Pattaya Gay Community Query..

[catawampuscat]

For a change, I am at a loss for words to express what I am feeling and thinking, so bear
with me.

I have been very impressed with GayTingTong and specifically with the great help
being offered to a Thai guy with HIV-AIDS. One moderator is taking care of a Thai
guy and has made an enormous difference in the guy's life as well as his family.
My purpose in starting this thread is not about this guy, who is already being helped financially
and medically and must feel the support and care of the farangs who have rallied around
him.

Thais4Life, a very worthy volunteer group of gaymen in Pattaya began, to help
a Thai guy with a life threatening illness and made the difference..

Oogleman's and GayTingTong forum members have made a big difference as has
Thais4Life and inspired this thread as I have seen it is possible for farangs to make
a difference and get involved..

Now, here is the situation. In Sunee Plaza, at Sammy's, there is a young guy with
A.L.S., also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. The boy is working at the restaurant/bar
and is in need of some help. His father apparently has the same disease and one sibling
has already died of the same disease..
Tonite, a group of my friends dined at Sammys and one of my friends who knows this boy
well, found out that he was hungry and invited the boy to join us inside the restaurant.
Several of my friends and acquaintances have discussed this situation before but now the
disease is progressing and it is obvious that the boy is having motor/muscle difficulties.

The boy ordered spaghetti with a meat sauce and when I saw the waiter bring it, I hoped they
would have something to cover his shirt, as he was having difficulties with his hands.
My farang friend, held the boys' bottle of soda and the boy leaned over to sip the straw and put
his shakey hand over my friends. It was very tender.
Then my friend took over the feeding of the boy and using a fork and a spoon, fed the boy.
The serving of pasta was enormous and I was only able to finish half (well, maybe a little more)
of mine, but the boy ate the whole plate of pasta and really was hungry.
I was deeply touched but not surprised as this farang friend has demonstrated care-giving and
extending kindness and money to those in need before, but this was most special.
The boy indicated that he had stopped drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes at a doctor's
advise. His English is limited and we aren't clear if he is seeing a doctor or not.
Each of us gave the lad, 100B. but of course this is just a drop in the bucket but will get him thru the day. The boy did talk about a British farang who had promised to bring him to a big
hospital but it was very unclear when and it appears that this farang is not in Thailand now.

The query is basically what can be done for the boy. Is this appropriate for Thais4Life to get
involved with?
I wanted to discuss this all with Erich, the boss who had previoulsly explained the illness to us and is providing the boy with employment, but he wasn't around.
We are fairly ignorant about this disease but maybe someone has some experience or knowledge.

I cannot take on this boy, unlike the very admirable efforts of oogleman at gaytingtong.com
but perhaps just advising and informing other gay Pattaya expats and visitors of this situation
might led to something. It is heart wrenching to see this formerly very healthy looking
and very cute guy, unable to move fluidly and obviously having a problem.

This boy, nick named Boy, is very personable and handsome and well known from his
time working in various bars in Pattaya and on Jomtien Beach.
I am going to think more about this but if someone cares to get involved and meet him,
it might start the ball rolling.
I hope this thread serves a purpose and maybe we can all do something good for Boy.
Perhaps, there is an angel out there in cyberland or perhaps some of us can think of
a way to make a difference.
I am very aware that there is need everywhere and [u]I have
no desire or interest in starting a charity. My sole purpose is to reach out to the gay
Pattaya community and let everyone know of a situation and hope some of us can help out. :cat

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Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS, sometimes called Maladie de Charcot, or, in the United States, Lou Gehrig's Disease) is a progressive, usually fatal, neurodegenerative disease caused by the degeneration of motor neurons, the nerve cells in the central nervous system that control voluntary muscle movement. As a motor neuron disease, the disorder causes muscle weakness and atrophy throughout the body as both the upper and lower motor neurons degenerate, ceasing to send messages to muscles. Unable to function, the muscles gradually weaken, develop fasciculations (twitches) because of denervation, and eventually atrophy because of that denervation. The patient may ultimately lose the ability to initiate and control all voluntary movement except for the eyes.

No test can provide a definite diagnosis of ALS, although the presence of upper and lower motor neuron signs in a single limb is strongly suggestive. Instead, the diagnosis of ALS is primarily based on the symptoms and signs the physician observes in the patient and a series of tests to rule out other diseases. Physicians obtain the patient's full medical history and usually conduct a neurologic examination at regular intervals to assess whether symptoms such as muscle weakness, atrophy of muscles, hyperreflexia, and spasticity are getting progressively worse.

Prognosis
Regardless of the part of the body first affected by the disease, it is usual for muscle weakness and atrophy to spread to other parts of the body as the disease progresses. It is important to remember that some patients with ALS have an arrested course with no progression beyond a certain point despite extensive follow-up. Such a pattern is particularly true for young males with predominant upper limb weakness especially on one side (so-called monomelic or Hirayama type motor neuron disease). Eventually people with ALS will not be able to stand or walk, get in or out of bed on their own, or use their hands and arms. In later stages of the disease, individuals have difficulty breathing as the muscles of the respiratory system weaken. Although ventilation support can ease problems with breathing and prolong survival, it does not affect the progression of ALS. Most people with ALS die from respiratory failure, usually within 3 to 5 years from the onset of symptoms. However, about 10 percent of those individuals with ALS survive for 10 or more years.

