulations for having made the decision and posting your impressions !

Cheers,

sam

[april24th2007]

I second what Sam just said.  Please let us know your feedback based on his post.  I am very interested too.  Thank you in advance.

[K_Ken]

Yes, in fact, I checked your thread before researching & conclusing that I went on with Dr. Amorn Poomee.
You see.... I was completely freak out by the idea of operating through the nipples and I got so many concerns e.g.
scars, nipple sensitivities issues, re-grow, recovering, etc.  I found a guy on their webboard called Rob who
posted his experience about dr. Poomee.  You can search his info and photos.  Very helpful.  He was also
a happy customer.  I have to thank him again for his info and photos.  That made me more decisive and
I've made the right decision.

Anyway, with all the info I got confirmed that Dr. Poomee was the best choice in my case since I'm not willing
to have the operation oversea.  It's not the cost issue but I need to see the doctor if something goes wrong.

The initial consultation went very well.  He let me ask every question I wanted and his answer was firm
and with great confidence.  No doubt about that now since my operation was a great success.  There was
a west asia movie star went through similar operation two weeks before my initial consultation.  That
guy went shopping the next day.

My doctor really took his time to check on my gyne.  unlike the other doctors who checked it briefly without
any clue.  Some even suggested lipo only would be sufficient but it wasn't the case since I saw my
Endo doctor.  We had a mammogram and I did have the gland so lipo won't work.

I don't feel like being a client.  Before the operation and after the operation which doctor poomee had
follow up without additional cost, my doctor has been nice and gentle.  He knows what he's doing.
And the best part is the incision sites.  After two months, I can't notice where the knife went through.
The worst experience was the vest which he had me on for a month and 1/2.  Later when I didn't complain
too much, he put me on for two months and now I'm off the vest.

There were numbness after the operation for a month and 1/2 + the burning sensation.  All got better quickly.
Like other patients, I had the hardness under the lipo areas but it went away slowly and almost OK after 2 months.

The best part is Dr. Poomee's wife who has been so supportive.  I went back and forth after seeing
the operation on youtube.  She has been very comforting and extremely supportive.  My family
didn't know so I need morale support.  Now I can say that even my family and colleages had no clues
that I went through gyne operation.

I couldn't find the compression vest so Dr's wife heped get two done at Walco as prototypes.  Didn't
like the material since it was very itchy.  I ordered something from underwork and their service was
very good.  I've told his wife and she would ask the supplier to change the material since the co didn't
have any experience with the compression vest.  You can order the post operation vest before going
through the operation so you have it before hand.

I've told Dr. Poomee's wife that I'm more than happy to give out any info to anyone who wants the same
operation with Dr. Poomee.  You can see my pictures at the doctor office since he didn't give me those photos.
There were before and after photos.  If you'd like to see my operation site, please ask the doctor's wife to
reach me.  If I'm free, I'll show you if you can see any stich at my nipples.  Dr. Poomee is an artist.
I shouldn't have waited for this long but again, I didn't know that I were in the right hand til I found
this doctor.  Later, my skin doctors' friends also confirmed that he's one of the best, if not the best.

Hope this is helpful.  I totally understand how you feel since I had the similar experience and went
through the same thing before the operation.  At this point, I have no more info to share since I
told you all.

[K_Ken]

Usually, people address Dr. Poomee as Dr. Amorn which is his first name.

His wife is K Vannee.  You can also talk to her about my case.

My endo doctor also recommended Dr. Arthit but I really like Dr. Poomee
from the 1st consultation so I didn't check out Dr. Arthit.

Dr. Poomee was so good that I decided to do some other aesthetic surgery
with him as well.  Didn't have the idea but as he was flipping through the
photo books and with my experience with him, I thought 'oh...... I should
do that too.'  Never see any stiching skill like that.  Got many doctors
friend but it seems that Dr. Poomee went beyond the limit most plastic
surgeon can do.

Don't want to raise your expectation too high but I understood the pro / con
of this surgery so I had my expectation realistically and this operation went
over my expectation.

I have to say that I'm an ultra picky person and got sharp eyes.  There's
still little swelling on my left breast but it looks thousand times better
before the operation.  It came down and I'm sure it'll go down even more.
Just go to the consultation and ask for my photos.

[K_Ken]

The other guy screen name is binap so you should check his thread since he also shared all info about his experience.
The part of Nurses giggling about his thing wasn't very professional. 

However, I didn't have similar experience about the nurse's giggling.  I thought they were very discreet and professional.
The nurse at the ward was extremely helpful and service minded. 

I brough DVD along since it was boring at night at the hospital.

[sws]

Hey Everyone

I read Binaps reports and was encouraged so I decided to look into Dr. Poomee.  I flew down to Bangkok and had a consultation with him about two weeks ago and was very impressed.  He didn't spend too much time looking at my gyne but he seemed quite sure of what he saw.  I had a consult with another surgeon in Hong Kong and was sorely unimpressed.  He only recommended lypo too which made me curious about which one was correct. But Dr. Poomee pointed out the benefits of having both the lypo and excision done and from the little photo book on his desk with past pics, I'm now sure why.

I was introduced to his wife in the waiting area and she was quite friendly.  I kinda expected to run into her from what I've read on these posts so it was nice to be reassured. 

After I got home I scheduled myself for surgery on the 19th of March.  I'm still a bit nervous because I'd be mortified if something went wrong and I had nasty scars to explain for the rest of my life, but from the sounds of things, it's not going to be an issue.

K_Ken would you mind posting some post op pics or just describe how it is now?  Now that it's been a month or so?  I've seen the 3-10 day post op pics but nothing slightly longer term.  Also can you describe the excision scar?  Was it hard, swollen and elevated?  Has it since come down in size?  Is there a visible scar?

Anyone else been into see Dr. Poomee lately?