Health care is a much bigger concern for us now than it had been the first time we took jobs internationally. We raved about Taiwan's health care, and while I wouldn't rave about Nepal's, we have found what we need to stay healthy, and in particular keeping Tegan healthy. We've had Tegan (now 16 months old) in for a few trips to the doctor in Kathmandu now, including a well-check, routine childhood immunizations, an emergency visit after a fall and a "she seems sick and we're new parents so we'll take her just to make sure" visit. Jeremiah and I have also been for regular vaccinations. As I mentioned in my dentist post, CIWEC is the clinic in town that we and many other expats go to. We've gone with appointments and without and have always been seen very quickly. Right now there are two doctors that we've preferred, Dr. Will and a woman expat who I have forgotten her name. Both were wonderful with Tegan, though both are GPs I believe. For her well-check we saw the pediatrician Dr. Kishore who was also friendly and gave us good information to think about for vaccinations. The clinic is clean and everyone takes the utmost care with keeping things sterile. Overall we've been quite happy with it all.
Showing posts with label doctor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label doctor. Show all posts
Monday, February 25, 2013
Thursday, November 8, 2012
One of my biggest fears
The dentist. Just thinking about it makes my heart race. I know I'm not alone here, you all are cringing now too, right?
In America we did a pretty good job of going in and getting cleanings. When we moved to Taiwan the dental care just wasn't the same so we put it off a good while. Right before leaving we both had a cleaning and I needed a few fillings. Great. So, I sat down to have it done. Everything was going just peachy (which in retrospect I should have been suspicious of) when all of a sudden every nerve in my mouth radiated out in fire and I was ready to jump out of the chair and cling to the ceiling. She had drilled with no novocaine. "Just 5 more seconds" she said as every muscle in my body is tight and hands gripped the seat. 2nd longest 5 seconds of my life. (The 1st longest? "Just push 5 more seconds" about 6 months prior as Tegan was being born). As soon as her hands were out of my mouth I, politely, informed her that in America we don't drill without anesthetic.
None of it was good. Except the price I guess, it was quite cheap, though considering the next paragraph and its $300 price tag I negate this positive point.
Fast forward to a week ago. I was eating lunch and realized the corner of a back molar was missing. Same area as the filling I'd gotten in Taiwan. I asked around, got the name of a dentist (Dr. Pollard at CIWEC) and made an appointment. I dreaded going. A dentist I didn't know, in Kathmandu no less, and a bit ol' chunk of my tooth gone. Long appointment short, he was empathetic to my Taiwan story and gave me plenty of anesthetic to get through the work, fixed the bad filling job, and made some recommendations for future work. He even made small talk and had nice little stories to keep me entertained and calm.
While not all of it was good, it was as good as it could be.
I'm giving myself a little reprieve before I think about the next steps in dental work. I think I've deserved it. In the meantime, my toothbrush is my new best friend!
In America we did a pretty good job of going in and getting cleanings. When we moved to Taiwan the dental care just wasn't the same so we put it off a good while. Right before leaving we both had a cleaning and I needed a few fillings. Great. So, I sat down to have it done. Everything was going just peachy (which in retrospect I should have been suspicious of) when all of a sudden every nerve in my mouth radiated out in fire and I was ready to jump out of the chair and cling to the ceiling. She had drilled with no novocaine. "Just 5 more seconds" she said as every muscle in my body is tight and hands gripped the seat. 2nd longest 5 seconds of my life. (The 1st longest? "Just push 5 more seconds" about 6 months prior as Tegan was being born). As soon as her hands were out of my mouth I, politely, informed her that in America we don't drill without anesthetic.
None of it was good. Except the price I guess, it was quite cheap, though considering the next paragraph and its $300 price tag I negate this positive point.
Fast forward to a week ago. I was eating lunch and realized the corner of a back molar was missing. Same area as the filling I'd gotten in Taiwan. I asked around, got the name of a dentist (Dr. Pollard at CIWEC) and made an appointment. I dreaded going. A dentist I didn't know, in Kathmandu no less, and a bit ol' chunk of my tooth gone. Long appointment short, he was empathetic to my Taiwan story and gave me plenty of anesthetic to get through the work, fixed the bad filling job, and made some recommendations for future work. He even made small talk and had nice little stories to keep me entertained and calm.
While not all of it was good, it was as good as it could be.
I'm giving myself a little reprieve before I think about the next steps in dental work. I think I've deserved it. In the meantime, my toothbrush is my new best friend!
