We've been a nearly full house of sickies lately. I haven't caught the bug yet, thank goodness. But Tomek got sick about 2 weeks ago, and last week LG caught it as well. A few days ago, LB started looking a little feverish and now she's snotty and restless.
Lately we've also been worried about LG's belly button. It pops out sometimes and when we press on it (gently) we can hear liquid sloshing around right under the skin. I was worried he may have an umbilical hernia so I called his pediatrician last Friday to make an appointment. The appointment isn't until tomorrow, so on Friday I asked the woman who booked the appointment if she thought I should wait that long, given what our worry was. She happened to have a Dr. next to her and asked him/her. The Dr. said to bring LG in that day to see one of the walk-in clinic Drs. (His pediatrician has an office but it's a ways away and every Thursday he's at a walk-in clinic near where we live.) When Tomek got home from work he took LG to that walk-in clinic and the Dr. told him that a) that's just the way LG's belly button is and it'll probably be like that for the rest of his life and b) his temperature was half a degree (celcius) higher than it should be and we should take him to the emergency room at the hospital.
I'm waiting till our appointment with the pediatrician tomorrow to see if she was right about his belly button. I'm thinking she may have just felt it when it wasn't popped out. As for the emergency room visit... it never happened. We checked his temperature again when they got home, and it was 0.2 degrees LOWER than what it normally is when I take his temperature. It was 37.3C, which is just a tad above 98.6F. Was I going to take him to the emergency room and have him sitting in there for 3+ hours surrounded by sick people when a slight fever is just a sign that his body is doing what it's SUPPOSED to do and fighting something?
NO.
His fever is gone now, and he's fine other than a bit of congestion in his nose.
Maybe that Dr. felt she had to say that so it wasn't resting on her conscience. I don't know. But I'm getting really frustrated with the medical system here--the lack of doctors to be specific.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Losing faith in doctors
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4 comments:
you should come take a tour of medicla facilities here in the states. yeah here i have to wait for five hours in the waiting room at the emergency clinic with one of my girls who has split her head wide opne because theres a number of people there with no insurance and they have to be seen first because they dont want it to look like they are playing favorites and when i finally do get out it costs three grand for three stitches because those same peeps who dont have insurance dont have the moeny to pay either but they dont have to because they just charge us who can pay out the whazoo to make up the difference.
yes, im a little bitter.
I felt kind of guilty writing that post because I know you guys down there are WAY worse off than us. That's disgusting that you had to wait that long and pay THAT much (omg...). And I feel for Robynn and Amy with the lack of maternity leave you get. It's totally ridiculous.
also, here the drs won't see people without a care card (that proves they are paying monthly for medicare).
Here in Quebec there are some definite hit and miss stories of health care. Occasionally I hear of emergency care that happens super quickly and the family involved is really pleased. Other times I hear of emergency care that has a really long wait time. What I hear most, however, though I am not sure if it is media-perpetrated, is that there are many people who have no family doctor which means they have no one doctor who keeps track of you.
We've been lucky that our pediatrician is usually available within 24 hours and in an emergency there is the Children's Hospital in the city that is very good.
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