Davao: A Sick Girl's First Visit to Davao Doctor's Hospital

"Ako na lang ang magkasakit..." - my very thought while wiping my little girl's forehead with a damp washcloth. I think every parent will agree with me. 

The little girl has fever and it has been four days. Four long sleepless days. The first couple of days we were just observing her but on the third day, my husband had to skip work because she has reached 39 degrees, refuses to be put down, feeds are erratic and short and I also have a two-year-old to take care of.  I've been constantly offering my milk because I believe in the (super)powers of breastmilk and since we are still on direct latch, my body is aching, I'm sleepless and my nipples are sore. 

So today we went to Davao Doctor's Hospital to have her checked. It was my first time to this hospital. I like that it's clean and it's impressive that people are lining up for the elevator. It was Makati Med-ish in the sense that it has a decent lobby and a coffee shop/deli inside. 

It was weird though that their pediatricians hold clinics on different floors of the Medical Tower Building. And since we do not know a pedia, we were relying on a list I got from their FB page.  We went to the 5F but the secretary said we didn't make it to the cut-off and to return tomorrow instead. We took the stairs and went to the one on the 4F only to find out that her clinic is closed. Our choice then is to go to the ER or check the other four doctors on my list (on different floors). I said we go back to the lobby and ask help. We should have done this in the first place. I asked the lady on the desk for a pediatrician and she gave me a list with their schedules and their clinic locations. It's weird that the list she gave me was very different from that of the list that whoever manages their FB account gave me just the night before. So since it was lunch time already, we decided to take our lunch at a nearby KFC and just went back to DDH for the 2pm doctor. 

Doctor was available and took us in before 2pm, yay! :) She was old yet accomodating. We were advised to have a CBC done to rule out dengue because fever was not due to an ear infection and tonsils were clear. I like it that she checked the little girl for lymph nodes. CBC ruled out dengue, thank God, but she will be on medication for a week for something else. 

My take-aways today:
• Go to the hospital as early in the day as you can so you can be the first patient to be attended to, especially if you are going for a pedia.
• Ask for assistance immediately, will not hurt to ask.
• If possible have an appointment scheduled.
• Look for a pediatrician for the kids, preferably someone who also holds a clinic outside the hospital to avoid kids from being exposed to all sorts of who-knows-what bacteria.