Tag: expensive

Categories
5 years and beyond

Fairy Doctor Specialist

I want to be a specialist Fairy Doctor. Image courtesy of smokedsalmon at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
I want to be a specialist Fairy Doctor. Image courtesy of smokedsalmon at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Yesterday we had our appointment with an ear, nose and throat specialist. This is due to the fact that the twins have constantly had tonsillitis all year, and their tonsils are still large especially Lillian’s. It is not good and can lead to problems, sleeping, breathing and swallowing.

As you can imagine being ill with the same thing all year meant constantly being on antibiotics. Having to have to be on medication all the time makes your body build an immunity to it, and not allow the antibiotics to zap the infection correctly. I think due to having it so many times the medicine does not help us much anymore.

I think the girls need to get their tonsils out and the doctor confirmed this. He believes it is the best way forward and I was grateful that he wants to remove them. Doctors now don’t seem to want to remove tonsils so I was ready for a fight and an argument on this issue. I was taken back that he instantly saw they needed to go. He must think they look terrible and can see issues with the twins keeping them. Or in hindsight need more money? I’m not sure, as the kids tonsils do look terrible!

We were not at the doctors for more than 15mins and then ended up at reception to pay the bill. I was told over the phone that the cost for the consultation was going to be $200 and I will get about $70 back on Medicare. When asked what I owed and expected to hear $200, I was then told $400!

I then said, “What, Why is it $400! I was told $200”. It was then explained that $200 is for each child’s consultation. So it is $400. Gosh, not in the doctor’s office for 15mins and already spent $400! I did get about $70 back on each consult but it is still a lot of money to spend!

I grumbled all the way to the car and the girls asked why I was so upset. When in the car Julia asked what the issue was. I explained that it was very expensive although it needed to happen. I then explained that this doctor must earn so much per hour. If he charged us $400 for about 10mins or about 15mins and every appointment is $200 that is a great hourly rate! Why did I not become a doctor? It might have something to do with not being great at science, maths and squeamish about blood and things like this.

I felt ambushed on costs especially when I was told it would be $200 and the fact that we did not have a long appointment. Not much happened other than him looking at their nose, throat and ears. He of course asked about things, are they allergic, did they have sore ears and so on.  I am not sure how other ear, nose and throat specialists conduct their practice but it did feel like it was get you out quickly so to see a new patient. Before we had our appointment there was young girl with her father there and they were in his office for less than 10mins. Would that have cost them $200? I think so! I am in the wrong business.

I explained that if Julia and Lillian wanted to be something that specialising is the way to go. They can charge more for their time and knowledge. Julia then announced that she wanted to be a “Fairy Doctor Specialist”. I don’t know if you know but she wants to be everything in the world and of course will be very busy with this job list. However ever since she was about 1 or 2 she has told us she wants to be a Fairy Doctor. This doctor will fly and help fairies get better.

After Julia’s announcement about being a Fairy Doctor Specialist, Lillian told me that she is going to be Pussy Cat Doctor Specialist. She is going to be a Vet who is a specialist.

Julia then said it is wrong that the doctor has our money and she needs to get more money! We need to get our money she said. I told her and Lillian that this was the doctors’ fees and some people charge a lot and some don’t. I also explained that we needed to see this doctor to make sure that we got their tonsils looked at and a recommendation for possible surgery.

Although it was expensive it was a needed appointment and I was lucky that we got in a reasonable time. The doctor said that if we go private we can get in next year before kids start Kindy. That would be ideal but I don’t know if we can afford it. I need to look at costs. Maybe it will be the public system, I am not sure. Monday I will ring the doctor’s practice to get more detailed costs so that we can make a decision.

Have you had to organise for your kids or child to get their tonsils removed? I had mine out when I was 3. I was a child that always got ill and was constantly on antibiotics and it is the same for the twins. Now that the process has started I am worried about the whole thing. I know it needs to happen but deciding to book your children into surgery is a worry, I now am worrying about the whole thing.

Do you do this or is it just me? Send in your comments.

Categories
3 years and beyond Swimming lessons

Swimming for all, not just for the lucky 10,000

I was watching the Today show on channel nine this morning, and they mentioned the Uncle Toby’s Swim Kids program. They are trying to raise funds to help 10,000 less fortunate kids to learn to swim, it is called operation 10,000.

In this article about operation 10,000 it states that there has been a decline of kids having swimming lessons. Well I think I know why, it is the cost. That is why kids cannot participate, their parents cannot afford the lessons, so kids miss out and don’t learn the skills. As stated my previous post called, “The extreme cost of activities for kids“, it is due to the high cost of the lessons and the fact that if you have 2 or more children, how do you keep up with the lesson, school payments, and all other extra things that you need to get for your children.

On the Today show, it mentioned that drowning is a problem that happens with young children, and it is preventable. I agree totally. Below is a quote form the Uncle Toby’s website.

