Prior to my brother's arrival I was having sleepless nights due to excitement and 3:00 am stomachaches. On their first night Rohan didn't understand there was such as a thing as global time difference so cried in the wee hours in the morning because his parents wouldn't get up with him and play. Add to that my darling husband Tom had colds and was snoring in my ear.

By Wednesday, I felt like I haven't slept for weeks and got myself an ear plug. What a wonderful little thing!

At first I was uneasy putting them on because you had to squeeze one end into a small roll and insert it inside the ear canal. I momentarily had visions of me going deaf. But after a few tries, I was amazed as to how little I could hear afterwards, not the creaking bedroom floor, not the door closing, not the click of our bedroom lamp switch, certainly not the sounds beyond our bedroom door.

The following morning I felt so refreshed that I am kicking myself why I never tried ear plugs before - back in college where the song "Power Of Love" was blaring in our neighbourhood's carenderia's jukebox past midnight, or the late night charismatic seminars in our nearby church's sound system, or the nightly basketball game just below my room in San Juan Manila. I was always a light sleeper but a pair of ear plugs would have made a huge difference.

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Rohan Sick, Uninsured and the U.S. Public Health

Talking about not getting enough sleep, Rohan's crying extended for several night not because of jetlag alone but he somehow caught a virus, he had colds, slight fever and diarrhea. One of my concerns before Gboy and his family came over was insurance, especially when they had a kid in tow. As Tom would say, the uninsured are not protected here in the U.S.

Imagine this, an initial doctor's visit if uninsured would cost around $100, this doesn't include medicine. One friend mentioned that a trip to the emergency room because of diarrhea cost $1,700 - he was covered by insurance so he didn't pay that amount.

But chatting with my friend from Belarus, who also came here as an immigrant with a 2 year old kid in tow, she told me that immigrants' children at a certain age can be enrolled in Medicaid which would mean free medicines and doctor's visit. Unfortunately Rohan got sick even before they got SS numbers, which was a requirement for a Medicaid application.

Through the help of my officemate Tanya, she gave me the links of the clinic where she brought her daughter Yulia while they were still uninsured and got free treatment. She said to explain Rohan's situation to them and ask for consideration. The problem was these clinics only service Chicago residents. Officially, Gboy and family is not a resident of any city yet.

What I did was to Google free clinics, evanston, illinois (the city of our residence) and got a link to our public health clinic. Chariz called them, which she was turned down but due to her insistence she was entertained and told to bring a letter from me or Tom certifying that we are a resident of this city, that they are indeed unemployed and that Tom and I are supporting them.

So they were able to get an appointment and was charged only $15. Tom works for the federal government, asked around and nobody had a clue for cases like these. If not for a tip from another immigrant we wouldn't have known what to do.

And yes, Rohan is now well and sleeps through the night without a fuss. I have put my ear plugs away until the next time Tom catches cold again 

New Rohan Photos at the gallery, for the benefit of the lola and the tita back home

Currently listening to: bird sounds
Currently reading: HTML
Currently watching: Closer