This is my review for dr.Kasemsak and the Destination Beauty clinic, which helps you to arrange plastic surgery in Thailand.
OVERALL EXPERIENCE: I will definitely recommend this doctor and this clinic to all my friends. Overall experience is great. I felt safe, well-informed and my recovery is great so far. Staff in the Destination Beauty as well as in the hospital are doing everything they can to help you out, very caring and professional. Dr. Kasemsak won my trust from the first sight. He didnt try to sell more procedures, but opposite - thinking what is best for the patient. Lets see how the boobies will turn out after few months but I think he made an amazing job and did everything I wanted.
MY FULL STORY IN DETAILS: I have booked my consultation+surgery date one month in advance. I could have done it earlier but they asked me to stop smoking, although I was not a heavy smoker, my representative advised me to stop completely for a better recovery. I have never been to this clinic or hospital before, have never seen my doctor before the surgery date so I was very nervous. But I live close to Thailand so I decided if I dont like something when I arrive, I will just cancel everything the last moment and go back home.
They met me at the airport as promised, driver dropped me in the hotel and the next morning I had a pick up to the hospital at 9.30am. My surgery was scheduled for 6-7pm, so they told me to start fasting at 11am. I liked the fact that my doctor only had one surgery that day (me), so he was able to speak with me long time, answered all my questions and didnt rush anywhere. He said that all operation rooms were busy all day thats why we had to wait until they all finish. It was fine, like this I had time to decide to do a lift only or to add implants as well.
So when I arrived to the hospital, I filled some registration papers, they took my x-rays, took my blood, inserted caterer (which I had inserted until check out) and sent me to my ward. Doctor came around 2pm, made some markings. I told him I dont really care about the size, I just wanted to make my breasts tight, full and small so I could wear a dress without bra. He told me I have enough tissue to make this without implant, but he will have to make a little reduction as well. So if the breasts will be too small, he will insert small implant. It was fine with me. Initially I planned to do a lift+implant. Ended up with only lift+breast reduction. He actually tried to convince me to do it without implant because I am still young and didnt have children, he really made me feel like he cares. He is very nice, and make a very good impression. I am glad he was my doctor at the end not someone else.
I never had any surgery or anesthesia before and was really scared. But I took it very well, I had no nausea, vomiting or shivering. When I woke up I felt very warm as the nurses put a warm air fan under my blanket which made me warm and cosy. They gave me morphine right after and also inserted the urine-cateter (something I never knew exist). So I had no pain AT ALL only some discomfort because of drains and urine-cateter and arm-cateter for antibiotics and morphine attached to my body. I had so many tubes coming from everywhere lol ! Back in my room they gave me more pain-killers and sleeping pill and believe it or not I slept straight for like 5 hours. They woke me up to inject more antibiotics and I went back to sleep for few more hours. I woke up fully fine, still no pain just discomfort. So this was already like 7am the next day after surgery. In the afternoon they disconnected morphine and urine-cateter and I tried to walk but this made me sick very fast. I tried to get up few more times but I felt dizzy straight away. This went away late in the evening and this is when I started eating something.
After they stopped giving me morphine my pain started to eliminate maybe 5 out 10, they gave me only codeine pills and it helped for few hours but since then the pain and discomfort was pretty much same (5/10).
I spent 2 nights in the hospital. Then they checked me out and they drove me to hotel. Today is 25th of September, my surgery was at 8pm 22nd of September, and I feel great. Tomorrow they will remove my drains, I already made poo-poo(was really worried about this too). I take codeine 2 times per day, antibiotics, paracetamol, sleeping pill every night and thats it. I can walk, cook, bend over, brush my hair, sleep on my back(I am a belly-sleeper and was never able to sleep on my back) - so overall all the recovery is much easier than I though it would be.
Updated on 26 Sep 2019:
I have watched lots of videos on what to pack with you for your upcoming surgery, but at the end I had lots of things I didnt use. So I decided to list them here for you girls. I stayed 1 night in a hotel, then 2 nights in the hospital then 8 more nights in a hotel. (It is based on my experience with Destination Beauty and Samitivej Thonburi Hospital in Bangkok, so some things for you might be different from what I had. This is mainly helpful for Destination Beauty patients)
THINGS I PACKED I DIDNT NEED:
- Silk buttoned VS pyjamas for sleeping - as you need to sleep with you head elevated (2-3pillows) silk pyjamas is too smooth and you cant stay in this position for long, you always slide down lol. I didnt think this through and ended up sleeping naked
- Hospital bed pads - I thought during sleep my wounds or drains might leak or so, and I knew that I will be staying in a hotel afterwards and didnt want to get my sheets bloody so I bought bed pads with me. Only figured out that these drains cant leak, and all the wounds are protected with bandages so well that there is no chance anything is leaking so dont worry
- Ice gel packs - the ones you put in the fridge and they get cold and help you with pain. It didnt help me at all neither with pain, nor with swelling.
