Going to the doctor in Japan...

I'm still sick.  It's pretty awful.  Just recently my ear clogged up and wouldn't unclog.  I became convinced I had an ear infection.

A couple of things you should know about me (if you don't already).  I tend to overreact.  Also, prior to moving to Japan, I've never lived anywhere else.  Different towns, same county, same state my whole life.  It's very easy to take care of yourself if your native language.  It's also convenient if you've been going to the same doctor for years.  After figuring I should probably go to the doctor, I had a bit of a panic attack.  My employers made a couple suggestions for English speaking doctors close to work.  They even offered to send one of the Japanese speaking staff with me albeit tomorrow.  I refused for two reasons.  One I wanted to nip this in the bud tonight.  The other was I was adamant about doing this myself.  If I'm going to live here, I need to learn to take care of myself.  (Although I did tell my boss that if I ever got really sick that I'd be on the first plane back to America.)  So after making it a bigger deal than it should have been, I resolved to go to the doctor.  My boss was even kind enough to drive me there (though it really wasn't all that far).  (If I hadn't said it yet, I love my place of employment.  Everyone there is great).

Inside, I managed to go straight to the wrong counter.  Luckily a kind doctor pointed me in the right direction.  Upon being greeted I told the nurse 初めて which means "first time."  They asked for my insurance card.  (Sidebar: Japan has national health insurance.  I pay about 1000円 a month for this which is about $12.31.  Why America doesn't have this, I have no idea.)  The paper I had to fill out was a half sheet of paper.  I had to write my name, address, phone number and answer 6 questions.  I'm serious.  A half sheet of paper, with six questions.  This is where I became a deer in headlights.  Fortunately, I think I'm lucky in Japan a lot.  The lady (whose daughter was a patient there) sitting next to me translated all the questions for me.  They were simple.  Have you had recent surgery?  What medicines are you taking?  Are you allergic to anything?  How long have you been sick?  I didn't even ask her to do this.  I think she saw me and was like "whoa this broad needs some help."  I couldn't thank her enough both in English and Japanese.  I also explained to the nurse 耳いたみ which means ear pain.

The nurses then took me to another waiting room where I waited for the doctor who fortunately for me did speak rather good English.

The doctor was an ENT doctor so he examined all the areas said I wasn't going to die and prescribed me some medicine.  He actually said, I don't appear that sick.  My glands weren't swollen and no ear infection.  I was given a breathing treatment.  He told me to come back if I don't get better in a week.

Back at reception, I was given a card to present next time I come.  Japan is crazy about cards.  The pharmacy was downstairs and just to the right of the doctor's office.  I presented my insurance card again and had to fill out another paper.  This time there was no one to help me and a lady said to just fill out name, address and phone number.  After about 5 minutes the pharmacist explained to me how to take the medicine.  It was mostly in Japanese with English oddly interspersed.  Luckily the directions were quite simple and he used words I could understand like morning and night and ten minutes.  Afterward he said (in Japanese) that English was hard and I said Japanese was hard.  It was good to joke around, eased some of the tension of the experience.

Here's some of my medicine:

I like how there's a picture included.  The giant 1s are how many pills and at what time.  

From doctor to pharmacy, this whole experience took less than an hour.  Are you ready for the bill?

Doctor visit: 1250円 or around $15.39

Three medications: 850円 or around $10.46

All that for $25.85.  America, get on board.

Seriously, going to the doctor in Japan wasn't as bad as I thought it would and everyone was more than helpful.  I've read a lot of horror stories about people having miserable experiences in Japan and I've not had an experience like that.  I find the majority of Japanese people are kind and helpful.

Hopefully, my experience can be helpful to someone.  Although, I don't wish illness upon anyone.  Now if you'll excuse me, I've a lot of Sunday shows to watch.