The Thai Hospital Experience part 3
if they had hospitals in heaven...
Every efficiency was geared toward the patient…
I was guided seamlessly through all the various departments for the tests that had been ordered.
The equipment was state-of-the-art. It began to dawn on me that we might not be the best in the world, as we’ve had instilled in us all our lives. It was a bit sobering...
It put the lie to the “third world country” insults I’d heard from my own doctors just prior to the trip.
The whole atmosphere was elevated and uplifting. Kindness, warmth, competency and calm radiated from everyone I came in contact with.
I noticed a slight shift in the procedures in two departments…
A little more time was spent with the mammogram, but I could not detect any overt concern among doctors or staff.
In the Cardiology Department it was a different story…
The initial tests were run a 2nd time. Then a 3rd time. And then the doctors themselves very gently and calmly replaced the technicians and ran the tests again themselves.
Something was up…
I thought to myself… “They don’t like what they’re seeing.”
They gave me no indication, however. Peace and calm reigned…dampening the rise of my old fears.
When all the testing for the day was completed, I was served a delightful lunch, after which I would be seen again by the original presiding physician.
On being politely escorted into a conference room, I was surprised to see, not only him, but all the doctors I’d met with that day…bearing all the completed test results!
We then proceeded to have a lengthy round-table discussion!
Each doctor presented his findings one-by-one. With each presentation, the doctors took time to explain the results and make any recommendations.
I was able to ask questions…as many as I needed to ask.
In answering those questions, they met me at my level of understanding in each system of the body. When helpful, the other doctors added their comments and questions, as well.
These roundtable discussions can last for several hours. This was unimaginable in the West…but THIS is how medicine SHOULD be practiced.
I invite you to listen in on parts of the consultation…
When the results of the mammogram were shown…
“Ms. Robinson, you have 3 small lumps. Here is the size and location of each one. They are already eroding…. You will never have to worry about these.”
The scan showed clearly 3 small darkened spots with a tiny white remnant in each. They helped me understand what I was looking at. I proceeded to ask questions.
Some 80% of breast lumps are calcifications. (remember my earlier bout with arthritis?) Calcium deposits…too much of a good thing.
I had removed calcium supplements, excess dairy and added topical magnesium gel (which breaks down calcium where it doesn’t belong and guides it back to the bone) That had caused the calcified lumps to dissolve…hence the ‘erosion’!
I sat STUNNED at the incredible difference in their approach!
Imagine what would have happened back home in the States!
The RED HOT ALARMS that would have been raised. The FEAR!!
The course of treatment…
The HELL ON EARTH of our approach.
Even though the French had long since pioneered less traumatic lumpectomies, our system is still going for radical mastectomies and then they add chemo and radiation for good measure.
THIS IS “BULL-IN-A-CHINA-SHOP” MEDICINE.
(I had seen so many of my massage patients …and their families…through these hells)
After all the damage has been done, the women are then advised to reduce their dairy intake in the future. When it all could have been prevented….
It was only in very recent years that the FDA finally advised doctors to take post-menopausal women off of supplemental calcium because large, long-term studies had confirmed that within one year of beginning supplementation, women were developing breast cancer and heart disease (hardening or calcification of the heart and arteries)
This came nearly 50 yrs. too late. Scientists and doctors of nutritional medicine repeatedly raised the alarm within the first two years (early 1970s) To make matters worse, I have yet to meet a doctor who has taken that advisory to heart and removed their patients from supplemental calcium.
“But what about my aging bones?!”
Well…it has been found that excess calcium leads to accelerated bone loss. Magnesium is needed to balance and make calcium behave itself in the body…providing what is needed for innate bone-remodeling (which is never taught to people)
So here I sat in this conference room at Bumrumgrad Hospital feeling like I was in a different universe.
The Thai approach was calm, measured, reasonable and verifiable. It meshed with my own discoveries over the years. The information was delivered in an honest, common-sense manner… Moreover, it was cheerful, uplifting and reassuring to the patient.
It was supremely ethical. I WAS in a different universe…
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There was a delicate opening to the conversation with the orthopedists…
They gently queried me… ”Do you use a cane when walking?”
I smiled, a bit surprised and confused at the question. “No…”
“Do you use a walker or have you ever used a wheelchair?”
More confusion… “No…” Where was all this going, I wondered?
“Do you have any pain while walking?”
“No…” and then I added with a laugh, “I’m actually traveling with a woman 20 years younger than me. We’re walking miles and miles every day…and she’s having a hard time keeping up with me!”
They studied me for a long moment and then they produced my spinal x-rays.
