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No cold shoulder at weekly PCEC meeting
The Pattaya City Expats Club (PCEC) did not get the “cold
shoulder” at their Sunday, April 22 meeting; rather members and guests
learned about a condition called “frozen shoulder.” Master of Ceremonies
Richard Silverberg called on fellow member Gavin Waddell, international
executive for Phyathai Hospital Sriracha to introduce the club’s speaker, an
orthopedist from the hospital who specializes in shoulder conditions. Dr.
Watanachai Bangkhen is also a specialist in sports injuries.
Member ‘Hawaii Bob’ awards
the prizes of discounts & ‘2 for 1’s at Pattaya area restaurants to many
PCEC members. MC Richard Silverberg looks on.
Dr. Watanachai described the condition of frozen shoulder
which is also known as adhesive capsulitis. It is a common, painful
condition that affects the ability to move the shoulder. It reduces normal
movement in the joint and, in some cases, it can prevent movement in the
shoulder altogether. Pain and stiffness in the shoulder are the most common
symptoms.
Dr. Watanachai said that it affects up to 2% of the
population and is more likely to affect those that are 40 to 60 years of age
and it affects women more often than men. It is caused by inflammation,
which prevents the bones in the shoulder from moving freely. Strangely
enough a lot of the time there is no known cause for frozen shoulder.
Dr. Bangkhen showed, with the
aid of a nurse, some exercises that can help prevent and or repair ‘frozen
shoulder’.
He explained that there are three stages of frozen
shoulder. One is the “painful stage.” During this stage there is pain for
any movement of your shoulder and the range of movement becomes limited. The
next stage is called the “frozen stage.” Pain may begin to diminish; but the
shoulder becomes stiffer and your range of motion decreases markedly. The
third is the “thawing stage.” During this stage the range of motion begins
to improve. For some, the pain worsens at night disrupting sleep. Going
through these three stages can take up to 2 years.
He said that doctors really don’t know why this condition
happens for some people and not others, but is more likely for those that
have recently had prolonged immobilization of their shoulder such as after
surgery or arm fracture. Also, certain medical problems appear to be prone
toward development of a frozen shoulder such as: diabetes, over-under active
thyroid, cardiovascular disease, tuberculosis, and Parkinson’s disease.
Diagnosis includes being asked by your doctor to perform certain actions to
check for pain and the range of motion. Other tests may also be performed
such as X-rays and MRIs. These tests help to rule out other conditions
causing the pain and lack in the range of movement.
Gavin and Dr Bangkhen
consider one of the members many questions in depth, before answering.
Treatment for frozen shoulder involves stretching
exercises and, sometimes, the injection of corticosteroids and numbing
medications into the joint capsule. In a small percentage of cases, surgery
may be needed to loosen the joint capsule so that it can move more freely.
Over the counter anti-inflammatory drugs may be used to relieve pain as well
as stronger drugs that can be prescribed.
Physical therapy involving stretching exercises can help
maintain as much mobility in your shoulder as possible. Dr. Watanachai
displayed a chart of 10 such exercises and called on a lovely young lady
from the hospital to demonstrate each one for the audience. For persistent
symptoms, there is also shoulder manipulation. During this procedure you
receive a general anesthetic so you’ll be unconscious and feel no pain. The
doctor then moves your shoulder joint in different directions, to help
loosen the tightened tissue.
After Dr. Watanachai answered several questions, Richard
Silverberg called on Roy Albiston to conduct the always informative and
sometime humorous Open Forum where questions are asked and answered about
expat living in Thailand, Pattaya in particular. The Pattaya City Expats
Club meets every Sunday at the Amari Orchid’s Tavern by the Sea Restaurant.
Read more about the Club’s activities on their website at www.
pattayacityexpatsclub.com.
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Faith healer Corsie Legaspi returns to Pattaya
Father Corsie Legaspi lays his
hands on the forehead of those who seek help.
Elfi Seitz
Crowds of ailing Catholics turned out again at Pattaya’s
Church of the Assumption to welcome back a Filipino priest who for two decades
has celebrated masses around the world for people who believe he can heal their
illnesses with just a touch of his hand.
Rev. Corsie Legaspi from the Our Lady of the Rosary Parish in
Rosario, Cavite held his healing ceremony and mass April 10. Parishioners with
everything from cancerous tumors to sore limbs turned out, looking for a
miracle.
Bishop Lawrence Thienchai, who hosted the mass, stressed that
it wasn’t Legaspi himself that could heal people but that the priest was merely
a conduit between the infirm and the power of God.
The cancer patients were first in line. Legaspi touched their
foreheads and many collapsed, whether through mere fainting or from “resting in
the spirits” as believers in Charismatic sect believe. They were laid on the
floor and awoke shortly after.
Legaspi’s specialty is dealing with frozen limbs. People who
claimed to be unable to move raise their arms or legs found themselves again
able to move after a touch from the famous healer. At times Legaspi picked
people from the audience to help him touch the ill and heal them. Each time a
formerly infirm parishioner moved again the crowd broke into applause.
