Hi Phoebe.
Congratulations on your upcoming surgery with Dr Suporn. I had my SRS with Dr Suporn in December 2010. I am
glad to share any information I have.
To answer your questions:
What to bring? The clinic will supply you with all the supplies you will need post-op. Some people have mentioned they
thought the sanitary napkins were very rough. I didn't notice this personally. But you may want to purchase some at home.
One thing that comes in real handy is to bring a large plastic cup with a handle (like a reusable coffee/drink cup). The showers in the hotel do not have handheld shower heads. Using the cup you can clean your privates much easier after dilation. The toilets do have a handheld sprayer device but the water is cold (fine to rinse after urination, but doesn't cut it after dilation). Large size panties are good to bring. Tight jeans are out of the question for a couple months so skirts, capris in a very soft, stretchy material. Slip on shoes, bending over to tie shoes took a couple months for me.
I was never bored in Chonburi. This will be an experience that you can't compare to a vacation. If you are someone who has travelled much internationally your experience may be very different from mine. I travelled alone and had never been outside of the US/Canada. I was very excited just to be "out in the world". I was on my personal quest and every breath seemed to have importance. I don't think I have ever been as centered and able to stay in the moment as I was during this trip. How this translates to the experience of a support partner I can't say.
I used Skype extensively to keep in contact with my partner back in the US (about an hour a day on average). You mentioned bringing books and media that's needed for sure. But I would encourage you to get out and enjoy the other people at the clinic. The patients at the clinic are going to span age groups, backgrounds, and people are at different places in their time at
the clinic. Everybody is different in their need for alone time, their need for support, how they will do with physical recovery. Just being there sharing is really a beautiful thing.
The area around the hotel is safe and very accesible. The clinic is less than a block away from the hotel. There is a mall with a grocery store across the pedestrian bridge 2 blocks away. Right in this little area there is also a pharmacy, an ice cream parlour, a pizza place, and a Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC). There are also a couple of local cafes right in the area. The menus must have been in English. At the restraunts outside the hotel there was always someone that spoke english. In the hotel most all the staff spoke english, not always well.
Walking feels very safe, there is a Buddhist temple about a half mile away along with another mall. I did some other walks around the area. One thing to watch out for is dogs, there are lots of dogs about and they can be aggressive. As far as other tourists, there were very few. At the hotel there were some business travellers, and a tour group of junior high kids from Japan. People joked that the only caucasian women in Chonburi were visiting Dr Suporn.
The clinic arranges sight seeing trips every couple of weeks. Alternating between Pattaya and Dr's beachhouse. There is a large mall in Chonburi, Central Mall some people will go check it out. There is a local beach that is a nice way to spend an afternoon. It was a little bit of an adventure getting there and back, but it's a great memory. Besides the clinic trip to Pattaya, some people travelled there on their own. I think it is about an hour each way and there is a regular bus that goes there. Another idea, depending how adventurous your girlfriend is, Sri Richi (I think thats the name) it is an island couple hours or so and then a ferry ride. While I was there, a couple of partners did an overnight trip there together. After I was out of the hospital I went back a few times to visit.
The hotel has a nice lobby for hanging out and a large balcony on the third floor. There is also a beer garden right outside. The clinic is also comfy head over for a thai iced tea. The main waiting room can be really busy but there are some nice quiet rooms to relax in.
I enjoyed the breakfast buffet, plenty of choices for me. Coffee was pretty disappointing, blecch! I would really gorge myself on the buffet, eat dinner and maybe go back down for a bowl of ice cream.
I hope this helps. I'll be glad to share more so ask away. There is also a great account here in a blog Melan's Musings.. unfortunately all the pics that used to accompany it are gone.
Best Wishes,
Elaina
