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Moving to France with a sick child

Moving to France with a sick child

Old Dec 16th 2017, 8:21 pm
  #31  
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Default Re: Moving to France with a sick child

Originally Posted by EuroTrash
I guess it depends on your personality but I would say "châpeau" to any family with kids who can move to a new country and settle into a new life with no stress at all, ie kids not feeling the least bit stressed at school, parents never feeling the least bit stressed getting the home sorted out, all the utilities contracts and suppliers in place, bank account sorted, home insurance sorted, CAF sorted, health insurance for the family sorted, cars sorted, and all this in an unfamiliar language. I only moved myself and I brought my work with me and the language was familiar so it was probaby about as easy as it could be, and I still managed to get quite stressed on occasion.
I agree that it depends on personality (even within the parameters I set out... a prearranged job in an organisation used to dealing with non-local language speakers).

When we moved from Canada to Germany in 1986, none of us (a family of four) spoke German. The kids were 2 and 4 at the time and ably exemplified the language sponge nature of kids brains. No problem.

The Institute arranged a furnished rental house with a nice garden, walking distance from my work, within a week of our arrival.

Banking, health stuff, buying a car were also facilitated.

No stress, just an adventure. We stayed 8 years and were all fluent within 2.

Your milage may vary.
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Old Jan 7th 2018, 9:03 pm
  #32  
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Default Re: Moving to France with a sick child

Originally Posted by InVinoVeritas
The OP hasn't been back on BE since he first posted so he hasn't read any of the replies yet - I wonder if he has forgotten that he even came on the site
Wow... I am truly sorry to all of you who have replied and genuinely appreciate the time and effort that you have taken. So sorry I haven't checked in..
My wife and I are staying in Dublin at the moment awaiting heart surgery for our little one which is scheduled for tomorrow. All being well this will be a total fix for him although he will need regular appointments to monitor the fix. We have been informed by the surgeons that there is a 99% success rate. I have only begun to read all the info and I didn't even realise that there were so many responses, just purely chance that I checked it.
We haven't ruled out the move to France for this July, we are still hoping for the Lot, but this week will most likely be the decider for us. We will certainly be looking for the right hospitals for the continued monitoring of our son, well insured before we do so.
I will check back in this week to update. My wife and I have a very positive attitude towards this. We will be financially ok for the first few months (I have a number of employment possibilities that have begun to line up). Again, a heartfelt thanks to you all for your input, really sorry I haven't checked in..
Peter
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Old Jan 8th 2018, 7:28 am
  #33  
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Default Re: Moving to France with a sick child

Originally Posted by Photive
Wow... I am truly sorry to all of you who have replied and genuinely appreciate the time and effort that you have taken. So sorry I haven't checked in..
My wife and I are staying in Dublin at the moment awaiting heart surgery for our little one which is scheduled for tomorrow. All being well this will be a total fix for him although he will need regular appointments to monitor the fix. We have been informed by the surgeons that there is a 99% success rate. I have only begun to read all the info and I didn't even realise that there were so many responses, just purely chance that I checked it.
We haven't ruled out the move to France for this July, we are still hoping for the Lot, but this week will most likely be the decider for us. We will certainly be looking for the right hospitals for the continued monitoring of our son, well insured before we do so.
I will check back in this week to update. My wife and I have a very positive attitude towards this. We will be financially ok for the first few months (I have a number of employment possibilities that have begun to line up). Again, a heartfelt thanks to you all for your input, really sorry I haven't checked in..
Peter
Hi, we'll all be rooting for you today!
But I'm still thinking of your other children, as per #3. They must be staying with family or friends while you're away from home? You'd have to set up a similar, trustworthy support network in France for future monitorings, even if, as pf said, you live right next door to the hospital and not in the next Département....
You must, in any case, take out private health insurance from Day 1 for you all, if you aren't coming with a job lined up, in order to comply with one of the conditions for residence and possibly PUMA after 3 months. Check that "well insured" doesn't involve sending all the (paid) hospital/pharmacy bills to the insurance company for reimbursement. i.e., if the hospital/pharmacy doesn't accept it as "tiers payant", you'd pay upfront and be reimbursed afterwards...
With 3 children to cater for, I don't believe savings for the "first few months" would be reasonable, unless you've got a job to come to. You haven't mentioned your line of work, nor whether you speak French adequately, but the Lot must have the same high unemployment rate as everywhere else, and you risk spending several months getting a job.
Sorry to harp on these subjects, but fore-warned is fore-armed and your children's welfare should take priority in your dreams....
All the Best!

Last edited by dmu; Jan 8th 2018 at 7:32 am.
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Old Jan 8th 2018, 7:30 am
  #34  
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Default Re: Moving to France with a sick child

Good luck for the surgery.
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Old Jan 8th 2018, 3:01 pm
  #35  
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Default Re: Moving to France with a sick child

Just a little update, the surgery was postponed until tomorrow due to a wee baby needing emergency surgery so we're just waiting to see what tomorrow brings for now.

Thank you all for your comments which I have now finally had a chance to read.

Couple of things to add in response to some of your input. Aside from all that the family situation may lead to...

My french is getting much better (Skype conversations with two french people that I have befriended a couple of times per week are helping greatly with this).

