CD's,
This incident happened to me and i am at wits end to find out which doctor is the genuine one.,
I have a 16 month old Infant in my care and this individual has been having running nose for 4 months now. 2 months back the infant developed cough and chest cold and last week it turned terrible with fever. We had been taking the infant to the Walk-In doctor and the Walk-In -Doctor always says that there is no medicine for colds/ running nose/ coughs.(as i am a busy professional, I have no time to take the Infant to the Family Pediatrician as he works only on working hours. We did take the Infant once to Sick Kids but were told not to worry and not given any medication). When the Infant Develped Fever, The day care provider asked us to take the Infant to the doctor. Also at this time due to running nose and chest cold/ congestion, The Infant was not able to sleep properly. The Infant used to sleep for one hour, cry for the other etc... The infants food intake/ Milk intake also reduced.
So this time, we took the Infant to a Walk-IN -Pediatrican (Queensway/Hwy-10). The same guy (An African) who told us that there is no cure for cold/ cough, this time looked at the Infant's ears and said that it was red. He prescribed us
1. 200 mg (4 ML) solution of Amoxillin- Antibiotic, 3 times a day for 10 days
2. Otrivin 0.005

He also told us to come back after 5 days for progress check.

Yesterday we went for Progress check. The previous doctor was not there. There was a new european doctor. I had a Xerox copy of the prescription and i showed it to him. He started jumping from Heaven to earth that the person who prescribed Amoxillin to a Infant was a Fool. He also said that Otrivin is not to be used on Infants but only on Adults (we could not get that and hence we had not used it). He also said that the person who prescribed was not a Pediatrican (but he was -as per Ontario college of Physicians website). He asked us as to how long we used the antibiotic and we said 5 daysand he told us to stop it. I told him that the doctor looked at the baby's ear and saw that it was red for which the doctor said that every baby once it cries (when the doctor diagonised it) will have its ear turn into red.
He also told us that in his home country , they used to call this condition, the common cold. He told us to stop all medication, reduce milk and give the baby more fluids. He also said that if the baby does not eat, to leave it as the baby will start eating when it gets hungry.

I came out of the clinic , really frustrated with the Canadian Medical System which could not treat a simple cold/ cough/ congestion for 4 months now.
What else can i do? Can i resign my job and take the infant to each and every doctor in the province?
I ask CD's who are in chanrge of infants to enlighten me as to what they will do in this kind of situation. I donot want to fight with the doctors or the system. I am thinking of calling a Pediatrician in India about this.

TK A

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I am a Gents and not a Ladies.

TK,
I fully agree with your comments about Medical System In Canada. In my opinion, Peditrations do give Amoxicilin to Infants in india for curing common cough or colds. It will be better to ask a Good & Qualified Peditritian( From Canada/India) for his/her advice in your case.

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Driller the thriller

TK

First of all, it is unfortunate that your baby has gone through all this and is still sick. My experience with walk in clinics is STAY AWAY. It doesnt matter what province you are in.

Can your wife take off time to take your baby to the doctor? Usually companies have benefits including sick time ..especially for children? If not, I would check with the company .. Iam not sure if labour standards has a policy regarding this or not.

What you can do is either a) talk to people you know/trust and try to get the name of a doctor they would recommend. You will HAVE to take time off work for your baby. The other thing you can do is to book an appt with one or two regular family doctors (not walk in) and then "interview" them. Go with your comfort level.

THen when you have a regular doctor, you will be able to ask for referral to a good pediatrician.

So speak to people at your temple/church or whatever and get a name. If nothing else, call the Ontario body of licensed physicians and ask for the name of a competent physican for your baby. If you are able to put some time to research this, you may find what you ar elooking for.

good luck.

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~ Morning rain

Hi TK,

It is very disturbing to note the state of your infant. However, it is necessary you deal with the issue as a regular health issue - there is no need to quit your job. I am sure all offices have provisions for 'sick' leaves. What would you do if 'you' or your 'wife' are sick..you wont quit job and they wont lay you off because you were sick...

Besides medicines, please also follow our grand mother advices - feed the infant with 'warm' food (by warm I dont mean food temperature, but those which keep your 'blood warm'), when the infant sleeps make sure to keep the head higher than the chest, try application of 'vicks' (if the child is too sensitive to vicks, try mixing with vaseline while applying)etc...on the chest and back..most importantly, try to keep the infant home (away from daycare) for a few days - daycare has more chances of infection repeating / new infections. At this time, even the parent need to be extra-hygienic to avoid getting infected/passing on thier own infections to the child...you can also contact the registered nurses helpline - they give advise over phone or sometimes also send nurses home to help. If you are living in a basement, move out of it to a warm place. If your apartment is too cold (for the infant)- add heaters...I am sure you have tried some/most of the above already.

Above all the monetory loss you might suffer at work is of least importance with respect to your infants health and comfort...I trust you get my point.

Please note all this is in addition to the doctors advise - indian/canadian.

All the best and god bless your child, trust he/she will heal soon.

rgds,
Hiren

PS : I wonder why you never call your infant your son or daughter ...

Quote:

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Originally posted by morning_rain

TK

First of all, it is unfortunate that your baby has gone through all this and is still sick. My experience with walk in clinics is STAY AWAY. It doesnt matter what province you are in.

Can your wife take off time to take your baby to the doctor? Usually companies have benefits including sick time ..good luck.

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Chandresh

Advice is free – lessons I charge for!!

Guys,
Thanks for the feedback.
I specially thank Hiren for his ideas but would like to tell him that the situation is not as bad as he thinks.
Also my original intention of the post was not to find the miracle cure for the infant. I wanted just to highlight the fact as to how inconsistant medical treatment in Canada can be. Belive me, I have taken leave and have gone to Sick Kids, Trillum, St. joe's and waited 5-6 hours just to see the doctor and the doctor telling us that there was no treatment. If you call the nurses help line, all they say is to see a doctor in the hospital within 24 hrs.. You can have only one family pediatrican. If that pediatrican is no good, then you canot even visit another family pediatrican. We have to rely on Hospital emergency wards and / or Walk in Clinics.
I did not want to make this into a Canada bashing thread but with my experience i find it amusing / joke to feel taht Canada has some of the best doc's in the world.

TK A

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I am a Gents and not a Ladies.

Quote:

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Originally posted by tamilkuravan

Guys,
Thanks for the feedback.
I specially thank Hiren for his ideas but would like to tell him that the situation is not as bad as he thinks.
Also my original intention of the post was not to find the miracle cure for the infant. I wanted just to highlight the fact as to how inconsistant medical treatment in Canada can be. Belive me, I have taken leave and have gone to Sick Kids, Trillum, St. joe's and waited 5-6 hours just to see the doctor and the doctor telling us that there was no treatment. If you call the nurses help line, all they say is to see a doctor in the hospital within 24 hrs.. You can have only one family pediatrican. If that pediatrican is no good, then you canot even visit another family pediatrican. We have to rely on Hospital emergency wards and / or Walk in Clinics.
I did not want to make this into a Canada bashing thread but with my experience i find it amusing / joke to feel taht Canada has some of the best doc's in the world.

TK A

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~ Morning rain