Emergency Rooms and Egg Rolls

We made our first trip to a DK emergency room this weekend. This is the one place that I did not want to visit during our time here; I have to say I've not heard very great things about it - like no doctors on staff, long long waits, broken bones not being found. My mom said, he's a boy, and it was bound to happen. It turned out to be a broken clavicle while wrestling with another boy.

I have to say, other than the front desk lady who never actually faced the entrance (she was too busy chatting with the other two front desk people who I guess could not help us - only the woman ignoring us was supposed to help us), anyway, overall the experience was fine.

We got in quickly, the doctor showed up and seemed to know pretty much right away that something was broken. We were sent to x-ray, pretty easy to see the break, so they bandaged him up, and then sent us on our way.

I would have liked some better pain killer so that he stays in one position while sleeping (but they don't do that here), and I would like to have a better bandage than the one we got (its just a stretchy strap that keeps coming loose). We have been told to go to our regular doctor in two days to get re-tied, so during that visit I think I'll dangle our private insurance caveat in front of her and see what I can get (maybe a special doctor with nicer bandages).

I'm happy I made the decision to bring him in. In the US, I didn't hesitate to call the nurse to discuss his symptoms. But here, its like you really have to prove you're worthy; that something is really wrong. And so I was hesitant to bring him in somewhere - if it was just a pulled muscle or something.

This was my conversation with our regular doctor back in September:

Me - Hi, I need my son's epipen prescription refilled.
Doctor - Why does he have an epipen?
Me - Food allergies. Eggs, chicken, and nuts.
Doctor - Has he ever had a severe reaction requiring you to use this shot?
Me - No, but our allergist said it could happen and we should be prepared.
Doctor - Well, its just ridiculous for you to have this with you all the time, being nervous that you might have to use it. Its not necessary.
Me - (dead silence) I will not respond to that statement.

Ho Hum - On to better things...

I requested that Rich make egg rolls this weekend. They turned out fine, but even better were the cream cheese wantons he made with the left over wrappers (he put spicy stuff in them). He made them a bit thin the first time around and they exploded in the oil, but after a re-fold they turned out great.




And, I finished up my knit gift for a friend's daughter. She (the now 6 yr old daughter) requested a pink stretchy market bag a few months back but I didn't feel like making another one. I modified a pattern on the internet, and then embellished it a bit. Then to go with it, I got a cute little butterfly coin purse, and a seashell/braided belt from the Africa store. We'll see if she likes the grouping or not.

That's not necessary...

A new study done by someone in Copenhagen states that organic foods are no more nutritious than foods produced with pesticides. Was this hypothesis proposed by the TV show cook in the article - I hope not.

When I choose organic I choose it because it is sustainable, ethical, and healthy. I don't think that that carrot will give me more energy - I think it will give me less chemicals. When I choose chicken - I assume they were not stacked on top of one another in a barn their whole lives.

But the Danes are a country of - that's not necessary. In this case, don't put the extra effort into organic, its not worth it. In the case of my son - it was this...

(After waiting an hour on hold for the doctor's office and then waiting another hour to have them call me back...)

Me - Hi, I need my son's epipen prescription refilled.
Doctor - Why does he have an epipen?
Me - Food allergies. Eggs, chicken, and nuts.
Doctor - Has he ever had a severe reaction requiring you to use this shot?
Me - No, but our allergist said it could happen and we should be prepared.
Doctor - Well, its just ridiculous for you to have this with you all the time, being nervous that you might have to use it.
Me - (dead silience) I will not respond to that statement.

I think I would rather be *nervous* with the shot...than waiting for the ambulance without it.

Incidentally, I find that dead silence on the phone is VERY useful. Next time you need to call the bank cause you're really p'd off at whatever they did, state the problem, and then be silent. They'll work out your problem (by talking to themselves) all on their own. Just like this Danish doctor did - she offered called a pediatric allergist and now I have my epipen prescription refilled.

(not quite) meatless

I still have not bought pork - Yeah! That's a hard thing to do here, so I'm pretty happy with myself. However, I will end up buying some bacon here in a few days, I think Pete might waste away without his morning hit.

I made another brown rice and veggie casserole-thing again one night, salmon again one other. Last night was a veggie spaghetti with green olives and a side of Gorgonzola, and I used organic wheat pasta which was very filling.


For lunch, I seem to alternate between tuna and egg salad. When I get burned out on one, I switch to the other. Either way, I make them the same really - mayo, mustard, onion, capers, herbs, and S & P.


Now if I could just kick my coffee addiction. I'm not too bad, we ran out a day or two ago, and I was able to cope. But I did need to pick some up so that I could make a small pot to go with these chocolates the Swedes gave us the other night. They are Danish chocolates, so most of them have some form of hazelnut (chips, nougat..) in them.



The daycare workers have agreed to go back to work as of today. They didn't get their 15% raise, but I think some sort of agreement was reached. The nursing home workers are still striking however. They will not budge on the 15% demand. Its interesting to hear what our Danish teacher thinks of the strike. She says that she's read that some nursing home workers will work at private facilities on top of their normal job, and that for these people to complain that they are tired and overworked is just not right.

So again, just like my experience with the doctor, its a weird combination of things that makes what should be a smooth running socialist society, not so smooth. I used to proclaim that I was a socialist in my thinking - but was I naive. Now having more experience with it I can see that its not THE solution either.

I will say this however - for all that I think the health care here is awful, the daycare sub-par...People seem to be healthy and happy (60 minutes says they are the happiest people in the world). The Danish economy is flourishing - even with a 37 hour work week, and 6 weeks off for vacation. Its an almost self policing society, where children are quite safe. They are looking forward - becoming environmentally and energy sustainable. So, in the end, I might complain, but we can learn some things from them.