Surgery in Bangkok. Rhinoplasty and Breast Augementation - Thailand

I'm writing this review for anyone looking at getting surgery in Bangkok Thailand and wanting to know what to expect. I'll update as I go and after surgery. (Today's my surgery date) But this is my advise so far:

Before looking at getting surgery, see your general practitioner and explain to them what your wanting and if there's anything medically, they can see that would deem you unfit for surgery. If you have any relevant medical history, eg I have a fibroadenoma and am wanting breast augmentation, find out if that will effect the surgery/ get medical advice. They do extensive tests in Bangkok before they do the surgery and if your not deemed fit, they won't go through with the surgery. My mum has angina and went to see her doctor a week out from flying to Bangkok to get her bloods done etc, and I had a biopsy done on my fibroadenoma years ago, ask your gp for these results. Make sure If you need to do the same, that you take these results with you so your surgeon in Thailand can see them if they have any doubts.
Next, if Destination Beauty can't help you with flight tickets, don't be cheap and try buy them online on your own through travel sites. Let me save you a lot of time by telling you it's extremely hard trying to find direct flights under $1300 nzd, just save yourself the stress and go through a travel agent (learnt this one the hard way).
Destination beauty have been really easy to deal with, feel free to go on their website and look at the surgeons they work with, google them and find one specialised in the surgery/ surgeries your wanting and request them. If your not sure, the representative who works through DB will assign you a surgeon who is specifically skilled in the field of surgery your wanting anyway. Make sure you ask lots of questions about your surgeon, ask for their CV, if they're board certified, google them, write in forums and find out past patients experience, just for peace of mind if not anything more. I have Doctor Montien who I've heard and read really good things about. He specialises in rhinoplasty and one of the other representatives from an Australian company I was looking at booking through, informed me she had had him as a surgeon and was really happy with his work. It's always really nice to find someone whose had the same surgeon you will be using, this is where online forums can be extremely helpful, you can usually did these by googling your surgeon. My mum is having Doctor Bhumsak, (who I also googled etc) when I spoke to my DB representative she said he had done her BA a few years back, which helped to know. Once you've decided on your surgeries and surgeon, as time goes by, be sure to write down any questions you might have such as how long before you can run or exercise, how long the implants last for before having to get them redone and start looking up pictures of what you want to achieve with surgery.
When organising your pick up with your representative, make sure to pay attention to the pick up point and where your driver will be waiting for you. The airports pretty big and there's lots of drivers outside the arrivals area. The drivers are unable to approach you or call out to you, so it's pretty much up to you to find them. Make sure when you get your pick up info from your representative that you have your drivers number ready and available incase you can't find them and need to ring them (again, learnt this the hard way).
They have SIM cards here that you can get free at the airport when you exchange your money or you can buy them from the 7/11 for $2 and buy credit as you need it. Until then, the airport has free wifi and so does the Somerset apartments (This is where you'll stay if your travelling with DB, you'll get the password etc when you check in). On arrival, you can also ask the front desk to loan you adapters for the power sockets so that your able to charge your phone and other electronics you have brought with you. These are free, but need to be returned upon check out.
The apartments are nice, they have a washing machine and kitchen complete with a microwave, and ladies no need to bring a hair dyer, this place has one.
That's about it so far, I've been here less then 10 hours (haha) so I'll update more as the day goes on :)

