California's dry hot and days and cool nights were a welcome relive from the hot, hot weather washed down with the sudden rains of Ho Chi Minh City and Bangkok. 90's with rain showers has you in stifling humidity as soon as you step a way from the luxury of an air-conditioned room.
On the 13 Th of May after a sleepless night I climbed on the back of my friend Gia My's motorbike and we heading over to get my visa extended. All night I had been up most of the night with serious heart burn so I asked her to drop me at Columbia Asia Clinic to get a bit of doctorly advise. I've used the clinic before, good service at a reasonable price and in this case a beautiful Vietnamese doctor to boot. Her verdict after an EKG and blood tests was that I had the makings of a heart attach. Next thing I know I'm bouncing my way through Saigon laying in the back of a van masquerading as an ambulance. Arriving at Tham Duc cardiology hospital they wasted no time and rolled me directly into the operating room for an angioplasty procedure, resulting in a stint in my right carteo artery and the information that my left artery was about 80% blocked. A week or so later my air evac insurance guys - International SOS decided to speed things up and air evaced me to Samitivej Sukhumvit Hospital in Bangkok for another surgery to open the remaining blocked arteries. I'm doing pretty well now, physically anyway but mentally it's hard admitting I can break and that my life may have an end. Of course dealing with the insurance company and US bank’s World Perks Visa Signature card’s Nazi customer service hasn’t done much for my mental state either.
Just for reference to have an angioplasty and a stent inserted in Saigon takes about a weeks hospital stay and costs $ 6,500.00 (US). While the complicated procedures to open two arteries, with hospital stay in Bangkok was about $ 13,000.00. A room at Samitivej Hospital in Bangkok is about $ 200.00 a night (US) – all rooms are single even in intensive care. While Tham Duc Cardiology Hospital offers an open bed intensive care of about 18 beds and shared rooms at $ 35.00 (US) and private rooms at $ 50.00 a night. Samitivej Hospital billed my insurance company – Blue Cross Blue Shield – direct but the Vietnamese hospital wanted the money up front.
