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Medicine in Germany

I knew two things about Germany before we got here - food and medicine are supposed to be really good here.  Today's topic is medicine that we've encountered so far.  It has definitely been different than what we are used to.

Anton has had 3 bouts with bronchitis in 3 months and every time he had to use steroids to get rid of it.  The last time we went for a check up to make sure he was in the clear, the pediatrician said that we should use the steroid medicine until the "bad season" is over which is somewhere in March or April.  I questioned the use of a steroid as a preventative measure for 2.5 year old and she said that it wasn't a BAD steroid, so it was ok.  I came home, looked it up and didn't like what I saw - not a lot of research has been done on this particular medicine so far and it might cause some psychological, growth, and other issues.  And it's only being sold in Germany at this point.  I forwarded that info to some more medically informed people who said that they wouldn't give it to their kids either.  Thus, right now, Anton is drinking a syrup made from cut up onion and sugar and the best part - it's working!  Chris was rather skeptical but we had nothing to lose, Anton was starting to cough again and we decided to try the syrup and his cough improved.  Yeah for some random natural onion remedy!

Over the last couple of months some of us had to give blood and what's been great is that you don't have to go to a separate clinic to do that (no Quest Diagnostics or Health Corp).  All 3 times we had to do it, it was always done in the doctor's office.  What has been kind of weird is that not a single time did somebody use gloves.  Maybe my memory is getting foggy but I am pretty sure that every time you give blood in US, the person taking it wears gloves?!?

The last experience we had had to do with a medicine we got for Andrei and in the States that medicine would be considered "hard core" where he would have to come in back to the office to make sure it doesn't mess up his blood pressure or something like that.  Here - nope, said here it is, good luck!  It was kind of of weird but at the same time I guess we have to get used to just a different way the medicine works.

Oh yeah, one more thing that really SHOCKED us.  If our child skips his well-check appointment, we will get reported to Children Protection Services and will have to deal with them.  The checkups are similar to the ones we had back home - about once a year after the age of 2 so not a big deal to attend them but CPS for not taking a kid to a doctor???  And guess who gets to report us?  Health Insurance!  So far I got 2 reminders about Anton since his birthday is in June and yes, I already have a scheduled appointment for him.  Like I said above - some things are really different and we are trying to learn about them.

Pictures are from the park nearby because I know that no post is complete without pictures :)












Comments

dana said…
Love the pics of the boys in the swing together :)
Tristan said…
Wow, reported to CPS for skipping well checks? I would be in so much trouble! LOL. We're working on getting kids well checks done and for most of them it has been more than 2 years since they've been to the doctor for well checks. Samuel's last visit was when he was 2 months old (he's nearly 20 months now). The rest it has been at least 2 years each.
Maria Knorr said…
Tristan,

I am usually pretty good on taking my kids in but this will definitely make enforce that habit.
Marina said…
Мне очень понравились фотографии, и да, во время любых манипуляций с иголками и шприцами все обязаны одевать перчатки.Правило #1.

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