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Top 10 Taiwan posts
According to google analytics, these are our top posts about Taiwan over the last 3 years:
Rainbow Village
Leofoo Village Theme Park
Simply adorable (oh my how she has grown since this picture!)
Guava
Sun Moon Lake
Guo Nian
House of Unique Stink (I can still taste it...)
Having a baby in Taiwan
Modern Toilet
Musings (this one was fun for me to re-read since it was from the very beginning)
Rainbow Village
Leofoo Village Theme Park
Simply adorable (oh my how she has grown since this picture!)
Guava
Sun Moon Lake
Guo Nian
House of Unique Stink (I can still taste it...)
Having a baby in Taiwan
Modern Toilet
Musings (this one was fun for me to re-read since it was from the very beginning)
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Things I will miss
As we have spent our final days in Taiwan saying goodbyes, packing up and finalizing all sorts of odds and ends, I find myself sadly thinking "this is the last time I will ___ in Taiwan". Here is a list of the things I will miss about living in Taiwan:
- Taiwanese breakfast - dan bing especially
- The people at the restaurants/shops we frequent - they know us, they know our orders, they greet us with great big smiles. Sure I can order my tea in broken chinese (yībēi lǜchá bàn táng) but when I see our tea guy I just say "one" and he knows what I want, or if I say "two" he knows I want my order and Jeremiah's (oolong, not green, tea). And I have no doubt if we went down there right now, Allen at Thai Yun would feel safe betting $100 that we would order the Yunan style tofu.
- Tea: green and bubble tea - zhēnzhū nǎichá
- Geckos living in my office
- Mango, dragon fruit, guava, passion fruit
- Lo bao gao
- Taiwanese people in general - we've been continually amazed at the generosity and helpfulness of complete strangers.
- Cheap and easy health care
- Day and night markets - the food, the fashion, the bargains
- Scooters - we've been without our scooter for about a month now and Jeremiah especially has missed it. Pre-Tegan the scooter was the fastest and easiest way to get places, and to park!
- And of course all our friends we have made during the last 3 years - we will miss them most of all.
With such a long list there is really only one thing to do - come back and visit!
Friday, June 1, 2012
Preparations under way
We're catching up on our vaccinations and health records for our move to Nepal - last weekend we proved we don't have TB after a skin test and chest x-ray. We also had blood tests and got our teeth cleaned.
We've sold our car and furniture and have started packing up the few belongings we will keep. In less than 2 weeks we will be on the plane heading back to the US for the summer; it is bittersweet - we are both very excited about going home and then to start our new jobs, but sad to be leaving our home for the last 3 years.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Having a baby in Taiwan
In the last year we've learned a lot about having a baby in Taiwan, heck, we've learned a lot about having a baby in general! We went the doctor/hospital route, so I don't know anything about other forms of prenatal care and birthing. I'll outline what we learned... if anyone has questions feel free to contact me.
Medical
When we decided to have a baby here we didn't know where to go at first. A representative from Kuang Tien had come to our school and explained their international program for foreigners - translators and specialized services offered. Translators in particular caught our attention - if we were going to have a baby we wanted to make sure the doctor and we were communicating clearly (not always the case when you go to the doctor here, though most do speak medical english). The hospital was a bit of a drive away from us, so we decided to try it and see if it was worth the drive - it was. There are, however, lots of hospitals and clinics available.
I called the international phone number at Kuang Tien and asked for an appointment with an obgyn. The man who answered the phone didn't know what an obgyn was: maybe not the best translator, but once I told him the point - we wanted a baby - he figured it out. I told them the times I could come in and he recommended a doctor for me who had clinic hours at the times I could come in - turns out he picked a great doctor for us, Dr. Su Chi Feng (we'll always be grateful for that choice).
Once I was pregnant we went in for doctor visits on the same schedule as one would go in the states. I got an ultrasound every visit so we got to see our baby a lot. At first we had a translator that went with us to each visit but our doctor's english was great so we didn't need the translator. Almost all visits and treatments were covered under the national health insurance NHI. We paid about $3US a visit, and out of pocket for a few extra optional tests (maybe $30US? - not much). I wrote more about a typical prenatal doctor visit in my last post.
We flew back to the states around 20 weeks and back to Taiwan around 28 weeks - we got a letter from the doctor in english and chinese saying I was safe to fly during that time but had no problems with the airlines. We also got copies of medical records to take back with me in case something happened while I was home.
