The NHS - Part 2

Second experience: Jamie was sick last week, and we suspected a sinus or ear infection. I called to get him an appointment on Friday morning at 830am. The receptionist asked what I was experiencing and then told me that they had no appointments available that day so a doctor would call me back. Wait...what? A doc would call me? Sure enough, about 45 min later, a doc called, asked what I was experiencing with J, and then asked when I could bring him around, suggesting that if possible, the morning would be less busy than the afternoon, so we wouldn't have to wait as long then. 

We took a taxi up to the UHC about 45 min later. We waited for about 5 min, then were seen by the same doctor who had called me. She looked in J's ears and throat and checked his lungs, told me I was right that he had an ear infection, and gave me an Rx (that we then filled right near our house for free and in about 2 minutes). There were so many interesting aspects to this interaction.

1) No weight, temp, pulse, on and on were taken. She asked what we were experiencing (and believed us), observed J (probably pretty obvious when they are in major distress!), and now the NHS will not be charged for unnecessary tests, and most importantly, J wasn't subjected to them (especially the terrible experience of getting him undressed to weigh him when sick - brrr!).

2) In the states, so many people are so very obsessed with weight. From the moment a baby is born, every single time they are taken to the doctor's office, they are forced to undress, be weighed, and then the parents are informed where their child falls compared to others (the percentile they fall in).  This obsession seems to then follow the parents and child as they grow, slowly transforming into another adolescent worried about weight and with an unhealthy body image. Why do we do this? Can anyone point me to a study that shows that this sort of behavior is linked to healthier children and adults?

3) No nurse - direct interaction with the doctor only. She was very nice, BTW.

4) Did I mention that the doctor called me? And that she fit J into the appointment schedule 'on our schedule'? And then we only waited approx 5 min before we were seen?

5) While there, I asked the doc how they do well-baby visits. In the US, there is a set schedule of appointments, mainly so that parents get their babies vaccinated. She explained that there is no set schedule. When the babies are very young, someone visits the home to check on their environment and health (fancy that!). Then, as they get older, the parents can bring them into the UHC on a Wednesday during their baby clinic to get any needed vaccines (as well as coming in when needed for sickness), and then around 1yr old, someone calls the family to check up on things and discuss concerns. She then went on to say that they used to require 1 visit for a hearing test, but that they decided that the test results were wrong too often and that the parents would notice if the baby had a hearing problem and bring the baby in. As many of you know, Jamie failed his hearing test (and hears very well), so this statement struck a chord. Wouldn't it be amazing if our doctors and the govt trusted us to take care of our children? I understand that there is a small minority who might not get the care they need because of bad circumstances, but is there evidence that the system we use solves this problem? I am quite sure that it costs us all a lot of $$.. I was being called practically weekly before we left to bring J into the hospital for a much more involved hearing test that included sedation (!!), just because that is what the state mandates - how much do you think that costs? Should we set policies for everyone that are based on the minority of people? This topic is interesting to me, and I don't pretend to have the answers, but I definitely appreciate the NHS's perspective.

So, after all that, the take home is that I'm quite happy with the NHS so far. I'll keep you posted throughout the year! 

The NHS - part 1

We have now taken both the boys to the University Health Clinic (UHC), part of the National Health Service (NHS), and here are my impressions. First, Jubin took Watson in for ear wax buildup during August. We had tried to have this taken care of in Lansing before we left, but the nurse at the doc office tried to irrigate Watson's ear with hydrogen peroxide without first telling him or me what he was going to do. Reslt? Watson crying and no change in ear wax... bad Mom moment (should have asked for clarification obviously) and even worse/terribly unprofessional nurse moment. Anyway, the wax was affecting his hearing (how many times are you expected to patiently repeat yourself in response to "what?"?) so we decided to go to see a doc here in Belfast and test out the NHS for a non-emergency.

