New Experiences

There is a first time for everything, right? This week was our first experience with the  medical systems in New Zealand. While Joe was away, I had part of a tooth fall out. I went to the dentist last Saturday and he immediately put me on antibiotics and scheduled me for surgery. I had to go to a specialist on Wednesday morning and have spent the last few days swollen and recovering. I am on pain meds and soft foods until Tuesday when I go back to get my stitches out. 

I am thankful for the precautions that the dentist took in sending me to a specialist; because of the location of my tooth there were some dangers in doing a routine extraction. One of the differences is that the dental assistant has called me multiple time since surgery to make sure that I am recovering at a normal process. We realized that these calls were in place of all of the warning pamphlets and care packets that we would get in the states! Instead of reading through any of those for questions, I guess that I would ask questions to the assistant when they call! 

The same process goes for medications. When Joe went in to pick up my meds, the chemist (pharmacist) handed him two bottles of pills and nothing else! There is a label on the bottle of what the med is and who it is for, but that is about all. We used the internet to look up any warnings or precautions that I should take with those pills! 

There have been many differences and it has been quite the learning experience, but there is a first time for everything!