A Newcomer's Experience with the NHS

Let's be honest. I was a bit afraid of the National Healthcare System (NHS) here when we first arrived. I didn't even formally register with a clinic until November.  I know, bad mom. And you're right if you are thinking that I probably only registered because one of my kids was sick. True. I handed in the paperwork to the clinic and the same day got an appointment for K1. He'd been coughing for a couple weeks and I wanted to get him checked out. That was just before our Thanksgiving trip to Bruges. It is only four weeks later, and I've been back twice. All three times I have been able to get an appointment for one or both kids (and even Dave) the same day I call and everything is FREE. No co-pay, no questionnaire, no photocopy of an insurance card.

Sure, there are trade-offs. You can take a look at the office yourself. 

This is where you stare at the tiny LED screen and wait for your name to scroll across.

This is where you check in and make appointments. 

No bells and whistles. No kids corner with books and games. No comfy chairs or inspirational posters on the wall. Just rows of chairs facing a wall where updates scroll on the LED message board. The first time I came, I didn't know that this is where I'd find our name when it was our turn for an appointment. I panicked that I'd missed our name. No one will call your name out or come find you if your name scrolls by and you don't show up. You hear a quick BEEP and see this "K1 S ... Dr. Lawn... Room 11." 

Then you walk to the doctor's office/room yourself. Knock. And enter. No nurse to check things at the beginning. No waiting more inside after waiting on the outside. You are face to face with the doctor or NP. 

This is inside the doctor's office. Yep, K1 is in his pajamas.
And yep, there's dust all over the place.

In some ways it's a bit off-putting when the doctor doesn't immediately take my child's weight or shine a light in his eyes, but it didn't really bother me. Doctors are not quick to prescribe as I feel some of mine were in the states. If you do need a prescription, it's totally free for children. Adults pay £8 per scrip. Max. 

I chuckled when I opened up the lotion that was prescribed for K1's eczema though. Aveeno. Well, at least it was free! 

I recently asked whether I needed to bring my kids in for annual or semi-annual check-ups. This seemed to be totally up to me and if I want to do so there's a different pediatric centre to checkout. I'm not sure if I'm going to go through the trouble. If we have a problem or question, I can continue to see the doctor we've been seeing. We're figuring it out as we go, but for now the NHS has met our needs and then some. Sure I'm paying a zillion quid in taxes to cover our healthcare, but I am happy with the speed and service that we've received. And again, I didn't have to worry about extra payments at the clinic or for the prescriptions. I'm not sure how I'll feel if something more serious is needed, but let's pray we don't have to worry about that. 

Catching Up: 2 Countries and a Birthday

Nice, France was just what I needed. The educator conference I attended there the weekend before Thanksgiving included a multitude of sessions and keynote speakers, but my favorites centered around service and language. 
One of the most impactful speakers was Mark Cook who started his organization, Hope & Homes for Children.

When Mark retired as a British UN Commander, he decided to dedicate his life to children. Mark shared his journey and how he originally began trying to better orphanages around the world. He saw horrible conditions for children. We watched a short video showing these conditions and I can honestly say that I was quickly moved to tears and almost to the point of vomiting. Horrific conditions so devoid of love for children.

After some time, Mark soon realized that fixing up the exterior and interior of the orphanage didn’t really better the care of the child. Instead, he had what he calls an “epiphany” that he could just get rid countries of orphanages in the first place. He introduced the idea of foster homes in countries like Rwanda, Romania, and Sudan to name a few and was responsible for the closing of hundreds of orphanages across the globe. Here’s a quote from his website, "When we began work in Romania in 1999 there were 100,000 children trapped in institutional care. Today the figure is approximately 9,000 and the Romanian Governments has committed to working with us to close every state run institution by 2020."  

I am in awe of this man. I am so moved by hearing stories from people, like Mark, who a truly making a difference in thousands and thousands of lives.  Utterly inspiring.

And then there’s Bruges, Belgium. Wow. First let me say that we have found many things in the U.K. to be more difficult than we every imagined. Somehow, driving our car onto the Eurotunnel and over to an entirely different country was as easy as pie!

The kids were happy and comfortable and we were excited to drive on the right side of the road for a change. 

