Today I was given the gift of my first real interaction with the US medical system.
Poor Toby has had a cough and cold for 2 days now. Yesterday night he developed a fever and then today his cough got more and more ominous. Luckily, (as any parent of a previously intubated child does) I had made a mental note of the urgent care center on our way into town. Which, as it turns out, is about a 2-minute walk from our condo. After some deliberation, we decided to venture over.
The first difference I noticed was that it was EMPTY. The second difference was the $200 price tag on a visit. I have to admit, the receptionist was very kind; she cringed a bit when quoting me the cost of the visit but didn’t even flinch when I suggested that I could set up my own clinic on the front lawn, charge half the price and still enjoy a 600% raise.
It still took 20 minutes to be seen even though we were the ONLY ONES THERE. But the physician assistant was very nice. He even offered to let me listen to my own kid’s lungs (which I declined), and then offered to prescribe him the cough medicine of my choice. I sweetly thanked him but explained that ALL cough medicines for children under 5 are BANNED in Canada. He still prescribed me one.
I have to admit- - he was VERY thorough. And Toby didn’t even cry when he was poked and prodded; this gentleman had a lovely demeanor. After a full 20-minute visit, Toby was diagnosed with bilateral ear infections and croup.
Yes, that’s right. Croup. We are constantly under the shadow of the dreaded croup. But this time we are armed with antibiotics, decadron and COUGH MEDICINE (!!!) to help combat it.
On our way out the door we were handed the $200 bill and FIVE large stickers. I have to admit -- although our rates are significantly lower at our office, we only ever give out ONE, maybe TWO stickers. (And not usually the big ones, either.) Relieved to be done, I leaned over to the apprehensive receptionist and admitted to her in a whisper, “OK…that was well worth it…”
Poor Toby has had a cough and cold for 2 days now. Yesterday night he developed a fever and then today his cough got more and more ominous. Luckily, (as any parent of a previously intubated child does) I had made a mental note of the urgent care center on our way into town. Which, as it turns out, is about a 2-minute walk from our condo. After some deliberation, we decided to venture over.
The first difference I noticed was that it was EMPTY. The second difference was the $200 price tag on a visit. I have to admit, the receptionist was very kind; she cringed a bit when quoting me the cost of the visit but didn’t even flinch when I suggested that I could set up my own clinic on the front lawn, charge half the price and still enjoy a 600% raise.
It still took 20 minutes to be seen even though we were the ONLY ONES THERE. But the physician assistant was very nice. He even offered to let me listen to my own kid’s lungs (which I declined), and then offered to prescribe him the cough medicine of my choice. I sweetly thanked him but explained that ALL cough medicines for children under 5 are BANNED in Canada. He still prescribed me one.
I have to admit- - he was VERY thorough. And Toby didn’t even cry when he was poked and prodded; this gentleman had a lovely demeanor. After a full 20-minute visit, Toby was diagnosed with bilateral ear infections and croup.
Yes, that’s right. Croup. We are constantly under the shadow of the dreaded croup. But this time we are armed with antibiotics, decadron and COUGH MEDICINE (!!!) to help combat it.
On our way out the door we were handed the $200 bill and FIVE large stickers. I have to admit -- although our rates are significantly lower at our office, we only ever give out ONE, maybe TWO stickers. (And not usually the big ones, either.) Relieved to be done, I leaned over to the apprehensive receptionist and admitted to her in a whisper, “OK…that was well worth it…”
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