- Slippers for hospital, straws, chopsticks, anti-bacterial soap, long sleeve pyjamas for hospital, hair net, toothbrush, and other toiletries. Snacks for hospital stay. - Samitivej Thonburi Hospital provided all of it. I remember looking for all these items in pharmacy and supermarkets before my trip and it was just waste of time, because they have this all. And for the food - you dont want to eat much first 2 days anyways, and secondly the food they bring you very often is very good, and the last - there is a supermarket, and few restaurants in the hospital so you can just order food from there. Plus there is a room service in case you are extremely starve hahaha
- Airplane pillow and mask - I never slept on my back before and all the month before my surgery I was trying to learn to sleep at least on a side(I am a belly sleeper). I had no success at all sleeping on my back. If you have the same concern as me, that you wont be able to sleep on your back first days after the operation - keep in mind that they will give you strong sleeping pill every night so you sleep like a baby in any position possible). I also need a total darkness to sleep and with all the drugs they gave me - I didnt need no pillows, no masks, I took naps with people speaking loud and in a bright room without any problem.
- Gown for a surgery - I was looking for a long sleeves buttoned pyjamas for my surgery (I never had surgery before I didnt know how it goes) - but when you check in - they give you hospital gown which you are to wear for your operation as well, no panties no anything else except this. After the surgery they offer you another gown just to wear in your ward. So dont think about what to wear in hospital at all.
- Laxative - I was able to go poo-poo on a second post-op day without any medication.
- Wet wipes to wash body and wet wipes for ladies hygiene. I bought two big packs and in reality I used only few, because they help/encourage you go to shower on a second day if you wish.
- Dry shampoo - I was able to was my hair on a third day post-op
- Small bag or apron for your drains (I didnt have one, because I was not able to find one, but I have read one girl made a little apron and it was very helpful) - in my hospital they gave me drain purse, it is like a little bag with stripes (photo is attached) you can wear over your shoulder, which makes your life much easier. Plus, they also gave me a gift-bag from Thailand, where I later put my drains if I was going out, they were really hidden in it. Photo will be attached. If you have a bag like this at home - definitely bring it with you if you need to go to supermarket or breakfast hall you dont want people stare at your bloody drains.
THINGS I AM GLAD I HAD BECAUSE THEY DIDNT PROVIDE:
- Codeine. I took this drug with me just in case, if the painkillers they give didnt work. While at the hospital, I was connected to morphine and had no pain. But when I moved to hotel, they didnt give me any strong painkillers. They gave paracetamol saying that it will help me if I have pain, but I should not have it anymore. Well, the next 3 days my pain was 5-6 out of 10, and I am glad I had codeine with me, I took it twice a day, as soon as one wear off, I started feeling pain again.
IF I HAD TO DO IT AGAIN I would probably make sure I have sleeping pills with me (in case they dont give you anymore after you leave hospital as they really help a lot) and warm clothes for hospital - I dont know why all hospitals are so cold! Specially if you dont move much you get pretty cold. AND I would definitely ask my doctor about the urine-catheter thingy before operation as I was really confused when I woke up, I didnt know how it works and what to do with it lol
If I remember anything else I will keep you posted. Wish everyone a fast recovery!
Updated on 28 Sep 2019:
Today is 1 week post-op and I am feeling great. I am very happy with the result. I can see that every day the swelling goes away more and more. I have removed my drains on the 4th day and also got a support bra. It is so so so so so so tight I can not make a full breath. It is like 10 sizes smaller than me. Nurse wanted to give me XS size, and I convinced her at least to give me S. So I have to wear it all the time. But I give it a break 1 hour in the morning and 1 hour in the evening.
So I go to shower twice a day, I put water and anti-bacterial soap on my incisions as well and after I apply antiseptic. By the way, did you wash your support bra before wearing it? My cuts are still raw, specially places where the drains were inserted, and it feels like I need to protect them with bandage or something, otherwise the bra touches the (still not healed) wounds. Nurse said is ok, but still...
I also have some swelling on the sides (where the drains were inserted) and nurse said its because there is still some water in there and my body will take care of it itself as long as I take antibiotics. Just mentioning this because I never seen anyone writing about this and want to tell you people that this can happen too so you dont freak out. Did anyone have the same thing? It is normal, right? Anyone? I will attach photo.
