My Philippines Hospital Stay – Bohol ACE Medical Center

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Author: Reekay V.

Since 2012 I’ve been traveling through various islands of the Philippines as a full-time Expat and spent 1999 living in Vietnam.

Share with me my ongoing adventures of life in the Philippines. Hopefully you find my observations helpful in your own adventures.
— Reekay

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64 comments

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  2. Man @24:30! I’ll have some of that! But just that.

    Good to see you back and well, Reekay. x

  4. You have God watching over you. Count your blessings that you’re still alive. Glad you are doing better!

  6. Glad you’re well now
    My appendix burst at age 40 was in hospital for a week
    You have an amazing positive outlook on this life and moving on to the next.
    God bless

  7. Well said Henry, insurance options, cost, accessibility quality of care…, that’s been one of my biggest fears while visiting the Philippines.

  9. OMG. Didn’t know of your ordeal. But God Bless and well wishes from an avid follower in the USA. Quick question: What kind of credit card did you use? Was it linked to a cash reserve in the Philippines? I would never travel there w/o 10k (American) in reserve. But in an emergency, you can’t go to an ATM. How do you access it while at the hospital? What if you’re unconscious? So, what does the new traveler without a girlfriend or network there do? Is there a visiting nurse you can pay daily to get your meds and offer personal assistance once you’re discharged and back at your hotel or condo? I would be a first-timer on a 2-3 month extended stay. I’m your age, and money is not an issue. But the availability of it with an emergency medical issue is. Maybe a short video on this? I’ll have travel insurance with some medical. But I want to have cash availability too. God bless. Recuperate first.

  10. Great advice, So glad you are okay . Rest and continue to get well my friend !

  11. I had surgery and they didn’t recommend a binder but my Filipina did. I should have listened to her as I now have to have surgery for multiple hernias and a mesh installed.

  13. Wow Reekay sounds almost like a NDE you experienced….I’m so glad your ok ….

  14. well actually living or dying is half your choice to make, if you make good choices to live a healthy life, you made the best choice of your life by marrying Vie

  15. WOW, Reekay, what an ordeal, and amazing story.
    You were lucky that you took all those antibiotics, and didn’t go into septic shock.
    Glad you are on the mend, and pulled through o.k.

    Kudo’s to that surgeon that got you taken care of immediately.

  16. Well Henry hope yhttps://www-ksn-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.ksn.com/news/crime/sheriff-warns-about-finding-folded-dollar-bills-in-your-yard/amp/?amp_js_v=a6&amp_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQGsAEggAID#aoh=16818347966776&csi=0&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ksn.com%2Fnews%2Fcrime%2Fsheriff-warns-about-finding-folded-dollar-bills-in-your-yard%2Fou feeling better hope the pain goes away soon won’t hurry about dying when it comes its your time and your mom feels well next time try to just go sooner buddy glad you made it gets well

  17. “What do you do if you have no money” simply put, you die. My girlfriends sisters boyfriend 20 yo died of a respiratory infection after 3 days on a gurney in the hallway because his family did not have the money. Now! I didn’t know about it at the time and would have gladly gave them the money to save him. Such a beautiful caring boy, such a shame they don’t value life to the point of funding medical for the have nots.

  18. I watched your bog about your struggles in the hospistel. You are very lucky to be alive. Sometimes knowing things can be a depertment. The call of when to go to the hospital? Can it always be too late or too soon or not even necessary’ Most of the time we make a mistake in this call of when to go in your case. You’re very lucky to be alive and I’m glad for you and Vee I’m glad for. And for your Mom was very worried. Congratulations you’re now a survivor. David from Oregon.

  19. I wish you a speedy recovery Henry, Hang in there, it will get a little better with each passing day. God bless.

  21. Yup i experienced that too. i had to have my appendex removed also or else the doctor said i couldve died. I had stomach ache for 5 days straight. Good thing youre getting better kuya.