First, the doc said that irrigation was overkill and prescribed some ear drops. Then, J and W went down the street to a small, local pharmacy (that's what they have here) and waited about 3 minutes for the ear drops. Couple of weeks later, I can happily report that we were no longer tormented with "what?".  Note - no copay at either the UHC or the pharmacy, and it was about 5 days between when we called and when W had his not urgent appointment. Oh, and we are not paying anything to be part of the NHS. When we arrived, we went to the UHC and filled out a form, 1 for each of us, and turned that in with copies of our passport and visa. We each received a card in the mail 2-4 wks later, but we could be seen without the card. Voila.

Not bad! ;)

Our lovely hosts

When we started discussing where to spend Kendra's sabbatical year, we said that wanted an international experience but were concerned about the logistics of going somewhere where we didn't already have a personal connection. Immediately, Katherine Webster came to mind - Kendra has worked with her on her Landscape Limnology Research (LLRG) for over a decade. About five years ago, Kath moved to N Ireland, and she now splits her time between Belfast and Dublin, Ireland. Over the course of the following year of logistics, Kath and her husband, Bob Foy (limnologist who grew up in N Ireland) were invaluable in helping with logistics (e.g., connecting us each with a Queen's U host) and providing moral support and advice.

What would we do without Bob and Kath? I cannot even tell you HOW MANY times we have said that sentence since arriving on Aug 1. They helped us find our home, they furnished it with linens, dishes, wall hangings, toys, etc... (the place was "furnished with just the bare minimum in the way of furniture), they were our bank for 3 weeks until we could finally get our own local bank account, they have treated us like royalty when visiting their home, and the list goes on and on and on... Cheers to them! Seriously, amazing people.

The pix below were taken at their lovely home in the countryside about 35 min from Belfast. They have an amazing garden and are surrounded by small farms (hence the cattle and horse shots). Such beautiful views... I've put a map at the bottom showing about where they live as well (I certainly couldn't find my way there on my own!).

Map showing where Bob and Kath live in relation to our place

Some random things...

...I really like about Belfast:

• That we can walk, bike, or take a bus (sometimes double deckers!) most everywhere
• That we can order our groceries on the Internet and have them delivered for either free or practically free (less than cab fare, similar to bus fare)
• That Watson has a 'gang' of girls between the ages of 4 and 8 he plays with almost daily (seriously, 6 of them no more than 4 doors away from us). Question: where are all the boys? 
• That this country instituted a, controversial at the time, plastic bag tax (5p per bag, approx 8 cents) that resulted in everyone carrying around canvas bags everywhere
• That people use the word 'wee' rather than 'little' - it is just fun saying 'how's the wee one?'
• That I get to drink European cappuccino every day...mmmmm....and lots of yummy bread products (scones, soda farls, wheaten bread, etc...) - good thing I'm walking a lot!
• That there are all sorts of really, really small cars here, many of which have hitches and can pull trailers, are manual transmission, and get amazing mileage (hybrids or not) - and, some of them have great names!
• That within a month of moving here, we had already met and joined a group of amazing female runners 
• That dogs get to walk off leash with their owners many places here. Haven't yet heard of a bad dog encounter, either.
• That the NHS gives us free medical care, including prescriptions. Free.

...I'm not too fond of:

• Not being able to set a temperature for the heat - turning knobs on radiators to try to get the right temp is for the birds
• The furniture and carpet in our house - bleck
• No strip of grass between the sidewalk and road - man, it feels like the cars are close
• Having to go outside to put clothes in the dryer (but at least we have a dryer - am amazed at how many people do not, especially since it rains so often!)
• I cannot for the life of me seem to get the hang of the way the doors lock here...

Notice how the LIKE list is so much longer than the dislike? ;) 

Our home away from home

We feel pretty lucky to be living where we are... Here are some pix to show you all our neighborhood.

Our house on Sharman Road in the Stranmillis neighborhood of Belfast. Side note: there is a Sharman Road (us), Sharman Drive, Sharman Park, Sharman Circle, Sharman Lane, etc... all in our neighborhood - HOW confusing!). On the map below, this is the marker in the middle of all of the others. From top to bottom, the street next to our house where Watson plays "football" (soccer) and rides his bike with his friends, the back of our house and garage (we are the corner unit of the semi-detached), the front of our house, and the back yard (with our hammock).

