First Visit to Pediatrician in the US
15 04 2008After we finally got our health insurance effective April 1 (Thank God for keeping all of us healthy during our non-insurance period), I made an appointment for Andrew to see a pediatrician today. I was a little bit nervous at first because since Andrew was born, Arman always accompanied us to the pediatrician. In Indonesia, we managed to have all the appointments on Saturdays, so that Arman didn’t have to take the day off from work. Not only that Arman was there physically with us, he always is the one who did all the research about vaccines, diseases, vitamins, breastfeeding and many other things related to Andrew’s development. In other words, he is always the one doing the homework.
But here in the US, at least from what I know now, all appointments are available Monday-Friday. So today, I had to take Andrew myself to the pediatrician. I know, it’s not a big deal, but I was worried that I would miss asking the doctor certain things or not understanding certain things. When we first arrived, I was asked to take care of some paperworks and paid for the co-pay. In Indonesia, usually we would pay after the service is performed, but here we pay before. After that, we were asked to wait in the waiting room. We waited only about 5 minutes I think before the nurse called Andrew. Then she asked me to help Andrew standing on the scale and measured his height. He is 33 inches and 24 lbs.
I was also asked to provide all the vaccines data that Andrew has got in the past. In Indonesia, the date goes before the month, so I had to read out each vaccines with the date converted to US format (month first then date). After that the doctor came in, asked me more questions regarding Andrew’s development so far. She did some examinations (eyes, ears, tummy, heartbeats, etc) and determined that Andrew is healthy. She suggested that we should start taking Andrew to pediatric dentist so that he can get used to going to dentist. Then after the doctor left, the nurse came in to give Andrew his Hepatitis A vaccine. Andrew was stunned at first that he didn’t cry at all, but then started feeling the tingling sensation, he then cried out loud. I hold him for 2 minutes then he stopped crying and the nurse came in to give him a mini size plastic car. 
Luckily, my experience today taking Andrew to see his first pediatrician in the US turned out to be just fine. We will see the doctor again in 1-2 months.
Hi Esther, sama nih, gw juga prefer pegi ke dokter buat Vianney monya sama2, biar ada yang ngingetin kalo kelupaan nanya sesuatu. Tapi kayaknya in the future mungkin gw juga mesti pergi sendiri kalo jamnya ga pas. Kalo udah dapet health insurance masih bayar lagi?
@ Felicia: Hi Fel, iya enakan kan bareng2 yah. Hehehehe. Insurance yang kita pilih ini gratis dari kantor Arman, cuma tiap visit bayar $10. Yah lumayan murah sih compare di Indo. Biasa di Indo dokternya aja udah di atas segitu, belum lagi vaccines nya. Kalo disini kan vaccine nya free. Kalo elu disana gimana?
Basically disini kesehatan ditanggung government, jadi ga bayar kecuali untuk kecantikan, mata & gigi. Kalo untuk anak dibawah 20 th masih bisa periksa mata + gigi gratis setahun sekali. Jadi insurance dari company hubby biasanya bisa untuk periksa mata+gigi kita, tetep bayar tapi cuman 10%. Oh ya, kalo obat juga mesti beli sendiri sih..hehehe…tapi bisa juga pake insurance kantor, tergantung obat apa dulu, ada yang ga dicover juga.
Kalo vaccine dulu kata family dokter gw ga dicover, baru2 ini aja udah gratis, jadi kata dia my son is very lucky, karena 1 macem vaccine bisa $200-an
yeayy….gue dah denger ceritanya LIVE dari jeng esther sendiri loo….(bangga gitu :P)
kalo dengernya LIVE bisa sambil ketawa ketiwi…..ada tambahan2 nya soalnya….hahaha….dah gitu pake rebutan ngomong ama andrew…..which eventually maminya kudu ngalah karena andrew keukeuh mo ngomong ama antih echah…..(bangga lagi :P) abis ga dapet ngomong ama daddy, minta ngomongnya ke antih…tapi kalo dah bosen dioper lagi ke maminya…..habis manis sepah dibuang yaaa antih echah nyaaa *HUAHHHHHHHHH*
anyway, komen gue ga nyambung ama topiknya banget seh….haahahha….
wah esther, lu hoki bgt punya arman yg rajin research. seandainya suami gue kayak gitu. hiks
*ngarep.com*
mamanya pinter ngerawat pasti andrew sehat2 aza. amien.
@ Felicia: Wah enak banget dong, Fel. Kudu dimanfaatkan semaksimal mungkin tuh. Di Indo juga vaksin mahal2. Jadi yah lumayan seneng sih, pas tau ternyata cuma bayar $10 co-pay.
@ Echa: Sa, gitu aja bangga deh….Hahahaha. Andrew ngga abis manis sepah dibuang kok, buktinya nelpon lagi nelpon lagi. Hahahahaha. Iya nih gimana sih komen tidak pada tempatnya. Hayo………..
