Medical and dental care in Sweden

cbarncastle

27 August 2015 13:04:27

Trollhattan

I'll share with all of you some personal experiences that you may find entertaining, absurd, appalling or maybe I'm just spoiled coming from a country where a person can receive state of the art care.

My Sambo has terrible toothache:
We go to dentist and my first impression is that I'm struck by the lack of technology in the dentist office. They do take the x-ray and they come back with the results.
Dentist: "We can't find anything on your x-rays that would show what your issue is. So just go home for now"
Sambo: "Yes but the pain I'm experiencing is terrible and it's greater than when I had surgery or gave birth to my child"
Dentist: "Just go home for now. It will either get better or it will get worse. If it gets worse come back in."
Sambo: "On a scale of one to ten, my pain is a 9! If it gets to 10 then I should come back in? If it gets worse what will you do at that point?
Dentist: "I don't know"

Our little girl has a diaper rash:
We go the the local pediatrician and wait our turn in line. We're then seen by a doctor who examines our daughter.
Doctor 1: "Hmmmm yes I see there is a rash. I would like you to wait here while I go and confer with my colleague"
Us: ( Feeling uneasy. We're being seen by a pediatrician who seems confused by a diaper rash.)
Doctor 2: "Yes, your daughter has a diaper rash. Please go to the pharmacy and get this particular brand of diaper cream.
Us: "Ok thank you."
We go to the pharmacy. The brand has two product options not specified by the doctor.
Us: "Can you tell me the difference between these two products?"
Pharmacist: "I don't know"

We're pregnant with our second child! Yeah!!!:
My Sambo is considered high risk for several reasons and were concerned for the health and safety of the baby and mother. We went to the local clinic and met with the nurse.
Us: "When will we meet our doctor?"
Nurse: "In Sweden you're paired with a midwife throughout your pregnancy. You'll meet the doctor when it's time to deliver the baby."
Us: (reaction of shock. you don't meet a doctor until you give birth)
Us: "What about the ultasounds the monitoring and tests?"
Nurse: "We don't do many of those. We don't do ultrasounds where you can hear the heartbeat because we don't want you to become attached to the fetus in the event it doesn't make it to term.
Us: (Did she really just say that?)
Us: "Given several factors including a previous surgery and a previous c-section, we were under the impression we would be needing a c-section for this birth."
Nurse: "The doctor will make that determination at the time of delivery"
Us: "If we are to have a c-section, can you tell us who the doctor will be performing the procedure?"
Nurse: "Which ever doctor is on call at that time"
Us: "I sure hope it's not that doctor who was confused by the sight of a diaper rash"

So I live in Sweden and I share this to highlight our experience with the care we've received here and find out what solutions others have found to receive quality care. At this point, for anything major we've been traveling back to the states. We've also traveled to London and Germany to receive care that isn't offered here. It turns out the dental issue was a root that was not extracted from a prior root canal. Yes, I'm amazed the dentist here couldn't find the source of the pain. We also went back to the US for the last trimester to give birth to our baby boy.

Does anyone have any experience finding quality care in Sweden but outside the social system?

heart20

28 August 2015 05:40:59

Malmo

Hi cbarncastle! Back home (philippines) I used to go to private clinics when seeking medical help. Expensive but worth it.
I would like to share some of my personal experiences with regards to healthcare here.

1. Three years ago, my 1.5 year old child had an on and off fever that reached 40 c. I called the vårdcentral and booked an appointment. At the clinic, the doctor just listened to my child's heartbeat and then listened at back and said "ah, its just viral". As a nurse, i asked the doctor, would you not check her complete blood count? She's been having high fever for 3 days already. I just want to make sure that its not bacterial. And the doctor said okay and ordered a blood test.

2. I just had a pregnancy test and it was positive. I called the midwife and waited 1.5 months for my appointment. I cant believe that it would take that long! And yes, I asked too if when i could meet the doctor and she answered-- not until i encounter problems during my pregnancy otherwise when i give birth. It's just weird. I went back to my country, had a check up with an OB, had ultrasound and i asked for vitamins and brought it back to Sweden.

3. During my pregnancy, I was able to palpate a lump in my left breast. I talked to my midwife and she said let me call vårdcentral and booked an appointment. At the vårdcentral, the doctor palpated my breast and said its just normal. I really insisted, i got her hand and placed it on my breast where the lump was located and she said..aha, yes i will order a breast ultrasound. After a week, i had an ultrasound and the doctor found out that it was fibroadenoma. To make just that its benign, she ordered a biopsy. Thanks God it just benign.

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