After only 36 hours in Bruges, Dave and I decided that we’d like to retire there. Seriously. Kind of. It is an idyllic city that seems to be a cross between Amsterdam and Venice but more laid back than both. The kids loved all the Belgian chocolate treats that were passed out at the Museum of Chocolate and that we felt compelled to purchase simply because of their beauty. We indulged on a boat tour on the canals and a horse-drawn carriage ride through the city the morning of our departure.

I highly recommend this travel spot to any and all. If possible, rent a bike and spend time biking around town and to the nearby village of Damme. Dave and I lucked out and each got a bike ride in while the kids were napping. That how it works when you travel with young kids…you take turns sitting in a dark room while children nap! At least that’s how we do it and it seems to work well.

Please find the rest of our pictures at the end of this post.

And finally, it is K2’s birthday today. 

Our beautiful and bright boy is now 5. He celebrated with 5 friends from school. Each boy was given a cape and mask upon arrival. We then walked to a nearby park and the kids took turns flying through the air on the zipline. It was awesome and nice to do something so simple and easy at home. No bells and whistles, just star-shaped PB & J’s, a park, chocolate cake, and a few minutes of Christmas Kung-fu Panda on Netflix. The sunshine helped the low 40 degree temps feel more like 50 and the whole thing was over and done by 1pm. A win for everyone!

And now for the picture roll...

One of my biggest fears realized today.

A walk across the London Bridge after looking at the poppies at the Tower of London.

I have been struggling with what to blog about since our return from the states. Usually an idea or beginnings of sentences just pop into my head, but I’ve been blank. I was just thinking about it again last night in hopes that my writer’s block would end and something creative would come out of me.

And then I hit a bicyclist with my car this morning.

My windshield.

It was horrible and I am still very upset about it. This is one of my worst fears and it came true on our routine morning drive to drop off K2 at childcare.

Every time I see a bike on a road here, I think of my husband. He’s a biker and bikes recreationally several times a week. The roads here are horrible for bikers…no shoulder and super narrow. Bike paths are a rarity. I always shake my head when I see someone without a helmet.

Today, as I was trying to give a biker plenty of space to bike by going around him, he decided to turn right without any warning or hand signal. I still don’t understand how he didn’t hear or see me right there. I was almost right next to him. He turned to the right and I ran straight into him. Somehow, he curled up in a ball and his backpack, rather than his head, made impact with my windshield. I screamed, swore, and panicked. K1 started yelling, “Noo, Nooo, Nooo,” and K2 just followed along with some crying.

I pulled over immediately and ran out to help the man out of the middle of the road. Somehow, with no helmet, he managed to walk away from this accident. He was limping, but no broken bones or even visible blood. By the grace of God. He went to get checked out in the hospital and I took a mental health day. 

Dealing with insurance takes a day in itself. Somehow the soonest my windshield can be replaced is tomorrow afternoon and my car cannot be driven safely until then. Thankfully, I have wonderful co-workers who are already offering rides and help.

I can’t get over what happened though. I am overly cautious with bikers and that is why I am so upset about this. I never want to believe an accident like this would actually be caused by the person on the bike. But it was. It just was and I guess that frustrates me. When you are on a bike anywhere, you are vulnerable.

When I was in Bangladesh, I was hit by a motorcycle while riding my bicycle and ridden off the road many times by passing vehicles and trucks. I am thankful that I was never seriously hurt.

And earlier this year, Dave forgot his helmet on a routine ride and flipped over his handlebars. He incurred a head wound and needed multiple staples.

When I knew the man was okay, I asked him to promise me he wouldn’t bike anymore without a helmet and that he would use hand/arm signals from now on.

I hope that K1 won’t be afraid to ride his bike now. I have a co-worker who competed in an Ironman triathlon before moving here a year and half ago and he hasn’t ridden a bike since. He refuses to bike on the roads for safety reasons. I don’t blame him. I’m glad Dave doesn’t have to commute daily on a bike and that many of his recreational rides are done in groups or at least with one or two other bikers. I just might have to get him a neon orange safety vest for Christmas though.

I hope that the next time I write, it’s to celebrate what we are doing and learning here. For truly, there is much to celebrate. We all have the proper visas now and big things are on the horizon. I have a conference in Nice, France next week, we have a thanksgiving trip to Bruges, K1 turns 5 on December 7^th, the Schutz family arrives mid-December for Christmas, and then we are off to Spain for the new year. Wow.

