Being sick in Japan

Hellooo it's been a while! I wanted to post an entry right after my week off from class to talk about Golden Week and such, but unfortunately...I was hit by a really serious sickness right after Golden Week came to an end.

On the night of Monday the 8th, I had a really strong headache, but I ignored it and just went to bed.
The next day, Tuesday, I was feeling kinda bad, but I headed on to school anyways. Maybe it was partially because the train was really crowded--although that's nothing new--but all of a sudden, I started to feel nausious, claustrophobic, and the world started getting fuzzy. Unable to handle it anymore, I got off at Nakameguro and headed to the train station bathroom. On my way there, I could barely walk and kept running into people. It felt like I was gonna die...When I got into the bathroom. I got into a stall and drooped to the floor. Just doing that made me feel kind of better, but I knew I couldn't handle class in that condition. I mean, I couldn't even walk anymore. I sent an email to Hinata telling her I was sick, took some advil, curled up on the stall floor, and slept. For two hours. When I woke up, I was feeling somewhat better. I could at least stand, so I headed back home and slept again. The next day, I woke up with cold symptoms--sore throat, stopped up nose, fever, etc. This time, it was worse than the last time I got sick, so taking the advice of my friends and family, I headed to the doctor.

And so, I have experienced a Japanese doctor's office! Yes, I was sick and it wasn't especially fun, but I looked at it as somewhat of a cultural endeavor just to stay positive.

When I got to the doctor's office, I filled out a form with my name and essentials and then I had to describe my symptoms. To do this, there was a picture of the body, and you circled the places on it that hurt or were bothering you. I thought that was kind of cute. A few minutes after I handed in the form, the doctor was ready to see me. My doctor was a really funny guy, and I really appreciated his humor and kindness.

I walk in and the first thing he says is: "Avendano, Kenia-san? Where are you from?"
I found that an interesting question because in the U.S., I feel like it's a question that's not often asked in this situation probably because in the U.S., or at least in Maryland, there are so many foreigners that are residents or people with foreigner like names but have lived in the U.S. all their lives. If I ask a 2nd generation Chinese person in the U.S. where they're from, they often say the U.S., which is understandable. I mean, even if their parents are Chinese, they have lived in the U.S. all their lives.
When I told the doctor I was from the U.S., he then asked if Japanese was okay. I told him I can understand pretty well, but speaking is just okay. So he said, "Oh, well, if you ever have problems, you can speak to me in English. I can understand a little." "Oh, really?" I asked. "Yeah," he replied. "But just a little, okay?" Again, I appreciated his humor.

Hearing that my throat hurt, he checked me for strep since it's apparently going around right now, but the test came out negative. However, that wasn't a 100% guarantee that I didn't have strep. He prescribed me some medications, and I went to the pharmacy next door to pick them up. The ladies at the pharmacy were so sweet and were asking me if I was eating properly and everything like moms. These were my medicines:

I had three pills. Two of them (a small round pill and a orange and white capsule) were antibiotics, which I had to take 3 times a day after each meal. Then the large long pink pill was to decrease the swelling in my throat, and I took it once a day each morning. I'm usually terrible at taking pills, but I was able to swallow all of them on my first try each time! Yay I'm getting better at it☆

I was also given a drug history book upon my request just for fun, since it was free. It's cute, right?

I had to take off the whole week last week, even though I didn't want to. It's not fun at all to get sick by myself with no one to help take care of me. (People like me and my dad need someone to cuddle up to and whine about how we're dying when we're sick haha) It's especially difficult getting sick in a foreign country where it's hard to find your way around and express yourself to the doctor.

Luckily, my cough is still a little persistent, as always, but I'm feeling a lot better. And it is all thanks to the Japanese doctors and medicines (maybe♪).