Saskatchewan health care and colds

I don't suppose I'm alone in saying "What the heck is going on". My children and I have been sick with what I thought was a cold for the past two weeks. It is either not a cold or it is crafty and bouncing back and forth between each of my children and myself just enough to keep us miserable and raw nosed.

At this stage I thought that it would be a good idea to see the family doctor to find out just what is going on. Sounds simple enough. The next available doctor wasn't our family doctor but a resident and not available for yet another week. That's a long time to wait with two sick children under the age of four and you yourself not even close to par. I voiced as much to the poor operator on the other end of the phone, in a voice raspy and likely difficult to understand. My options are to stay home and continue to take in fluids to the point of drowning or seek assistance at the Emergency Room in the nearest City (half hour drive from home).

Seeing a doctor seemed like a good idea before "Emergency Room" was thrown into the conversation, but now? Does this mean that I am one of those people that runs to the doctor at every sniffle or that I am being overly concerned with the state of health my children and I are in? What if I'm not and nobody can tell for sure unless we see a doctor. Does this sound like a cyclical thought process to anyone else?

I don't know if the conflict of interest is with the Medical Clinic or with me. I suppose that it depends on your point of view. I sure do feel confused about it though.

We stayed home yesterday because I couldn't talk myself into an hour round trip to the Emergency Room just to wait there with two sick children for who knows how long all for a "Cold". Now I can't but help think that that was their plan all along. I started to wonder why I couldn't see the doctor until next week anyway. Was it that the doctor didn't want to see a patient or was it something else. It was my mother who was the one likely to have hit the nail on the head with "their offices are filled with patients that have chronic disease". This makes sense whether it is correct or not. The only time I really end up in the Doctor's Office is when I have to have something scheduled anyway like an annual physical or something.

I really don't know why I was so upset. We are all still sick today and I am that much closer to packing everyone up and going to the Emergency Room to address this silly "cold" but I am still going to keep the appointment for next week with the family doctor, Just in case.