Do-it-yourself Healthcare

Let me tell you why you shouldn't be able to go to the pharmacy and get almost anything you want. Joe's virus led to an ear infection Monday. He was in so much pain, so he went to the pharmacy and asked for antibiotics. They didn't have penicillin in tablet form, so they gave him some little bottles with powder in them. He asked in as much Russian as he could if he should mix them with water. Sophia's antibiotic was a suspension like this that you mixed with water and then she drank it. When Joe came home I asked, "Are you sure those aren't injections?" They certainly did look like injection bottles, but why would they give a regular person injections?

He said that he had asked the pharmacist. So, he tore off the top, mixed the powder with water, and chugged it down. Not just once, mind you, but twice. The next day, he went to see our school doctor, just to double check. Um, yeah, he drank two injections of penicillin. The doctor looked at him in shock. She asked if anything abnormal had happened. Nope. I guess you can swallow an injection without too many ill-effects. The doctor gave him a different prescriptions to try. Joe, however, said maybe he should go back to drinking injections as it seemed to have more effect. Don't worry. I talked him out of that.

It's so hard here to know how to take medication and to trust the doctors. A friend of ours from work told us this story last night. She had to go to the doctor here for minor surgery. I think it was a benign tumor in her breast, or something like that. So, she was in the surgical room with her arm up in the air and they were cutting out whatever it was. Then, the next thing she knows, they bring in an older woman. They strip her down. (She's unconscious.) They proceed to operate on her right next to our friend. One of the nurses was holding a baby food jar. "Gerber?" our friend asked. The nurse just nodded yes and they both started laughing. Apparently, when you need tissue tested, you have to bring your own jar in order to transport it to the lab. Since they are not testing it for bacteria or anything, it doesn't matter what the container is. So there she was, having surgery in a shared room with a naked lady having her tissue placed in a Gerber jar. Go figure. I don't know if my reaction would have been as laid back as our friend's. You just never know around here. We were all shocked when she told this story. That didn't seem very sterile. Our friend remarked, "We were both sterile. The nurses were sterile. I guess it was okay." Hmmm....I still don't know about that.

I've spent the week at home being a stay-at-home mom since we had to let our nanny go on Monday. Without going into too much detail, she just wasn't competent to take care of Sophia. It was so hard because you give someone so much trust and then they let you down. It took all week and lots of drama, but we found someone who we think will do a much better job. She came on Friday and spent an hour and a half with Sophia and I. She has experience and seems very qualified. We were talking with one of student's parents yesterday about how hard it is to find a good nanny. It seems everyone has the same problem. One of the ladies we interviewed was talking about how other nannies she knew would put the baby to sleep and then go out to the store!! Yikes! I guess there are problems like this everywhere. It makes you not want to leave your child at home. Let's just hope it all works out.

I'm looking forward to rejoining the working world tomorrow. On one hand it's been nice setting my own schedule all week, but it's also been a little boring. There's something to be said for adult conversation. I really had a good time being with Sophia so much, though. Joe didn't mind having supper on the stove when he got home either. The good news is that our new nanny will cook for us too. That will be so nice when we get home late. We will be so spoiled.