I am thankful everyone is okay today. I am thankful we are all able to continue to live and learn our lessons from each negative and positive experience. 

Here are some pics of the past few weeks:

My mom and the kids in Winona.

K2 and Grandma Schutz

Superman. Never again will I use black spraypaint on K's hair!

Our Little Ironman

Superheroes in Winona

One of the many escalators included on a trip into London.

View from the London Bridge

I watched this TED Talk with my EHS class. 

Breakfast at Burough Market

White Wine in a Paper Cup

I’m sitting in the dark on my hotel bed, drinking wine from a paper cup, and thinking about how I will redistribute the weight between our suitcases for our flight back to the U.K. tomorrow. The boys are sleeping, hence the dark room, and I’m not far behind. It’s not like I had a physically challenging day, but there is definitely an energy toll we pay for dealing with STUFF.

We were originally supposed to fly out today, but the visas were held up in New York and we had to remain in limbo. Not knowing if they would be ready in one, two, or four days. So, more time on the phone with the car rental place, more time booking hotels, more time cancelling and rebooking flights, and more time trying to entertain two very active boys in a hotel room. Those things are stressful.

I hide it well. I try not to get overly emotional or negative, but I have my moments. Dave is confused though because he hasn’t seen many of those moments and he’s starting to think I have a heart of stone or something. That’s certainly not it, but I do feel like I need to hold it together for the kids. Plus, I try not to get too upset about the things I/we can’t control. What can we do? Just move on.

Most of our trip was really quite wonderful. The kids fell in love with their grandparents all over again, we got to cuddle my new great nephew, Archer, I had time for a massage and new color for my hair, we had time to reconnect with friends, and the kids visited almost every playground in Winona. And Dave? Well, he basically worked the whole time. While the rest of us were here on an extended vacay, he went into work in St. Cloud. Still, reconnecting with coworkers is important and luckily, he truly enjoys the people he works with.

We are a day behind schedule and the costs that go along with that one day are HIGH. I really just want to put this trip and this whole visa debacle in the past. It has been our biggest headache and I just know it will feel good not to think about it anymore. K1 won’t be in school illegally once he has his special stamp, and Dave won’t get questioned about his lack of a UK bank card!

We will arrive back in England on Thursday morning (30 October) just in time to participate in the Trunk-or-Treat at school on Friday and of course celebrate Dave’s birthday.

I’m not going to share a lot of pictures with this post. I just don’t have that many on my phone and Dave isn’t around to share his tonight. Stay tuned for a post of mainly just pictures.

Small Ponies. Big Dreams.

Shetland Pony Club, Cobham, Surrey

We had a weekend planned that sounded amazing on paper: French toast breakfasts, Legoland, Pizza Delivery, and a Pony Party. Yet still it had some tense moments. I often obsess about timing and plans. I like to have every minute planned with rationale. This doesn’t always stop me/us from being late, but in my mind it helps keep us moving forward in an organized (read: controlled) manner. This is the controlling part of me. I like to control what each of us does all the time. Sometimes this is helpful, but often it doesn’t go over the way I intend.

I’ll spare you the details, but I’ll just say that Saturday got off to a rough start. Nevertheless, we continued to LegoLand for a very crowded day at the park. Dave and I ended the day watching, “The Game.” We were still a bit edgy with each other, but didn’t go to bed mad.

And then came Sunday. The Pony Party.

Small ponies…Big dreams.

That’s what the brochure said. K2 was invited to his very first pony party. Twins in his class invited both Pre-K classes (18 children) to ride ponies for their birthday. We didn’t know what to expect, but I had a feeling it would not be the deal where ponies are hooked up to a turnstyle and simply go around and around. I was right. 

This was straight up “Legends of the Fall” territory but mini. Possibly the most adorable event I have ever seen. Each child had a pony that they helped groom, saddle, bridle, and feed. It was very hands on and wonderful. The kids rode around the Surrey hills while K2 played back at the ranch. K1’s pony’s name was Batman. He loved that. The adults had sparkling beverages while we sat waiting on couches made of hay bales. The event finished off with a snack box, fancy cupcakes and goody bags. I have to say, it was a magical event for the kids AND the adults. At least for me anyway. A pony party was something in my 6 year old dreams. 

So perhaps the lesson I need to walk away with is to try to let go of my need to control everything and remember to just let things fall into place. Small ponies. Big dreams.