  22. I had an uncle with a burst appendix in 1939 and was in the hospital for 11 weeks and died.

  23. Reekay, I am a retired (21 years) Anesthesia provider living in Panglao. More than likely they gave you an intravenous drug called Ketamine. Ketamine has been around for 50 years or more. It’s very safe and is what we call a complete anesthetic covering the 3 A’s (Anesthsia, Amnesia, and Analgesia) depending on the dosing level. If used in lower intermittent dosing and not combined with a true amenestic (ie proposal), Ketmine will cause an outer body dream-like hallucinogenic experience. This is a well known normal side effect of ketamine however relatively short- lived since ketamine metabolizes after 15 minutes from its last dosing. If they kept you on a continuous infusion or intermittent dosing regimen the effect will last until about 15 minutes from when it’s stopped. There are few common different ways you can do anesthesia for an appendectomy: General Gas Anesthesia, Neural Axial Anesthesia (spinal or epidural), Intravenous Anesthesia or a combination of the 3 mentioned above. It sounds like you got a combination of Neural Axial (epidural) and intravenous (Ketamine). It’s possible they let you also breathe a litttle Nitros oxide gas (laughing gas) mixed with oxygen through the face mask they applied to you. I have been involved in many thousands of surgeries throughout my practice. Appendectomies are very common whether ruptured or not ruptured appendicitis. Appendicitis usually happens during teenage years or early 20’s and less likely to happen as we get older, but it can occur at any age range. Glad your well and got through it. Reach out if you need more medical information about your experience or general well being going forward and I will be glad to help. I have watched your channel since the beginning. I live in Panglao Bohol since 2014, a retired burned-out medical provider now living a happy relaxed life in the Philippines diving almost everyday. Cheers! Thomas.

  24. Good video, good information about importance of having money set aside for medical care, but you know the majority of expats there don’t think about this, they think is never going to happen to them.

  25. Nicely explained on very important matters that many of us worry about if retiring there in the Philippines. Your explanation of your euphoric experience was hilarious but so relatable! I think your deep thinking and great skill of explaining situations is the reason I subscribed to your channel years ago. I’m so happy your doing better and your fasting has improved your overall health and you look great.

  26. Glad you’re OK Reekay. What you describe at (23:45), would it be Out Of Body Experience (OBE) also known as Astral Projection? There’s a lot of reading material on that subject.

  29. When it comes to pain level that high it’s not wise at all to just sit around and wait for it to MAYBE subside..

  31. I think the antibiotics taken before you knew what it was might’ve saved your life – WW

  34. Sounds like you had NDE means Near Death Experience. I have question ask you do you have any ID of how to call to the a USA. Example fix your bank account with your credit card cuz I tried to use my card it needs a PIN number text to my phone to be able to fix it. but my phone doesn’t work there so no text example Western Union to use it the credit card they send you a text to your phone to prove that is you not someone else.What about Skype I’ve been Googling it looking into it. You pay phone service.

  35. Hey Henry hope all is well just now hearing about all this wish you the best God bless

  36. My friend I know what you’re talkin about it happened to me it wasn’t the anesthesia and it wasn’t the pain blocker you had a real out-of-body experience and I too didn’t want to come back when I was in that level of reality beyond my body and at a level of consciousness beyond this life I didn’t fear death anymore and I knew there was a greater place for me in the universe and that God is real because I was completely at peace of mind and I was full of joy and so happy all at the same time

  40. I wish you all the best. I know you will fully recover soon. Had my appendix out when I was a little kid and I can still vividly remember the pain. You will get through this!

  41. I got to be honest with you. I really like hearing you talk. You need to write a book. I would like to talk about things. I like your point of view about things. I’m glad you ok. You take care of yourself.

  43. My wife’s mother was sick, she was constipated so we took her to the doctor in calbyog. Turned out she had a cancerous tumor in her intestins.
    She really didn’t want to do the operation, that’s usually a death sentence for alot of Filipinas & financially impossible. Plus there was only a 50/50 chance of survival.
    My wife talked her into the operation & she came through it and is still alive today 25 years later.

  45. Wow, you made me want get some of that Filipino anesthesia wow. Maybe your wife was right in one sense, you may have partially entered a spiritual sphere of some sort. Many theologians have preached on colors in heaven that we cannot imagine here on earth.

  46. It sounds like you went to heaven and back. As others have said, it was a near death experience. It happened to me once during COVID. Life is never the same after.

  47. That’s one hell of an acid trip Reekay lol. That’s one hellava story and not the turn I was expecting

  48. Henry, just a side note: what you were experiencing was, “THE TWILIGHT ZONE”!

  49. Hello Henry and just returned from my 2 week vacation in Thailand to be with my girlfriend. Sorry to hear about your appendicitis and glad that you recovered already. Stay safe my friend!

