Doctors, Pharmacies and Ear Infections

I knew it had to happen sooner than later. When Henry started getting cranky on Saturday I hoped it was because he missed his nap on our way to the temple. When he was cranky on Sunday I hoped it was because Ruby woke him up too early. By the time Monday rolled around and I spent most of the day holding him - including the 2 hours of nap time he spent crying- I knew we would be making our first visit to the doctor's office.

I held out most of the week hoping it was a virus, but with Pete heading out of town tomorrow and a lone weekend ahead of me I gave in. I was fortunate to discover that going to the pediatrician and pharmacy in Switzerland is a breath of fresh air compaired to most of the inconveniences we've experienced since moving here.

I arrived at the doctor's office ten minutes early expecting a stack of paperwork. As soon as I entered the office, I was ushered into a room and given a clipboard with a 5x7 piece of paper on it. The receptionist asked me to fill it out and told me the doctor would be right in. Yeah right! So I started filling out the "paperwork" which consisted of Henry's name and birthday, our address and telephone number, my name, Pete's name.....and that's about it. No medical history, no patient's bill of rights...nada.

To my surprise, while in the middle of filling out this "lengthy" form, the doctor came in and started checking out Henry. After a couple of minutes he confirmed my suspicion: ear infection. He asked me a couple of questions, weighed Henry to figure out the dosage, wrote me a prescription, and sent me happily on my way. Next stop the pharmacy.

Again, bracing myself for a 30 minute RiteAid style wait with cranky Henry and Ruby in tow, I pulled up to the pharmacy and unloaded. As soon as I walked in, a nice lady took my presciption and started filling it. I was in and out in about 5 minutes! I'd say the whole trip was less than an hour and a half, which is dang good considering I live 20 minutes away from the doctor's office.

Thankfully, Henry is now on the mend and I have found another (highly unexpected) perk of living in Switzerland.