Warning: This post while focusing on my experience at a Japanese Hospital, also talks a lot about bodily functions and stomach problems.
Travelling abroad often comes with health problems for many people. Whether it involves food poisoning, broken bones, diseases, etc. Personally, I tend to get mediocre luck when it comes to travel-related maladies. Upon arriving in Japan, I honestly wondered what sort of health crisis I might experience. This week, I experienced an almost mundane but dangerous condition known as "constipation."
First of all, Japan is very hot right now in terms of weather, and while I thought I had been drinking plenty of fluids and eating well, I found out that I underestimated how much water I actually need to be drinking: in order to keep up with the amount of sweat that I lose from sweat. I've always had some bowel issues (usually due to stress), but this past weekend, for the first time, I experienced Japanese hospital culture.
Let me explain what happened to me first and why I decided to go to the hospital. On Sunday, some friends and I went to Tokyo and while I felt completely fine that morning, later that afternoon, I felt an intense pain in my left abdomen. It was like no pain I had ever felt before and after about an hour and a half, it was only relieved by vomiting. After that, like the trooper I am, we continued our Tokyo trip. I opted to skip dinner though because I did not want to upset my stomach anymore. Later that evening, as we rode the train from Tokyo back to Oyama, the same pain started up again. This time, there was no relief. I couldn't find a comfortable seating position, I just had to swallow the pain and muscle through it for the 1-2 hour trip back to Oyama. Again, I've had stomach pain before, but this was more intense than anything I had ever experienced. I was very concerned but decided I would wait till morning to contact the Hakuoh International Office and then try and go see a doctor. On the way back to my apartment we stopped at a convenience store to get some water. I had been unable to keep any food down, but I was trying to stay hydrated.
Once back at my apartment, I slowly sipped water and waited for the pain to relax a bit so that I could lay down and sleep. After about an hour, I threw up again. This time, it was just clear vomit. That honestly helped the pain and I was able to sleep. I skipped classes that day because I didn't trust my condition and contacted the office. Later that afternoon, I was picked up and we went to the hospital.
At the hospital, we put my Japanese National Insurance Card in a little box and waited for the front desk to call my name. We then, filled out "new patient paperwork" and were called back to another waiting room. Once there, we got to see the doctor and the international office employee translated for me as I explained my situation. The doctor advised that I get abdominal X-rays, so we went back out to the waiting room and sat until we were called in to the X-ray room. By this time, my abdomen was hurting again. After the X-rays, we waited and were called back into the Doctor's room. He said everything seemed fine, but I was just constipated. He advised that I either get and enema or take prescription laxatives. I politely declined the enema and opted for laxatives.
After that decision, he also said that since I hadn't been able to eat or drink substantially in the past 24 hours, I would have to receive and IV drip with fluids and vitamins. This took about an hour. Finally, I was able to check out of the hospital. Because I have Japanese insurance the whole experience there cost $27.
We then went to the pharmacy to pick up my medicine. Five days worth of four different medicines (two laxatives, pain medicine, and fever medicine) cost about $10.
It's been about two days now since that and I already feel better. I'm drinking a lot more water (to compensate for sweat loss), eating brown rice instead of white (white rice apparently causes constipation), and making sure I eat more fiber. While I would never want to experience this again, I'm happy that I was able to experience a hospital here in Japan as well as have support from all my friends here as I get better.
