So, after waxing poetic on my last blog about how much I love, love, love the market, I didn’t even get to go last week! Poor me. Well, maybe ‘poor Maddox’ would be a more motherly sentiment. I do try to be motherly sometimes. As Mark mentioned, Maddox was sick. But, Mark went to the market because we did need some supplies. And Mark assured me when he got home that it was an extra small market, so I didn’t miss much. It was a rather miserable day and the “Mistral” wind was blowing. This tends to be a strong wind that blows down from the north. The local mythology is that the wind tends to blow in sets of 3 days – 3, 6, 9 days etc. I have heard this from locals and read it in a guide book. Who knows how true it is. Anyway, apparently the local vendors will choose to not show up if it seems too yucky. And cold and yucky it was.
Back to Maddox. It is true, he did have blood dribbling out of his ear at one point (see Mark’s previous post). And it was alarming, indeed. But, with the support of the internet (hooray for medical websites!) and email (hooray for a brother with medical training and the patience to deal with my emails!) I was able to calm myself about it. Yes, his eardrum probably had ruptured, but the good news was that the pain would probably be gone now and the eardrum would heal over time, with no long-term hearing deficit or the like. So, we soldiered on and did nothing about it. Except, of course, keeping him home from school and dosing him up with Vitamin I (Ibuprophen).
But, a few days later Maddox was clearly getting sicker rather than improving. He started spiking a fever again and was wheezing and coughing more. It seemed it was time to figure out how to navigate the medical system. And again, our friend Nathalie was a font of information. In a previous conversation she had rattled through when which doctor was available etc. But of course I hadn’t written it down and couldn’t remember it. Anyway, she seemed quite happy to verbally walk me through it again. So, with the information that a particular office would be open and that it would be OK to just walk in without an appointment, off we went. I do my darndest, like Mark, to avoid French phone conversations.
Before going I did a little homework and wrote myself some notes with important vocabulary (earache, eardrum, asthma, fever, vomiting and the like). I was surprised when we walked in that there was no receptionist or nurse to check in with. So Maddox and I took a seat near the other mother and child and figured we would just do what she did. Well, in a little bit the door to the examining room opened and another kid-and-mother pair came out (it turns out l’ecole maternelle was hit pretty hard by this virus), and the other pair went in. Having seen how it worked, we took up a position by the door to await our turn.
We went in to a large room that was both the physician’s office and the examining room. We started by sitting at her large desk. I introduced myself, and Maddox and explained that I did not speak in French very well. Mostly for my sake, so I could relax about it. Because, it is not like it wouldn’t be readily apparent to her in a minute! She listened quietly until she heard the bit about the blood in the ear. She looked a little alarmed at that and marched us over to the examining bed. After checking him out she told me that you-name it, it was infected – ears, lungs etc. She wrote out a prescription for a number or things including antibiotics & some steroid for his lung inflammation. I was surprised to find that at the end of our visit she printed me out a bill and I paid her directly (in cash – 25 euros, not bad). In North America I think most physicians would somehow find it beneath them, or abhorrent somehow to have to have a straight forward financial exchange at the end of a consult. At the end of the appointment I was relaxed enough to notice what the doctor was wearing. It was quite the get-up, and somehow very French. Black boots and tight jeans with complicated leather laces lacing up the sides. The French are nothing if not stylish - and rarely straight-laced! I have been a bit surprised at all the very sexy outfits that walk through the little village. And there I go, blithely marching around in my Merrells & fleece... I wonder what they think of me? It is probably best to not consider that too deeply.
All in all, the whole thing went incredibly well. Strangely enough that trip to the doctor turned out to be the highlight of my day. During dinner we have a little tradition of naming a highlight or two of each of our days. I was a little surprised to find myself choosing the trip to the doctor. It was a relief to have successfully navigated a foreign medical system. But more than that, I think I was a bit proud of myself for having been able to adequately handle la belle langue in the course of an important exchange.
By the way, after 3 days of antibiotics Maddox is literally zooooming around the house amid a constant stream of chatter, sound effects & song. He is clearly feeling much, much better.
Back to Maddox. It is true, he did have blood dribbling out of his ear at one point (see Mark’s previous post). And it was alarming, indeed. But, with the support of the internet (hooray for medical websites!) and email (hooray for a brother with medical training and the patience to deal with my emails!) I was able to calm myself about it. Yes, his eardrum probably had ruptured, but the good news was that the pain would probably be gone now and the eardrum would heal over time, with no long-term hearing deficit or the like. So, we soldiered on and did nothing about it. Except, of course, keeping him home from school and dosing him up with Vitamin I (Ibuprophen).
But, a few days later Maddox was clearly getting sicker rather than improving. He started spiking a fever again and was wheezing and coughing more. It seemed it was time to figure out how to navigate the medical system. And again, our friend Nathalie was a font of information. In a previous conversation she had rattled through when which doctor was available etc. But of course I hadn’t written it down and couldn’t remember it. Anyway, she seemed quite happy to verbally walk me through it again. So, with the information that a particular office would be open and that it would be OK to just walk in without an appointment, off we went. I do my darndest, like Mark, to avoid French phone conversations.
Before going I did a little homework and wrote myself some notes with important vocabulary (earache, eardrum, asthma, fever, vomiting and the like). I was surprised when we walked in that there was no receptionist or nurse to check in with. So Maddox and I took a seat near the other mother and child and figured we would just do what she did. Well, in a little bit the door to the examining room opened and another kid-and-mother pair came out (it turns out l’ecole maternelle was hit pretty hard by this virus), and the other pair went in. Having seen how it worked, we took up a position by the door to await our turn.
We went in to a large room that was both the physician’s office and the examining room. We started by sitting at her large desk. I introduced myself, and Maddox and explained that I did not speak in French very well. Mostly for my sake, so I could relax about it. Because, it is not like it wouldn’t be readily apparent to her in a minute! She listened quietly until she heard the bit about the blood in the ear. She looked a little alarmed at that and marched us over to the examining bed. After checking him out she told me that you-name it, it was infected – ears, lungs etc. She wrote out a prescription for a number or things including antibiotics & some steroid for his lung inflammation. I was surprised to find that at the end of our visit she printed me out a bill and I paid her directly (in cash – 25 euros, not bad). In North America I think most physicians would somehow find it beneath them, or abhorrent somehow to have to have a straight forward financial exchange at the end of a consult. At the end of the appointment I was relaxed enough to notice what the doctor was wearing. It was quite the get-up, and somehow very French. Black boots and tight jeans with complicated leather laces lacing up the sides. The French are nothing if not stylish - and rarely straight-laced! I have been a bit surprised at all the very sexy outfits that walk through the little village. And there I go, blithely marching around in my Merrells & fleece... I wonder what they think of me? It is probably best to not consider that too deeply.
All in all, the whole thing went incredibly well. Strangely enough that trip to the doctor turned out to be the highlight of my day. During dinner we have a little tradition of naming a highlight or two of each of our days. I was a little surprised to find myself choosing the trip to the doctor. It was a relief to have successfully navigated a foreign medical system. But more than that, I think I was a bit proud of myself for having been able to adequately handle la belle langue in the course of an important exchange.
By the way, after 3 days of antibiotics Maddox is literally zooooming around the house amid a constant stream of chatter, sound effects & song. He is clearly feeling much, much better.
J'aime le photo de Maddox. Il est tres mignon.
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