Egil Melhustro and Pat Burbridge claimed to be two of those.
Egil said that immediately after being touched he sensed a kind of electricity
and could lift both his arms equally high. Pat said she experienced only an
alarming that caused her shoulders to stop aching and equalized the length of
her arms.
Legaspi believes he obtained his ability in 1975 after a
Charismatics prayer meeting when people collapsed after he touched them during
prayer. He purports that after a subsequent lengthy prayer his mother,
terminally ill with lung cancer, awoke from her comatose state to walk again.
He’s traveled the world ever since, hosting healing ceremonies.
Three women volunteers claimed they came into the service
with breast cancer and that Lepaspi healed them. Frenchwoman Laurence Fatus was
used to verify the supposed miracle, telling a reporter she felt the blastomas
dissolve under the priest’s touch.
The service ended with Legaspi meditating and the curious and
hopeful touching his hands, fingers and clothes, hoping a little magic would rub
off on them.
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Stags Head celebrates St. George’s Day
As the band plays on, Englishmen
and friends celebrate St. Georges Day at the Stags Head Bar.
Nigel Quennell
St. Georges Day, April 23 is a historic date in the English
calendar. So it was with great pride that John Wraith, co-owner of the Stags
Head Bar in soi LK Metro, put together a full day’s fun and entertainment.
The day started with around 40 children from the Pattaya
Orphanage visiting the English style bar, appropriately decked out with red and
white balloons. All had great fun, and all were well fed.
Soon after the happy children were sent home, a double-decker
bus arrived with the Royal Thai Air Force Brass Band. A cheering crowd was soon
entertained with songs like Moon River by the 40 piece band, conducted by Flight
Sergeant 1st Class Surasak Permkasem.
Luckily there were no Christians needing protection from the
Romans, or dragons for the patron saint to kill, but two pigs gave up their
lives for the buffet to feed the St George’s Day revelers!
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HHN director’s son weds in Bangkok
Father Michael Weera Phankrak
gives the happy couple his best wishes on their way.
Elfi Seitz
The director of the Human Help Network Foundation Thailand
played host to Pattaya Orphanage executives, government officials and nearly 300
others as her son married a fellow Thai Airways International flight attendant
in Bangkok.
Ning and Nok.
Radchada Chomjinda, who heads the Human Help Network
Foundation Thailand, and her husband, Samphan Akrapongpanich, played the role of
proud parents for the March 31 nuptials of Siromes Akrapongpanich and Phrangphet
Cheumthong at the Swissotel Nai Lert Park.
The wedding and reception at the five-star hotel hosted the
festively dressed guests who milled around a seven-tier wedding cake. Many from
Pattaya mixed in among the high-society guest list, which included Sorasith
Sunthornkes, assistant governor of the Bank of Thailand.
Orphanage Director Rev. Michael Weera Phangrak blessed the
new newlyweds and offered advice for their future lives together. And Theresa V.
Phromsuntorn, vice-president of the St. Theresa International College in Bangkok
also took the stage to wish the couple well.
Speeches complete, karaoke ensued with Siromes declaring his
love in song. The fairy tale motif continued, with bubbles floating in the air
around the couple as they cut the cake. Phrangphet delighted women and girls in
attendance by throwing two bouquets. For the guys, the groom tossed out gift
boxes.
The bridal couple cuts the cake.
(From left) Sorasith Sunthornkes,
Dr. Virachanee Phromsuntorn and Father Michael.
Elfi Seitz (2nd from right) poses
for a photo with the family.
The young ladies wait impatiently
for the throwing of the bouquets.
(From left) Samphan
Akrapongpanich, Radchada Chomjinda, the bridal couple Ning and Nok, Laurence
Futon, Sheree Wilkies, Thanaporn Cheumthong and Philipp Wilkies.
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Area hospitals launch
new blood drive
Bangkok Hospital Pattaya and
Rajadhevi Sriracha Hospital have launched a blood drive to replenish national
Red Cross supplies.
Warunya Thongrod
Bangkok Hospital Pattaya and Rajadhevi Sriracha Hospital
launched another of their periodic blood drives to replenish national Red Cross
supplies.
More than 100 people turned up at Bangkok Hospital Pattaya
and 111 at Rajadhevi April 25 for the start of the latest “Power of New Blood”
campaign. The Sriracha hospital collected 105 units the first day.
Rajadhevi nurse Rungthiwa Sewranont said the blood collected
will go primarily to facilities in seven eastern provinces and be kept at the
National Blood Bank’s Region 3 office.
“I always like to donate blood. This is my eighth time,” said
donor Aareerat Nilbanp. “I want to help others and I believe that donating blood
is an act of merit making. I would like to invite everyone, even those who have
never donated before, to do so. It’s not as scary as it looks.”
The blood drive is the third by the two hospitals since
December.
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