Emergency Surgery in a Military-Run Country!!

In this video, I'll be telling you what it's like to get emergency surgery I'm waking up from a nightmare and no one can talk to me in English in a brutally run military operated country here in Southeast Asia. This is not what I was expecting when I came here to do a video about traveling to Southeast Asia's military run country. And by the end of this video, I'll be telling you how much that surgery cost and that number it may shock you. But let's back up and start at the beginning. I went to a country recently with the aim of filming how things have changed there over the past few years. I went to this country back when it was a democracy. But just a few years ago, everything changed. After nearly a decade sharing power with civilians, Myanmar's military staged a coup, setting up checkpoints, taking over TV stations and detaining civilian officials, including their leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. Since then, the country has endured years that many describe as lost, marked by violence, fear, resistance, and silence. Myanmar is a lovely country. They have lovely people, unique cultures, diverse religions, and incredible, incredible food. Food that often gets overshadowed by their neighbors in Vietnam and Thailand. But Myanmar has so much to see. The only problem is the military took it over. And I went there to kind of see what the deal was. My goal was to see how the country had changed since all this happened. But here's what happened instead. I saw the three main sites you would want to see in any country. Airport, hotel, hospital, back to the hotel, back to the airport. Then I left. Here's what happened. We had planned out a full four days of shooting. And to be honest, we didn't really know what was going to happen. We've been told not to go to Myanmar. I mean, it's like a level four advisory on the US.gov website. Russia, Afghanistan, Myanmar. They're all on the same level of, hey, don't go here. But I went anyways. Me and one single camera guy. Even though I wasn't sure what was going to happen to the country, or if I was actually putting myself or my camera guy at risk, I went. I was excited. I was enthusiastic. But if I'm honest, the day I left flying from Saigon to Yangon, I wasn't feeling great. Something was off with my stomach. I felt like I had gas. But it was a special kind of gas. It was a gas locked deep inside my intestines. A gas that could not escape. And like any dumb dude, I decided to ignore it and proceed with the trip anyways. When I first got to Yangon, everything was normal. So I've just gone through immigration. Just like going through any other country. It took about 10 seconds. No big deal. Nobody cares. That said, immigration, completely dead. 100% empty. This airport, nothing going on. But let's see what's next. From the airport, we went to our hotel. It is late. I've just arrived at my hotel. But you will never believe this place I'm in right now. It is absolutely massive. And the price is so cheap. This place right here is $95 a day. That's it. I feel like I'm in a castle. Like, look at this wood desk right here. It's gorgeous. Honestly, the fact that everybody is completely terrified to go to Myanmar has done wonders for the hotel prices there. Beautiful place. Here's what you get for 100 bucks in the USA. Exactly. And in Myanmar, at a $100 hotel, you don't have to worry about getting stabbed. That first night in Myanmar, something still felt off with my stomach. And even in the middle of the night, I woke up feeling bad. I had serious pain. I thought, wow, this gas is getting pretty intense. When I woke up in the morning, I knew something was definitely wrong. I felt this kind of glowing pain in my bottom right intestine. It felt like probably there was some kind of infection inside. I knew at that moment we weren't dealing with gas. Change of plans. I think I have appendicitis. This video just became traveling to a military-run country and going to the hospital for major surgery. And so from there, I worked with our local producer to find a good hospital. I didn't know it at that moment, but soon I'd be getting a serious surgery in a country that had been falling apart for the last few years. This was a prospect I was not excited about. If I am going to go to the hospital, I am going to eat something first. So here's my situation. Last night, I went to sleep. I had some stomach pain. I thought it was just gas. And then I woke up in the middle of the night with very severe pain. I looked it up in Chatubi today and it said good chance it's appendicitis. I really wish this would have happened in the country I live in, in Vietnam, because I know the hospital there. But now I'm in a strange new place. I don't even know what it's like to travel here just as a normal person without an appendix that's going to burst. And now I have this situation thrust upon me. So I'm going to eat a little bit of food and then from here, I'm going to head to the hospital. And I'm going to see a side of Myanmar that I never expected to see. I got to say, the hospital seemed pretty decent. It was busy. They brought me in. They did a blood test. They poked my stomach. They gave me an IV drip. And all of that within the span of a pretty short amount of time. Yeah, I'm not supposed to be filming, but here I am. I'm in a wheelchair, mandatory. They said I can't walk. This is not what I was expecting. I didn't think I would end up being in the hospital on the first day. I have a feeling that I may have to get surgery here and that the series is going to be delayed till sometime in the future. But what I can say is, so far, the hospital here is very impressive. I kind of can't believe it. They got me in very quickly. Everyone speaks English. They have all the necessary technology. Sadly and unfortunately, in many ways, it has been better than experiences in the USA. So what's that say? Anyways, I'm not supposed to be shooting. Early in the day after I'd been there for less than a couple of hours, the surgeon came in and he spoke to me. He said his test confirmed that I probably have appendicitis. One of those tests is poking me where my appendix is and seeing if I go, ooh. And depending how you look at it, I did pass or fail that test. So on the spot right there, I did a short little interview of the surgeon. I needed to know if he was qualified to work on me, a man who literally had no other options. In all seriousness, I asked the surgeon, how many times have you performed the surgery in the past? And he said over a thousand. And I thought, you know what? Pretty good. Let's do it. So I talked to the surgeon. He said I have acute appendicitis. And I said, oh, thank you. Because he said it's cute. Okay. So what does that mean? Oh, it means that it's so cute, he needs to take it out. He said at 98% chance, he can just do it with a very un-invasive surgery. 2% chance he has to cut me open. How old is that guy? I don't know. 45, something like that. Yeah, it's a good age. Not too young, not too old. Yeah, not too young, not too old. Exactly. How long does it take and how long will it cover? So it'll happen today in four hours. And tomorrow's Monday. I think I can leave by Tuesday. So I think I should talk to the doctor now. And then they're going to move me to a proper room instead of the ER. I'm in the ER now. Okay. All right. Love you. Bye-bye. So from this point, they did a bunch of other tests. They did an x-ray. They wheeled me around the hospital. But I wasn't yet a patient. See, how it works in the US is very different from how it works in places like Myanmar. In Myanmar, they want to figure out the whole scope of expenses beforehand. And then they have you pay for it beforehand. So this is good and bad. What's good is that you actually know how much you're going to be paying. And then you pay it. It's all clear. On the downside, if you can't pay for it ahead of time, they might just let you die. So there is that. In the USA, I once had to get about five, six stitches on my forehead. Here's why. Oh, no, dude. And they couldn't tell me how much it would cost. And I had to wait months to get the actual bill to find out it was $2,000 for some quick stitches that took maybe 20 minutes. That's wild. Right now, I'm waiting to speak to the surgeon. Then I'm going to know my options. In the meantime, they're going to register me into the hospital and put me in a room. They said they have VIP rooms. Guys, cheap versus expensive hospital stay. This is a sweet episode idea. Let's do this. So not only was I being admitted to the hospital, I actually got to choose the level of room I wanted to be in. And they had a little brochure there that had VIP, VIP 2, VIP 3. So I said, hey, you know what? I'm in Myanmar. I'm here for a good time. I want the most V, V, V IP room that you have. Not only am I an IP, in Myanmar, I was a V, V, V IP. Check it out. My name is Sonny, and this is my crib. Come on in. I have surgery in three hours, but I've just been brought to my VIP hospital room. I pay for the most expensive room possible, which is about $350 a day. Compared to the USA, is that cheap? I'm not sure. But I'm going to be telling you at the end of this video how much it was for everything because it's a lot less than you would think. But first, I want to give you a little bit of a tour. This is what it's like to be a VIP. I mean, take a look at this bathroom. Look, a toilet where you could use your arm to gradually ease yourself down. Definitely going to need that. By the way, this here appendix hurting more and more since this morning. So glad they're taking it out. Meanwhile, shower right here. Plenty of grippy stuff. See, that's good. If you're old and you don't want to slip in the shower, I hope they disinfect that. Right here, we have my main resting, living, and rejuvenating quarters. I'll show you that in a moment. But first, I have a second bedroom over here. On this side, there is, of course, another bathroom. Basically, exactly the same. Essentially, this would be another hospital room. But they've just combined two rooms to make one ultra VIP room. So they've got fridge, microwave, sink, like a mini kitchenette here. And then they have a small living room area here. Essentially, what this is, is if you're getting surgery or you're recovering for something, this is where your family, your kids, they can hang out here. They can rest. I mean, there's a bed right there. They can sleep overnight. I mean, most people, when they're supporting somebody and staying in the hospital, they have to try to sleep on a chair or a cot. This is not bad. Let's head back to my main quarters. So right here is my hospital bed. And this is where I'm going to be staying for the next couple days, at least. I have just a few hours until my surgery. I'm not that excited. They're going to put me all the way up there. And then I just had a weird interaction. They came in and said, I need to