OK - this post is way overdue. It all started about two weeks ago when Cole woke up with a slight rash and he was tugging at his left ear - no fever of course, that would have been too easy. So Lance and I headed straight to the doctor to get some "clear" answers. After much back and forth in confused, broken "Frenglish," we left with the definitive diagnosis of...
A cold OR an ear infection OR chicken pox ('cause those things are so closely related). Even though we tried to explain that kids in the US are vaccinated for Chicken Pox (they don't vaccinate for as many things over here - unclear why not) she still said "maybe" (and she is right, maybe). Although we had no diagnosis, we had no fewer than four prescriptions for this tiny kid. Penicillin for the ear infection, anti itch spray and antihistamine for the Chicken Pox (we tried to tell her he was not itching at all) and a pain reliever. Picking up the prescriptions at the "Pharmacien" will be a whole other post - it is CRAZY. One mother here told me that French doctors "aren't really into diagnosing but they LOVE prescriptions!" Apparently!!! So, he was now being treated for the ear infection and life is good, or so we thought. I did not give him the stuff for the Chicken Pox because in my expert opinion, with all of my medical training, he did not have it.
Skip to 10 days later: Cole wakes up with swollen and purple hands and feet, purple lips, and hives on his body. Some of you may know that Cole had this similar reaction this summer and ended up in the Emergency Room in Hamilton, NY. Apparently he liked it so much that he wanted to check out what it would be like in France. To his dismay...not the same.
So back to the Doctor we went, who gave us an "oh... c'est vous" look when we walked into her office again. She took a quick look and called a pediatrician to discuss the case, because she is a generalist, not a pediatrician. Sadly, this was news to us, as we'd thought she was in fact a pediatrician. Oops.
With a sealed letter for the front desk and vague, scribbled directions on a tiny post-it note, we were off to the "urgence" -- the emergency room in Nimes, where, apparently, they were waiting for us.
5 hours, 14 vials of blood, and countless "I Spy" games later we were still waiting in vain for the ellusive Bone Doctor to look at Cole before we could be admitted so we could have the joy and pleasure of spending the night. They tested him for a blood infection, lyme disease, leukemia, rheumatoid arthritis, and many, many more things. Some highlights of the experience were:
* The female ER doctor and nurse looked like this season's additions to the cast of Grey's Anatomy (Lance particularly liked this aspect... I think Cole did too).
* Lunch! Although the food was not the best we have had in France, it was better than most hospital food. And, although there was no wine, ironically it may have been the most relaxing lunch we have had with the kids in France. They both ate, did not scream or squirm and were generally pleasant company. Amazing. And on a personal sweet tooth note - I had the best brownie I have EVER had.
* Surgical gloves make wonderful balloons and can provide endless entertainment to toddlers. Apparently, the French have these in their exam rooms solely for this purpose and no other as countless nurses took blood from Cole on several occasions without wearing GLOVES! One nurse even leaned her arm down on the exam table right on top of one of Cole's used needles. She did not seem phased by it at all...I was just speechless.
* At several times during the experience I proclaimed to Lance that I was "taking this kid home" to get this figured out and when I said "home" it involved a plane NOT a car.
* The Police Nationale bringing a patient into the adult side of emergency room and Ellie wandering over to "see the bad guys."
* So they brought Cole some dinner after we got settled in our room. Poached salmon, haricots verts, fancy chocolate pudding, but no milk. I asked the nurse for some cold milk, as opposed to the unrefridgerated milk everyone here drinks. And the nurse was so surprised, she said "Milk at night too?" Cole passed on much of the fancy french meal but drank 2 huge cups of cold milk!
And in the "Somebody was lookin' out for us" category:
* Elodie - our French nurse who is married to a British man! She served as our translator for everything from getting food and PJs for Cole, to paying our hospital bill. An added bonus was that she had two back to back shifts during our overnight stay - bummer for her, GREAT for us.
* Dr. Walenda - the awesome (and might I add cute) English speaking, German doctor who crossed every "t" and dotted every "i" with all the tests he ran on Cole and all the specialists he brought in to check. Lance kept wanting to ask when he was going to do his highwire act (sigh).
* Random French cartoons that happened to be on one of the 3 stations we got in our room. Ellie loved them and I learned some words too!
In the end, we left the hospital with no more information than we had when we started, refer back to "the French aren't really into diagnosing." We came home and called our doctor at Mass. General and within 5 minutes she asked if anyone had spoken to us about "Serum Sickness?" I said, "Maybe, how do you say that in french?"
So, alas, a DIAGNOSIS, from our US doctor!
1 comment:
Amy. Speechless here. Glad things are better. Cheers for the brownie.
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