Hospitals are under strain edition
My wife got a throat infection on Thursday. She is susceptible to them, and they are dangerous and come on very quickly. We went to the local clinic, got antibiotics, and thought we’d caught it in time. Unfortunately the symptoms are similar to Covid, so we had to wait outside the building and got the full ET treatment (doctor and staff in spacesuits, etc.).
The next day she was worse, so we went back to the local clinic and got a referral to a larger hospital.
At the hospital my wife had to have a PCR test before she was allowed into the building. They took the sample in a big tent outside, and asked us to wait in the car for an hour while they ran it.
Two hours later they called us and said they were going to come to the car to talk to us. Ruh-roh.
She hadn’t tested positive. Rather, they had forgotten to run the test, so they were going to do that now and it would be another hour (three in total). Remember, my wife is feverish and getting worse all the time at this point.
Finally we get a negative result, get inside, and get to see a doctor.
She’s bad but not bad enough to be hospitalised normally. However, if she were to get worse over the weekend, with her symptoms, she would not be able to access medical care. As a precaution she was asked to check into the hospital.
She’s feeling better and should be out by Tuesday, but I am worried about the medical system now. Covid protocols are rough, staff seem exhausted and distracted, and Sendai doesn’t even have that many patients yet!
Be careful out there. The next few months are probably not a good time to get sick or have an accident.
Whose number? My My Number!
You may remember that I finally cracked and applied for a My Number card in April. Well, a couple of weeks ago I got the notification that it was ready, and was able to book a slot to pick it up last week. The process was very smooth, despite the person in charge being a very gruff and unfriendly gentleman of a certain age. I just put on my genki and co-operative persona, said ‘hai’ a lot, and filled in the various bit of paper. Twelve minutes later I walked out with my new card.
I like that it has my kanji alias on it (the old ARCs did too, but the new zairyu cards don’t) and I guess I can get paperwork at the combini now. Still don’t like the way the system has been implemented, but now that my paper 通知書 card is no longer valid due to me moving, it has basically become necessary for me to get this.
The forum
The forum is looking good this week. Remember, you don’t need an account to read the forum, only to post.
Tokyo crime fiction
RetireJapan reader Michael Pronko was kind enough to send me a free copy of his latest book, Tokyo Zangyo. I enjoyed it so much that I went back and bought the first one in the series. Here’s an interview with him by the ubiquitous Patrick Sherriff.
I am constantly pleasantly surprised by the variety of talents among our readership!
RetireJapan Supporter Memberships
I haven’t mentioned the supporter memberships for a while, but thank you so much to everyone who is currently helping to fund the site, and if you enjoy RetireJapan or get value from it please check out our Supporter Membership scheme. Every little helps!
This week’s books
I’ve been reading The Four, by Scott Galloway (about Amazon, Facebook, Google, and Apple). Today I got a copy of Leading, by Alex Ferguson (the Man U. coach). Comes highly recommended as a study in leadership.
This week’s links
- I wonder what effect this has on people holding diversified indexes for the long term? The next big financial crisis could be triggered by climate change
- This and the drones saved the opening ceremony: “Pictogram Sequence” Goes Viral during the Opening Ceremony of Tokyo 2020
- Personally I don’t do this and I also think for most people trying to optimise down to the last yen is a bad idea. Instead find a financial strategy that works for you. Personal finance is not a competition: Negative Cash
- Someday I will make it to Mexico to eat stuff: How to find the best food in Oaxaca
- More on this: Do Climate And Other Societal Risks Matter For Retirement Planning?
- Classic article by Warren Buffett: The Superinvestors of Graham-and-Doddsville
- This is pretty incredible. If it weren’t Facebook I would be excited: MARK IN THE METAVERSE
- Ha, ha, thinking about it, I got serious about personal finance in 2008 or so, and we should be in a position where we could retire in a year or two: 7 Tools to Build Wealth After 50
- Once you have the basics, money isn’t that important: What it Means to be Rich
- This is either really good or complete crap. I can’t tell, but I found it unsettling: Don’t make me think
- Fantastic: The Tao of Snoop Dogg
- 18/18 successfully implemented: Go to extremes
- Glad this lot aren’t really around any more: Japan’s Violent Motorcycle Gangs that Influenced Akira – and Anime History
- Great write-up: The profile dossier Charlie Munger
Phew! Lots of waffling above, a select collection of links in the latter half. What do you think?
Hello Ben… I was fascinated to read your wife went to hospital with a sore throat but you said in the past she was treated with anti-biotics. You know antibiotics are to treat a bacterial infections not a viral infection? “Viral sore throats usually consist of a cough, swelling in the throat, and runny nose whereas bacterial sore throats are typically accompanied with nausea and vomiting, stomach ache, and there is no cough” I’m gathering evidence that could point to Japan being one of the worst offenders when it comes to dishing out anti-biotics for viral infections. Are you aware of the differences yourself?
Well, I am neither a doctor nor play one on TV.
Funny (not really) story: we were in Sweden a few years ago and my wife came down with one of her throat infections. We were due to fly the next day, which was very concerning as these things get scarily serious seriously fast.
The thing about Sweden is that you access medical care via your primary physician. As visitors, we didn’t have one. But there is a medical advice phoneline to help.
ME: My wife has a throat infection. She has had the same thing several times in the past. She needs to see a doctor quickly before it gets worse.
OPERATOR: It is likely a viral infection, so there is nothing we can do. Please drink honey and lemon and she will feel better in a few days.
ME: No, she will be in hospital or dead in a few days.
ANOTHER OPERATOR: Sounds like a viral infection. Did you try drinking lemon and honey?
EMT (I called an ambulance): I’m sorry, our supervisor says it is likely a viral infection, so we cannot take you to hospital.
EMT (45 minutes later -I wouldn’t let them leave): There is actually a walk in clinic you can go to.
DOCTOR: This is a very serious bacterial infection, why didn’t you come in sooner?
ME: (bangs head against wall)
Fortunately we were able to get her on a drip and stabilised enough to fly back to Japan, where she ended up in hospital for ten days.
Uh, #3…?
Really?!?
I agree, #3 reads like satire. Is it satire….?
Nope!
Your name is Ben Johnson? I bet that was fun at school if your mates knew it 😜
Yeah, I was 11 when he lost his medals, so that was a fun year…