When it came time to have the baby we requested private rooms. At our hospital women labor in a common room with curtains and then are moved into a delivery room. We preferred our own room - we paid extra for this and are glad we did. We also paid extra for a big private recovery room and again were happy with this choice.
I had asked our doctor earlier who would deliver our baby if he wasn't available - he laughed and said it was his job so our course it would be him, and it was. I'm not sure if this is always the case or if we were a special circumstance.
It was important that though labor, delivery and recovery we advocated for what we wanted and how we wanted things to go. We noticed people got stuck on doing things a certain way simply because that's how its been done before and some of what we expected was different from what the nurses and doctors were used to - anything from bigger medical decisions to simple baby care - and we had to request for things to go a certain way (I'm sure everyone breathed a sigh of relief when we were finally discharged :).
Typical hospital stays after birth are 3 days or 5 for c-section. We had our baby room in with us and nurses and doctors were always coming and going. Often when only 1 nurse was required 2 or 3 would come so they could pool their english knowledge. Doctors would come and translate forms for us, and once even a young ENT resident came to translate for us. There was a place for Jeremiah to sleep and he only went to work the last 2 days (much to the nurses dismay - who would take care of me??? um.... them!). Breastfeeding was supported and encouraged.
Insurance
We have National Health Insurance - NHI. It covered almost all my prenatal visits, though when I went over the standard amount of covered visits our cost was still only about $9US each visit. Health insurance for the baby is covered under mom the first 2 months (this is the same for Taiwanese moms/babies too). However, foreigner babies have to be in Taiwan for 4 months before they can get NHI. This leaves a gap of at least 2 months (we're having a hard time determining if it is 4 months from birth or 4 months from the time they get their ARC). We looked into private insurance to cover the few months in case something went wrong but this proved difficult. We will pay out of pocket for health care until NHI kicks in for her. The out of pocket cost of the birth for us was under $100US and we had the added expense of the private rooms we requested, though this still was so cheap compared to home.
Clothes/Supplies/Stuff
I bought maternity clothes from home. Sizes and styles here didn't really suit me. I also bought my prenatal vitamins from home though I did see them available at our local pharmacy (not sure of the quality or what is in them though) and a friend bought some at costco here.
As it got closer I packed my hospital bag with recommendations from folks in the states. Some supplies needed were not provided by the hospital but we could purchase there so we did that.
We bought a Chicco carseat at SOGO. We mostly see moms here holding their babies in the car (I was told a law is changing this) and a few people laughed at us when they saw we had it in the car early in case I went into labor. We bought most of her clothes from the states - baby clothes here can be expensive or just not what we are used to. We also brought basic medicines from home as well as cloth diapers. There are many baby stores in Taichung that are well stocked with just about everything you could want - some familiar brands and many Taiwanese brands. Our nursery is furnished from Ikea.
Legal
Soon after birth we went to AIT for her passport, SSN and consular birth certificate - their website is very helpful in figuring out all you need and though you can't call to ask questions they are very quick in responding to emails. what the website doesn't say is you may have to prove that you lived in the states for a period of time (even if both parents are US citizens) and I was told college transcripts is the easiest way to do that, though they didn't actually ask to see ours when we went. Passport came in the mail in a few weeks, SSN a few weeks after that. Our employer applied for her ARC (we were told this must be done within 30 days of birth). The hardest thing about all of this was getting a suitable passport photo of a newborn - we took about 100 pictures to get one of her that met standards.
Other miscellaneous cultural things
-I think our baby will never be dressed warm enough for the moms and grandmas we meet.
-I was asked many times who would take care of my baby after she was born - typically the month after birth is a time for the mom to recover and she has help taking care of the baby, sometimes even staying at a special clinic. It appeased some when I told them my mom would come visit for awhile.
-No one ever came up to me and touched my belly as often happens in the states but many people were curious and had questions
-Warm water is always better than cold (as is the case also when you are sick) though I stuck to my ice water and cold drinks
-Special foods are given to mom to help her recover from birth - soup is key.
-People laughed when they saw all the baby furniture we had and our nursery set up.
-We get a lot of advice from people when we go out with the baby
I admit I was nervous at first about having a baby abroad but as soon as I met my doctor and got some information I felt very comfortable and we are so happy with the way everything turned out.
*Edit: we also found this forum helpful: Parent Pages
Medical
When we decided to have a baby here we didn't know where to go at first. A representative from Kuang Tien had come to our school and explained their international program for foreigners - translators and specialized services offered. Translators in particular caught our attention - if we were going to have a baby we wanted to make sure the doctor and we were communicating clearly (not always the case when you go to the doctor here, though most do speak medical english). The hospital was a bit of a drive away from us, so we decided to try it and see if it was worth the drive - it was. There are, however, lots of hospitals and clinics available.
