Retire Early Lifestyle
Retirement; like your parents, but way cooler

In 1991 Billy and Akaisha Kaderli retired at the age of 38. Now, into their 4th decade of this financially independent lifestyle, they invite you to take advantage of their wisdom and experience.

My Intimate Journey with Cancer Part 7 - DaNang, Vietnam

A different country, new possibilities

 Billy and Akaisha Kaderli

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Rattan heart on China Beach

Going from country to country

It was early morning when we left our hotel inside the ancient walled city of Chiang Mai in Thailand. 

We were saying “goodbye” to the nightmare of Dr. Death and the unexpected experience of being placed on the “Cancer fast track.”

We were off to DaNang, Vietnam - a different country and hopefully, new possibilities.

From our hotel, we walked down the soi and caught a songtheow. We wanted to go to the airport, and when the driver asked for 60 baht, Billy gave him 80.

The driver was thrilled.

We had already downloaded boarding passes to our phones and now just had to find our gates, go through security and wait for our plane to board.

We had meant to change money from Thai baht into USDollars before we arrived at our gate, but in the hectic-ness of the situation, we had forgotten. That meant that Billy had to go back downstairs to the money exchange counter and then back again through security. Fortunately, he got a GREAT rate. While he was gone, I watched our gear in the waiting area at our gate.

Chiang Mai, Thailand to Da Nang, Vietnam – SIMS cards, Visas

The flight was fine from Chiang Mai, and we had a fairly short connection in Bangkok to catch our international plane on to DaNang, Vietnam.

We were a bit concerned about having too much baggage, plus we had to go through customs and immigration, and hoping strongly that - with these time consuming detentions - we would not miss our flight.

Even though all of this took time, everything went smoothly. Both of us were “vibing” for an effortless, easy passage and I mentally pretended that our rollies were invisible – and no one gave us any problem.

Arriving in DaNang, we had to get SIMS cards at  the airport so we would have a local phone number. In this way doctors and hospitals could call us to verify appointments. These SIMS were $11USD each for 1 month, allowing us 6Gigabyte usage per day.

We had also previously downloaded and printed our Vietnamese Visas which we showed both to the airline which we boarded in Bangkok ,and then again at immigration. 

We were all set.

We got into a taxi at the Danang airport, and paid the driver $5USD to bring us to our hotel.

Flower markets abound in Vietnam

Completing the setup

We got ourselves situated in our hotel room, unpacked and conveniently changed US Dollars to Vietnamese Dong at the hotel desk.

Traveling, no matter how smoothly it goes, is still a tiring business. There are so many details to consider, plus it takes physical time. It was already dark by now and we were eager to have a meal and call it a day.

Fortunately, we went out the hotel, turned left, found an easy eating place then ordered some food and a couple of beers.

Reflecting back, the whole day seemed to have been a big “YES.”

Serendipity

The next day, our #1 thing to do was to get my computer fixed.

My computer screen was still giving me severe issues with its blinking off and on almost like a strobe light practically continuously. We had tried getting it repaired in Chapala, Mexico where we live, and also in Chiang Mai, Thailand while we were there. But the situation was not resolved, and seemed to be getting worse.

Billy found a computer repair online in DaNang that had high ratings, so we took a Grab (which is like Uber or Bolt) to the computer shop not far from our hotel. We dropped off my box.  

The men in the repair shop said - depending on what the problem was - they would know by 5pm that afternoon and what we might need to do to fix it.

OK, great!

So at this point we are looking for a café to sit down, relax and take a break from the heat. I find “Craft Café” on my Google Maps and we begin to walk there from our location.

It’s not far, and as we turn here and there following the map, I find a small store that has some apples and a pear that I buy. As I’m going through that… and figuring out all the zeros on the Vietnamese money… Billy finds a Chinese medicine store 1 door down from where we are.

Chinese Medicine Doctor in DaNang, Vietnam

A turn of events, the Chinese Medicine Doctor

Billy walks in, talks to the guy, and when I am done making my purchase, Billy motions to me to come in and speak with the doctor. Billy is already seated and the doctor is behind his desk.

We are doing all communication through Google translate and sign language.

The doc takes my pulse in the Chinese fashion in several places on both wrists, asks Billy a bunch more questions - as Billy has taken the lead on this thing - and then he gives me a breast and lymph node examination. This included both of my breasts, both armpits, both sides of my neck, and my stomach.

I get involved in the conversation at this point and we chat some more. The doctor says he wants to help me shrink the mass and he thinks the medicines he will give me will do just that.

This was a far cry from our experience with Dr. Death in Chiang Mai Ram. Billy and I agreed that this was such serendipity and not to be overlooked – that we commit to coming back at 3pm to pick up the herbs.

Billy and I both have utilized Chinese medicine before, as well as acupuncture, and homeopathic methodologies. For our bodies, these techniques have worked and we have been pleased with the results.

When Billy had Covid a few years back and couldn’t breathe, our local Curandera in Chapala, Mexico prescribed some natural remedies. These worked in a matter of hours and brought him right back to health.

So, this truly chance encounter felt more like guidance, and we opened to it.

