I rolled into my “big day at the hospital” with the eyepatch and tracksuit like some kind of hip-hop pirate.

{The day after the ophthalmologist, which was a day after seitai which was a day after sending group for often to the wilds (i.e. harry potter universal studios, Lego land, all the cherry blossoms) in Japan with a pleasant sayonara (and the usual goat birth) followed by barbecue, goat milk cheesecake apparently there was some salad …}

Went to the University hospital and in one single visit did the:
* proper consultation with the MECFS doctor (told her I am doing a profile poster boy for open medicine foundation this month to shine some light on their unique work)
* got a list of all my current medications written in English on hospital letterhead to make it going through that Canadian customs somewhat easier, then…
* the traditional Chinese Medicine Doctor (kampo) ho always examines my abdomen with great nuance and enthusiasm, as well as pulses and tongues – and he was quite excited about the increased strength of pulse and “general goodness” of abdomen
* + same kind of letter from with the Chinese characters of the medications, English analogs, and all the necessary override forms for receiving 70 days of medication in one fell swoop
* then off to injection… taking it now in a single push from a comically-large syringe rather than the drip drip drip. Basically neurotrophin plus vit B & C etc
* then off to an MRI for my cervical spine…

{Have I told you the saga of the car accident in 1988 in Christmas Eve in Jerome Idaho? Yes for sure because this goes back to the India Ayurveda and the MRI there where the lumbar 3 and cervical 3 are out of whack…

Kindly Seitai doctor has worked on the lumbar for three years and finally got it moving and it’s been a cataclysmic change, pain reduced 87.8%, [and all the doctors over the years who have told me “all there’s nothing wrong with it” or “here’s some pain pills“ or you just need to do more sit ups“ can well… I’m trying to think of something clever but anyway] the lumbar is feeling better}

So there I go, changing into fantastic pajamas (which, unsurprisingly) I was very tempted to steal but I did not because I’m a responsible Japanese resident – naturally, brought my own earplugs and eye mask and into the MRI tube to check on cervical which causes my left shoulder blade to basically be “frozen“ with a constant stinging pain from the shoulder blade to the back of my skull… You know the usual stuff.

*Then time for a sandwich! Because of course the hospital has several embedded restaurants… We bypass the ubiquitous Starbucks and because restaurants are so overstimulating, acquired some sandwiches and found a little lounge on a bench in between… and I’m not kidding… a beautiful postbox and a lovely phone booth… Yes cherry blossoms are beautiful but put me between the postbox in a payphone and I’m happy

* While there, scanned the QR code for the various prescriptions (both allopathic and kanpo), off admin area to pay… The cost of the MRI, consultations and injections were fairly minimal but we had to pay extra for the special letters of the medications because that’s “not normal“ fine whatever.

Did I mention we scan a QR code and it goes right to the pharmacy and the elves get to work preparing it for us and then send a text message when it’s ready?

So in the interim, we saw a little narrow staircase with a sign saying “2F used books and beer” which seems like it was made for me… I purchased the three English books they had in stock: two were Tin Tin (Black Island and Blue Lotus) and a Chronicle Books’s published collection of vintage hotel luggage tags. Perfect!

I also bought ¥500 worth of Japanese 7 inch vinyl to take as gifts and a Italian made pink necktie for ¥300 to stuff in my backpack in case I have to look vaguely respectable at some point. I did not purchase a beer.