It gets more difficult to sleep at night wearing this bra, and sleeping only on my back is just a nightmare, BUT IT TOTALLY WORTH IT! I finally have boobs I always dreamed of! Wish you all good luck you beauties!
Updated on 6 Oct 2019:
This is the letter I sent to Destination Beauty to share my feedback with them but I thought I would add it here as well so you gals can learn more about them as well.
"Now when my surgery is done I would like to share my experience with Destination Beauty and give my feedback about your center and the dr.Kasemsak who did my surgery on breast reduction.
Overall I am happy with my experience with your center. I felt completely safe and taken care of at the hospital. I did enjoyed the flowers and little gift at the end of my stay. Staff seems professional, caring and trying to always help you when they can. One girl her name is Noosh(hope I spelled it right) she is the best. She helped me with everything very fast.
Here are some comments I would like to make which might help to provide better service to your future patients.
1. The communication between Somerset Suanplu and Destination Beauty I would say is not the best. It was very frustrating not to know the night before what time my surgery is. You said you will leave me the paper under my door and after waiting till 9pm it was still no paper whatsoever and I didnt know when I was supposed to start fasting. I called hospital, sent Destination Beauty email, called your office, texted Destination Beauty Facebook page and Instagram page but noone answered and hotel was not able to provide any information. At the end reception said that they managed to get in contact with your office and I need to stop eating at 10pm(which I did) so I was expecting to have my surgery done in the morning. When I arrived at the hospital they said my surgery will be 7-8pm in the evening, and I should have eaten full breakfast as I cant eat the whole day. This was not the best thing to happen before the surgery.
2. Instead of putting paper under the door please consider calling or giving the paper by hand to the patient as it is very important to know about these kind of things - when is your surgery and when you have to start fasting as it may result in rescheduling the operation day. Also, my final appointment was supposed to be on 1st or 2nd October, so I didnt expect any paper before 31st. But when I woke up early on 30th September (and I am glad I did) I found the paper saying I have a pick up at 7.30 on 30th. The appointment was not scheduled with me personally. And this is not very good practice. A lot of people (me included) never had any surgery before and all the experience can be made much easier for the patient if they know when the surgery will happen and when they have to be ready for the pick up and stuff like that.
3. Please have someone available on the phone 24hours(or at least till late hours) for any kind of emergency regarding pick up times or any other questions regarding surgery day or surgery questions.
4. Room service people in Somerset Suanplu do not speak English, which makes it harder to order anything without special ingredient(without onions or no black pepper). They only ask "which number menu mam?" Thats not very nice for a 4star hotel as they are claiming to be.
5. Please consider adding Breakfast in Bed option (even for the extra money) at least for the first 2-3days in hotel as it's difficult to move after the surgery for some patients, especially if you still have drains with blood attached to your body. Also other guests definitely dont want to see your bloody drains during their breakfast.
6. I only found out that the Afternoon Tea is in the other place you need to walk to after I checked in to hotel. Again, please make it available for people on spot, in hotel we booked, not somewhere you need to walk.
7. Miscommunication between Destination Beauty (DB) personal and hospital staff. DB representative came to me in hospital and said I have to pack and check out at 2pm, hospital people came and said oh no you can go now (11am), when I packed to go, DB said you should take your medication first.I came back to my room and waited another hour for my medication, went downstairs but it was lunch so I had to wait until 2pm for mini-van to drive me to hotel. Basically I could have slept few hours instead as I was still in pain and all I wanted was to rest and not to go back and forth because people cannot communicate between departments.
FEW WORDS ABOUT HOSPITAL
It is just great. The staff, the rooms, the cleanliness - all the awesome. I was scared of after anesthesia recovery, that I would be sick or nauseous or trembling, but the nurses in surgery department they did everything to make me feel good. They put hot air fan under my blanket right after I woke up so I dont feel cold. They gave me painkillers and stayed with me all the time I was in a recovery room. Checked on how I feel, answered my (still gibberish) questions. Nurses in my ward were great as well. They checked on me every few hours, they always came fast when I pressed the button and fixed all issues I had. Mama-nurse is the best caring nurse I ever had in my life! She truly cares about you, she is very gentle and compassionate. Food is amazing, I heard some people complain, I dont know why, because it is actually just great! I took lots of snacks with me to the hospital, but I didnt need any of them!
Few things to improve:
1. Most nurses speak poor English. Its fine, but when they asked me questions during registration like "do you have allergy to this or diabetes or hight blood pressure" or some other diseases, they were not able to say some in English, and then just say ok its fine, and put "no" . What if I really had that condition they were not able to translate? This stuff are important, they have to be able to translate important things.