@ Limmy: Iya emang hoki banget si Arman dengan senang hati do all the research. Apalagi jaman dulu pas di Indo, gua online paling sebulan sekali, jadi dia sering research online, trus diprint kasih gua baca. Amien juga, moga2 Andrew selalu sehat.
Iya nih, stuju ama Limmy, beruntung deh dpt misua yang perhatian dan rajin ngurusin vaksin2 anak. Bukan brarti kita2 yang misua-nya ga ngurusin, ga beruntung sih haha.
Bole juga tuh ikutin saran dokter visit dentist. Gw 1-2x setaon bawa Jeslyn kontrol ke dokter gigi, krn emang giginya dia cpt bolong2 :((
Meskipun dia masih blom mau duduk di kursi sendiri. Jadi gw yang duduk dulu di kursi, baru si jeslyn rebahan di atas gw. At least, dia mau diem dan buka mulut buat diperiksa hehe.
@ Yulian: Iya yah, denger2 dari temen gua Elsa, emang disini dari kecil udah diajarin, biar ngga takut ke dokter gigi. Bagus deh, moga2 entar Andrew mau nih diperiksa giginya.
congratulations for pediatrician appointment, glad it went well. satu yg gua inget waktu bawa naomi ke dokter anak2 diindo (rumah sakit ibu anak di pluit) nunggunya lama bangettt, sampe cape terus pas giliran diperiksa cepet banget ga ada 5 menit jadi gak bisa tanya banyak2 and macem2, soalnya kaya diusir gitu.
Dokter anak2 disini biasanya cepet masuknya (kalo on time datengnya) terus banyakan dokter anak2 disini sabar2 and baik sama anak2 jadi anak2nya gak terlalu takut ama dokter and kita mau tanya apa aja juga diladenin, panjang lebar at least 15 menit-30 menit. And mereka ga suka ngasih obat sembarangan, tiap kali cuma disuruh istirahat, minum yg banyak, or tidur terus paling obat cuma dikasih tylenol (kalo high fever).
@ Sofie: Thank you, Sof. Sebenarnya di Indo yah emang kebanyakan modelnya begitu, tapi ada juga yang ngga. Pediatrician Andrew dulu pas di Indo ok banget. And kita cocok sekali ama dia. Dan orangnya juga suka kasih suggestions ini itu and open for any questions too. Plus dia juga paling anti kasih obat.
esther, siapa sih nama pediatrician andrew di indo dulu? dan di mana praktek nya? tq.
@ Setia: Namanya Dr. Lineus Hewis. Prakteknya di beberapa tempat. Yang gua suka pergi yang di Jakarta Women & Children Clinic - Jl. Prapanca Raya No. 32A
Jakarta Selatan 12160 - Telp: 021-7279-9911. Dia juga praktek di Laboratorium Klinik Pejagalan, Jl. Pejagalan I no 3F, Telp: 021-691-3490 dan Rumah Bersalin Bidan Sri Irsanty - Komp. TPI II blok Z II no. 1 - Telp: 021-661-5305. Kalo mau coba, telpon dulu tanya jadwal praktek dan biayanya.
esther, elo kan dulu asiX, trus andrew sampe umur berapa masi asi? setelah udah ngga asi, minumnya susu apa? kalo di US preference ya dokter untuk masalah susu gimana? kan di indo sini kan masi banyak dokter yang masih sufor oriented.. kalo di sana gimana yah? cari dokter anak yang sip tuh emang cocok2 an yah..
@ Ariany: Iya gua dulu Asix sampe Andrew umur 2 tahun. Setelah berhenti Asi, dia sampe sekarang minum nya campur2, yang pasti ngga pernah mau formula or fresh milk.
Tapi yah, salah kita sih benernya, karena dari pertama kan kekeh mau Asix, eh keterusan, dan anaknya ngga pernah mau ama formula. Asal tau itu formula, langsung mulut dikunci. Jadi sekarang yah mau ngga mau sorce of kalsiumnya musti dari tempat lain. Sesuai anjuran dokter indo and sini dan yang kita udah lakukan sampe seakarang ini adalah ngasih dia vitamin yang ada kalsiumnya, smoothies (karena ada faktor susunya), kadang2 kalo dia mau kasih yogurt, orange juice yang dengan tambahan kalsium (banyak di supermarket), kadang2 gua gorengin telor pake keju kraft. Setau gua sih kalo denger2 dari temen2 disini dokter sini memang sangat menganjurkan Asix, which is menurut gua sangat baik yah, karena terbukti Andrew jarang sakit. Emang betul cari dokter, mau dokter anak kek atau dokter buat kita orang dewasa, kudu cocok2an. 