I called the international phone number at Kuang Tien and asked for an appointment with an obgyn. The man who answered the phone didn't know what an obgyn was: maybe not the best translator, but once I told him the point - we wanted a baby - he figured it out. I told them the times I could come in and he recommended a doctor for me who had clinic hours at the times I could come in - turns out he picked a great doctor for us, Dr. Su Chi Feng (we'll always be grateful for that choice).
Once I was pregnant we went in for doctor visits on the same schedule as one would go in the states. I got an ultrasound every visit so we got to see our baby a lot. At first we had a translator that went with us to each visit but our doctor's english was great so we didn't need the translator. Almost all visits and treatments were covered under the national health insurance NHI. We paid about $3US a visit, and out of pocket for a few extra optional tests (maybe $30US? - not much). I wrote more about a typical prenatal doctor visit in my last post.
We flew back to the states around 20 weeks and back to Taiwan around 28 weeks - we got a letter from the doctor in english and chinese saying I was safe to fly during that time but had no problems with the airlines. We also got copies of medical records to take back with me in case something happened while I was home.
When it came time to have the baby we requested private rooms. At our hospital women labor in a common room with curtains and then are moved into a delivery room. We preferred our own room - we paid extra for this and are glad we did. We also paid extra for a big private recovery room and again were happy with this choice.
I had asked our doctor earlier who would deliver our baby if he wasn't available - he laughed and said it was his job so our course it would be him, and it was. I'm not sure if this is always the case or if we were a special circumstance.
It was important that though labor, delivery and recovery we advocated for what we wanted and how we wanted things to go. We noticed people got stuck on doing things a certain way simply because that's how its been done before and some of what we expected was different from what the nurses and doctors were used to - anything from bigger medical decisions to simple baby care - and we had to request for things to go a certain way (I'm sure everyone breathed a sigh of relief when we were finally discharged :).
Typical hospital stays after birth are 3 days or 5 for c-section. We had our baby room in with us and nurses and doctors were always coming and going. Often when only 1 nurse was required 2 or 3 would come so they could pool their english knowledge. Doctors would come and translate forms for us, and once even a young ENT resident came to translate for us. There was a place for Jeremiah to sleep and he only went to work the last 2 days (much to the nurses dismay - who would take care of me??? um.... them!). Breastfeeding was supported and encouraged.
Insurance
We have National Health Insurance - NHI. It covered almost all my prenatal visits, though when I went over the standard amount of covered visits our cost was still only about $9US each visit. Health insurance for the baby is covered under mom the first 2 months (this is the same for Taiwanese moms/babies too). However, foreigner babies have to be in Taiwan for 4 months before they can get NHI. This leaves a gap of at least 2 months (we're having a hard time determining if it is 4 months from birth or 4 months from the time they get their ARC). We looked into private insurance to cover the few months in case something went wrong but this proved difficult. We will pay out of pocket for health care until NHI kicks in for her. The out of pocket cost of the birth for us was under $100US and we had the added expense of the private rooms we requested, though this still was so cheap compared to home.
Clothes/Supplies/Stuff
I bought maternity clothes from home. Sizes and styles here didn't really suit me. I also bought my prenatal vitamins from home though I did see them available at our local pharmacy (not sure of the quality or what is in them though) and a friend bought some at costco here.
As it got closer I packed my hospital bag with recommendations from folks in the states. Some supplies needed were not provided by the hospital but we could purchase there so we did that.
We bought a Chicco carseat at SOGO. We mostly see moms here holding their babies in the car (I was told a law is changing this) and a few people laughed at us when they saw we had it in the car early in case I went into labor. We bought most of her clothes from the states - baby clothes here can be expensive or just not what we are used to. We also brought basic medicines from home as well as cloth diapers. There are many baby stores in Taichung that are well stocked with just about everything you could want - some familiar brands and many Taiwanese brands. Our nursery is furnished from Ikea.
Legal
Soon after birth we went to AIT for her passport, SSN and consular birth certificate - their website is very helpful in figuring out all you need and though you can't call to ask questions they are very quick in responding to emails. what the website doesn't say is you may have to prove that you lived in the states for a period of time (even if both parents are US citizens) and I was told college transcripts is the easiest way to do that, though they didn't actually ask to see ours when we went. Passport came in the mail in a few weeks, SSN a few weeks after that. Our employer applied for her ARC (we were told this must be done within 30 days of birth). The hardest thing about all of this was getting a suitable passport photo of a newborn - we took about 100 pictures to get one of her that met standards.
