First, a little background: Two years ago I ended up in hospital with a blood clot in my right upper thigh, otherwise known as a deep vein thrombosis (DVT). This condition could become lethal if the clot dislodges from the leg and travels through the bloodstream to the lung or the heart. To prevent this from happening, I was intravenously given a course of potent anti-coagulants and, once released from hospital, was told I had to take blood thinners orally (Coumadin) for the rest of my life. Well, my love for cycling, the pavement and the Coumadin made a combination that potentially put my life at risk in the event my body suddenly decelerated when hitting the road after a fall. I cleaned up my diet, dropped a lot of weight and exercised every day to keep my blood flowing. Once I improved my overall fitness, I felt the chances of another clot forming, travelling to my lungs and killing me were much slimmer than me falling off my bike, striking the pavement and dying from internal bleeding before I could make it to the hospital. So a year and a half ago, I quit taking the Coumadin.

Fast forward to a few days ago. We once again slow travellled from Siem Reap to Bangkok by bus with the total journey taking almost exactly 12 hours. One of the causes of DVT's is immobility over long periods of time. I'm careful to get up and move around on long trips, but I always wonder if I did enough. On Sunday, Brenda and I spent the day walking around the Chatuchak Market and wandering the streets of Bangkok. When we got back to our hotel at around 4:00, the bottom of my right leg was red and sore, although there wasn't really any swelling. Fearful another DVT had formed in my leg, we decided I should get to a hospital to have someone look at it. Based on my past experience, I prepared an overnight bag, charged my Kindle and headed out the door to the Samitivej Sukumvit Hospital, only 1.7 kms from our hotel. Of course, in Canada, on a Sunday evening in January, one would expect the ER to be filled to capacity with a wait time of at least 6 hours before seeing a doctor. This ain't Canada. When we walked into the hospital, we thought we'd made a mistake, The lobby was filled with comfortable couches and was decorated like a 5 star hotel. But behind the reception desk were at least 5 nurses, all wearing those old fashioned nurse's hats. I was immediately addressed and asked to fill in a form with my personal info and a consent to sign. Once that was done, I was ushered into the assessment room where I was given a bed, covered with a blanket and my vital signs were registered. After about 5 minutes, the nurse returned and apologized for the wait, explaining the doctor had one more patient to see before me. About 10 minutes later, I was seen by the ER doctor who, after examing my leg thought it did not appear to show signs of a DVT but rather believed it to be some form of skin infection or rash. He then summoned one of the senior physicians whose specialty was on the vascular side. He showed up within 10 minutes and concurred with the ER doctor's assessment. To ensure there was no clotting, he offered to have an ultrasound performed on my leg. Another 10 minute wait and I was wheeled to the imaging room, had the ulrasound and was returned to the ER to wait for the results. Yup, 10 minutes later the ER doctor confirmed there was no clot in my leg (YEAY!!!) and released me with some antibiotics, antihistamines and some cream to put on the rash. On top of that, before I left. they booked an appointment with a dermatologist for 9:15 this morning Elapsed time: One hour and 30 minutes. Total cost, including meds: $240.00.

The last time I needed to see a dermatologist in Canada, I had to wait 6 months for an appointment. I arrived back at the hospital this morning five minutes ahead of my appointment. Now here's a novel concept; at 9:15 I was called to the dermatologists's office. What happened to waiting around for an hour reading out of date National Geographic magazines? Anyway, the dermatologist couldn't determine what may have caused the rash and agreed with the course of treatment given by the ER staff, although she changed the cream that was prescribed and added some anti-inflammatory medication. By 9:45 I was on my way back to the hotel. Total cost: $45.00.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the health care system in Canada but..............wait a minute............yes I am. In fact, there's something very wrong. In Thailand, a supposedly developing country, I was treated the way a patient should be, with care, compassion and respect. All the staff were engaged in providing me with a degree of care I have never experienced in Canada. The doctors took their time to explain everything that was going on and never appeared to be rushed, detached or too important to make time for me.

Oh yeah, and my Kindle never once came out of my bag. There was literally no wait time for anything. Of course, if there had been a more than 15 minute wait, the sign said I should let them know. Imagine seeing that sign in a Canadian hospital.