Kaitlyn has been sick all weekend with a cough and a fever. Normally if she’s sick, she’s better within a day. So this is very unusual. She just lies around and barely eats. She can’t sleep at night because she can’t get comfortable. And now she’s complaining that her ear hurts.
We skipped ski school this morning (again… and, obviously) and when I told her I was going to call the doctor, she perked up. Kaitlyn is a great believer in the power of medicine.
With all the confidence in the world, I picked up the phone and called our doctor. She speaks English, but is always encouraging me to work on my French. So I’d practiced what to say in French. I launched into my speech when the woman cut me off… it wasn’t the doctor. It was the secretary. The doctor is not in today. Drat. If I’m going to have to go to a strange doctor and speak a strange language, I might as well go to the doctor in town. (My doctor is about 15 or 20 minutes away.)
I finally found her name and number in the little town booklet we’d gotten in the mail a few weeks ago. (I wasn’t even sure why I’d kept it, but it’s a good thing I had.) I called her and started by explaining that I don’t speak French very well. The doctor answers his or her own phone. There’s no nurse or receptionist… only an answering service if the doctor is off. An answering machine if the doctor is busy. Anyway, she said my French was fine, which was kind, so I kept going. I gave her my rehearsed bit about Kaitlyn having a fever, a cough and now her ear hurts. We have an appointment this afternoon. I hope I got the time right. And I hope I can find the office. She was super nice on the phone. It should be ok in person, when I can point and act things out.