A Visit to the Doctor

For the second time since we have been in Japan, Jake and I have made our way to a doctor's office. This is always a very uneasy adventure as we don't have any health insurance and obviously don't speak Japanese. Jake's appointment was a success. His doctor spoke English, gave him some antibiotics, and sent him on his merry way. The only downside was the room he had to go in looked liked a place you went to die.

This time it was my turn. For the past two weeks I've been sick with a fever and extreme fatigue. This week the whites of my eyes started to turn yellow. I'd say most normal people would think that these symptoms would be a pretty good reason to go to the doctor. The doctor I was lucky enough to see apparently is not one of these "normal people". He looked at me for about five seconds and announced that indeed my eyes were not yellow, that I was just fine and he did not believe I needed any further treatment. Maybe he hasn't seen enough foreign eyes to know that mine are not normal looking, or maybe he just didn't care. We finally voiced our concern that with the symptoms I had, we would like to rule out hepatitis or mono with a blood test. He agreed do the the test, but only after saying, "I don't think you should."

Once they decided to take my blood they sat me on a stool and then for whatever reason decided that I wouldn't be able to handle giving blood while sitting down. They instead moved me to a bed, instructed me to lie down, and then covered me from chin to toes with a white blanket. I wasn't sure if they were pronouncing me dead or if they were in fact going to take my blood. Luckily they took my blood and promised results early next week.

This was definitely the most bizarre doctor's appointment I have ever had. Not only was the doctor a nut, but the place didn't resemble a doctor's office at all. The entire office was a big open room about the size of two living rooms. My doctor had about three feet of his own in which to see patients, and there were no barriers or dividers. Not too big on privacy I guess.

Here's to hoping we can survive the next 48 days without anymore visits the doctor.