Another Hurdle Surmounted

Choose a doctor from the eight in our village listed in the phone book - CHECK

Make an appointment - CHECK

Same day, find out that a neighborhood mom who has children in both of my kids' classes (and whose daughter also is also affected by asthma), with whom we carpool once a week, is herself a family practitioner in the next town over, and hear from her that the doctor we picked is okay - CHECK

Wait two days - CHECK

Venture out on a cloudy, cool, drippy afternoon and find a parking spot - CHECK

Enter the doctor's office to find no receptionist, no staff visible, no check-in process, no sign-in sheet, no request for an insurance card or copayment, no new patient forms to fill out, just an echoing waiting room with a tall ceiling, and spiral stairs straight ahead leading up from a hallway - CHECK

Verify with the other two patients present that one is just supposed to sit down and wait, and take a seat (orange plastic for me, pink for Emily) - CHECK

Wait 40 minutes, whilst a couple exits with their baby, and another newborn cries upstairs like it's being tortured (Emily asked, in what she thought was humor, if they were killing it), and six other hopeful clients enter and settle - CHECK

Remember carefully who was there before us, and when it's our turn, so we can leap up and claim our spot at the right time when the lady comes down the stairs to greet us - CHECK

Discover to our surprise that the "lady" who goes up and down the stairs with each patient is, in fact, the "the doctor," and all by herself in the office, with no nurse, no helper, and no administrative person, privately raise eyebrows in surprise - CHECK

Find that she is young and blond, despite an arabic-sounding last name, and is very pleasant, despite the sign in the waiting room that tells patients not to be surprised if the doctor is angry due to the poor pay and hours and lack of benefits for physicians here in France - CHECK

Explain reason for visit, translate names of vaccinations received on immunization record - CHECK

Show American medicines, be relieved that doctor recognizes one of them immediately and confirms they have it here too, and that she has a computer on which to track down the equivalent of the second one - CHECK

Encourage Emily to cooperate happily with weight, height, and stethoscope procedures - CHECK

Cheerfully hand over twenty euros ($24) straight to the doctor (weird to hand currency straight to the physician's hand; a new experience), this being the extent of what we are charged for the whole visit, without involving any insurance companies - CHECK

Take prescription to pharmacy; be surprised that a bottle of prescription cough medicine costs less than two euros ($2.40), and a canister of emergency asthma medicine only about 5 euros ($6), while a month of preventative asthma pills (Singulair) cost 41 euros ($49); vaguely wonder whether we will see any of this money again from either the French government (if we figure out how and where to submit the forms) or our U.S. health insurance company (a nebulous affair at the moment) and how long it would take to get to us - CHECK

Be surprised in retrospect that the doctor never asked for our address, our phone number, any health history (other than to inquire after any allergies); that we didn't have to sign anything or write anything down; that the doctor didn't wash her hands between patients that I noticed, yet shook all their hands upon greeting and saying goodbye; and that our three prescription medications received were not labelled with anyone's name or dosage information - CHECK

Be thrilled that I've conquered this feat, the first French doctor's visit and first prescription pick-up - CHECK

Bibliography:
Blogger Ezra Klein here explains the French health care system. For example, he says, "France has a basic system of public health insurance that, as of January 2000, covers everybody in the nation. [...] The public system covers around 75% of total costs. [...] French physicians only make US $55,000, about 1/3rd what their American counterparts pull in."

New French Medical Vocabulary for me:
ordonnance = prescription
And, of a bit of concern, I saw signs in the waiting room talking about sophrologie and mesothérapie. Wikipedia says "Sophrologie was created by Alfonso Caycedo in the 1960s. It is a psycho-science that studies the human consciousness.The Study of the Consciousness' Harmony." Hmmmm. Sounds very suspicious to me. Furthermore, wiki says mesotherapy is a technique using microinjections to reduce or remove lipids, originating in France (chemical fat reduction process). I am extremely dubious about both. I think I'll go have a bowl of ice cream and watch a romantic movie with my husband so our consciousnesses can be in harmony.