We decided to drive up to Vancouver over the Thanksgiving break. We didn't want our few friends here to feel sorry for us or feel any kind of obligation to invite us to their celebrations, so we decided for our first Thanksgiving here, we would just head up to Vancouver and do our own thing! We got a hotel with a waterslide, went to the Vancouver Aquarium, visited with some friends, it was a lot of fun! It felt really good to be back in Canada. I had never been to Vancouver before, but just being in Canada made it feel familiar somehow. It was great to see Lynsey having so much fun on the waterslide, and Nathan was really digging the water, too! It was nice to see how far he had come from our time in the pool at the beginning of September - might have to try and find him some swimming lessons after Christmas:).
We got back from Vancouver on Saturday and found out on Sunday that Brian's Grandpa Penner had passed away. We immediately knew that we wanted to go the funeral, so it was time to make some arrangements. Got the van in for a service and some new tires, got some tire chains for the possibly treacherous drive through the mountains (of course Calgary has been having the blizzard of the century over there, just our luck!) and tomorrow we take off. We will probably go up to Kamloops tomorrow and drive the rest of the way on Friday, and then drive the whole way back on Monday. Not ideal, but we can't really make this an extended trip. I am feeling dread about the upcoming journey, sadness for the reason for the journey, and a little bit of excitement at the prospect of coming home, even though it's going to be ridiculously cold and snowy.
Nathan is talking up a storm! Not only is he talking, but he's telling us things - I don't know that I would have been able to tell you the difference between talking and telling before Adam came along, but I sure do notice it now. He loves his trains and actually asks for them by name (finally that investment in the train table is paying off, third kid is the charm!:)). This evening I told him it was time for night-night and he walks away from me, "No nigh-nigh" and resumed playing. I feel like he really gets what is going on! And he loves books! He brings me books all day long, and again is asking for specific ones. Very interesting little guy, love to watch him grow up and learn and play:).
Not much to report on the other two, Adam did really well on our trip to Vancouver (was a bit tired at the Aquarium so there were a few rough patches there). He still won't get into the water at the pool except to dip his feet in occasionally. I really don't want to push him but I feel like there has to be some way to encourage him to try water! Any time you pay any attention to him at the pool he just skips away from you, he just wants to do his own thing (except for the odd time when he comes in for a hug and a kiss:)). I will have to ask around for a good swimming instructor that might be able to break through a bit - I have a feeling swimming lessons for him would be a real exercise in patience!
I am going to end this post with a story of my experience with the American healthcare system. We have good benefits through Amazon (the insurance company is called Premera Blue Cross), but it's still a bit of a learning curve as to what is covered and what isn't. I found a pediatrician on the Premera website a few months ago and I took Nathan there in October for his 18 month checkup and his shots. All of our kids need to get three rounds of Hep B shots because they are part of the infant immunizations here, but in Canada, you don't get Hep B shots until you are 10 years old. Apparently there are environmental reasons for this, but that's not the point of my story. He got his first round of the Hep B on the first visit. When we got our Premera statement in the mail, everything from that visit was covered under preventative care as expected. I took Lynsey for her 6 year check and her first round of Hep B a month later in mid-November, and took Nathan as well to get his second round of the Hep B shot. Nathan was present in the room when the doctor was doing his check on Lynsey, but he never examined Nathan at all. When we got our statement from Premera, we discovered that they had billed us $100 for an office visit for Nathan! Totally separate from Lynsey's checkup, which was covered under preventative care, totally separate from the shot which the nurse administered, which was also completely covered. I was sure it was just a simple mistake, but when I called Premera to ask about it, they told me that the office had indeed billed it as a visit with a diagnosis of a "viral infection". They not only fabricated the check up, but the diagnosis! When I called the doctor's office about it, they tried to justify it saying that the doctor has to check every patient before an immunization to make sure they are well enough. I thought about it after that he had apparently diagnosed Nathan with a viral infection, so why did they give him the shot then?? Anyway, I was way too angry on the phone to think about logical arguments, all I could think about was what a scam it was to bill for a visit when the doctor did NOT even look at Nathan except to show him where the toys were. I told them I thought this was a scam and that we would be finding a different doctor, all the while thinking, what if they are all like this! Well, it turns out, they are NOT all like this, and the next clinic I called said that kids do not have to see a doctor every time they are getting a shot, so I immediately had their records transferred and we are seeing a different doctor now. At least I never bothered to bring Adam to that other place, one less complication.
I should add that we will be maxing out our medical deductible and co-insurance payments anyway because of Adam's Autism treatment being so expensive, so the charge didn't really cost us anything. For me, it was the principle of it, that they would, in my opinion, commit insurance fraud to try and skim a few extra dollars. Very annoying! They also billed insurance for a urine test for Lynsey which never happened (huh?? A urine test for a 6 year old?? Shady if you ask me!). There's my vent about the shady doctor's office and my first experience with a medical bill. At least there were about 300 other pediatricians in the Seattle area to choose from, one of the pros to the private healthcare system!
I also had a separate heart attack when I opened that same Premera statement because it said that they were denying the claim to pay for Adam's Autism treatment. It was the very first "WHAT HAVE WE DONE!" moment I've had since we got here! Luckily, on my call to Premera they were able to confirm that this was a mistake, Adam's school hadn't used the right code or something. Until we actually see a statement that says they are paying for it, I will be on pins and needles - they sure are making us wait long enough!
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