Where in the world are the Patnodes??: First Sick Visit

We knew it would happen at some point, we hoped it would be later than sooner. We dreaded it. We feared it. It happened.

Lauren fell ill with a bad cold that turned into a fever and an up all night ear ache. For a day prior our maid was all over the situation. She kept saying, "Lauren, you are getting very sick, you need to see a doctor!" Harish, our driver agreed with Sheela's medical opinion and ran upstairs to get some socks on her feet, insisting that the cold marble floors were contributing to her illness. Our landlord stopped over to replace our dryer belt and commented as well, "Lauren does not look well at all!" I even got a disapproving glare from the cable guys for goodness sake!

So this morning it was off to see a pediatrician. The process here is so different from the US. There are no appointments, nobody has a primary care physician, you just get what you get. We arrived at Teleradiology, a 24 hr facility, at 9am, by 9:05 we were in the pediatrician's office. No nurse to act as the liaison. The doctor just said "come on in, Lauren" and that was that... very nice. This doctor works for one hour only each morning! I am certain they must actually be volunteering their time. We sat down, chatted for a few minutes about symptoms, the MD gave Lauren the once over... discovered her ear was infected and that her chest did not sound good at all. She pulled out a piece of stationary from her desk and started writing...

She prescribed a pile of medications, including one for Andrew, who we mentioned had been up with the croup cough for a few nights!! Check out the supply... We walked out of the office to the pharmacy counter in the hall... where we were given a bag full of medication and were sent on to billing.