Doctor, Doctor

One of the things I hate most, perhaps the thing I hate THE most, is when we have to go to the doctor.

Chinese modern medicine is about the level of the 50's in the States. Which means, antibiotics for everything (even viral), IV's whenever possible, and no gloves when they take blood...

Even when I do go, I find I always second guess them, often choosing not to use the medicine they prescribe (not appropriate for babies, doesn't work on viruses, ect).

Luckily, we have an International Clinic which hosts two American doctors, a western taught Cantonese doctor, and a semi western trained Chinese pediatrician. The two American doctors I LOVE (but only work a few half days), the Cantonese doctor is pretty good, and the Chinese pediatrician...well, the verdict is still out, but she tends to be more traditional (over prescribing) than I would like. She's also a little hard to communicate with since English is her second language.

So when Lizbeth woke up from a nap with an out of the blue 104.4 fever on Tuesday afternoon, I didn't know what to do. The two American doctors only have morning hours, and couldn't it just be viral? We decided to wait it out.

Our friend, an RN, gave us suggestions for things to look out for and ways to keep her fever down, but by Thursday, it was still raging (101 half hour after Iburprofen or Tylenol were given and 103-104 three hours later). I decided to go ahead and take her in, though the only available doctor was the pediatrician. I was happy with her though, she ran a blood test to determine it was bacterial before prescribing antibiotics and overall was very helpful.

But when Lizbeth deteriorated the next day (still raging fevers, clingy, and a terrible cough), I was really hoping to get in to see the American doctor in office. If nothing else, just to get answers to my questions. What kind of bacterial infection? How long before she should show improvement? What do I do about her not eating or drinking? No luck, he was booked solid.

And when the Chinese doctor diagnosed pneumonia and immediate admittance to the hospital, how do we know what is best? On the one hand, we completely do not trust this hospital. What if she got something worse while there? In the past year, there have been so many problems of mistreatment with our friends, we knew we REALLY didn't want to do that. Not to mention hooking my very active and hates to be held daughter up to an IV would no doubt be traumatizing. On the other hand, what if it is really needed? Wouldn't I hate myself forever if something worse happened and we chose not to?

After consulting with our friend the nurse again (who also has had extensive experience with this hospital) we decided not to admit. The X-ray showed only slight pneumonia, her blood tests were actually showing improvement, and we only live 3 blocks away if we have to return. Two hours later, with a limp and miserable toddler fitfully sleeping on my lap, I was questioning my decision.

PTL, just a couple hours after that, her fever miraculously broke, she woke up, wanted to eat and drink for the first time that day, and got down to play. Her fever has been gone since then and she seems to be improving! We're still monitoring her closely (we slept in her room on the futon last night), but praying that in this case, we are able to avoid the hospital.

What's most frustrating about this, is the decisions we have to make with a very limited medicine background (and by that, I mean none). If we were in the states and they wanted to admit, almost without fail I would trust them. If nothing else, it's common practice to ask for a second opinion if we really questioned them. Here I'm trying to balance cultural tolerance (not offending the attending doctor), with common sense and my own medical values. The thought has actually occurred to me to carry rubber gloves with me to request them to use before drawing my daughter's blood. Can you imagine what they would think? On the other hand, I'm risking my daughter's health here, with possible lifelong consequences.

Like I said, my least favorite part of living abroad.