Doctors, Dentists, and Lab work... Oh My!

Part of getting established in any new town is finding a new doctor and dentist.  This is no different for us so we began the process of getting our first appointments on the calendar.  In the last month we were able to do just that.  After Nate's quick trip to the hospital to get a possible broken finger looked at, the attending physician said he would see us.  This was great news because in the early stages of looking, I was finding the doctors were full and not accepting patients.

Yay for Nate finding us a doctor in an unexpected way!

So we have now been in and had our initial appointments with the doctor, and then did some standard blood work at the lab at the hospital.  I have to admit its a little strange to walk in and out of doctors offices and hospitals without paying for anything (except parking at the hospital) for general care and tests.  It's pretty easy to get used to.

Dental services are different.  They are not covered under the provincial healthcare, so that would still need to be covered (ideally) under benefits through your employer, otherwise you would pay out of pocket.

Nate has benefits for us through work so he was the first to go in, and then came home with a bill 2x the amount I was expecting.  So I started looking elsewhere for a dentist with a bit more reasonable rates and practices for our lifestyle and just last week we both were into the newest dentist found.  The experience was night an day.  My trip was 1/4 of the Nate's first trip to the dentist.  And when he went in with all his X-rays etc. from his recent visit elsewhere, they just did a consult, started a new chart, and charged us nothing!

So we are happy to have found health care providers that we are comfortable and confident in.

Through Nate's lab work we have recently found out his body hates gluten, which explains frequent stomach problems and aches.  So in the last week we have been researching, asking questions, and changing over to a gluten free lifestyle.  It will take some time to adjust to, but we are thankful he is otherwise healthy and needs no medications to manage his health.  And if we do it right, we will both be healthier people for the change.  ;)