at the ENT

i have lost my voice.  almost completely. at least it's not painful, but i like to talk, a lot, and not being able to talk is very very frustrating. especially when i feel fine otherwise.

my voice was bad yesterday morning, but i figured i only had one class, i'd just make it through and then go home as soon as possible.  just my luck, another girl called in sick, so i had to help cover her classes but i still left work as soon as i could and went about looking for an ear, nose and throat doc that met all of these requirements:

a. close to home (within walking or bike riding distance)
b. open past 6pm (it was already 5:45)
c. fairly modern (based on the existence and appearance of the clinic's website)

i ended up going here.

the place was on the "newer" end, but still probably hadn't had an interior update in over 10 years.  i can't figure out why hospitals and clinics in japan always feel so *not* up to date.  it's not like they couldn't give things a fresh coat of paint or reupholster the waiting room seats in something a little less tacky. ha.

anyway, there was no one there, so i filled out the standard name, age, address, symptoms form and waited for a couple minutes before they called my name.

japan has, apparently, nothing even remotely close to HIPAA. while the amount of HIPAA paperwork and red tape i went through when i was in the states getting my tonsils out was a little much, i kind of LIKE the fact that no one knows why i'm in the waiting room.  that when the pharmacist gives me a prescription, she doesn't explain right then and there what each drug does, so that everyone in the pharamacy can hear and now knows what symptoms i'm getting medicine for.  i like that there are walls and doors between exam rooms and that when i ask a question, i'm the only one that hears the answer.

but alas, this is japan.

luckily, there was no one there yesterday, so it wasn't really an issue.  though i thought it was weird that there were two nurses, one behind the doctor and one behind me, just standing there watching and listening and making me feel like some kind of weird specimen being examined.  oh well...

he did some looking in my throat and my nose and said i've got the beginning of a polyp on my vocal cords and the best case would be to not use my voice for a week.  um yeah, i'm a singing, dancing monkey and can't really just take off a week of work, but i guess if i don't have a voice, i don't really have a choice.

i don't have japanese health insurance, so every time i go to the doctor, i pay out of pocket (and then send my receipts to the insurance company for reimbursement) but it always throws the ladies at the counter for a loop.  they always looked shocked and say, "um...well, then you'll have to pay the full price, you know..." and it's like, well, i didn't expect you to give me a discount or anything!  it was only about $30, which is cheap compared to what it'd be in the states!  and i think half of that was because i was a first time patient.

i left with two prescriptions, which were easily filled at the pharmacy right next door.  again, there was no one there, so even though she gave a detailed explanation of my meds, Ro and i were the only ones to hear it.  another $40 and we were out within minutes.

we rode our bikes home.  though not before i had a tiny mini melt down (aka tiredness and stress and sadness about yet another throat issue, coming out in the form of tears) outside the doctor's office.  it was fixed with a hug and a "it's gonna be okay" from Ro.

i hope he's right.

i've taken 4 doses so far (3 pills 3 times a day) and hardly spoken at all today but my voice is not even a fraction of a bit better.

still holding out on the medicine to kick in, but overall, it was one of my more "pleasant" doctor's office experiences, and since my throat just seems to be the root of one problem after another, i imagine having a "regular" ENT doctor might be kind of handy.  i'd go back.  i'd like to think i won't need to, but i probably will.  so yeah, i've bookmarked the website.

but really...when did i get so sickly?  and when will i get better? :(