So I have the flight tickets and the money. I am in contact with PAI CLINIC and just finishing the last few formalities (filling forms, etc). and am leaving in about 02 months

I am going for SRS and possibly tracheal shave. It is hard to believe I am leaving so soon. It has been such a long time planning this, and now I am finally packing up and leaving. I will be going on my own, what adds to the feelings of insecurity.

Somehow at the moment I am more nervous about the flight there and back alone than the procedure itself. Will I be in pain on the way home? Will everything be fine regarding to complications? Hopefully I won't need to go back there again for a second procedure. *deep breath*

Will any of you girls be there in bkk in march?

In adiition, any tips of what to bring there?

I am thinking omeprazol, perhaps I should also take a few painkillers with me just in case? Should I look for a donut pillow before or after the surgery?

It is crazy near. Only 2 months...

Hi Bird!

I hope you're having a beautiful day

I'm a PAI girl myself! And I'm 3 weeks post-op to this day.  First off, I can say that my whole experience going to Thailand and having my SRS with PAI was truly wonderful.  I went by myself too, which I was worried about as well, but I can reassure you that you should be totally fine.  Pai does a really good job of accommodating you and making you feel like you're not alone.  They assign you a liason that guides you through the whole process.  They take care of all your scheduling, transportation etc.  The guy I had was awesome, he really made me feel at home and took care of me.  Once you get there everything moves by pretty quickly, so the loneliness factor isn't so bad. Everything is also really structured so I never felt lost or anything like that.   I was worried about the flight too, especially the return flight, but it all went really well.  When it was time for me to leave I didn't have too much pain anymore.  If anything, it was really minimal, just a little soreness.  I think I only took one painkiller on the flight back home, but I probably could've done without it if I wanted to. It ultimately depends though on one's own pain threshold and how your body responds to the surgery.  Another thing is, if you haven't already, I would recommend setting up a wheelchair service through your airline.  I did and it made it so much easier traveling back home.  You don't have to put any strain on your body looking for your departure gates etc. and on my airlines they gave me better seats with more legroom and put me right next to the restrooms on the planes.  In terms of complications, there's always a risk but with any experienced surgeon, such as the one's at PAI, the risk is minimal.  I think I remember my surgeon telling me that 90% of their patients don't experience any complications, and the 10% that do they're usually very minimal complications that can easily be resolved.  I didn't experience any complications, although I did have a little bit more swelling around my urethra so I had to wear the catheter for a couple of days longer, but once it was out everything was good. 

In terms of what to bring, I tried to pack the least I could, but I still ended up overpacking haha.  I didn't explore too much during the recovery in the hotel because I wanted to rest as much as possible so I could've brought far less clothing.  Maxi dresses are good, I pretty much wore like three different ones and thats it.  Any light loose clothing is good, nothing tight. I brought extra pads which came in handy.  Lots of underwear is good too.  I brought my laptop and netflix worked which was pretty awesome.  I didn't bring any painkillers with me, and when you get discharged from the hospital they provide you with some painkillers as well as when you go to your follow up appointments they provide you with additional pain killers.  They also give you a donut ring when you leave the hospital, its this rubbery material that you pump with air. 

Anyways, I hope this is helpful in some way and I'm super excited for you! I wish you all the best on your upcoming surgery! You'll be in great hands

Much Love,
Alessia

Congratulations Bird on finally getting your GCS.  I'm really happy for you.  I think this is the route I will eventually take too.  I want to get my FFS first tho. Hopefully sometime this year.  I really hope you keep this thread going keeping us informed of your experience.

Quote from: Bird on January 05, 2017, 10:15:40 AM
In adiition, any tips of what to bring there?

I am thinking omeprazol, perhaps I should also take a few painkillers with me just in case? Should I look for a donut pillow before or after the surgery?

I'd be very careful taking medicines into Thailand as there's a list of things that could cause you trouble. Even codeine, which is not even prescription in Australia.

