 Hey, welcome back to the YouTube channel. Today, we're gonna talk about healthcare. What is healthcare like in New Zealand? So I've done some videos on this before, so I'll link them above as well. But today, I wanna talk to you about my experience actually going through a surgery with my daughter and what I think about the healthcare system based on that today. And you're gonna wanna stay tuned to the end because I have my daughter answer a couple of questions on her experience as well, so you'll get to meet her and a little bit about her experience with the healthcare system here in New Zealand. Here we go. So over a year ago, if you guys don't know, my daughter, who's now 14, injured her knee at a volleyball tournament up North. And so I'm gonna go through kind of my experience with that and to kind of let you know and some of my thoughts on the universal healthcare, socialized healthcare, what do you wanna call it here in New Zealand? So this is what happened. So we were up North at a tournament and I showed up and within 20 minutes, she was on the ground and she hurt her knee. And so I took her to the emergency and we had to wait. We had to wait quite a bit. I'm gonna be totally honest with you on my experience, which was fine, which is like kind of what you expect in emergency, right? So probably didn't see a doctor for about two hours. And then when we saw him and we're out of town. So you know, it's like, we're guessing where to go. You know, we didn't take her to the hospital. I think we just took her to the after hours. I think it was after hours at that point. And yeah, she couldn't put any weight on it, her knee, whatever. So he looked at it and he was like, oh yeah, it doesn't look good. He could guess, but we needed to get some actual tests done and some x-ray. He did an x-ray right there actually, but then we needed an MRI. We needed to look at it closer. And so he then recommended that I go to a specialist and they said that I will create an ACC number for you. And so anybody who lives in New Zealand and is part of the public services, if you have an accident, whether it's your fault or not, you can go under ACC and it's like accident compensation, something. And basically, if you go through the process with that number, then kind of everything's taken care of and covered. And so that was amazing. I was like, really? Okay. And so we had an ACC number. And we got a specialist in Wellington. So then the next week when we came, the next day we came back and I called them and asked if they could switch it to Laura Hut because I live in Laura Hut, which is about 30 minutes from the city. And they're like, I'm not taking her in and out of the city, just as a big hassle. I got a bunch of kids. This is not what I'm doing. So I tried to get set with another specialist and that was not working. And then the best one that a friend had recommended in Laura Hut, he wasn't available. And then we were on the waiting list anyway. So because this isn't an emergency, they put you on a waiting list. And yeah, so it was a couple of months. So we do have health insurance. So we started thinking, okay, well, maybe we go that route, which enables you to then go right to the specialist. But the problem is due to COVID and different situations, they were way behind. So there wasn't getting an appointment anyway. So yeah, we had to wait with that. And so, that's frustrating because your daughter is, I understand, because I can appreciate that there's people that have emergency, totally get that. But also, your daughter is an athlete and this could be a huge injury and could be a long recovery. And just like adding the months to the process was not great. So my husband was more frustrated with that than me because he's their coach, but I was like, okay, it's fine. We got in, but I did make a lot of phone calls. I counted and I kept track just for you guys. I made 14 phone calls just trying to get her organized or paperwork or ACC. I don't even remember because it's been over a year right now, but I did write down a couple of things. So like 14 phone calls to get her sorted to eventually get in with this doctor. And so then we did meet with the surgeon. It didn't, it was an ACL and a meniscus tear. It was not good. She basically needed surgery. So we got sorted with him and then it was a wait to get to the surgery. So I think this happened in early 2021. Was it 2021? Yeah, early 2021. And then, we didn't even get into the surgery until July. So we're talking like January, February to, or was it no, or yeah, it might have even been like November, December actually. No, no, no, it was January, February. And then, yes. And then it wasn't until July that we could actually like the first of July that we could actually get her in and get the surgery. So we got in, really liked her surgeon, had a really good experience with that, but it was all very new. It's definitely different than I'm used to. She did great. And she was just weird as overnight in the hospital and I stayed there and they gave me a bed and it was really nice and well cared for. Like no complaints whatsoever from in mother's perspective. And so then, it was a long journey of healing. So it was a long journey of resting and healing, seeing the doctor, but it was really great. Like even like the brace that she had to wear before she got the surgery to walk around, just make her life a little bit easier. That was free. Like it was just weird that I'm just walking out with like what I know to be very expensive things or they are in this U.S. Anyway, they're just giving them to you. And they're like, okay, that's, wow. You know, crutches, you know, like things that cost a lot of money. And so that was interesting and different. And then the surgery, like to then like walk out and to not get a bill after like staying over in the hospital and nobody hesitating with tests, like anything that they felt needed to happen. You know, they did it really, really well cared for. And then we were on the recovery journey. And then, so the ACC actually recently reduced what they would pay for in terms of the physical therapy that she would need afterwards. And so they pay a portion of it, but it used to cover all of it. And so that's fine. I think we paid $25 every time she