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My son went through a pneumonia too, recently. Eventually, it got worse, and he ended up being hospitalized for a few days. I was very happy to have both government-subsidized healthcare as well as a small complementary private insurance. We ended only paying very little money out of pocket for the care he got.
I know this platform hosts many people who are very skeptical of government support, but I for one, believe that in this instance of healthcare, it is a good thing. I likely pay more money in taxes to healthcare than what I get in return as I am relatively healthy, but I know some people who pay much less taxes but already got much more healthcare support.
There are voluntary non-government schemes to achieve the same goal, so I'm not necessarily advocating for government healthcare, but some kind of centralized redistribution of wealth (be it a Geyser fund, private insurance, voluntary pooling of money for healthcare, government support,...) can make sure one never has to chose between their kid's life and putting food on the table.
I'm sorry to hijack your post for this. I'm happy your kid got the care they needed.
Don't apologize, this space is free to talk or share stories. How did you handle your son's pneumonia? I'm going crazy, I'm very paranoid, and I'm afraid that this will get out of control and that my daughter won't be able to receive good medical care. I already took her to the doctor and she's taking all her medicines, but her cough still won't go away and that scares me a lot because I think she still can't breathe or that she's not getting better. Did your son take many days to recover? There are public hospitals here, and people who have comprehensive social insurance can receive medical care and tests for free, but the doctors are not very good.
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He unfortunately is quite sensitive to lung infections. It often takes several days to resolve.
We only get antibiotics when it is medically confirmed. I like that about the hospital we go to. Many parents/doctors will go for antibiotics straight away, even when it is not sure yet if its viral or bacterial. I don't like that. Superbacteria due to bad use of antibiotics is real, so antibiotics should not be abused.
We have a little home-nebulizer now, so nebulizing is part of his routine whenever he coughs. The doctors here like to say I need to hit his back with a cupped hand regularly when he coughs, so I do that (even though I am not sure it is actually useful or not, but it doesn't hurt to do it). Some other cough meds, but not sure what exactly they are.
Mostly, it's a matter of time to recover while making sure it doesn't evolve from bronchitis into pneumonia. Pneumonia really needs medical attention as it can get bad if it is not properly taken care of.
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I completely understand what you're saying about antibiotics. Here at the health centers they like to send antibiotics just because, just because, and just in case, that's why I don't like to take her to those health centers. Monday was the exception because the fever wouldn't go away and the cough got worse. It's essential to live in places where there's good medical care, especially when you have children. I also have a nebulizer, but I've never used it for my daughter. I found it funny that thing about patting the back, that technique is recommended by grandmothers on this side of the world, they say it helps loosen the phlegm in the lungs, no doctor has recommended it to me yet, since not all coughs mean phlegm.
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