The next morning I was picked up from the apartments by destination beauty and taken to the hospital, where I had my baseline obs taken, xray of my chest and bloods taken. After which I met with doctor Montien and discussed what I was wanting to achieve through the surgery. He was very well spoken and really knew his stuff. He was able to pick up on a breathing problem I've had my whole life that I wasn't even aware could be fixed and offered to address it during surgery. Following the consult I was taken to my hospital room to wait for the nurses to come get me. This was probably the scariest part of the whole experience. I think you need to prepare yourself for this part. It was pretty daunting lying on the surgery bed with people speaking a foreign language working around me, having my arms strapped down to the table, knowing your in a different country and there could be complications or you could maybe not wake up. But the anaesthetist introduced himself soon after being wheeled in and explained how he was going to put me to sleep and I didn't have to think about it all for very long, because I was out within three seconds. Waking up was hard, like the surgeon explained previously, I had a very sore and scratchy throat from having the breathing tube removed. I didn't expect it be quite so bad and to not be able to talk properly, it felt like having a sore throat from a cold and lasted until day two. Also I was extremely tired but in no real pain. Surgery took about three hours but I didn't wake up completely for another 6 hours. When I initially woke, I was in minimal pain, my nose didn't hurt at all but was very blocked due to the packing the surgeon had put in to stop the bleeding. My chest was uncomfortable and it was painful to pull myself out of bed, even with the bed tilted up completely, although I was able to get up unassisted. I was lucky, I had implants on top of the muscle and required no drains, so I was fairly mobile. The following morning was ok, my arms were sore to move still and even feeding myself was a mission. Although I was starving because I hadn't eaten since being on the plane. The food post surgery was like thickened blended chicken soup. Looked like ass, but I couldn't taste anyway because of the swelling in my nose, so I ate the whole thing. On the first morning, the surgeon also removed the gauze around my face, in my nose, and breasts and cleaned up the dry blood to help stop infection. He then showed me how to irrigate my nose to keep it clean which was all pretty painless. I also removed the compression bandage on my chest on day one as I didnt like it and just wore a sports bra to hold my boobs up.

Day two and three were a lot worse. The swelling and bruising in my face had set in and the nurses had stopped the morphine after the first day and I was in a lot of pain from my breasts. Although my nose continued to be fairly pain free. I managed to shower myself on day two but it wasn't easy. Especially lifting my arms high enough to wash my hair while keeping my nose dry and clean, but I'm a clean freak and couldn't go a day without showering, so I made it happen. I'm also extremely proud so didn't want to ask the nurses for any assistance, but usually you can just call for them and they'll help you with all personal cares. I also dressed myself on day two and was walking around. Although walking was pretty sore and I literally walked like an old person hunched over, putting on clothes sucks and opening doors is nearly impossible, but I'm not really one to sit still. I would recommend taking soft and comfortable sports bras that have no wires, these were my best friends for the first few days, and take baggy shirts or singlets and comfortable shorts so that you don't have to stay in the hospital gown and can put real people clothes on. Also, don't have ice in any of your drinks, or drink or brush your teeth with tap water as it can have bacteria in it. A few of the ladies I met didn't shower because they were afraid the water would infect their wounds, but not showering for me wasn't really an option so I risked it and I had no problems :)

By day four the pain is slowing starting to ease, but still definitely there. Swelling had nearly all gone and bruising was improving. I was discharged on day four and went back to the apartment with mum where we both felt sorry or ourselves and did nothing.

Day 5 I went back to hospital to have the stitches removed in my nose, this was a little painful as the area was raw but over all the process was fairly quick.

The next week was pretty easy, I was given pain killers, antibiotics and a medication pack to continue cleaning my nose with. I was out shopping day 5. However by the time I was discharged from hospital, although my nose had been pretty painless, the stint on the bridge of my nose was insane. Always itchy, felt dirty, restricted the movement of my nose, I honestly couldn't sleep at night because of it and on day seven I was so happy to have it removed. By this time, my swelling and bruising had gone completely. It was tender and I couldn't touch it without a little pain, it also was extremely swollen so I didn't see a massive difference in the tip, but the bridge was a lot thinner and the nostrils had been moved in to make my nose appear smaller. That was my last consult with the surgeon and he gave me his email address to contact him at any time if I needed. Moving around is a lot easier after day 5 but avoid tuk tuks, you feel every jolt and I literally had to hold my boobs to stop them bouncing up and down from all the bumps in the road. From here until week two things were good, my breast still felt a little numb in places and I was still getting pins and needles for the first month post op, however my smell and taste still haven't gone back to where they were before surgery. I can taste and smell faintly, but nothing like it use to be. Swelling in the tip of my nose has slowly started going down which is noticeable. After week three I was able to lift heavy objects again without pain in my chest. My breasts have lost a bit of size due to the swelling reducing though. Even now two months post op, I'm still unable to run without my boobs getting sore though and I'm unable to lie on my chest at night. I'm still waiting for the tip of my nose to come down more. Hopefully it will a bit more. Although some days I wish I went bigger in my boobs and the tip of my nose was smaller, overall I'm extremely happy that I had the surgery and feel that both procedures were definite improvements :)