goes, yeah, to the physical therapist, which was a lot, you know, in the beginning. And it's been over a year. So where do we, we're in August. So it's been a year in July. Everything looks good, but she just hasn't passed her physical therapy test. So like when she was giving her tests, her knee gave out. So that was definitely a concern because she's young and she has a 30% chance of re-injure. So the doctor was like, well, we're not gonna have her play any sports until we are solid that her knee is in good shape. And of course I agree with that. And so she's continuing with the PE and doing some personal training now and doing a lot better. So that overall the experience was good. It definitely took a while compared to like probably what I've had in the US, but it didn't cost me anything at all. And that's crazy to me. It's crazy to me. Like even my son got another side story. My son got COVID, like passed out, had ambulance come. Like it was just like a thing. He just was dehydrated. Anyway, that's another story. But he goes in the hospital, they do all these tests just in case. And then he comes out with nothing, like a piece of paper of saying like what he should do to rest at home. Like this was it. I was like, wow. Doesn't cost anything. That's just so weird, you know? But yeah, so I know that we were just happened to have surgery when there wasn't a lot of people there. I know that it's often that you would share a room in the hospital. It's definitely not as fancy as the hospitals in the US because well, they don't have insurance companies and all of the money that comes along with that and to make building these big beautiful hospitals and these networks and whatnot. So yeah, it's definitely more of just like actually what you need as opposed to these fancy places to go to. But yeah, it was good. Overall, I was very happy overall with her service that she got and treatment and she's well on her way to recovery. So fingers crossed that there's no re-injuring happening. Okay, well I have my daughter Sydney with us here and she's 14 at the moment. And so I just told you all about her knee surgery experience. So I thought it'd be fun to have her on here and to talk a little bit about it from her perspective. So I just thought I'd ask you a couple of questions about your experience with your knee surgery. Like how did you feel the surgery went? Were you like nervous in the hospital? Like what did you think of the quality of the hospital? And like I guess the care that you got and maybe your surgeon, anything you wanna say about it? It was good. It went by really fast but I was expecting a lot longer. But like when I got there, it was too early so I don't remember that much. But- It was early, that's right. The whole process just to do it took forever. That was annoying. But people were nice. After the surgery was just like fast, well, obviously. But it felt fast. It was painful and annoying to kind of constantly go to the bathroom. Yeah, that's true. But like did you feel like the nurses were helpful? Oh yeah, they were constantly checking up. Yeah, it was nice that I could stay there. I stayed in like the bed next to her. So that was fun. But yeah, it was good. I think that was that. Okay, so then like we had a long recovery after that with the physio. And we're still going. And we're still going, ladies and gentlemen. She needs to pass this specific test in order to continue her to be able to go back to sport. So yeah. So how have you liked that process? Do you think that's been helpful? Helpful, obviously it's helpful. Yeah, it's just been hard not being able to do anything by anything. But I just know I got to keep doing it even though I don't want to because I got to get there in the end, but. Yeah, no, that's true. It's been a long journey, everyone. It's been a long journey. Constellating. Have you liked your physio? Oh yeah, I have liked it. Yeah, I like Molly. She's pretty good. I would like her to be a little bit more straightforward with you. Just being like, you need to do this as opposed to if you're feeling okay. You know, it's just a little bit like. Sorry, she's being nice. Well, I mean, it's just like, I think that we all need that push sometimes, not just you and your age or anything. But yeah, so how is it feeling right now? Like do you feel stronger or? It just feels normal. It feels normal. It doesn't feel like any trauma. And you don't have any pain anymore? Uh, not really. It's kind of gone to the stage where if something happens, it's not really gonna hurt. Is that really gonna hurt? Okay, okay. Well, thanks for sharing your experience with us Sydney today. And then this is the outfit. This is the uniform that they have to wear to school. Look at this, ladies and gentlemen. This is like, why don't you stand up? Show them the skirt. See if they can see it. Oh yeah. Oh, oh. I got a stain on the skirt. Welcome to kids in their skirt. So the skirt and then sit down, look at the blazer, it's cute. It's cool. So yeah, it makes it easy to decide. And then you get like hints depending on how I guess, academic and amazing you are, right? These are non-academic. Oh, they're not? Oh yeah. Okay, that's hilarious. Well, this one is your speech and drama and you're, she won the business challenge. Wonder where she gets that from? Anyway, anyway, so thanks for joining us today. I thought that that would be nice to have her on and I hope that was helpful. All right, so that's the update on the healthcare in our family recently. And so in my experience, I just thought I'd share that with you because I know a couple of you had asked me about that. And so yeah, so comment below on your healthcare experiences. I would love to hear it. Like I've heard people on my channel talking about how bad the healthcare compares to the US. I would love to hear more, like more like specifics as to what has been your experience. And so like I'm limited. We haven't actually used the health services very often. I would say my personal experience is very different, how everything goes through a GP. I haven't always liked my doctors or okay, but you know, that's true anywhere. You just gotta find the right fit for you. So comment below your experiences with healthcare here in New Zealand and I'll see you guys next week.