OBACHAN'S SCRIBBLES

Well, do you think I should be scared? But the truth is: I’m not. This may sound really stupid, but honestly, I’m excited just like an elementary school kid waiting for the first school trip. I’m not kidding.

Yesterday was the day of my preoperative test. I went through blood test, urine test, chest x-ray, lung function test and ECG. (My doctor forgot to input the request for my tests, so I had to wait for quite a while in the waiting seat before my first test. I’m glad that he is not the doctor who is going to operate on me.) Of course, there was nothing exciting about those tests. The results were all good, which was no surprise to me. I’m basically a terribly healthy individual and test results almost always fall in the middle of the normal range. (My VC was way above average for women.) But the excitement came when the nurse gave me a pamphlet and explained the schedule of my hospital stay. OK, let me share my schedule with you.

I’m supposed to be at the hospital at 9:00 am on May 9th with my family member (mom). Regular meals, no bed rest, no treatment and no tests on that day. The only events scheduled are wearing a wrist band and listening to the explanations by the doctor, nurse and pharmacist. That’s it. Then why is it necessary to be admitted on that day? Can’t all these be done altogether on the day before the surgery? But the schedule of May 10th says “24-hour urine measurement from 6:00 am today to 6:00 am on the following day,” so maybe that’s why I need to be already in the hospital on the 9th. For some reason, the explanation by the anesthesiologist is scheduled on the 10th, not the 9th. And the saddest part is: after 9:00 pm on the May 10th, I will not be allowed to eat anything until the 12th.

On the 11th, the day of the surgery, there’ll be no breakfast, of course. Enema in early morning, followed by a drip. And after some necessary preparations, I’ll have a surgery. (Not sure exactly what time, though.)

To me, the biggest surprise was the schedule for the 12th, the day after the surgery. Looks like I’m supposed to lie on my side in the morning, sit on the bed in the afternoon and start walking later in the afternoon. Already on the day after the surgery?! Hey I’m going to have my stomach cut under general anesthesia, for God’s sake, and they’re telling me to walk on the next day? And it also says “You can take a shower.” Gosh! They say that recovery is quick after a laparoscopic surgery, but I didn’t expect it to be THIS quick. And on the 14th, it says “Leave the hospital.” Just like that, ha?.

So, this almost makes me think that my surgery is a piece of cake. Of course things can go wrong with any type of surgery, and my hospital stay can be extended. But I guess I’m basically an optimist -- I always make a worst-case scenario in mind but then somehow convince myself that “It probably won’t happen to me.” And now I’m thinking about what I can do during my free time at the hospital. I’m definitely going to take photos of the hospital meals so that I can post them on my foodblog. ;)

On the other hand, I’m going to keep myself in the best condition possible before the surgery. Nutritious meals, moderate exercise, enough sleep and no alcohol, right? And, yeah, a major cleaning of my room – that’s what I definitely need to get done before May 9th, because I don’t want to do any cleaning/washing for a couple of days after I come back from the hospital. No problem. It’s "Golden Week" now and I have plenty of time for preparations. (Knocking on wood.)

Fee: 5130 yen incl. tests and chest x-ray (= apx. US$ 43) (copayment)
*In Japan, copayment is 30% of the expense.

To be cont'd...


今頃ってビビッてるもんなんでしょうか？でも実際のトコロ、そんなことないです。アホに見えるかもしれませんが、私、正直なところ、初めての修学旅行を前にした小学生みたいな気分なんです。いやホンマに。

昨 日、術前検査でした。血液検査、尿検査、肺のレントゲン、肺機能検査と心電図。（センセが検査指示を入力し忘れてたので、最初の検査の前にかなり待ちまし たよ。）もちろん、この検査、別になんてことなかったです。結果は全部OK。始めからわかってたけど。そもそも私はやたら健康な人間で、検査結果って ほとんどいつも正常な範囲のど真ん中の数値ですもん。（ちなみに肺活量は女性の平均値よりはるか上。）でも、おおー来たぞ～と思ったのは、看護師さんにパ ンフ レットをもらって、入院のスケジュールの説明を受けたとき。そう、こんなスケジュールなんですよ。

5月9日朝9時に、家族(私の場 合は母の予定)と 一緒に 病院に来ること。その日は普通食で、別に横になってなくてもいいし、治療も検査も何にもナシ。予定といえばリストバンドを装着して、医師・看護師・薬剤師 さんの説明を聞くことだけ。ほんならなんでこの日に入院が必要なん？手術前日の10日に全部まとめて出来るんとちゃう？でも10日のスケジュールを見る と、「朝6時から翌日朝6時まで、24時間の尿の量を測ります」って。それでたぶん9日にはもう入院してないとダメなんでしょうか。なぜか麻酔科医の説明 は9日じゃなくて10日に予定されてます。一番哀しいのは、10日の午後9時以降、12日まで、何も食べられなくなるコト。

11日、手術当日、当然朝食はナシ。早朝に浣腸して、その後点滴。それからなにやかや準備をして、手術。(何時からになるかはまだわからんけど。)

一 番のオドロキは手術翌日の12日の予定でしたね。私、朝には横向きに寝て、昼からベッド上に座り、午後には歩く予定みたい。手術翌日にィ？！チョット、私 まがりなりにも全身麻酔で腹を切るんですが、翌日にはもう歩けって？しかも、「シャワーに入ることができます」って。ひえぇー！腹腔鏡下手術のあとは回 復が早いとは聞いてたけど、これほどとは。で、14日には退院って。そんなもんなんですか。

こんなの見たら、私の手術なんて楽勝かと思っ ちゃう じゃないですか。まあもちろん、どんな手術でも何か具合の悪いことは起こりうるだろうし、入院だって長引くことはありうるでしょう。でも、私は基本的に楽 観主義なんやと思う･･･いつも最悪のシナリオを頭の中で作り上げるけど、その後なんとなく、「まあでもそんなことは私には起こらんやろ」って納得してし まうので。で、今は、病院での自由時間に何をしようかとあれこれ考え中。病院の食事の写真は絶対撮って、あとで食べ物ブログの方に載せますからね～。

そ の一方で、手術前には体調を最高のコンディションにしとこうとも思ってます。栄養のあるものを食べて、そこそこ運動して、よく寝て、禁酒、ですかね？そう そうそれに、部屋の大掃除。これは絶対5月9日までにやっとかないと。病院から帰ってきてから数日は、一切掃除も洗い物もしたくないですもん。まあ今は ゴールデンウィークで、準備の時間はタップリあるから無問題。（とか言っててあとで慌てることにならないことを祈る。）


費用：5130円（検査費と画像診断費用を含む）　保険適用の患者負担分。

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Categories: Dermoid

Not long after we heard about the tragedy at Virginia Tech, a mayor was shot to death in a southern prefecture here in this country. He was shot when he came back from campaigning for this coming Sunday’s election, and the murderer was a gangster.

Some will argue that because today’s society is this dangerous, each person should be allowed to protect him/herself with a gun. But… honestly, I can’t help asking this question aloud: ARE GUNS REALLY MAKING A SOCIETY ANY SAFER?

I don’t want to go into too much details, but I’m just so disgusted that I have to spit this out in order to keep going.

I HATE working with those who constantly lie just to make them look better than what they really are – just to save their asses – and do not care about trampling on others’ feelings for that purpose. It's DISGUSTING!