The first attempt at writing this got deleted off my computer (my
fault) so attempting one more time. Since last time I wrote
about Anton many things have happened.
Most importantly, today kindergarten staff is getting the
Epi-pen training. Since January Anton
was only allowed to attend kindergarten if the owner was present. It might not sound complicated until you
think about the fact that prior to all of this happening, I have never even
seen the owner and they own 2 other places.
That effectively means that owner is not always there. Most of the time, I have no problems keeping
Anton home if needed but a couple of times it has been a bit problematic when I have
had other plans.
Also, in the last month we have been to 3 new doctors dealing with his allergies. First was another pediatrician who explained
to us that insurance will only cover so many Epi-pens in one year and in
Germany they expire in 6 months, not in 1 year like they do in America. That’s why the doctors are a bit more conservative
in prescribing them. This pediatrician
also told us to call the company that makes the Epi-pens and they are supposed
to provide the training. Unfortunately,
when I called the company they referred me back to pediatrician.
Second doctor we saw was an allergist – the appointment was
really long but very important to have. We are now an established patient at
the clinic which might not seem like a big deal but yet it is because we can
now get appointments within reasonable amount of time as opposed to 6 months
later. Anton got tested for all the
regular stuff like grass, trees, etc. but he also got tested for horse
allergies. Yep, horse! When the nurse told me that I thought I
misunderstood her – who checks for horses!?!
At the end, the doctor gave me a website of the company that Epi-pen
training for kindergartens. She also
mentioned that kindergarten is not required to 1) either accept Anton at all;
2) provide him with first aid other than calling emergency number. This is a 3rd doctor to tell us that. We can call i discrimination or whatever we want but that's the rules in German kindergartens and we can try to work with kindergarten to solve it but we can't sue them or do any other "American things."
The last doctor we went to was kind of a waste of time but I
have learned that sometimes in Germany it’s important to follow through and
check mark every column, even if we think it's a waste of time. Allergist sent
us to a dietitian who pretty much told us to read labels and avoid nuts. Yep, super informative – thanks!
When I looked into the company, we realized that training
costs 300 euros. Kindergarten was not too enthusiastic about paying it so after many phone calls
to yet more doctors and health insurance, kindergarten and we decided to split
the cost evenly. Today is a very exciting day for us!!!
P.S. I applied to 4 new kindergartens for next school year :)
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