shower and shave my body. I can't do it, though. They need to do it. Do I prefer a male or a female to shave my body, including my groin area? I am not gay. I have relationships with women. It's with men. So tough choice. Anyway, some lady's coming in here soon. So I got to put on my pre-surgery outfit. They sent a man. It was around this time that I was hungry, because I was told I couldn't eat or drink anything until the surgery. But the surgery was scheduled. And it was scheduled for 7 p.m. As it got closer and closer to 7 p.m., I felt my appendix hurting more and more. And I knew this was the right decision. Because if your appendix actually bursts, the surgery can be much more complicated and the recovery can take a lot longer. That being said, the prospect of going through with a surgery in a country like this, it freaked me out. I mean, I've never been put under before. I've never had anyone put their little laparoscopic tentacles on my body. I've never had somebody remove an organ. That was a lot of new stuff happening all at one time. We are one hour away from surgery. It's 6.10 p.m. I have my gown on. I'm basically ready to go. I haven't eaten since that meal this morning. That was my final food for the day. Little did I know at the time, I probably would have eaten a little bit more. But here we are, ready to go and do the most serious surgery of my life. It's probably gonna be the last you see of me until I come back. I'm probably gonna be groggy, but hopefully grateful that it's over. When I went into the surgery room, it was a little bit freaky. Now, the good part was everything looked clean and modern and new. And that was a relief. I mean, there wasn't like, you know, graffiti or spray painting on the walls. It wasn't like half the lights were burnt out. I mean, that could happen. It wasn't like that, though. But I was in a room with about six people. And at this point, for some reason, none of them spoke English. Like, they were trying to tell me for 15 seconds. Like, I have to take my ring off. They just basically took it off me. So I didn't know if they're gonna pawn it or give it back later. They did give it back. That was nice. Then, you know, in the movies, they're always like, count backwards from 10. And then you'll fall asleep. And then you're like, 10, 9, out. But here, I saw him just jam the sleepy juice in my hand. Squish it in there. And then I felt it. Ooh. Then, what seemed like two seconds later, I woke up. And oh my god, I was in some of the worst pain of my life. My stomach was on fire. I felt like there were charcoals and embers in my guts. It was bad. I just got out of surgery. I feel like my stomach hurts so bad. Oh, I felt like waking up from a nightmare. And no one could talk to me in English. I think it was successful. And now, we heal. Hopefully, soon, I get to eat some food at the hospital because I'm ******* starving. That first night was rough. I was in a lot of pain. I had insane fevers that would come and go. I was sleeping in puddles of sweat. It was disgusting. I felt really bad. But somehow, I made it through the night into the next day, where finally, I was allowed to eat. Today, I'm feeling fractionally better. And I walked around a little bit. That was a big milestone. Actually, here, there's some other milestones, too. They told me, post-surgery, it's important that I be able to pee. Boom. Knocked it out. After peeing, they said, you shall be rewarded by drinking as much water as you want to. Two, they said, you must fart. I put my finger delicately on the nurse's lips. And then, I said, say no more. Did they say, call them when I fart? Oh, wow. I've never had anybody so excited about this news. That said, this is a food show. And this is my hospital food. First of all, this is a broth. I don't know. It looks like some kind of a fatty bone broth. It looks kind of nice. And then, this right here is watermelon. Technically, not a liquid. But essentially, watermelon is crunchy water anyways. And then, this is my third course right here. Whatever they're putting into my veins. Let's try out some of this Myanmar watermelon. Pretty much anything right now would be delightful. It's sweet. It's warm. It's crunchy. I like it. This is what I'm most curious about. This is some sort of a broth. Let's give it a shot. Wow, talk about electrolytes. That is insanely salty. But considering I've not had any food or electrolytes in the last 24 hours, I think this is probably good for me. So here's my goal. To leave and recover and go home to Vietnam. But I'm not even sure when I'm going to be able to leave the country because I need to talk to the surgeon later today. Best case scenario, tomorrow. More realistic would be Thursday. Another three days from now. So let's see what happens. But if I eat any more amazing hospital Myanmar food along the way, I'll be sure to show you. During the whole first day, I was relegated to eating broths and a little bit of fruit. But to be honest, I wasn't very hungry anyways. I felt terrible. I was in a lot of pain. Moving around was super difficult. And there was just a ton of swelling in my abdomen. Actually, there still kind of is right now. Do not zoom in on my stomach. Boom! It is day two of recovery in the hospital. I thought by today, I'd be doing somersaults and jumping jacks. No. Actually, it hurts to stand. Yesterday, I spoke to the surgeon. He said the surgery went normal. He said maybe I can get out of here after three or four days. Looking forward