  50. Reekay, you are not out of the woods yet. My grandad have same thing happen, went to the hospital, everything went smooth, he came home, everything seemed fine, no signs of anything going wrong. Then he did something, I don’t know what, maybe lifting something heavy, maybe just banged into something, I don’t know. But the scar broke open and he was pouring out nothing but puss, his entire body cavity was full of puss. He didn’t make it. Now this was probably 60 years ago so medicine has drastically improved. But I can tell you, there is still a fair chance if they didn’t get all the infection flushed out, you may still be in danger. The other half of my story, is I had emergency surgery to remove my gallbladder, Doc said after the surgery, it was the worst condition he had ever seen. Anyway they used the scope so no major cut. just 3 puncture wounds. A little over a week later, no pains, no problems, I bent over to pick something up and when I straightened up, I felt my T-Shirt wet, When I looked, one of the punctures blew open and I was pouring out puss. And I mean rotten smelling puss. Almost made me sick to smell it . I had the surgeons number if anything came up. I called and told him what happened. He said get here asap and he would meet me at the hospital. as soon as I hit the door, they wheeled me in and immediately prepped me for surgery. They spent an hour flushing me out over and over. they also put in a j-tube (a drain) and attached a pouch to it. every time it filled up, I had to observe what I emptied out, looking for what appeared to be infection or excessive blood. i wore that for two weeks before they were satisfied there would not be a reinfection. That told me those type infections are not an uncommon. So what I can suggest is keep a close eye on the stitches. If anything looks like seepage, contact the hospital or the Doc direct if you have his number. Any type new unusual pain not connected to what you have been feeling, same thing, get hold of your doc. If mine hadn’t burst, it would have continued until it went systemic, then would have had poor chance if survival, same like my grandfather, dead. I would be very cautious, for the first month and very observant of yourself. Just my 2 cents. And glad you made it through the ordeal.

  51. Glad to hear that you are ok. You sound like most of us guys, we put off going to a doctor until we can’t stand the pain anymore and are almost dying.. I am guilty of that also. I have been living in Panglao for about 5 months now, and have heard a lot of mixed reviews about Ace hospital. You really eased my mind after watching your vlog about your experience at Ace. One thing I have heard is that they do like to keep you there as long as possible. A friend just spent time there with dengue fever, and he felt they kept him there longer then he really needed to be..
    As for insurance, I purchased Pacific Cross through Michael Onstad from day one of getting here. Also have some savings put away for any emergencies that might arise.

  52. NOTHING MORE IMPORTANT THAN OUR HEALTH . I STILL REMEMBER MY PAIN WITH APPENDICITIS I WAS BENT OVER AFTER SURGERY. AND IWAS ONLY 11 YEARS OLD BUT NEVER FORGET IT. CAUSES FEVER COLD SWEATS YEA PAIN IS 10 . IV BEEN TWICE IN HOSPITAL IN DAVAO CITY . SPENT 4 DAYS IN SAN PEDRO HOSPITAL AND couple years after in out of another hospital in davao yea u right DEFINITELY HAVE A BACKUP PLAN IN PHILIPPINES FOR ANY EMERGENCY CAUSE IF U DONT HAV $$$ OR INSURANCE I THEY WONT LET YOU LEAVE HOSPITAL UNTILL PAYMENT . I COVERED ALL MY HOSPITAL TREATMENT AND MEDICINES AND TESTS 1 TEST COST ME 10THOUSAND PESOS

  53. Reekay just rest and get better! what you talked about near the end of your video ive also thought of often .. at 58 im still far from being ready to ‘move on’ tho.. of course we have no choice in the matter of our ‘departure time’ .. glad that you’re still with us .. stick around for awhile will you? Vi and the rest of us would like that .. bless you brutha

  54. After a certain age when the wheels have gone over 100,000 miles, things start to break down and one can expect more and more frequent trips to the hospital. Enjoy life but wherever you might be, it should be within 1 hour of a hospital should the needs arise.

  55. Glad that you are better. Thanks for telling us about the pricing of the hospital stay. I had to go to the hospital in October. It cost me 600 pesos to see the Doctor and 200 pesos for the prescriptions. I was impressed by the health care I received. The dentist visit was good but very expensive.

  56. Reekey is good that you are starting to feel better. Now it’s time to find out what made your appendix burst. Make sure everything is clean around you because right now you’re immune system is not that strong because it is still healing from the surgery. And also if you go out in about maybe you should start wearing a mask just for a couple of days, stay
    strong you will get through this with flying colors.

  57. Good to see you back and looking well. You’ve also lost some weight, and you’re looking good. Love the whiskers! Keep enjoying your life. BTW, same thing happened to me in Thailand, but it was food poisoning.

  58. if you dont have money to fall back on then im sure you cant afford insurance,15000 us dollars a year for full cover for a 70 year old..good luck

  60. So glad you are fine and out of the hospital Reekay! But man, is that an American thing to wait so long with going to the hospital? Sounds very stubborn 😉

  61. Sounds like a near-death experience. At least the experience you describe after being put under anaesthesia is what people describe who have gone through a near death experience.

    All best with your recovery Reekay.

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