The Chinese medicines

Billy and I return to Thai Chuong Duong Chinese Medicine shop at 3pm to pick up the herbs.

There are 3 different medications. Two of them I switch off every other day and I take them before meals. One of them is a bottle of tiny dark herbal balls as an antidote to foreign cells and the other is ground Panax Notoginseng powder with Ingzhi and Ganoderma mushrooms.

I also have a big bag of herbs, sticks, bark, leaves and such, and with this one, I brew it like a tea, let it steep, drink the liquid and put the bark, leaves and miscellaneous on my breast for 20-30 minutes nightly.

In this way, I have various ways to shrink the mass – both internally and externally.

Since our time in Vietnam is limited and we’ll be leaving soon, we make plans to see him again in a week.

At that point, we can decide if we want more herbs to take back with us to Mexico or not. 

Panax notoginseng powder and lingzhi mushrooms on the left

Busting the Fear

Before we leave, the doc asks us some more questions and overall, seemed confident and happy that he could help me.

He noticed that Billy was a bit nervous or apprehensive and asked him about it. When Billy answered “we are afraid,” the doc smiled and asked “what do you fear?”

This took Billy by surprise – as no doctor has ever said anything like this to him before - and Billy made motions of me going to heaven or passing on.

I wrote on my Google Translate: “He is afraid I will die. I am afraid of pain.” The doctor then said that I was a happy person and laughed at the idea that I might die…

He Google-translated back to me “I want to help you.”

We discussed the large, hard mass in my breast tissue. This was acknowledged and while it might take some time, the doctor didn’t doubt that these herbs would help shrink it. It would go from the size of his fist to the size of his thumb, he said.

We came back later in the day to get the herbs (2.5 million dong about $98USD) and stopped by the computer place which had the computer ready.

The repair guys were putting it back together when we arrived. Cost was $18USD! Can you believe that? 

Overall, things were looking good.

Transitioning back home to Mexico

We returned to the Chinese medicine doctor a week later for a quick checkup.

After asking me questions about how I was feeling with taking the herbs, he also asked about the mass in my breast tissue.

It certainly felt that it had gotten smaller or that I had some kind of change, but I wanted him to examine me first before I said anything.

After another examination of both breasts, lymph nodes, my neck and stomach, we sat back down in his office and he discussed his manual findings.

It was his opinion that the mass had quit growing, gotten softer, and had gotten smaller.

To us, this was great news and it was just after a week of taking his medicines.

Our plan was to continue this treatment in Chapala while I sought other western medical help, so I bought 2 more bags of the mushrooms/ginseng mixtures and he gave us one more bag for free.

Brightly painted shop in DaNang, Vietnam

Yes’s and No’s

Billy has been a champ, and while I was actively working on keeping myself from having an emotional meltdown, he continued doing the research we needed for the next leg of medical assistance.

While searching the web, he landed on a highly recommended hospital in Guadalajara, Mexico which had extensive oncology facilities. Guadalajara is only a couple of hours from our hometown of Chapala, and it is routine for Expats and locals to get quality care in this capital city in Mexico.

Billy gave me names and numbers, and I began making phone calls. While I had the records from Chiang Mai Ram Hospital in Thailand, I still needed to get more specialized blood tests, perhaps another biopsy and a lung x-ray.

So I called the St. Javier hospital to get the process started. Asking for a specific doctor’s name, there was hesitation on the other side of the line. There were a few moments of paper rustling and computer clicking, and it was during this time I mentioned that I needed this, that and the other, and it was my understanding that Doctor So-and-so could help us.

The woman on the other side of the phone gave me another number to call. I gave her my thanks, ended the call, and dialed the new number.

The Hispanic man on the other side of the line answered, and I explained to him what I was looking for. The good doctor made sure I realized that this was his personal private number and I profusely thanked him and told him I understood. The hospital had given me this number so I wasn’t sure what else I was to do about contacting him.

There was some hesitation from him as we cordially chatted back and forth and at one point, I mentioned insurance. For whatever reason, this set him off, his voice rose, said he took no insurance and he hung up on me (!).

I looked wide-eyed at Billy and said quietly “he hung up on me.” This had never happened to me before, especially by a professional.

We shared a few moments of stunned, discombobulated silence, and then I said to Billy “This is an obvious No. Let’s find our Yes.”

Moving along

Undeterred, Billy continued to do research on the oncology department at San Javier and found Dr. Hernandez. This doctor had high ratings, good feedback and a phone number was given on the site.

I was able to utilize the free WhatsApp service to contact him. Here I am in Da Nang, Vietnam, and he’s in Guadalajara, Mexico, thousands of miles away. How much easier could it be?

Dr. Hernandez wrote back to me immediately, I explained my situation and set up a consultation appointment for when I returned home to Mexico.

This was our “Yes.”

It felt like we were making progress. All we had to do was get back home to Mexico, and get this thing done with.

Sweet Baby Jesus, what was going to happen next?

Retire Early Lifestyle appeals to a different kind of person – the person who prizes their independence, values their time, and who doesn’t want to mindlessly follow the crowd.

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