At first glance they really did look a bit tragic, but I looked away quickly so as not to imprint those images on my mind.
(I had a slight congenital curvature at the base of my spine that led to scoliosis..an imbalance of muscle tension that can lead to further curvatures) But, when it became an issue, a ballet dancer/ bodyworker taught me a dancer’s stretch…and with the use of magnesium to make the muscles soft and flexible again, I was pain-free and able to live without giving it much thought.
They listened carefully, asking questions, taking copious notes, then they asked me to demonstrate the stretch. (the same advice I later used for my patients with scoliosis) They were refreshingly open-minded and inquisitve…
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Now on to the Cardiology Department…
I was a bit white-knuckled when their turn came…
In a very professional tone, the lead doctor began…
“Ms. Robinson…you DO realize that you had a major heart attack about 20 years ago, do you not?”
Shocked and feeling nailed to the wall, I hung my head miserably and did the quick math in my head.
‘Oh my gosh!! 22 years ago! These guys are GOOD!!’
(as I described earlier, I had hidden that fact when giving my medical history)
I looked up and confessed. “Yes…22 years ago.”
I was literally waiting for the other shoe to drop when I heard the following words…
“But you have NO active heart disease now! We have NEVER seen this before…and as you have witnessed, we see patients from all around the world.
And furthermore, we would not expect to see this in a Westerner…
Would you mind if we called in a few of our colleagues and researchers? We would like to ask you a LOT of questions.”
I stammered through tears of relief now…
”No…I mean, yes…please…be my guest.”
A new roundtable was commenced…
About 8 or 9 people soon gathered. I was interviewed about every conceivable detail of my life for the next 2 hours! There was a palpable buzz in the room as they conferred and debated…in English, for my benefit…and peppered me with new questions along the way. Information was checked and cross-checked. They analyzed on the run, checking the x-rays and scans again.
It was such a lively and intelligent exchange! Nearly 3 hours passed. Then they delivered their opinions.
“We are going to give 15% of the credit to red wine,** but 85% of the credit goes to the transdermal magnesium. It HEALED your heart.
Oh…and your congenital mitral valve prolapse (heart murmur) has since resolved. It is no longer detectable.”
**a few glasses a week in the early years just after the heart attack prior to discovering magnesium, which had a much more pronounced effect.
Magnesium relaxes the heart, restores the electrical heart rhythm and breaks down calcium (hardening of the heart). p.s. Magnesium was the #1 remedy of the old doctors…
The last thing the presiding physician added as we were getting up to leave…
“Oh!…and, by the way, you have no cancer markers.”
I whirled around. “You can test for that?!”
A gentle smile and a nod of the head…
This whole experience was so extraordinary in every way!
An example of how medicine should be practiced…and how people should be cared for.
Privately, I asked 2 of the doctors a question that day…
”Since you’ve seen how medicine is practiced throughout the world, would you ever consider coming to the States to practice (we had a frank talk about the considerable wage disparity for physicians in Thailand as compared to America, in particular.)
They both politely demurred.
I can still picture one of the doctors who answered with a gentle smile and a thoughtful and firm shake of his head…
”Oh no…no. I could never deliver the quality of care that I want to give a person within that system.”
There was no amount of money that could entice them to lower their standards. (in Thailand, they live well…and, with that, they are content)
and now for the finale…
I was given a little pertinent advice for the future and a small gift bag containing a prescription for an antibiotic (for a sinus infection)…and a packet with all my records, along with one more famous Thai smile.
The total bill for this incredible experience? $1198. US
I would later do the research and find that the US equivalent of the Executive Physical was available only at the Cleveland and Mayo clinics…at a cost of between $18,000-$30,000 US
I have shared this experience with many doctors, etc. I urge them to go and experience Bumrumgrad for themselves…knowing that it will be unforgettable!
A few of them have…and now they’ve bringing others!
I warn some of them that the experience will put them to shame…
A Thai Hospital Experience part 1Debra Robinson·July 13, 2025
As a young friend and I were preparing for our trip, (I was taking her to Thailand for dental tourism) I had the thought that if I were ever to have a major health problem that I would try to get to Thailand for care.
The Thai Hospital Experience part 2Debra Robinson·July 14, 2025
I had gone a little over 20 yrs without a physical. (don’t panic at that idea.. I know 3 doctors who have gone decades without a physical, as well, preferring to live normally until there was a need to intervene.)
Thank you for reading… There is a lot to unpack in these stories. Come back to them now and then.
Please feel free to share with your healthcare providers,…Doctors, Nurse Practioners, Holistic providers, Nurses and the like.
We don’t know if we haven’t seen or heard….
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