Old School Medicine

I wrote this on March 10, 2006.

I went to see a doctor in Japan last week. I've done that once before, but my boss came with me, which was good in some ways and bad in others. In any case, I went BY MYSELF this time. Scary! Going to the doctor in your home country, speaking your native language can be scary enough, so imagine how much fun it can be in Japan!

Japanese medicine seems to be very old-fashioned in a lot of ways, and not just because the nurses wear dresses, knee socks, and 1950s-style nurse caps. After slaughtering the Japanese language and looking terrified, I was given an old-school, glass thermometer so I could take my own temperature. I am glad that I asked before I stuck it in my mouth, because you actually put it under your armpit and sit in the waiting room for 5 minutes with it there. In such a technologically advanced country, do they not have those handy mouth ones that take your temperature in like 5 seconds? Maybe it's because I was at a small town clinic. It's hard to say.

When the nurses saw me headed for the bathroom, they asked me to pee in a cup- a paper cup that is. So, I took my paper cup into the bathroom, and hoped that I'd filled it up enough (although I was there for vaccinations and allergy advice, so they probably just threw my pee away!). Then I went to wash my hands, but alas, there was no soap or towels. Yeah, no soap or towels in a doctor's office bathroom. I can kind of understand the lack in public restrooms, but this was a doctor's office- a doctor's office in a country where about 20% of the people I see everyday are wearing face masks for health reasons! I felt very sanitary after the ice cold rinse I gave my hands in the smelly bathroom.

My actual time with the doctor went OK. He spoke English very well. I got a tetanus booster, which hurt like hell. He didn't have any hepatitis A vaccine, so I had to go back for that. I also got Malaria pills, with no warnings about the side-effects that can come with them, some nasal spray, because Japanese hay fever had given me a sore throat, and Relpax for migraines. It all turned out to be more affordable than I expected! It cost me around 9000 yen (75$). I have health insurance?but I still thought it would be a lot more.

I went back to the clinic again this week, and faced a few more challenges. My cash card from the bank was broken, and I didn't have my inkan (personal stamp) with me, so the bank wouldn't give me any money. So, although I now knew how to say "I'm here for a vaccination" in Japanese, I also needed to explain that I didn't have enough cash to pay right then! Somehow, I managed to express that! Yay for Megan!

I am happy to say that the hepatitis A vaccine didn't hurt too badly, and I now feel less fearful of catching some dreaded disease in the Philippines. And my Japanese just keeps getting better.......