My day job at home is a Biology teacher however there are a few other things that I do freelance. I work as a graphic designer and web designer (taking a couple of clients with me which won't be enough to survive on however will pay a few bills). I also have a great deal of experience in wedding photography and have completed my french wedding photography website photivemariages.eu (not sure if this is ok to put the link in?? i'll remove if necessary) and reached out to a lot of venues and planners which is beginning to bear some fruit.
I also have TEFL.
Teach Piano and Guitar (Trinity College qualified)
and basically am willing to do whatever work I can to pay the bills. Labouring, seasonal work fruit picking etc etc.
I understand that this will completely terrify a number of the persons who have commented but nothing ventured nothing gained

We will certainly look into the insurance and how that will work for us, thank you @dmu for mentioning that.

We are selling our house so have more than a few months sorted if necessary however would rather use this to eventually buy a house outright so will be trying to avoid dipping into that pot if it's at all possible.

The comments about the support networks are incredibly useful and something that I guess we need to discuss. Currently we travel 4 hours to the specialist hospital and thankfully our families are able to care for our older Children, there are many if's and but's for the next two weeks for us.

@petitefrancaise it was incredibly kind of you to share your experience. Knowing that the care is excellent is very reassuring, but I can see how your situation must have been incredibly stressful at the time. I'm delighted to hear that she is a teenager now and that it all worked out for you. For us after our little ones surgery, without complications, he will be completely 'fixed' for lack of a better word. He will need, after this June, a yearly checkup all being well. Obviously if there are complications the move will be completely reconsidered probably put off for the foreseeable future. Our plan is to move to the Lot and it would be great to connect with you!

@purple Jim, I had a read at the site of the Mairie de la Motte, very good, we have a house lined up to rent so I will need to check out the commune that it is in and see if they have similar info. I will also have a good read at the other info links that you have supplied. Thanks for that. I'm going to look into the CAF and CPAM and try to make contact with them, you are a real wealth of info on this so I may be annoying you at a later stage on some of these!!

@Eurotrash that made me smile, we are being as realistic as possible and know full well that this will be crazy stressful without the added stress of our little one being potentially ill.

Even if we only stay in France for a very short period of time then at least we will have given it a go. Again thank you for your input and guidance. I will let you know how we proceed either way.

Talk soon,
Peter
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Old Jan 8th 2018, 4:10 pm
  #36  
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Default Re: Moving to France with a sick child

Originally Posted by Photive
Just a little update, the surgery was postponed until tomorrow due to a wee baby needing emergency surgery so we're just waiting to see what tomorrow brings for now.

I understand that this will completely terrify a number of the persons who have commented but nothing ventured nothing gained

We are selling our house so have more than a few months sorted if necessary however would rather use this to eventually buy a house outright so will be trying to avoid dipping into that pot if it's at all possible.

Even if we only stay in France for a very short period of time then at least we will have given it a go.

Peter
Thanks for all your info!
- Sorry to hear that you've got to wait another 24 hours. Courage!

- I for one am duly terrified!

- It's often recommend not to burn your boats by selling up - if things do go pear-shaped, you won't have a safety net back home....

Good luck for your baby!
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Old Jan 9th 2018, 7:01 am
  #37  
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Default Re: Moving to France with a sick child

Yes, hope everything goes well Photive. Get back to us if you need more advice.
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Old Jan 10th 2018, 5:59 pm
  #38  
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Default Re: Moving to France with a sick child

Photive,
Just a note to say I am thinking about you and hope all went well with your baby's op.
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Old Jan 19th 2018, 4:04 pm
  #39  
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Default Re: Moving to France with a sick child

Originally Posted by petitefrancaise
Photive,
Just a note to say I am thinking about you and hope all went well with your baby's op.
The operation was a complete success and our little one is home and all now, still can't believe it. The Consultant has given us the great news that we will be able to go ahead with the move and has links with a Children's Cardiac consultant in Bordeaux to hand over his yearly checkups. Thank you for your kind words. Will be in touch with loads of practical questions most likely now.
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Old Jan 19th 2018, 4:13 pm
  #40  
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Default Re: Moving to France with a sick child

Glad to hear that it all went smoothly Photive! Good luck with the déménagement.
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Old Jan 19th 2018, 4:13 pm
  #41  
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Default Re: Moving to France with a sick child

Originally Posted by Photive
The operation was a complete success and our little one is home and all now, still can't believe it. The Consultant has given us the great news that we will be able to go ahead with the move and has links with a Children's Cardiac consultant in Bordeaux to hand over his yearly checkups. Thank you for your kind words. Will be in touch with loads of practical questions most likely now.
Great news! All the best for you and your family in the future.

Courage!
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Old Jan 19th 2018, 4:34 pm
  #42  
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Default Re: Moving to France with a sick child

Originally Posted by Novocastrian
Great news! All the best for you and your family in the future.

Courage!
+1
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Old Jan 19th 2018, 4:58 pm
  #43  
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Default Re: Moving to France with a sick child

Excellent news! Join me with a Ricard.
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Old Jan 19th 2018, 6:01 pm
  #44  
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Default Re: Moving to France with a sick child

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