“Drowning is a leading cause of preventable death in children aged 0-4 years. More than 50 children between the ages of 0-17 drown in Australia every year, highlighting the importance of swimming and water safety education for all Australian children.”

Uncle Toby’s is lobbying that swimming and water safety be part of the school curriculum. That is a great idea and something that I think will help all kids. It needs to be made into a reality, another thing that needs to be made into a reality is lowering the costs of swimming lessons so that all kids no matter where they live, and what situation the family is in can have swimming lessons.

Also why should we just choose a select 10,000. I do understand that it is cost associated and funding all kids nationally is expensive, but I think that is what we need to do. It is a skill that we all need to have. As you can see from my post on the extreme costs of activities for kids, that we were able to afford lessons for a while, but with kids going to pre-school, and the fact that currently I am not in paid employment we cannot afford to continue with lessons. We will need to try and teach the girls ourselves.

We live on an island surrounded by water, we need to know how to swim to save lives, our life and others. Also swimming is an enjoyable, relaxing thing to do that helps with your health and well being.

I believe that we should fund a program that has cheap or at least free lessons to all kids. This should be a government funded program that is funded with taxes or maybe a corporate sponsor. I am not sure how it would work. I think that the work that Uncle Toby’s is doing and also Grant Hackett is great, however it is just a start. At least it is creating awareness of this issue.

What are your thoughts on this subject?  I am going to contact my local MP and see if something can be done. Also will be seeing what the process is with dealing with Council to see about my questions in my post about extreme costs with kids activities.  Let me know what you have done in your area to help?

Categories
3 years and beyond Katoomba Hospital Swimming lessons

The extreme cost of activities for kids

Why is it that extra activities for kids are so expensive, swimming, tumbling, gym, dancing and much more. I would like to have the girls continue with their swimming lessons and also to be able to do tumbling lessons. This is not going to happen due to the cost.  Just to give you an example of the cost:

  • Swimming lessons for 10 weeks ( a school term) – $140
  • Tumbling lessons for 10 weeks ( a school term) –  $125 plus $32.50 annual gymnastic NSW membership fee

The price above for each activity is for 1 child. So as I have 2 children, I would need to double it. So the costs would be:

  • Swimming lessons for 10 weeks ( a school term) – $280.00
  • Tumbling lessons for 10 weeks ( a school term) –  $315.00

My question is, how does the average family give their children exposure to these sort of activities? With the girls going to pre-school 3 days per week, there is no way we will be able to cough up extra money for anything else. Last year we were able to give the girls about 3 sets of swimming lessons, but I don’t think that will happen this year.

Lillian turns her left foot in a bit when she walks and trips over more, especially when she is tried. Nothing that strengthening the ankle or more sports would help. To do the sports and training you have to pay. I cannot just put one child into sport, I would like to put both in for the experience as well. The physiotherapist at Katoomba Hospital said tumbling classes would really help Lillian, but how do I do this when they are so expensive.

One of my other questions is why is the council pool charging so much to teach kids and babies to swim. This is a skill that can save your life, swimming is essential in Australia as we are surrounded by water and nearly everyone has a pool, goes to the pool or the beach. I believe that swimming allows you to have the ability to exercise, be safe and to participate in a great lifestyle.  Why does the council charge so much? Why cannot the fee be a token to the centre, say $20 or $50 for swimming for your children to learn. It should not be $280 to teach your kids to swim for only 10 weeks. Then after the first 10 weeks you have to pay it all again. How many school terms are there in Australia, well there is 4 terms per year. So that would mean that I would need to pay Katoomba Pool, $1120.00 for a year of tutuion for swimming lessons.

Learning to swim should be free or nearly free. From my conversations in the Blue Mountains, NSW, there are a lot of people and kids that don’t know how to swim. What happens when these kids go to their swimming carnival at school? Is it then the schools job to teach kids to swim? Do schools have a learn to swim programme? I am not sure and have not found out, so if someone knows please let me know.

I grew up in North Queensland, Hervey Bay to be precise and I swam at a young age. We were close to a beach at all times, always on a boat and had to swim.  I think everyone has a right to save their lives and others by knowing how to swim. I love swimming and really enjoy it, I cannot imagine not knowing how.

So this year, I think we will take the kids swimming ourselves and teach them swimming techniques. We also cannot take them to tumbling classes no matter how much I would hope to do it. Julia and Lillian’s balance and ability are so great, that I would like to build on it, and have them do something active that is also healthy. For a society that is worried about weight gain, overweight and obese kids they are definitely not doing anything to help families with easily accessible activities.

Why is it now a matter of how much money you have, if you can learn to swim or not. Money is not the issue, it is making sure that the government/council makes this available at all levels. Learning to swim is something everyone needs to know how to do, rich or poor.

Do you have the same concerns over costs for children’s activities? Do we need to get like minded people together to see if we can lower costs? Should we have an online petition for the council to do something about this? Let me know your thoughts.