2. They gave me the contract to sign and didnt give me any copy and didnt let to take pictures. I assume that was the contract between patient and a hospital, saying that I allow to do the surgery and other things. But it looks shady that they dont want to provide a copy to a patient as well. And when I asked to give me 5 minutes to read it what I am signing, the lady said "Ok just dont take pictures". I was not gonna to, but that sounded suspicious.
3. When they prepare you on operation table, they dont tell you when they start giving you anesthesia. I never had anesthesia given before and I was very nervous about it but I heard they need to tell you like to start counting or something. Instead they gave me a mask which was not working for some time and after that they gave me VERY painful injection. I dont know what was that, but maybe they should warn you about the process. How the anesthesia will be delivered with painful injection, or mask, or anything else.
4. I didnt like the "visiting nurse in hotel". I dont know her name, but she was always the same. She didnt care much about anything you say, at least it was my impression.
DOCTOR KASEMSAK
I am very happy with my doctor overall, I am glad he was assigned to me. I was worried a bit because I have never seen him and he was not my first choice initially. But I will definitely recommend him to my friends as he is very caring, understanding and I felt in a good hands with him. He didnt try to sell me more procedures or to push me to go for implants (which will cost more). Instead, he insisted I go without implants and if I dont care about size he said I had enough tissue to have firm nice breasts without them. When I told him I am interested also in an arm lift he said I am still young to have scars and to think about it again when I am older. I really felt he cared about his patient. He came the next day to check on me which was nice. He showed me the picture he took after he was done on the operation table, which was superb.
What to improve:
1. Would be nice if the doctor tell you before the surgery about urine cateter. There are some people who dont know what is that, and at least to mention that he is going to do it to you would be great.
2. The last consultation was too quick. He came in for 30 seconds and said ok all is good and left. He didnt explain what to do after, how to take care of your breasts, what is normal and what is not, things like that. So after I got dressed I had to go find him again and ask all questions I had and he answered them well. But there are some aspects I might not know, which I didnt mention to him, and he didnt tell me as well. So I felt that information given by the doctor during final appointment was not enough. Doctor might assume that we patients know everything because it seems obvious to him, but for a lot of us this is the first surgery and he has to make sure we leave fully informed about complications, possible reactions and any issues we might experience during the healing process. At least the nurse can do it instead. But someone definitely should.
I will definitely recommend this doctor and this hospital but these small things will really make a difference in terms of general satisfaction with the doctor, service of Destination Beauty and the Hospital itself.
Updated on 6 Oct 2019:
I feel great. I sleep completely fine on my back. No pain. Some discomfort when I bend down or reach for things which are high or far from me. Sometimes I feel pain when I move harshly but thats all. I go to shower twice a day, and apply iodine. Some days my body itches so much I cant take it, so I started to apply so coconut oil (not where the incisions are, just near them). This oil helps a lot. But I think any moisturizing cream will help too.
I bought two support bras from hospital. They are actually pretty comfortable. I wear them all the time, except 1-2 hours in the morning and 1-2 hours in the evening. One of my nipples doesnt feel anything. Another one wakes up very often and extremely sensitive. Like sometimes it's even painful-sensitive.
It is still uncomfortable to take car rides, but overall it's going pretty well. I like the results so far. Cant wait to go shopping!!!!
Updated on 31 Oct 2019:
So I made my operation around 1 month ago and everything is healing pretty good. I dont have any issues whatsoever. Still very happy with the results and very glad I got assigned with my doctor that day and not someone else. I think he did an incredible job!
I still feel that they are a bit heavy to go bra-less, plus I still need to wear my bra for like 2 months, so it is fine. Sensation-wise the situation is not better. One nipple is super sensitive, another - no feeling at all. But I was told it is normal and the sensation can be lot up to 6 months post-op. I also dont feel when I touch my boobs from inside area, but i feel everything on outside. By that I mean the area where you usually touch your breasts when you fasten your bra if the button was in front.
I still continue iodine - because the incisions below are still not fully healed. But I dont use any oil anymore because the itching stopped, and my skin is not dry at all, I suppose it got used to the bra fully now. Even me, first week or two, when I woke up the first thing I would do is to remove the bra, it gave me lots of discomfort. Now when I wake up I can stay hour or two in it, it doesnt bother me at all.
Every time I look at the mirror I feel so happy I wanna cry! I dreamt about little firm round breasts as long as I can remember myself. I never had problems with men's attention, but my saggy girls didnt give me that confidence and I didnt feel enough feminine. Now everything is how it is supposed to be, I feel right. Like the doctor had fixed me. And he fixed me so well.
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