WHERE'S BEST TO LIVE IN NZ AND WHAT DO WE NEED TO KNOW:PART 3!!!!(HOLY SHIT!)

[AngryBeaver]

Can you believe we've finished finished off another thread? Jeez we can talk!!
Just an update..we've found a nice double glazed,4 bed house,with nice garden. So that's one stress off the last.
Hilongwhitecloud

Titirangi is 15km from the CBD. Takes dh 25 mins to drive in unless he leaves at peak times.

Oh really? Looks further away on the map! I'll add it to the list to check out

Just had a scary event with DD2. Went to a cafe that does loads of allergen free cakes. Had a supposedly egg & dairy free slice of cake. Gave DD a few crumbs to nibble on. Her whole face turned out in blotches. apparently it wasn't egg free.

She's ok. I'm a wreck. Waiting to talk to doc now as we haven't had such a speedy reaction before. And there's the possibility she will be exposed more now through my milk.

There go my ideas of maybe thinking about gentle reintroduction in the next couple of months....

Thank goodness for my lovely friendly doctors surgery.

Well, lovely doc has referred her to allergy clinic and prescribed an anti-histamine and ordered blood tests. She mentioned an epi-pen as a possibility but said allergy clinic would make call on that.

And I've been going around telling people she only has a mild allergy!

Oh no...how scary!!
Obviously every child is different. But my youngest had a quite severe reaction to tomato based sauce. I made spag bol once (actually when we had just arrived here and were in the motel) and he started screaming.I looked over and his whole face was red and blotchy,and his chest (he had no top on) anywhere that the sauce had touched.
It was as if it was burning. We had to rush him into the shower and wash it off.
It had happened before that but never that severe.
The dr suggested graduak reintroduction,and although I was freaked out...it did work.
Like I say,theyre all differnt but I just wanted you to know that it might be possible to overcome it in time.
See what the clinc says. Have a for now and a large after dd's bedtime.
x

Ahh the car park extension, I'd completely forgotten about that.

You're making me hungry just reading about it justabout!

A quick question for you all once you all wake up... Does anyone know what the culture here is with regard to complaints? Send a letter? Turn up and ask for the manager? And is it something that would get a member of staff fired? (not my intention at all).

I'm just very upset by the whole thing today. DD is really struggling with the secondary effects of the exposure tonight (stomach cramps, streaming nose, really bad sleep), and the more I think about it the more upset & angry I get. It could have been so much more serious too. Still being up after 2am isn't helping my mood either

I would write a complaint to the manager of the shop (not sure what will happen). It might also be worth contacting Allergy NZ, they might be able to help from a constructive perspective. DS1 is anaphylactic to foods and I would be furious if he was contaminated in similar circumstances. It could be that they buy their ingredients in e.g. flour and it's contaminated. They can then take the issue up with their supplier, change supplier etc... It's not going to do their reputation any good, as I'd doubt if your dds reaction was a one off, more likely a contaminated batch.

On another note epipens are not pharmac subsidised and cost up to $180 each, they also last up to 1 year usually depending on the last batch imported. Check out the allergy NZ website for batch dates. Also worth phoning around and getting quotes as pharmacies will vary. Hopefully she won't need one. They will also probably suggest getting 2 - we have managed with 1 for 10 years, just takes planning.

I would be fuming...but then I am angry with everything at the moment.
I would write a letter AND turn up/phone and ask for the manager

I agree. I think you have to complain because it is so serious. Perhaps environmental health too. My supermarket keeps selling me out of date cheese and I'm thinking of complaining about that! I've tried the shop but they are still doing it.

Speaking of complaints,what about this.
Ds 1 woke crying at about 4 am (few weeks ago) he was doing funny breathing,think Darth Vader...but was generally ok. We got him up and put Thomas on to calm him as it was hard to assess whilst he was freaking out.
During this time,I rand NZ's equivilant of NHS direct and spoke with a nurse. She decided it was croup and to see the GP in the am.I was just saying thanks and bye ,when dh said "oh fucking hell,ther's an ambulance outside,I hope it's not for here,oh balls,it is!" I said tell them we don't need one!!!who rang etc!! (he was totally fine by this point and nodding off watching Thjomas,breathing normally)
Anyway,pair of very nice ladies insisted on coming in just for a look.
That was fine,they sat and chatted with us for nearly an hour.I made thm tea and toast etc. (think they were killing time!)
Anyway,about a week or so later,a bill for $80 arrives.
I am really pissed off.We neither asked for,nor needed this bloody ambulance,they insisted on coming in...and now theyre charging us??

Dh and I have both rung to argue our case. They are not backing down. The woman I spoke to said even if a nieghbour had called on our behalf,we would have to pay.
I said "well,that's ludicrous.What if someone had a vendetta against you (paranoid) and kept sending ambulances and pizza's to your house?You would have to pay?!!"

She said "yes!"

So what can we do.I don't want to pay on principle now.Pissed off

AB So had Healthline called the ambulance then? Did they tell you they had called one?

I suspect they will want their money. We had to call one a few years ago when at a bach for a friend who we thought was having some kind of seizure or heart attack ( turned out to be a combination of a hot day, not enough water drunk and too much of the local herbs smoked), we were miles from anywhere. I kept expecting the bach owners to get in touch regarding the ambulance bill but they never did so maybe a bill was never sent. I gave them my home phone number too (ambulance people) so they had that.

Anyway, that is all completely irrelevant to your case really

Vvviola - I would complain to the manager first and see where you get, do they bake the cakes on the premises or are they bought in from an outside supplier?

Was your friend mortified the next day that he had an ambulance called 'cos he'd had a whitie?!
No,the nurse I was speaking to was surprised that an ambukance was here. I suspect it was the policeman I spoke to earlier. I couldn't find a number for anywhere,so rang the community police to ask if they had one. He was really nice and searched out a number,I told him it wasn't serious,but he must have rung them. I'm going to send him the effing bill!

I think my friend was quite mortified at the time. He was getting better when the ambulance finally arrived (he'd been having palpitations/breathing difficulties) and when they walked in they took one look at him and said "been smoking much today, son?"

whatshesaid gutted!Street cred out.the.window!
I hope you didn't partake,that would be very naughty!
yearns for student days again

justa I know.I can't believe it. We just can't afford to lose that at the moment. Ok,if we had called,we would suck it up and pay for it. But, we didn't call it,and had no frickin' need of it! Totally out of order imo

...and we're just back from doc again. Overnight (because it was all checked yesterday!) DD2 has developed conjunctivitis & another ear infection

I have lectures tomorrow & an assignment to hand in. I guess I'll be looking for my first extension

Poor little mite is fast asleep in my arms. I can't quite bring myself to settle her in cot just yet.

Ahhh,she is in he wars.Poor thing.
Keep cuddling,nothing like Mummy when you're not well I still want mine
Hope your lecturer is sympathetic

Honestly, at this stage I want my Mum

I just hope this is our quota for the year...