Hospitals in the land of the Rising Sun

As some of you may know, on day 4 or 5 of being in Japan, I took a spill down a flight of stairs. I injured my left hip, knee and ankle, as they had been wrapped under me as I slid down the stairs. Luckily, I didn't hit my head or anything. I couldn't walk, and after some hobbling my neighbor helped me around. I didn't know he was my neighbor at the time, I thought he was just a very cool Australian. He was working at the time, but he gave me some cold wraps to put on my injuries, and headed back out to work. I couldn't walk, I didn't want to do anything but lay there. Lexie went to a pay phone and called our work, because we were due to start work that day. One of the staff members of my school came out to meet us and took us to the closest hospital. Which just so happened to be one of the newest in the city. I'll walk you through what that was like.


As we approached the hospital it looked like any American hospital might. Then we pulled in, and got out of the taxi. We walked up to the doors, two, made of glass with the auto-open sensor. Pretty normal. We got a wheelchair and then we walked over to registration. We filled out some basic forms. They issue us a card that contains my medical records. Nifty, right? Next, they gave us a wing and a number, like.. A52. So, we went to the A wing, and read the LCD screens there that told us which door to go wait near. In our case, it was the last one on the right. The wait was about 20 minutes, all in all. Then upon one of the many LCD screens, our number appeared. They have this space age looking door for each area that opens when the number is signaled. Ours opened and we moved into the small connecting room. Only, it wasn't a connecting room, it was actually the diagnosis room. They pulled and pushed on my leg, asking me, "Does it hurt now?? How about now?" They decided I needed an x-ray, to ensure things were not broken. So, off to the x-ray ward to wait... I thought.. but again, Japanese efficiency wins. They issued me a number, something like C7. So, they wheeled me to the C wing, and we waited about 5 min, and then they got me in for x-rays. (Same Star Trek-style doors here too.) After the x-rays they took me back to the the A wing. Another 5 minute wait, and I was back in the diagnosis room for a consult. Turns out I didn't break anything, they showed me everything from my x-rays on a 25 inch LCD monitor. The doctor told me I had a bad sprain, and that it would take two weeks to heal. He gave me a crutch and wrapped my leg so tightly I thought he was preparing it for removal.

I didn't go to work that first week at all. I sat at home, no internet or anything, save a small TV that a Japanese friend of ours gave us. I watched enough Japanese TV during that time to last me a few months, as I see it. I took a lot of pain killer, and then after a week of this, I returned to the hospital for my follow up visit. They did some basic, does it hurt when I do this, tests and assured me that I was beginning to heal. I opted to leave the crutch with them, as I was trying to speed my recovery and rehabilitation. By the way, check in for the follow-up consisted of me scanning that card they gave me through an automated patient machine. It spat out a number, something like A44, and I didn't even have to talk to anyone except for the appointment itself.



I still have pain now. Not as much, mind you, but I still ache when I sit still for too long. I can walk now for up to about three hours before it starts plaguing me again. All in all, the recovery is slow, but I'm managing to keep it moving. The name of the hospital is Nagoya Central Hospital, if you follow the link, the site is in Japanese, but if you scroll down you can see some pictures of the doors and stuff.