Its heartbreaking to read stories like this.

What needs to be done now is a diagnosis to 100% confirm this is what he is suffering from. If it is you can see from the info above the prognosis is not very good.

As i have left Thailand i cant organise this but if somebody sets up a fund/group i would be more than willing to help in improving his life quality and help to buy symptom alleviating drugs etc.

You can read more about the disease here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amyotrophi ... _sclerosis

[markie1]

Its heartbreaking to read stories like this.

What needs to be done now is a diagnosis to 100% confirm this is what he is suffering from. If it is you can see from the info above the prognosis is not very good.

As i have left Thailand i cant organise this but if somebody sets up a fund/group i would be more than willing to help in improving his life quality and help to buy symptom alleviating drugs etc.

You can read more about the disease here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amyotrophi ... _sclerosis

It sounds to me like some kind of MS,only my younger brother got MS at a very young age 17 and with time the muscles started to give way ,although hes 40 now still manages on medication,but unfirtunately wheel chair bound. i think the best thing they can do with this guy is get a correct diagnosis on him ,if any one is willing to help this guy to do that then i will be more than willing to help in the contribution towards the costs . Its so sad for these guys when you here of things like this ,they have done you all good in the past ,so at a time like this it is nice to give some thing back and help this guy hopefully on a road to a slightly longer life
markie

I stand to be corrected but I would think from previous discussions that this would be a case that Thais4Life would become involved in. They have some funds available to help those who have no other means of support and getting treatment for illness.

[Wesley]

Having dealt with this kind of situation for years now, there really is little that can be done except to make him as comfortable as you can. Just to get a diagnosis may be expensive. I have spent less on kids who just needed HGH for slow growth. I would suspect if the Expiates who are there do not follow though you can only hope to help intermittently. Although I have helped Tha├пs for Life I find it hard to imagine how they would react, since this is or may be long term. We often have more compassion for those who deserve it less. However, I would be willing to help when I am there should I know that some one would be responsible for his welfare after I leave.

Wes

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS, sometimes called Maladie de Charcot, or, in the United States, Lou Gehrig's Disease).


This is the disease that the actor David_Niven died of in 1983.

Why don't the Thais do something for their own people?

in response to curios - pharmacutical companies are greedy - this is what the WHO says it costs to treat hiv pos thais:

MSF has witnessed the development of the Thai AIDS treatment program. Generic production is the cornerstone of Thailand's universal HIV/AIDS treatment program. Before generic production, the cost of standard HIV/AIDS treatment in Thailand was more than 33,330 baht per patient per month (US $924), and only 3,000 people were getting treatment. Today, nearly 100,000 people are on ARVs, while approximately 100,000 more require it.

Both the WHO (in August 2005) and the World Bank (in August 2006) predicted dramatically rising drug costs in Thailand because of the second-line crisis. The average cost of second-line regimens in Thailand is estimated at 270,000 baht (USD $6,740), or roughly 14 times more than the average first-line regimen.

[catawampuscat]

Lets not be too quick to judge a gone away again poster Tales of horrible illnesses and not just of buffalo are all too common ways to extract baht out of well meaning farangs. We cannot save the world, even if the stories are true.
This is a case of just being in Pattaya, going to Sunee Plaza and stopping by Sammys and looking for yourself. Buy Boy a drink or just watch him and even the most cynical among us will believe there is a serious illness.

Curious has a good point as well as to why Thais don't help each other. I can tell you from personal observation that the other boys working in the bar are very attentive to Boy, very kind and are not treating him like a leper but compassionately as fellow Thais.
Whether all the boys together,have any spare baht is questionable as the needs of each boy each are so great with families back in villages waiting for money and just enough to cover their own basic needs.
I have seen the boys working at Sammys hold Boys' drink and assist him and unfortunately help him smoke cigarettes but he says he has now stopped smoking them.
Help from Thais is usually family based and the extended family takes cares of each other but this is too big. The local Wat is another place to get help but again this type of situation is too big.

Oogleman has risen to the top of my list of gay men that I have high respect and esteem for.
His efforts over at his site GayTingTong are inspiring and he puts in the time and work to make
a dream come true for a sick guy whose days were numbered and now has a chance at a future for him and his family.. If we had a humanitarian award, he would be my nominee but alas one man cannot do everything and oogleman is back in Europe. Thanks for the additional info. Oogleman knows how to party but he also knows part of life is to give back and not just take. Too many of us are only here to take what we can for our own selfish pleasures..

There is another gay farang, whom I have been told has already donated many millions of US dollars to an orphanage in the Pattaya area and intends to leave them the bulk of his large estate. I only know him slightly but he is good friends with several other farangs I am friendly with he certainly understands we are all one big family and he is in the fortunate position to make a difference for many Thai children..

Perhaps, the best thing any of us can do is to stop at Sammys and look for ourselves, talk to
Erich and maybe buy Boy a Coke, if he is thirsty or "off" him and get to know him.
By the way, he is not asking for charity(aside from the usual 20B. requests from most Sunee boys), he is not begging but I imagine as the disease takes its toll, he will lose options have to do whatever he can to survive.. :cat: