Congrats on the people that passed their tests!! And good you got your axel back doubletoe

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Tidesong

Not gonna work that way here. Your home doctor needs to send you to a podiatrist and that's a nightmare to get arranged. The only job the home doctors seem to be good at seems to be to prevent you from seeing the specialists you really need to see (which they kept up so long that a bladder infection turned into a kidney, pancreas, and some other things infection in me a few years ago). I don't have the time and energy to go and whine once a week that I need to see one - and even when I saw one a few years ago for a different problem, they're just SO unqualified.
Same for the urologists and immunologists I had to see. They just went like... Well, you might wanna accept you're not gonna get better.
I'm like WTF?! They're like. Bye, I'll tell my secretary that she shouldn't make appointments for you anymore, you should see your home doctor now he can prescribe you all the necessary painkillers and send to a psychologist to accept that you're not gonna get better... So we went to Russia and subsequently Ukraine, where it took them 3 years, but they did fix me up to the point where I'm studying, working and skating (even though I regularly am seriously ill and in a lot of pain, but hey, it's an improvement! And we're not done going to the ukraine every summer to continue treatment yet).

I might see one in summer when we're in the ukraine, but mainly I'm gonna try switching into jacksons. I'm very much fed up with this "unbreakable" idea Risport has for their skates. Jacksons felt more comfortable.

And really, the 1 thing you don't want in the netherlands is seeing a doctor, any doctor. I've got a couple of other friends who fell seriously ill and eventually emigrated to England and Belgium and other countries because they were desperate to get proper medical care.
Which is not really weird, cuz all the dutch med schools are the same in quality, they don't recognize med schools from other countries, and to get into a Dutch med school, you have to be lucky in a lottery! If they have 5 000 places and 15 000 appliants, they write the numbers of the appliants, pull out 5 000 numbers and those get to study. And then it's virtually impossible to get kicked out, no matter how bad you do. It could be that you study longer, but then that's less than 3000 euro a year. Recently, there was a research that concluded that virtually no last-grade med students had sufficient CPR skills. And there was this TV programme about med students, not to mock them or anything, really serious. And they all went like... Yeah well cpr is boring and yeah I failed it but that's okay cuz that grade's compensated by my grade for surgery/pediatry/whatever is their area of interest so that on average, it's a pass and thus I passed both, CPR too. The one thing you don't wanna hear from your doctor when you're dying is that his CPR grade was compensated with something else!!!
As for good grades vs "pass", it seems to be Dutch culture that you're not allowed to get good grades. You get good grades in school, other kids will make your life a hell and even teachers tell you, what do you need such good grades for? Take it easy, enjoy life! And indeed, why would they? All the hospitals are government-funded and whether you're good or bad, you get paid the same anyway.
Is it any wonder Dutch health care sux?

I'll just step off this soapbox now...

And go buy me some jacksons.

But Sessy - our lot try to go to the Continent for treatment as it's so much better there....

Seriously, though - could you go to your local pharmacy? Here, we're encouraged to take minor complaints to the pharmacist, who will know if you seriously need to see a doctor, or if they can recommend something, and it may be something as simple as a pad in the right place which will do the trick.

Alternatively, show your feet to your coach, who may well have ideas - you probably won't be his or her only pupil with foot issues. And/or your skate fitter.

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Mrs Redboots
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I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

WOO HOOOOO!!! You got it back!!!! And since you know what is wrong and how to correct it, you'll definitely keep it now too!!!

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Cheers,
jazzpants

11-04-2006: Shredded "Pre-Bronze FS for Life" Club Membership card!!!
Silver Moves is the next "Mission Impossible"
(Dare I try for Championship Adult Gold someday???)

Thank you for the support, you guys!!!

Well, the Dutch people do too. Usually, to France or Austria or England, sometimes to Spain or Belgium. That's continent too... Even to the point that most health insurances encourage people to go get their knees operated in Spain and such. Because it is done within a few weeks and is done well in Spain and in the Netherlands you have to wait for a year to get a torn meniscus repaired. And they're cheaper in Spain too. So of course insurances love to send people to get their surgeries abroad. And people just love getting medical aid fast.
Pharmacists actually don't prescribe things here...


I talked to my skate fitter and he went like... "yeah what did you think was gonna happen skating as much as you do? Those won't go away, not skating that often."
Thanks a lot...
But he's probably right, if I don't skate for 2 days, it doesn't hurt anymore, not even after the first skating session after that. Anyway, starting next week there is only 1 hour of skating a week anyway and starting april 14th there's no skating anymore till september.

Well, that's what I'm hoping! FX!

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"You don't have to put an age limit on your dreams." - Dara Torres, 41, after her 2nd medal at the 2008 Olympics