That's probably very wise advice. I have taken in some pain killers but the fact is that you can buy pretty much anything there. 2 stops up the BTS line from the PAI road there's a superb pharmacy called 'South East Asia Pharmacy.' They seem to sell everything and it has a vg reputation: https://foursquare.com/v/south-east-pharmacy-sukhumvit-15/4d8a074d4757721ef6e9ad69

Aside from that what exciting news Bird. Will be really thinking of you and am sending you very very best wishes for it all.

One piece of advice I would give is that March / April are hot in Bangkok. This year was insufferable: record temps pushing towards 50C. So stay cool would be my advice: lots of loose cotton clothing, stock up on water before your op for when you're back in your room and enjoy the air conditioning

Very very best with the preparations. Wow.

much love,

Rach
xx

Thank you all for the support. Thank you really.  It is very important for me because I don't quite have a lot of family support for this and when they are supportive, they obviously aren't experienced on the matter.

Right now I am more nervous than anything else as I wrap up the last preparations (getting a license off work, buying the last bunch of dollars etc) and I know time will just fly and in what seens to be a second I will be there.

So far, PAI has been what people say they are. Very attentive. They answer me in the next day, always, so far I have echanged about twenty emails with them and they answered everything with a lot of attention and politeness. They said they can book my hotel too and I think I will just delegate this function to them instead of doing it myself.

About the temperatures, all I can say is that I am brazilian and although I live in the south, where temperatures are somewhat chiller, last year I went to bangkok in february/march and it wans't too different from our summer. I guess temperatures skyrocket afterwards by what you are saying. Well, I will be sure to be prepared for the high temperatures then, thanks for telling me

Alessia I will be sure to take the wheelchair. Thankfully I managed to buy a bussiness classs seat for the return trip too ( 25 hours in total... ) and I hope it will be, as possible, smooth sailing.

I don't have  a laptop though. I am a gamer and so I have a desktop set up at home. I will bring books with me and for eletronic entertainment my cellphone will have to do. I mean, I have mario in it 

Oh Business Class ... brilliant brilliant decision, Bird. I did the same coming back from PAI last month and wow what a difference it makes. I'm not sure which airline you chose but the Middle Eastern carriers are so used to their pax travelling to Thailand for surgery that they were very calm and reassuring. I'm sure that's true for all airlines.

Re the weather, it sounds as if you will be fine. I lived on the equator in Africa for six years. Anyway you may be out before the heat really builds later in April.

Re hotels, one of them which PAI use is Salil in Thonglor, near to the clinic. It's a v nice boutique hotel with a good breakfast: http://www.salilhotel.com/thonglor/

Rxx

Rachel someone posted a review of that hotel in booking.com saying it doesn't has a elevator. Is that true?

No it's not true my lovely. It has an elevator in every wing. There are a few Salil hotels but the one in Thonglor definitely has elevators.

Good to know. I was considering Salil (as PAI recomended them) but was put off by that review. The other hotel I am considering is oneone, both seen nice for about the same price.

Hey

I stayed at Salil and it was great! The hotel staff were really nice and accommodating and all of the amenities were nice too

Cool, that is nice Alessia. I will surely be looking more into Salil then. I will book either one ( Salil or oneone ) tonight.

Hi, my Name ist Janine and i am from Germany.I Going to PAI this February.
I also go Go Bangkok alone.
I have a question: Is good Internet Connection (W-LAN) in the Clinic and Sali Hotel?
Thanks for replies.
Sorry for my Bad English

Best greetings
Janine

Hi Janine,

Fab to hear you are going to PAI.

Wifi in the Salil hotel Thonglor is okay. On the top and ground floor it's excellent. On the middle floor it's slow during the daytime.

I don't know about the clinic itself but wifi at Piyavate hospital is via 24 hour login coupons, which are often used in Thailand, are works perfectly well.

with very best wishes,

Rach xx

I will be at PAI in February too! I'm not having much luck in finding an answer, but how did you all make payment? They are asking for cash and I'm still unsure how I'm going to handle such a large domination on me. My bank no longer offers traveler checks due to too much fraud associated with it.