Acupuncture... and possibly the placebo effect?

Last night I took First Son to a homeopathic doctor to see if we could help him with his difficulty in getting to sleep when he goes to bed.

The doctor asked a lot of questions about how long this has been a problem and to see if anything had happened to bring it on. He also asked questions about First Son, like wether he prefers sweet or salty things and what his temperament is like. He looked at his tongue and measured his pulse and did all those things.

In the end, he recommended acupuncture, but without needles. It seems that for children, a laser is used instead of a needle. This way, there isn't the pain of actually puncturing the skin, and the laser only has to act for a few seconds, whereas the needles have to be left in for 15 to 20 minutes. First Son had his first treatment right away, and I must say he enjoyed it. It was all very new and very interesting to him. He kept talking and giggling and sometimes he said it tickled, mostly on his stomach. We will go back for a few more weekly treatments and we will see what the results will be. For now, after the first treatment, during which the doctor explained about how the laser was sending messages to First Son's electric circuits, (he liked that - electricity in his body is cool!), First Son went to bed saying that he hoped his body had gotten the message and I must say he did fall asleep fairly quickly. Was it the effect of the acupuncture? Was it a placebo effect because First Son believed it would help him get to sleep? I don't know, but it doesn't really matter. The important thing is he got to sleep all right and it wasn't as hard a usual to get him out of bed this morning.

As a Mommy, it made me feel good that First Son knew he was important and that his difficulties are important enough for us to actively try to help and do something about them. In a roundabout way, I think that First Son had an easier time getting to sleep last night because he felt loved by all the people trying to help him. :o)

Calling In The Big Guns

First Son suffers from insomnia. It takes him an insane amount of time to get settled and go to sleep each night. Bedtime is at 8:30. He is allowed to read in bed until lights-out at 9:00. He is usually still awake at 11 o'clock, often much later than that.

He has to be up at 7 in the morning to have time to eat breakfast and be at school by 8. He is often late, and even when he isn't, the morning is often unpleasant because I have to force him out of bed and we end up arguing.

We have tried a lot of things to try and help him get to sleep. Reading before lights-out is one way to relax before trying to sleep. He also has a relaxation CD, as well as some other calm CDs that he can listen to. He has to stay in bed until Second Son falls asleep (which usually takes about three seconds or two winks of an eye, whichever is shortest), then First Son can come sit on my bed with me and tell me about his day. We have also tried stretching, a warm glass of milk with honey, etc. etc. etc.

Yesterday, I decided to call in the big guns: I took First Son to a homeopathic clinic. The lady at the reception had only one thing to offer us, a product called Quiétude. Unfortunately, it says on the box that it is meant for children from 6 months to 6 years of age, so I didn't buy it. Instead, I asked for an appointment with the homeopathic doctor. So we have to go back next Tuesday for the appointment. I hope it helps. We'll see...

It occurs to me that calling in a homeopath is not necessarily calling in the big guns. For me, the big guns would be something like sleeping pills. But those are in no way appropriate for a child of 8, so I'm not even going there. So, the homeopath is the second-biggest gun I can think of, since First Son's pediatrician was unable to help us. "Give him more vitamins." That didn't work.  :/

Health Care (Rant)

Daughter has been sick for five days. She is coughing and her throat hurts. After having tried numerous medicines, syrups, soups, teas, supplements and of course lots of sleep, she is still no better. I think it is time to admit defeat. It is time to take her to see a doctor. Easier said than done, even here in what is supposedly the "best country in the world."

Daughter doesn't have a doctor. That means that when she gets sick, we have to go over our options, none of which are very practical.

Most orphans (people who don't have family doctors) go to the Emergency Room (ER) when they get sick. There, a person can wait anywhere from 12 to over 24 hours to see a doctor, on a good day. On a bad day, you would add about an hour or so of wait time every time you see an ambulance pull up. But you can't even complain about this. The ER staff are doing the best that they can with their limited resources. And, let's face it, a sore throat is at the bottom of the list when people with heart attacks, broken arms, allergy attacks, overdoses and other serious emergency situations are also waiting. So, the ER is not the option of choice for someone who is "just sick."

The second option is to go to a walk-in clinic. There are several of these in our city, but I have never had much luck with them. In order to be seen by a doctor, one has to get there and stand in line super early. Whenever I have attempted it, by the time I got to the clinic I was told that the waiting list was full for the day. So a walk-in clinic is a doable option when people are able to get in line before 7 am, but I usually have three kids to drop off at school before I am free to queue. With Daughter sick, the earliest we can drop the boys off at school is 7 am, so I think the clinic option is out. We won't even attempt it.

Option number three is to go to a clinic in Ontario, where our Québec health insurance card is not accepted so we have to pay up-front, but we do get a partial refund from Québec if we send in our receipt and the proper forms. Also, the wait time is measured in few hours, giving us the hope that we will be in and out before the boys' after school care closes at 5:45. I have gone this route before. It was handy once when I had an ear infection and needed antibiotics. But the second time I went in, complaining of shortness of breath, coughing, fever and generally feeling icky, the doctor sent me home and told me to get plenty of rest and fluids. Four days later I was in the ER with a severe pneumonia that kept me hospitalized for ten days, followed by months of convalescence. So I vowed never to go to one of those clinics again. The doctor never even listened to my lungs. He just wanted me in and out as quickly as possible so he could collect my $65 and go on to the next patient. I want Daughter to have better care than that, so that clinic is out of the question. (I should mention that I don't think all Ontario clinics are this bad, but the ones I have access to - the Appletree Medical Center group - are more about profits than they are about health care, in my opinion.)

The last option, which is the one I finally opted for when I had that very severe pneumonia, is the one that I choose today for Daughter. We will go to an ER, but not here in Gatineau, where all the hospitals have notoriously long waiting lists. Instead, I will drive Daughter 30 minutes out of town to the city of Wakefield, where there is a small regional hospital whose staff took very good care of me when I was sick. If we are lucky, we will only have to wait a few hours before Daughter gets seen.

There has been debate in Canada about privatizing health care, while in the US they have moved in the opposite direction, offering free health care to low-income people who can't afford the private facilities. As far as I am concerned, I can't rely on our government to give my family free health care. The only reason I have a doctor is that the hospital got me one (helping me circumvent the usual waiting lists) because they simply couldn't discharge me without assuring me some follow-up care. And the doctor I got, although he does more or less follow my progress, won't agree to treat my daughter.

If I could afford to, I would go to a private doctor's clinic. I wouldn't mind paying extra for quality care. I understand that doctors would rather work in private clinics than go to work in public ones for less pay and even worse working conditions. The problem is, I am low-income and I can't afford to take my kids to a private clinic. And, frankly, I shouldn't have to. We have free health care in Canada. We just don't have enough of it. I wish we had political leaders who are able to better prioritize what is needed. The Canadian public service is facing huge budget cuts right now. In my humble opinion, nothing is going to result from these layoffs except more unemployed public servants. I really doubt it will make a difference in the long run. Then the government will use unemployment as a reason to not invest in health care, because the funds will be needed to create jobs. I am just one little person. I am not a politician. I do vote, but honestly I wonder if we will ever climb out of this hole our health care services are in. In my opinion, we won't get anywhere while our politicians' decisions are based on influential big corporations' "needs."

Rant over. Forgive me. I just had to let my frustration out somewhere. It is a terrible feeling to feel so helpless in trying to get my daughter in to see a doctor. And I live in Canada, a country that touts itself as "the best in the world." I truly feel for people in third-world countries who do not have access to health care. I remain convinced that in Canada this is all a question of priorities.