to that. Let's talk about the food situation because I've been making progress there too. Now, yesterday, my first meal included this. This is called collagen. But today, we're going to soft foods. So right here, this is a porridge. Wow, it's a very liquidy porridge. All right, I'm gonna give it a shot. That's nice. It's a very loose porridge. It tastes salty and tastes like they put some chicken in there too. Ah, it's not bad. All in all, yesterday, I probably ate 400 calories. So at this point, they can put almost anything in front of me. And I would be feeling pretty happy. So that is day two. I will see you on day three. It is day three right now. And I'm not better, but I'm good enough to walk out of this place and go to my own hotel and rest there one day before heading back to Vietnam. So right now, we are headed to the hotel. And tomorrow, we're flying to Saigon. And I'm gonna finish recuperating at home. And that is where I'll be telling you how much money I spent on this whole hospital visit. Now, let's not include the $7,000 to $10,000 I lost by planning an entire trip and then doing absolutely none of it. We'll not talk about that. But I will be telling you how much it costs to fly to Myanmar and get an appendectomy. It might be worth it for you. Let's head out. What's funny is yesterday, the surgeon, he said, everything's fine. You can leave, but just come back on Sunday. And I said, oh, hey, as soon as you let me leave the hospital, I'm leaving the country and I'm not coming back. And he said, yeah, you'll probably be fine. And so from the hospital, I went back to the hotel where I had spent that initial first night in Myanmar. And this would be my final night in Myanmar. As the next day, I was flying back to Saigon. Well, as much as I've enjoyed my last four days in Myanmar, at last, it is time to go. Now, you might be asking yourself, Sonny, you're out of the hospital. Why not go shoot now? Well, that would be because I'm not well. I definitely need time to recover. And I have an even bigger trip coming up. In 10 days, I'm going to be going to Iraq. And so it's important that I get back home and rest up so I can make the most out of that trip. Time to say goodbye to the beautiful hotel. Sadly, out of five nights, I only stood there two, even though I paid for the whole thing. That's our car, and we are headed to the airport. I was able to take a direct flight, and it only took about two and a half hours to get to Saigon. A little while later, I arrived home, and that is where I am now, roughly a week later. Right now, it's been 10 or 11 days since the surgery, and I'm definitely still recovering. I'm very fatigued, tired, a bit sore. It's quite an ordeal. You don't recover or bounce back after a couple of days. It really takes some time. What is my takeaway from Myanmar? Hard to say. I saw a hotel and a hospital. That's about it. But I got to say, I was pretty impressed by the medical system, at least at that hospital. Now, not everybody in the country is going to that hospital. That is a hospital that's more on the expensive side. Even my local guide said he would never go to a hospital like that. So most folks are gonna go to hospitals that are more busy, that are more chaotic, that are more overpopulated and understaffed. But I was fortunate enough to be able to afford the best service possible in Myanmar. Service that at the end of the day, after a surgery, after staying there for three nights and staying in the VVVIP room, all of that in the USA would cost something between $15,000 to $30,000 per the internet. But how much did it cost me? For all of that was $2,400. Kind of remarkable. As far as I could see, all the equipment they used, all the procedures were modern, hygienic and not very different from what you would find in the USA. But the price was so much cheaper. Did I have insurance? No, I'm just paying for it in cash. But $2,400 is less than a lot of people's deductibles. I really can't believe it. Before we go, a lot of you asked me questions about what happened in Myanmar and I want to answer those right now. What symptoms did you feel leading up to the hospital? I felt pressure and pain in my lower right side. It felt like it might be a bowel issue but it was indeed my appendix. They say one test you could do is pushing in and seeing if it hurts when it's released. So the pushing didn't hurt so much but releasing it is what hurt. Just so you guys know, every appendix surgery is an urgent last minute surgery. No one is planning their appendix surgery for four months from now. So it's important that you know the symptoms so you don't ignore it so you don't have it first and then make a bigger issue. How was the hospital food? Overall, I gotta say hospital food for being hospital food, like 10 out of 10. Really solid. What caused it? That's a good question. When something like this happens, you want to know why. Is it because I drank sake for a week straight in Japan two weeks ago? But no, ChachiBT said it's just random. Where's your bandana? I wasn't so worried about my look for the show while I was in the hospital, okay? Will you stop eating extreme food now? Never. So that is my experience but I want to hear from you guys. Have you ever gone to a different country and had to get an emergency surgery? Please tell the story in the comments below. I'm going to be reading all of them. Otherwise, that is it for this video, guys. Thank you so much for watching. I will see you next time. Peace.