Our house is super-close to miles of biking, hiking, running and wildlife viewing (click on the link to the Map below to see where these places are):

1) The Lagan River Tow Path - a paved trail along our side of the Lagan River that goes for miles. Called a tow path because back in the day, boats were towed down the river by cattle on the sides of the river.

2) Belvoir Forest (they pronounce this "Beaver" - not sure why!) - within the city, a forest with lots of trails and a golf course (Info about Belvoir Forest) - we run in there on the trails.

3) Lagan Meadows - within the city, a nature preserve with trails and a meadow that supports a herd of very cute cattle - see my Running with the Bulls post for more about this great place.

Neighborhood map

We are LOVING being in a city neighborhood with amenities close by. Here's a pic of our "Green grocer" that is a 2 minute walk from the house - they have all sorts of fruit and veg, as well as a nice selection of meat, dairy and bread products. We stop here a couple times a week when we need something. Also right next to the grocer is a pharmacy, hair salon, wine/beer/liquor store, and coming soon - a coffee shop! Seriously, we've got it all! Map above shows location of this little strip of stores, it is the marker near the traffic circle. We also have a neighborhood pub and restaurant - Cutter's Wharf (on map above, is the marker right on the river) has a pub on the ground floor and a nice restaurant on the 2nd floor. During nice weather, their patio on the River is lovely and they sometimes have music.

Finally, if we can't (or don't feel like) walk or bike to something, we have a bus stop in our nighborhood. Watson LOVES riding the bus, especially the double deckers! The bus system is called Metro Translink and our route is the 8A route - we can get between Jamie's childminder's house, our house, the University, and City Centre all on this bus. We have bus passes, and it averages out to about 1 pound/ride ($1.50). Here's a pic of our bus! On the map, the bus stop is at the intersection of Stranmillis Rd and our road (Sharman).

Running with the bulls!

Only in Belfast...
This morning, after dropping Jamie off with Avril (his childminder - that's what they call day care providers here), I went for a run. I ran from Avril's house through Stranmillis (Belfast neighborhood we live in), into Lagan Meadows, and then home (see map - open the link below, it'll open in a new window). All told, it was just a 25 min run, but it sure was beautiful. Lagan Meadows is a 120-acre nature preserve right in the city. It is super-hilly (coming from the flatlands especially!) and has great walking/running trails with scenic hilltop vistas at one end and the Lagan River at the other. It also is home to a small herd of cattle (18 total) - the middle of the reserve has a series of meadows that the cattle graze during the nicer weather months. Well today, I came around a corner and found myself running with the cattle! The farmers were moving them from one meadow to another for grazing (they do this weekly-ish) and they were being pushed along the running trail! These are massive creatures...I will say that I slowed to a walk and kept to the side. But, it was such a fun experience! There was even a really cute baby... Where else in the world can you run with cattle while within city limits? Probably there are plenty of other places out there like this, but I sure haven't experienced any of them!

Map

The Big Fish

The piece of art in the pic commemorates the return of salmon to the Lagan River that we live right near. Bob Foy (Kath's hubby) and his lab helped restore the River so they could be reintroduced. Unfortunately the salmon aren't doing too well for a variety of reasons including overfishing and inability to get over dams - Bob says that seals camp out near the dams and have a feast. Haven't seen that yet but hope to (the seals really, not necessarily the carnage)! The boys, Kath, and I walked from the farmer's market up to this installation in mid-August. It is actually titled "The Big Fish" and was done by John Kindness (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Fish).

Intro

The title of this blog suggests two things:
1) the whole family (Jubin, Kendra, Watson, and Jamieson) are living in Belfast, N. Ireland for a year during Kendra's sabbatical,
2) although some of our experiences really will be adventures in the true sense of the word, we are sure that the transition to a new place of work, school, day care, home, culture will also provide us with some trying times.
However, we are in this together and know that we will come out the better for it. So, here's for more adventure than not over the next year...and, lots of posts! ;)