Human Pincushion

About a week ago I started to develop a cough that took a turn for the worse and became walking pneumonia. I was hoping my body could fight it off, but I guess I must have left my immune system in the States because it was nowhere to be found. I was hacking so badly at night that I had not slept in 4 days. Justin had left for a road trip on Friday morning which he would not return until the following Wednesday. I thought I would give my body the benefit of the doubt, and stick it out until Monday to see a doctor. However, by Friday morning I was coughing so hard that I had a couple of old lady accidents. I thought enough is enough, and called Tomoko (our translator) to see if she could make an appointment for me to see the doctor.

 

 

                At noon Tomoko came and picked me up. We headed to my OBGYN at my birth clinic. I felt as though things were getting lost in translation when I was trying to explain my symptoms, but finally my doctor understood. He wanted to send me to a normal physician to get checked out, but before I left he wanted to take some blood for a blood test. Now, Tomoko is new to Hachinohe as well and wasn’t sure where the other clinic was. This is a classic example of Japanese nice; one of the nurses from our birth clinic road with use to the other clinic to make sure we got there okay. Then she took a taxi back to the birth center. I was highly impressed!

                I first saw what Tomoko explained was just strictly a “throat doctor”. He said that there was nothing wrong with my throat, so he sent me to the “chest doctor” who just listened to my lungs and from what he could tell there was nothing he could do for me since I was pregnant. So, Tomoko and I were getting some homeopathic medicine at the pharmacy when my OBGYN called and said we must immediately return to the birth center. By this time it was already 5:30 at night. I had been seeing doctors for 5 ½ hours. Upon our return to the Birth Center, my doctor went over the blood test which indicted that my inflammatory levels where severely high. Normal, he explained, is 0.3 and I was at 3.75.  Therefore, normal protocol in Japan is to be admitted to the hospital for treatment.

 

 

                I was to rush home to pack my bags (similar items to when I come to deliver the baby), and return to the birth center where they could treat me with an IV antibiotic drip and to monitor the baby. Tomoko even stayed with me until 9 p.m. that night to make sure things were going smoothly! I owe her big time! My course of treatment at the center is as follows: I get two antibiotic IV drips per day, my blood gets drawn twice a day to monitor my inflammatory levels, 2 nebulizer treatments per day, and I also get one shot in the evening to help with my coughing since it was so severe at night. All in all I have had 15 needles injected in to my arms. My arms look like they have gone to war. People may start to wonder if I am a heavy drug user. Needles don’t normally bother me, but now every time they come in I think my veins want to go into hiding since they go back to the exact same spots to stick the IV in or to draw blood. I try to get them to switch up my arms every time, but that doesn’t always work if they already have an IV in one arm and need to draw blood from the other.

 

 

                However, I am super grateful that my OBGYN was smart enough to do a blood test to realize that I would need antibiotics to kick this illness! Otherwise I would be one miserable gal alone at home with what would have turned into full blown pneumonia in a day or two. I love that I am staying at the birth center as well. I don’t have to worry about them giving me the wrong medicine that could potentially hurt the baby. They also monitor the baby for 20-40 minutes three times a day, so I know that he is doing just fine through all this craziness. The nurses are super sweet to me even though our basic communication is through charades and a hand held digital translator. My personal favorite is when they try to ask me how many times I had gone number 1 and number 2 that day.

This could have been a very scary experience for me since Justin has been gone this entire time, but the center has been wonderful and relaxing. It makes me feel much more comfortable about having the baby here. An added bonus is that the food is pretty great too! The two North American wives were sweet enough to visit me and bring me some treats and English reading material. All in all I was a patient at the birth center from Friday until Tuesday, and I am feeling 100% better!