Other miscellaneous cultural things
-I think our baby will never be dressed warm enough for the moms and grandmas we meet.
-I was asked many times who would take care of my baby after she was born - typically the month after birth is a time for the mom to recover and she has help taking care of the baby, sometimes even staying at a special clinic. It appeased some when I told them my mom would come visit for awhile.
-No one ever came up to me and touched my belly as often happens in the states but many people were curious and had questions
-Warm water is always better than cold (as is the case also when you are sick) though I stuck to my ice water and cold drinks
-Special foods are given to mom to help her recover from birth - soup is key.
-People laughed when they saw all the baby furniture we had and our nursery set up.
-We get a lot of advice from people when we go out with the baby
I admit I was nervous at first about having a baby abroad but as soon as I met my doctor and got some information I felt very comfortable and we are so happy with the way everything turned out.
*Edit: we also found this forum helpful: Parent Pages
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Prenatal care in Taiwan - visiting the doctor
Since I have gotten many questions about what our health care is like I thought I'd share a typical prenatal appointment experience. I also posted this awhile ago on our other blog.
In the doctor's office I had an ultrasound (I have one every visit). He measured Baby O's head size, femur bone and abdomen to help determine due date (still around October 22nd). He measured the heart rate (normal) and checked for any problems (none). Finally, we discussed that she is breech and what that may mean down the road. For now, however, she has plenty of room to turn around.
After the ultrasound we went to the computer where he noted information in my file. He explained the blood test that I was to get next and sent us on our way with a nurse to get my blood test, and for Jeremiah to get his blood type determined since we didn't know it.
The nurse took us to the blood drawing area and we took a number. After about 10 people it was our turn and the nurse translated for us when needed. The nurse took us back to the obstetrics waiting area while they processed Jeremiah's blood type. 30 minutes later they called us in and told us I would need to get a shot today and one after I give birth. The nurse walked us to the pharmacy to pick up the injection (she waited in line for me to get it) and then took us to the injection room. We took a number and waited our turn. This was the craziest part of the day - I was called into a good sized room that was filled with people. One man was sitting in a chair getting bandages on what looked like road burn on his back and arms. There were 5 beds with people in them getting various treatments - a young boy getting an IV, someone getting a burn bandaged, an old man getting blood and a few others. Everyone out in the open. I was showed to a bed and while everyone else was out in the open getting more intense procedures than I was, the nurse closed the curtain around us, then gave me the shot in my arm and we were sent on our way home.
We paid about $3US and it included everything. The interactions with the doctor were all in english and the nurse who took us around translated for us when the other nurses didn't speak english. A productive and satisfactory visit. We have found that with the right doctor, who understands there are some cultural differences in medical practices between America and Taiwan, and is flexible around those differences, everything can go very smoothly. We are very fortunate to have such doctors.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Home sweet home?
First things first, Happy New Year all! We are back in Taiwan (home? seems I call both Taiwan and Oregon home now) and already looking forward to our next break - Chinese New Year. We had a wonderful trip back to Oregon, though there was not nearly enough time for all the people we wanted to see, the things we wanted to do, or the food we wanted to eat (we did get a chance try out this very cool new restaurant in portland called Slappy Cakes. With built-in griddles in the tables, you cook your pancakes yourself. Lots of fun - I recommend you try it if you are in the area). Highlights included lots of family time, snow, homemade cinnamon rolls and vegan cheesecake and of course the general perks of being on vacation - no work, sleeping in, no work, etc.
And on to other news: I wanted to share with you my recent Taiwan doctor experiences. In the last month I've gone to 2 different doctors; nothing serious, just check-ups. Going to the doctor always fills me with a general feeling of dread. Waiting, paying, dealing with insurance, more waiting, forms, trying to get an appointment after work... ug. Compounded with language, not knowing where to go and cultural differences suffice it to say I wasn't any more excited to go to the doctor here than I am in the states. But I sucked it up and went (with Jeremiah by my side as moral support), and am happy to report both experiences were fabulous. I walked in with no appointment, handed over my alien resident card (ARC), my national health card and $150NT (about $5 US) and not more than 5 minutes later I was talking to the doctor - in english no less. They put my health card into a scanner and recorded my information on the chip in the card. At the end, they handed me back my health card, gave me some medicine (no charge) and sent me on my way. Great system.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)