Circles
I am trying to stay positive and adjust to life in Norway, but I encountered a big setback yesterday. I don't have a citizen number yet here, which makes a lot of things much more difficult. Kevin has applied for a citizen number: he had to go to the police station, bring his birth certificate, his college transcripts, and his employer had to prove that there wasn't a qualified Norwegian who could be doing his job. After all this, Kevin was told it would still be months before he got his number, and I can't even apply for one as his wife until he has received his number. I know that I will also have to provide my birth certificate, marriage license and college transcripts. I'm a little worried about the last one--I got a C- in calculus my first semester of freshman year...that's a pretty bad grade, will I be deported because of it?
Anyway, as long as we don't stay in Norway for more than 3 months at a time, we can go on living as we are until we get our numbers. That's not a problem, Kevin travels internationally all the time, and I will be going back to the U.S. at regular intervals, especially over the holidays. The citizen number thing really becomes a problem when we want to do things like open a bank account, order cable TV, or see a doctor. When you have a citizen number, you call the Fastlege office who will assign you to a doctor.
Back to yesterday...I have asthma and allergies, and in the U.S. I went to an allergist who prescribed an inhaler and also gave me regular allergy shots. I have been putting off finding a doctor because I don't have my citizen number yet. I have my prescriptions at a pharmacy in New York, in addition to bringing a stash of medicine to Norway when we moved. I am not getting my allergy shots yet, but that isn't as big a deal as having my inhaler. I really thought I had enough medicine to last me until next Friday when I go back to New York for 2 weeks. But on Thursday, I tried to take a puff on my inhaler, and there was nothing left. Some drugs which are prescription only in the U.S. are OTC here, so first I went to the pharmacy in hopes that my inhaler would be OTC--no such luck. I explained the situation to the pharmacist who recommended I just pop over to the doctor's office next door, explain what was going on, and maybe they could write me a prescription. The receptionist at the doctor's office said no, you have to call this number at the Fastlege office to be assigned a doctor. In frustration, I went over to a Norwegian friend's house, hoping she could explain my situation, in Norwegian, to the Fastlege office. She called, was told that because I don't have a citizen number yet, they can't assign me a doctor, so I should just go to a doctor of my choice and establish myself as a new patient. At this point, I'm more than a little annoyed, because wasn't that what I just tried to do? And was told to call the Fastlege instead? By this time, it was after 3 PM, everything was closing, so my friend suggested that I go with her to her doctor tomorrow, she could help translate, and hopefully I could get established as a patient there.
Friday morning arrived and my friend and I headed over to her doctor's office. She helped me to explain my situation to the receptionist, who seemed to be nodding and smiling...very good signs indeed! She took my international insurance card, put all my information in the computer, and then a doctor took me to his office. He wrote me the prescriptions--victory! He asked me some questions about my previous asthma treatment, and said it seemed like I should probably be referred to a specialist. Yes please!!! He then said, "But I can't refer you because I'm not your assigned doctor." I yet again explained that I don't have a doctor assigned by the powers that be in Norway, I was told that I could just choose a doctor, and I chose him. He then said, "But I am not taking any new patients. I can write this prescription for you today because it is a bit of an emergency, but in the meantime you need to be assigned to a doctor who is seeing new patients, and that doctor will have to refer you to a specialist." Aaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!!! I'm dizzy from all the wandering in circles I have been doing over the past couple days.
But on the bright side, it only cost me NOK 300 to both go to the doctor and buy 2 inhalers. NOK 300 is about $50 U.S., so that's quite a savings. And I'm not going to keel over anytime soon, because I do have my medicine now. And best of all, my father-in-law and step-mother-in-law sent me (and Kevin of course) a care package with Christmas presents and all the ingredients to make pumpkin pie!!!! I'm making one today for some Norwegian friends--they can't even imagine eating pumpkin, it's absolutely unheard of here. Hopefully I'll wow them--my hope is that if I convert enough Norwegians into diehard pumpkin pie fans who start requesting pumpkin, maybe the grocery stores will finally start carrying pumpkin filling. So off I go, attempting to convert a nation, one pumpkin pie at a time!
Anyway, as long as we don't stay in Norway for more than 3 months at a time, we can go on living as we are until we get our numbers. That's not a problem, Kevin travels internationally all the time, and I will be going back to the U.S. at regular intervals, especially over the holidays. The citizen number thing really becomes a problem when we want to do things like open a bank account, order cable TV, or see a doctor. When you have a citizen number, you call the Fastlege office who will assign you to a doctor.
Back to yesterday...I have asthma and allergies, and in the U.S. I went to an allergist who prescribed an inhaler and also gave me regular allergy shots. I have been putting off finding a doctor because I don't have my citizen number yet. I have my prescriptions at a pharmacy in New York, in addition to bringing a stash of medicine to Norway when we moved. I am not getting my allergy shots yet, but that isn't as big a deal as having my inhaler. I really thought I had enough medicine to last me until next Friday when I go back to New York for 2 weeks. But on Thursday, I tried to take a puff on my inhaler, and there was nothing left. Some drugs which are prescription only in the U.S. are OTC here, so first I went to the pharmacy in hopes that my inhaler would be OTC--no such luck. I explained the situation to the pharmacist who recommended I just pop over to the doctor's office next door, explain what was going on, and maybe they could write me a prescription. The receptionist at the doctor's office said no, you have to call this number at the Fastlege office to be assigned a doctor. In frustration, I went over to a Norwegian friend's house, hoping she could explain my situation, in Norwegian, to the Fastlege office. She called, was told that because I don't have a citizen number yet, they can't assign me a doctor, so I should just go to a doctor of my choice and establish myself as a new patient. At this point, I'm more than a little annoyed, because wasn't that what I just tried to do? And was told to call the Fastlege instead? By this time, it was after 3 PM, everything was closing, so my friend suggested that I go with her to her doctor tomorrow, she could help translate, and hopefully I could get established as a patient there.
Friday morning arrived and my friend and I headed over to her doctor's office. She helped me to explain my situation to the receptionist, who seemed to be nodding and smiling...very good signs indeed! She took my international insurance card, put all my information in the computer, and then a doctor took me to his office. He wrote me the prescriptions--victory! He asked me some questions about my previous asthma treatment, and said it seemed like I should probably be referred to a specialist. Yes please!!! He then said, "But I can't refer you because I'm not your assigned doctor." I yet again explained that I don't have a doctor assigned by the powers that be in Norway, I was told that I could just choose a doctor, and I chose him. He then said, "But I am not taking any new patients. I can write this prescription for you today because it is a bit of an emergency, but in the meantime you need to be assigned to a doctor who is seeing new patients, and that doctor will have to refer you to a specialist." Aaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!!! I'm dizzy from all the wandering in circles I have been doing over the past couple days.
But on the bright side, it only cost me NOK 300 to both go to the doctor and buy 2 inhalers. NOK 300 is about $50 U.S., so that's quite a savings. And I'm not going to keel over anytime soon, because I do have my medicine now. And best of all, my father-in-law and step-mother-in-law sent me (and Kevin of course) a care package with Christmas presents and all the ingredients to make pumpkin pie!!!! I'm making one today for some Norwegian friends--they can't even imagine eating pumpkin, it's absolutely unheard of here. Hopefully I'll wow them--my hope is that if I convert enough Norwegians into diehard pumpkin pie fans who start requesting pumpkin, maybe the grocery stores will finally start carrying pumpkin filling. So off I go, attempting to convert a nation, one pumpkin pie at a time!
posted by Emily @ 9:40 AM
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