Our First Trip to the Hospital

This past weekend we were watching Annabelle pretty closely as we thought she was coming down with a cold.  She had been a little hoarse, had a runny nose and was getting a pretty nasty cough.  We didn't want to rush her into the doctor over a cold, but also didn't want it to turn into something more severe, as our little girl has had a history of pneumonia in the past.

Needless to say we thought she was doing much better on Sunday and decided to forego the doctor.  Well we woke up Monday morning to her face covered in blood.  Thankfully Andy was still at home with us, as he was leaving for Poland, so had the honors of getting her out of bed to discover what looked like a crime scene.  The poor baby had blood all over her, all over our bed and all over her crib. Her nose was just gushing blood and snot.  She had been up coughing pretty hard in the early morning and obviously had splattered blood everywhere.  Sick I know.  

So, we took Andy to the airport and Annabelle and I braved the hospital.  I had no clue where I was going, but knew she needed to be seen.  My first interaction was with a gentleman who spoke "very little English" he told me, but asked if I had an appointment and asked if I had to be seen today. "Is it urgent" he said with his Portuguese accent as I was standing there with Annabelle's nose dripping blood. I was like, "Yes I need to be seen...and no I don't have an appointment Captain Obvious. Tell me what to do.  My child is sick."

The process was actually very smooth and they were very accommodating.  We got seen fairly quickly, probably the quickest experience we've had over here, and saw a doctor who spoke good English.  He was floored that she had tubes and said that they would never insert tubes into a 2 year old, let alone a 1 year old, which is when AB got her tubes.  (Thank god for US practices because those tubes have made the world of difference).  He diagnosed her with a nasty virus and put her on 3 antibiotics to help clear up all the swelling, irritation and bacteria that was taking place in her body.  

Thankfully we had visited a pharmacy earlier in the weekend in investigation if we could have our US doctor call in a script if we ever needed, so knew where to go with the prescriptions.  Their healthcare system is very different than ours, starting with both the hospital and pharmacy did not accept insurance.  The pharmacy did not need a written script.  They could just have the doctor call it in, or email, no proof or signature needed.  Their quantities are not regulated by doses, so if you have a script for some pills that come in packs of 25, but only need 15, they will still give you the 25.

It was a learning experience for sure, but so thankful that she was seen and is on the road to recovery.  Fingers crossed we don't have to visit there again and this nasty virus clears up soon!