OBACHAN'S SCRIBBLES

So, that is my situation in August, 2010. (Those who missed the beginning of the story, please read the previous post first.) But Mom's operation and my work were not all the challenges I have to face. Here's my dad -- who shouldn't be, and cannot be forgotten.

Let me tell you something. He suffered from hypochondriasis from his late 30s to early 60s. By the time he was 45 years old, his name was well-known at all the hospitals in the eastern part of the prefecture (well, we only have a handful of hospitals there anyway), because he always insisted that there was something wrong with him and the doctors had to refer him back and forth among their hospitals. Finally he did get sick and had an operation, and after recovering from it, his health complaints have subsided. Well, at least, it looked that way, until this summer.

But soon after mom started seeing the doctor, dad started complaining about his health. He says that his legs are mildly paralyzed and he has trouble walking. A couple of weeks before mom got her worst diagnosis, dad started his pilgrimage to hospitals, with the doctor always saying, "Well, there seems to be nothing wrong..." Then mom's diagnosis seems to have pushed him into full-blown hypochondriasis.

to be cont'd...