Recommend Pediatric Neurologist

Hello everyone.
so, looking to move to Tainan/Kaohsiung this June for a year (possibly 3) before moving closer to Taipei for a further 5-7.
My 2.5 year old daughter has epilepsy and we would like to start searching for a Pediatric Neurologist in southern Taiwan.
any ideas where we can search? who to ask?
I know that intake appointments are harder to get, and often have a long waiting list. so it would be good to get on the list ASAP.
We normally see our Doc every 6 mo.

also. about insurance.
we will def have private insurance for the and first 4 mo (as i cant get Nat and my ARC until than, correct?) we will be language students at the CLC of NCKU.
any idea how insurance things work, or where to look for info? I asked the embassy, but they where only generally helpful.
thinking of keeping my youngest on private insurance forever. just in case anything. (i have heard of ppl who have both Nat, and private… not sure why, but… I was under the understanding that local healthcare was not expensive.)
I am a big fan of chinese medicine, hollistic healing, and homeopathy. which are never covered by insurance.

my daughters’ current medication (which we tried to dose her off and failed. will not try again until she is 8yrs old as per various friends experiences) is Keppra (LEVETIRACETAM 100mg/ml solution)
not sure if it exists in TW. or if a script is needed. if someone could ask a pharmacy. greatly appreciated.
its about $60-70 for a monthly dose here sans insurance… (approx 160ml)

anywho. any help and all tips advice are greatly appreciated.

you can also contact me directly on LINE: chichihuil

thanks in advance

oh… would preffer the doc in Tainan or Kaohisung, but its such a small island, Taipei would be worth it for a better doc/better hospital.
it is imporant for it to be a PEDIATRIC Neurologist. we changed three times here…
thanks again.

Can’t help with a recommendation, but just wanted to wish you luck in your search and with your daughter’s health. I moved from an area where many of my friends were part of a cooperative specifically for helping with pediatric epilepsy, and their stories of their “patients” are quite emotional, especially as a father of two.

For the insurance, I believe that the national plan doesn’t kick in until 6 months after you’ve gotten your ARC, but maybe that is different for student visas? So definitely keep your private insurance going for a while. Even without any insurance, I’ve found the medical bills to be quite affordable, at least compared to the US.

Also, my understanding about having private insurance at the same time as national is that national only covers a basic tier of service. If you want above and beyond, you have to pay out of pocket, which can get pretty expensive depending on what level of care/service you want.

if you will come on a visitor visa for studying, you will change it to ARC after 4 months, then you will have to wait for another 6 months to join a National Health Insurance. If the school is affiliated to Uni, doesn’t they have an insurance for foreign students? They might have info on their web site.

epilepsy is 癲癇, and Pediatric Neurologist is 小兒神經科醫師. NCKU hospital has a department of Pediatric Neurology (小兒神經科).

Keppra seems to be available in Taiwan. You will need to see a doctor to get it, because it is usually for patients older than 4 yr. When other medicines don’t work doctor will script it. Your daughter’s medical record would help to skip the other medicines.

You can search members of epilepsy society here.
http://epilepsy.org.tw/member/map.asp#台南

This site gives me a list of Pediatric Neurologists just in Taipei, though it seems it must show doctors in other cities too.
http://www.tcns.org.tw/contents/dr.htm

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Chinese medicine, and hollistic healing and homeopathy are very different. Homeopathy is just a good luck charm, or sugar. Hollistic healing is what? I hope you use proper medical treatment for your daughter when it is necessary.

Thank you so much! Hollistic healing is energy based. Similar to tantric healing and works well for certain ailments. NOT epilepsy.
I used homeopathy growing up and it was great for colds and allergies and tummy aches n bruises. Also not good for epilepsy.

I understand my daughter needs alopathic medicine. The only non alopathic source for epilepsy treatment is hemp oil. But it is still too new to have certified effects (though people rave about it’s usefulness and amazing curative properties) I don’t think it will be available or legal in Asia for years, if ever. I am also under the understanding that it is used as a last resort med, and is more appropriate for adults. So again, not my daughter. (also, would never want to give her something like that during her developmental stage which, if we are lucky, could be the only time she has epilepsy).

I will ask the foreign student center if they could help m contacting the NCKU pediatric neurology dept. Tks for the tip. And the awesome resource of the EP soc.
We drive 2hrs to see her neurologist now, so, going to Taipei every 6mo would not be a huge deal. I’ve heard they have great pediatric dept there.
Tks for the Keppra Info. She takes 2.5ml of 100mg x ml solution twice a day. I will see her neurologist the 20th and will ask him for some kind of “international script”, and see about getting it translated and notarized
Thanks again for your advice. Greatly appreciated.

And yeah. Various friends have corraborated that Nat ins IS after 6mo of HOLDING the ARC. They also said that healthcare on the isla d Is considerably better and cheaper than the states. As is medication. And insurance is less of a hassle to deal with (our insurance here constantly tries to not approve medications or treatment and requires various calls and ridiculous negotiations)
Can’t say I’ll miss it.

You can make an appointment by yourself online for NCKU Hospital. Most hospitals in Taiwan have this online registration system.

Choose Pediatrics then you will find pediatric neurologist in the next page. The earliest appointment you can make now is April 18. For the most popular doctor, you should wait till May 22. Appointment for June and later is not open yet.

You need a telephone number to complete it. It might be a problem. Then, you can call to hospital from US, if you need to make an appointment in advance. Big hospitals have someone speak English.

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I can’t comment on the insurance system, but one thing I will say is that (in my experience) Taiwan often lets you talk to specialists earlier and faster (and in greater number), but the time you get with them is less. When our daughter was initially (misdiagnosed) with a genetic disorder, NTU, Tri-Service, and Rongzong all saw us very quickly. I was expecting it to be like the States where you go to a general practitioner or pediatrician who then refers you to specialists and your insurance must approve it, etc, etc, etc, but as tando says you can queue up and see someone pretty quickly. There are also hospitals/services that more-or-less specialize in helping foreigners (Adventist is the one I hear most often in Taipei). I would do a tour of several hospitals when you first arrive to get the lay of the land (NCKU is good and Kaohsiung must have many good hospitals).

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Awsome. Thanks guys. And thank you very much Tando for checking
I can call TW from my US cell. So I could call an check. I called around to schools to check for the girls enrollment with the help of a Chinese friend.
I do plan on getting one of those prepaid sim cards you pickup at the airport. There is an online website that lets you pre-purchase them at a discount and than just pick them up. They might be able to give me my number in advance.
Otherwise I can ask a TW friend to borrow their number for the registration.
Thanks again. I’m very happy to be moving with my family to a country with such an friendly community

Don’t know, but my little brother suffered from severe epilepsy (he had surgery to remove the benign brain tumor that was causing it when he was 15), so I just wanted to wish you and your daughter my best.

Thank you. It was pretty scary, pushing the 30min mark… But she is better now. Almost fine after a week of being back on her full dose of Keppra.
Just want to make sure we build the best support network we possibly can in what will be our new home to th fordesble future